Читать книгу The Healthy Gut Cookbook: How to Keep in Excellent Digestive Health with 60 Recipes and Nutrition Advice - Marguerite Patten - Страница 15

1. Find at least a quarter of an hour to sit and relax before eating.

2. Do not over-burden your stomach with drinks and snack foods before mealtimes.

3. Always eat at a table using proper plates and cutlery. (No burgers from a bag or curries from disposable trays!)

4. Eat in pleasant surroundings. Enjoy calming music. A simple arrangement of flowers adds to a relaxed atmosphere.

5. Eat slowly, and chew food well before swallowing.

6. Keep conversation light; avoid discussing emotionally charged issues.

7. If you drink alcoholic beverages before or during a meal, do so in moderation.

8. After a main meal, go for a walk – after an unusually large meal, have a rest.

bacteria cannot be flushed away. Knowing these facts, many of us still fail to consume adequate amounts of water. Why is this so? Here are two common reasons:

• Tap water is safe to drink but tastes unappealing. If this sounds familiar, try adding a slice of fresh lemon to the glass before drinking. Simple charcoal filters remove both unpleasant tastes and most impurities. Chilled filtered tap water is a refreshing drink. Or, if finances allow, drink bottled water from a reputable source, or brand. (Some bottled water is little more than bottled tap water.)

• Most public places have few, if any, safe places from which to drink. When was the last time you saw a drinking fountain you would allow your children to use? As these are in such short supply you will probably need to get your water from a café or restaurant when you are out and about. Ask for water, even if you must pay for it, and don’t be tempted to order a cup of coffee or fizzy drink instead. Milk or fresh fruit juice are healthy alternatives to water. If you resent paying for such a basic necessity, consider carrying a small bottle of water with you.

Some people rarely drink water, but keep their fluid intake topped up with tea, coffee, juices, fizzy drinks and alcoholic beverages. Is this a good idea? Remember that caffeine acts as a mild diuretic and may actually add to dehydration. Fizzy drinks contain artificial sweeteners, colours, flavours and preservatives with no nutritional value. Much of this extraneous material goes into the body to be detoxified and eliminated as waste, but some of it has an effect on our internal chemistry. For example, if you tend to suffer from headaches after ‘a few too many’, you are living proof that alcohol dehydrates the body.