The Healthy Gut Cookbook: How to Keep in Excellent Digestive Health with 60 Recipes and Nutrition Advice. Marguerite Patten
kitchen after a hard day’s work is not a pretty sight. Perhaps the food she prepares is not really affected by her mood, but you can be sure that her exhaustion, or frustration, from a day in the office can charge the air with tension, destroying any chance of easy conversation and giving everyone at least a touch of indigestion! Food is a beautiful part of life. Enjoy cooking it and eating it. (See the Glossary for more information about Ayurveda.)
Adopting the Golden Rules of Eating, listed overleaf, is a good first step towards maintaining a healthier digestive system. Try applying this strategy to at least one meal each day. You can begin with breakfast, lunch or dinner – it does not matter. Over time, the ‘practice’ of relaxing during this one daily meal will help you develop healthier habits every time you eat. You might be pleasantly surprised by the speedy disappearance of belching, heartburn and flatulence you suffered in the past.
water – the foundation of life
If you want a healthy gut, drink an adequate amount of water.
Water is indispensable for life and makes up approximately 99 per cent of molecules within the cells of the human body. It is also essential for many processes in the body: watery amniotic fluid, for example, provides a safe surrounding for a growing foetus; transport of toxins and waste from the kidneys depends on water. And, more to the point here, a large part of digestion takes place in a watery environment. The internal messages that signal dehydration are clear – dry mouth, poor concentration and headaches. If we fail to respond to these signals the results can be constipation, the build-up of renal waste leading to kidney stones, and bladder infections when harmful
The golden rules of eating
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.
GETTING ENOUGH WATER
The normal chemical processes within our body (metabolism) produce about a third of the total fluids we need, but what about the remainder? What we drink supplies about 60 per cent of our daily fluid intake, what we eat supplies the rest. It may surprise you to know that bread and cereals provide a source of water, and fruit and vegetables in a balanced diet can supply about 18 per cent of our needs. It is well to remember that eating plenty of soft fruit and vegetables provides water in addition to vitamins and minerals. If you are travelling and find yourself in a place where it may be difficult to get water, or where you do not trust the available drinking water, consider enjoying a freshly cut melon or a well-washed peach to quench your thirst.
It is difficult to say exactly how much water to consume because the body’s requirements vary from person to person. Our level of activity and state of health influence our needs for water, as do environmental aspects like temperature and humidity. Obviously it is sensible to increase the fluid you drink if you have perspired heavily, or if the weather is hot and dry; but by how much? The answer varies according to both vogue and scientific opinion. The middle ground seems to be between four and six glasses (1½–1¾litres/ 2½–3 pints) of water per day, with additional quantities drunk when needed to compensate for fluid lost through heavy exercise, weather and illness.
Like everything else in life, it is possible to get too much of a good thing: you actually do yourself harm by drinking too much water. Sports experts warn that some athletes – principally runners – put their health at risk in this way. Writing in the Telegraph, Peta Bee pointed out that, while hydration is important during sport, statements like ‘you cannot drink too much water’ and ‘don’t worry about the heat, just drink more’ are wrong and dangerous. Water intoxication and other problems can occur that disrupt the body’s salt balance, leading to dizziness, respiratory problems and even collapse. For those participating in strenuous exercise, such as long-distance running, a safe rule is to drink about half a glass (about a quarter of a pint) of water for every hour of exercise. Or, weigh yourself before and after exercise: replenish your fluid levels by drinking two medium glasses of water for every pound of weight lost.
• Build your meals around fruits and vegetables.
• Add foods high in complex carbohydrates (such as wholemeal pasta and bread, potatoes, rice, maize).
• Enjoy a single serving of high-protein foods (meat, eggs, dairy products, soya) at each meal.
• Top it off with a little of what you fancy. Unless you have a known medical condition that prohibits this luxury, a glass a wine or a small dish of ice cream will not break the nutritional bank.
• Cut down your intake of deep-fried and other fatty foods and refined carbohydrates (white bread and pasta, sugar), and limit your alcohol consumption. These foods are liabilities when it comes to good gut health.
Just like any other part of the body, a healthy gut requires a balanced intake of foods supplying the full complement of essential vitamins and minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. In fact, the gut needs a more constant flow of nutrients than many other organ systems because the processes of digestion scour surface cells from the gut lining at an amazing rate: the lining of the gut is replaced every 72 hours. This rapid turnover increases its vulnerability to ulceration and inflammation.
What sets the nutritional needs of the gut apart is its need for