Too Much Water!

Taken from Here

We talked about the importance of water in our last article "Water". Now we know what will happen if you drink too little but the question is, what will happen if you drink TOO MUCH!! Is it even possible to drink too much?! You know you can die from too much water?!
Today we will talk about what will happen if you got what is called Water intoxication also known as water poisoning.

Water poisoning is the disruption of your brain function due to drinking too much water! Yes that's true. (1) When you drink too much water it increases the amount of water in your blood which dilutes the electrolytes in the blood causing sodium levels to fall below 135 mmol/L, it's called Hyponatremia.
Sodium is a very important element for your body, it's responsible for the balance of fluids between the inside and the outside of the cells. So when sodium levels falls below 135 mmol/L, fluids shifts from the outside to the inside of cells causing them to swell. A problem could happen if this occurs in brain cells and may cause DEATH. (2)

Water Intoxication

Taken from Here

As we mentioned above, when you drink too much water "cells starts to swell". When brain cells swell it raises the pressure inside the skull which lead to water poisoning symptoms.

Mild cases:

1. Headache
2. Nausea
3. Vomiting

Moderate cases:

1. Double vision
2. Drowsiness
3. Confusion
4. Increase blood pressure
5. Cramps and muscle weakness
6. Difficulty in breathing

Severe cases: (1)

1. Seizures
2. Brain damage 
3. coma
4. Death 

Death from drinking WATER? Really?!

Taken from Here

Actually that sounds pretty weird right?! Well, it's very difficult to reach that stage of poisoning. However, few cases have been reported due to this condition like in soldiers. (3,4)

One report illustrated how three soldiers died from excess water consumption "Hyponatremia" They drank 2.5-5.6 gallons (10-20 liters) in just few hours. (5)

It's very common to face water intoxication in endurance athletes like marathon runners. They drink too much water to avoid dehydration. Therefor, hyponatremia often occurs in the event itself. (6)

In another case after one major sport event, one marathon runner suffered from hyponatremia where his sodium levels were less than 130 mmol/L. He died from accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid and Brain herniation. (7)

Schizophrenic patients could suffer also from hyponatremia due to too much water consumption. One study showed that 5 out of 27 schizophrenic patients died from water intoxication. (8,9)

How much should you really drink?

When you get thirsty, you simply drink water right? (obviously!) but you know what! it's more than that. Your kidney can eliminate 5.3-7.4 gallons per day ( 20-28 liters) and can't get rid more than 27-33 ounces per hour ( 0.8-1 liters) (10,11)

So the bottom line here is that you can't drink more than 27-33 ounces per hour ( 0.8-1 liters) or it will cause you hyponatremia.

A 9 years old girl who drank almost a gallon of water in one to two hours developed hyponatremia and intoxication. (10)

Taken from Here

To determine how much water you really need per day to prevent dehydration or intoxication. You just need to (Wait for it....) exactly, you just need to listen to your body. Yes that's it my friend, but you need to listen to your body carefully which means that whenever you feel thirsty just leave whatever you are doing and drink and if you don't feel thirsty then don't follow the over-hydration concept and that's when you drink too much water even if you aren't thirsty; to prevent getting thirsty later.

The institute of medicine (IOM) suggests that men should consider drinking about 125 ounces ( 3l7 liters) per day and 91 ounces (2.7 liters) per day for women. Watch out, this includes beverages and water not water only! (11)

 You should also consider your weight, age, climate and physical activity level so that if you are an athlete, pregnant woman or old adult then you will need extra water each day.

At the end of the day, there is no specific number of how much water you should drink daily but just don't drink too much water okay?!

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Water

Taken from Here

We all know that water is the essence of life, you can live one day without worrying about food right? but when it comes to water, i don't think so. It's commonly known that we should drink about 8-ounce glasses of water per day. Well, the question is, do you really drink enough water per day? Do you know why you should always stay hydrated? What happens if you drink too much or too little ?!

1- Water affects your energy levels and brain function

Taken from Here

You being hydrated is directly related to your brain functions. Studies show that mild dehydration (1-3% of body weight) can influence brain function. In a study, young women lost 1.36% of fluids after exercise which impaired both their mood and concentration and increases the frequency of headache. (1) While another study for young men who lost 1.59% of fluids after exercise showed that they felt more anxious and fatigue. (2)

2- Water can prevent headache

Taken from Here

Studies showed that water can relieve headache in people who are dehydrated. (3) Dehydration can affect people in many bad ways, one of them is headache. (4)

One study showed that water had effect on the intensity and duration of headaches and not the frequency. (5)

3- Treats kidney stones 

Taken from Here

Urinary stones can be very painful. If you drink enough water, you can prevent it's recurrence if you previously gotten kidney stones. (6,7)

When you drink enough water, you increase the volume of urine passing through kidney which dilutes the concentration of minerals so less likely to crystallize and form clumps.

4- Weight loss!

Taken from Here

Yes, that's true. When you drink plenty of water "within your daily limit", you can actually lose weight. Two studies showed that drinking half a liter of water increases metabolism by 24-30% for up to 1.5 hours (8,9)

You probably heard about drinking water half an hour before meals right?! Well, That's true because it makes you feel more full. (10)
Do you know that when you drink cold water, you actually burn more calories to heat the water to your body temperature. So drink it COLD!!
A study showed that people who drank half a liter of water before meals lost 44% more weight over a period of 12 weeks. (11)

5- Constipation Relief

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Constipation is a well know problem when there is a difficulty in passing stool and infrequent bowel movements. Low water consumption is blamed to be a risk factor for constipation. (12) So you should drink more water to prevent constipation especially carbonated water. (13) Pretty awesome huh?!

6- Maximize physical performance

Taken from Here

I think you probably noticed that when you were doing some kind of exercise and lost some water through sweat, you feel drowsy, fatigue and the exercise feels more difficult right?! But what happens when drink some water? It feels like magic right! Well, that's true because you were in a state of dehydration. (not state of trance which is good too by the way) Dehydration can have effect 

if you lose as little as 2% of your body's water content. So if you are an athlete then you are probably losing about 6-10% of your body's water content. (14,15,16) 

 After all, you must stay hydrated to maximize your physical and mental performance and to stay SAFE.

Well, we now know what will happen if you drink too little but is it okay to drink too much? What is the limit of water intake per day?

Well, check out our next article Too much water to know the answers!!

Still here my friend?! Come on, what are you waiting for?! Water is the best and HEALTHIEST natural thing you can ever drink! Try to stay hydrated everyday and make sure to drink it COLD remember? If you are trying to lose weight consider drinking water before your meals and i promise you will notice a difference.

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Watermelon

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I love eating watermelon, who doesn't? It's the best thing you can eat after a hot sunny day.

Watermelon is a very delicious fruit and can make you satisfied and refreshed. It's high in Vitamin C,Vitamin A and many other healthy compounds. It can protect your heart and prevent CANCER!!

After reading this article, i promise that "you will eat watermelon". So get ready cause this green thing will blow your mind.

1-Improve your heart health

Taken from Here

There are many factors that can affect your heart health like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity. Many nutrients in watermelon can affect your heart positively like Lycopene. Studies showed that lycopene can lower your blood pressure, cholesterol level in your blood and prevent the oxidative damage to cholesterol .(1) It can also reduce the thickness and the stiffness of artery wall in obese postmenopausal women. (2)

2- Prevents macular degeneration

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Lycopene helps in eye protection against oxidative damage and inflammation so prevents age related macular degeneration. (3)
Macular degeneration may cause blindness so feel free to read more about it.

3- Keeps you hydrated 

Taken from Here

As we know drinking water is very VERY important! Cause it's the source of life. You should always stay hydrated to be healthy, so watermelon can you help you in that. Surprisingly, watermelon is 92% water. (3) 

That what makes you feel full when you eat watermelon.

4- Nutrients 

Taken from Here

Among fruits, watermelon is considered one of the lowest in calories. 46 calories per cup!! (4)

A cup (152g) contains: 

• Vitamin C: 20% of the RDI (reference daily intake)
• Vitamin A: 17% of the RDI
• Vitamin B-6: 5% of the RDI
• Potassium: 4% of the RDI
• Magnesium: 3% of the RDI

It also contains Carotenoids, Cucurbitacin E (specially in bitter melon), lycopene and Citrulline which is an important amino acid.

5- Protects you from CANCER

Taken from Here

Lycopene also plays a role as an anti-cancer nutrient, especially cancers in the digestive system (3)

Lycopene appeared to decrease the cancer risk by lowering insulin like growth factor (IGF) which is a protein involved in cell division so the higher it gets, the chance to have cancer increases.

Cucurbitacin E also has been investigated to inhibit the tumor cell growth. (5)

6- Good for your skin and hair

Taken from Here

Vitamin A and C are very important for your skin and hair health. Vitamin A create and repair skin cells so without enough vitamin A your skin will look DRY.

Vitamin C helps in making collagen which helps in making your hair stronger.

7- Good for muscle soreness

Taken from Here

One study gave Athletes citrulline on it's own , plain watermelon juice and watermelon mixed with citrulline juice.the results were amazing, both juices lead to decrease in muscle soreness and quicker heart rate recovery compared to citrulline alone. (6) So citrulline in watermelon is enough for you to relief the muscle soreness.

8- Better digestion

Taken from Here

Watermelon contains water and fibers which are important for your bowl movements cause water helps you to keep your digestive tract moving efficiently while fibers provides bulk for your stool. So yeah the perfect combination in one fruit.

At the end of the day, watermelon is massively loaded with amazing benefits. Just consider eating or even drinking (which is easier) a cup per day just because WHY NOT! 

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Avocado

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Probably you heard this word before right? Maybe in a healthy recipe or a healthy channel. If you are interested to know more about it. Well, you came to right place my friend.

Today we will mention briefly the healthy facts about Avocado and whether you should consider to start adding it your diet or NOT?!!

Avocado could be anything from pear shaped to round and weigh from 220 grams to 1.4 Kg, the most popular type is called Hass avocado. It's a black or green unique fruit which consists primarily of healthy fats. It's the fruit of a tree called Persea americana. It became a very popular fruit for healthy individuals (now you are one of them) where it's often referred to as a Superfood. (1)

1- High in potassium

Taken from Here

We all know that "Banana is Potassium and Potassium is Banana" right?? Well, shame on you cause here is a shocking fact, Avocados are higher in potassium than Bananas!! Potassium is a very important nutrient which helps to maintain electrical gradients in our body cells and many other functions that you need to know more about them. (click on the above Potassium word if you are interested) (2)

Compared to bananas, every 100 grams serving contains 14% of the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) compared to 10% in bananas. (3) 

For your information potassium is linked to reduced blood pressure so less chance of heart strokes, attack and kidney failure. (4)

2- Cholesterol effect

taken from Here

As we talked before about the bad cholesterol and the good cholesterol in our article (Dark chocolate)

Here is a stunning fact, Avocados are mainly fats right?? However, It can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels! 

Studies have been made on 8 humans controlled trials, one group is instructed to eat avocados while the other is not. The studies showed that avocados can reduce total cholesterol levels, triglycerides by up to 20%, LDL ( bad cholesterol ) by up to 22% and finally increase HDL (Good cholesterol) by up to 11%. (5,6,7,8,9)

3- Improves nutrients absorption from plant food

Taken from Here

Some nutrients like vitamin A, D, K, E and antioxidants "Carotenoid" are fat soluble which means that they need to be combined with fat to be utilized. If you ate something your body must absorb it, there is no benefit in eating things that can't be absorbed by your body. A study showed that adding avocado or avocado oil on either salsa or salad can increase antioxidant absorption by 2.6-15 fold. (10) It increases nutrient value of other plant food so always keep in mind to add a healthy fat source when eating veggies to make them more beneficial.

4- Protects the eyes

Taken from Here

Avocado contains important nutrients like Lutein and Zeaxanthin which are very important for your eyes health. These nutrients also can decrease the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration  (11,12,13,14) 

5- Anti-Cancer!

Taken from Here

Really? actually no so don't read this. 

Still reading? Okay, let me tell you the truth. One study showed that it may help to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells (15,16) But keep in mind that these studies were done in isolated cells and not a living human so still not good enough. ( i don't know why i mentioned this fact but maybe cause i want  people to eat avocado to avoid cancer?! )

6- Arthritis relief

Taken from Here

Arthritis is a chronic disease where there is inflammation in one or more joints "joint disorder"

Studies showed that Avocado and Soybean unsaponifiables can reduce the symptoms of that chronic disease(17,18)

7- Delicious VS Weight loss

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Well, here is the good fun part so turn off the lights and get ready (i don't know why but just turn them off) There is one study made once where one group of people were instructed to add avocados to their meals and other group were instructed not to and then they were asked about their hunger and satisfaction. The results are amazing, the people eating avocados felt 23% more satisfied and 28% lower desire to eat over the next 5 hours!! (19).

 This actually works the best when you want to lose weight but if you're in the bulking season then don't eat it (kidding, it's healthy so just eat it).But wait a second, we all know about the contrariety between something delicious and something healthy right? You LOVE eating cheese burgers but when it comes to apples, NAH not even close right?! The thing is, avocados are pretty delicious and go with all sorts of food where you can eat them plain or add them your salads to boost your absorption as mentioned above or to many other recipes. Lastly, avocados often takes some time to ripen and it feels soft when ripe and the nutrients in it can oxidize rapidly after fleshing so my advice is to add lemon juice to it to slow down this process. 

At the end of the day i guess you will consider eating avocados right? Healthy, delicious, weight loss friendly and healthy again so why not?! 

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Dark Chocolate

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Chocolates are the source of happiness to some people, "Specially girls" right??  It's one of the world's most craved food. When you find someone crying you can actually give him ( or most of the time HER) chocolate and see what happens! have you ever asked yourself why? is it Healthy though?!​We will talk about The healthiest type of chocolate and why you should eat it? So get ready to be shocked cause we have new information and facts for you so that the next time you eat chocolate, you can proudly call it HEALTHY.

Why Dark chocolate?

Dark chocolate is made from the seed of cocoa tree and it's loaded with nutrients that can actually improve your health. But be careful today we are talking about dark chocolates only and not the other sugary chocolates like white and milk chocolates and many other that won't do you any good except making you fatter if that what you want.

1- Antioxidants

Taken From Here

As we talked in our previous article  (Coffee) about the antioxidants in coffee. well, it's also here.Dark chocolates contains organic compounds that are biologically active and acts as antioxidants. These includes polyphenols, flavanols, catechins. One study showed that the antioxidants found in dark chocolates are actually more than the antioxidants found in some fruits like acai berries and blue berries. (1)

2- Cholesterol effect

Taken from Here

Dark chocolate has a positive effect on HDL (high density lipoprotein) which is the good cholesterol and lowers the LDL (low density lipoprotein) which is the bad cholesterol and also reduces the oxidized LDL in men. Oxidized LDL means that the LDL has reacted with free radicals which makes the LDL particle itself active and can damage tissues. Well, it makes perfect sense that dark chocolate lowers the oxidized LDL and that's due to the Antioxidants found in dark chocolate (cocoa in it) that protects us from the damage caused by oxidation.
(2,3,4)    

3- Protects you from Heart disease

Taken from Here

This is stunning yet true, Cardiovascular disease may occur from high oxidized LDL in our blood stream causing what is called Atherosclerosis leading to death. In a Study of 470 elderly men cocoa was found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death by 50% over a 15 year period. (5)
 Another two studies showed that eating dark chocolates 2 or more times per week lowered the risk of Atherosclerosis by 32% while eating 5 or more times per week lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease by 57%!! (6,7)

4- Sun protection

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Here's a funny one, whenever you are planning on a beach vacation, consider loading up with some dark chocolates! (Not funny enough, we'll see about that).  Flavonols in dark chocolate protects against sun induced damage to your skin, increase the skin hydration and density and improves blood flow to the skin (8). In one study the MED (minimal erythemal dose which is the minimal amount of Ultraviolet sun rays required to cause redness in the skin after 24 hours from exposure) more than doubled after eating dark chocolate high in flavonols for 12 weeks. (9)

5- Anti stress and Antidepressant drug

Taken from Here

That sounds very weird right?! It's true though. When you feel down you need cravings right? So if you picked dark chocolate well that's a BINGO for you. After eating the chocolate it stimulates the production of a hormone called endorphin which makes you happy and satisfied. About the Antidepressant effect, dark chocolates contain something called serotonin which has an identical qualities of antidepressants.
Go ahead and take that drug right now! I mean the dark chocolate huh! 

6- Girls

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Wait what?! What's that? Well, here is the real funny part (if you don't think it's funny then just leave right now, i mean it) Okay i was kidding. The thing is somewhere in their minds they know that they will get fatter if they ate more of them so they should stop it right?
Well, The exact opposite happens for some reason they tend to eat more and more of it and this theory is called the forbidden chocolate. But actually that's good and HEALTHY for them if only they craved dark chocolate cause the hormonal levels in girls always keep on shifting causing them to be emotionally unstable (ups and downs) so eating dark chocolate can stabilize their mood and be happier.

​Believe it or not but one of the reason that actually makes women love chocolates more than men is the shape of it, If there is a new cute teddy bear shaped chocolate available at your nearest supermarket, won’t you go and buy it immediately?​One other thing you should know, there is a connection between chocolate and the menstrual cycle. When there is disturbance in body hormones so the body reacts to balance these hormones, one of them that decreases during the menstrual cycle is the serotonin (the antidepressant) and it can be raised by exercise and eating some foods like Chocolates and ice cream. (10) 

I think you will consider adding Dark chocolate to your healthy food list right? cause if not then you need to read again this article.
But as always everything should be in moderation. It's Still loaded with calories, so you must be careful when you choose your chocolate cause all the mentioned benefits are from dark chocolates with 70% or higher cocoa content only and not the other types of chocolates. So all you have to do is adding a square or two per day and you are good to go.

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Coffee

Taken from Here

We all Love coffee and it's the first thing most of us do after waking up. well, do you think
it's healthy? Is it bad?!​​ 
Today we will talk briefly about coffee whether it should be the first thing you do in the morning or we just need to stop it right now!
​We will talk about amazing facts you probably don't know about and the things that makes you want to drink it and the things that may harm you a little, don't worry nothing lethal.

1- Fat burner

Taken form Here

The most important thing that might be interesting to know is that coffee can actually burn fat because it raises the metabolism and

increases the oxidation of fatty acids and also helps athletes by mobilizing the fatty acids from the fat tissues. It also increases theirperformance in exercise by 11-12%(1,2,3)   

2- Coffee can reduce your risk to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Taken from Here

Coffee can protect your brain in old age! Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world and a leading cause of dementia.In many studies, coffee drinkers have up to a 60% lower risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia(4)​The second most common neurodegenerative disorder is parkinson disease where some neurons in the brain starts to degenerates and results in death of these neurons. Coffee may lower the risk of Parkinson’s by 32-60%!! (5,6)

3- Coffee May Decrease Your Risk of Premature Death!

Taken from Here

This could be a shocking fact but it's actually true. In epidemiological studies they found that coffee decrease the mortality rate by 30% during a 20 year period and it's related to diabetic patients type II specifically. (7)   

4- Antioxidants and Nutrients

Taken from Here

Coffee is a good source of nutrients and antioxidants like 

• 6% of the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) for Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5).

• 11% of the RDA for Riboflavin (Vitamin B2).

• 2% of the RDA for Niacin (B3) and Thiamine (B1).

• 3% of the RDA for Potassium and Manganese.​

Here is the other MIND BLOWING fact about coffee (yeah the other try to find the first). which is the antioxidants in coffee alone actually outranks both vegetables ad fruits COMBINED!​(8)
You are still here trying to find out more?! Really?
OK, I'm not going to disappoint you. Another thing that we all felt after taking the first sip is that you feel HAPPY and satisfied right? Studies showed that just the smell of Coffee can make you happy so why should you ever stop it?
​However, that doesn't mean that you should drink 7 cups ( and i don't know why specially 7) you will be happier. Well, as we all know if we do anything too much it will be harmful .
The only one thing that could be called a drawback from drinking coffee is Insomnia due to the Caffeine in it, so don't drink it at 2 am and say oh Coffee is bad for my health i can't sleep!
Last but not least, enjoy your one cup of coffee everyday unless you have medical problems like heart problems, but for most of us it won't hurt but actually benefits us. 

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".