Author: Andreas

Sunday Health Hack No. 2 – Pimp up your water (Health Hack No.1) with some Lemon “spritz”.

Okay, I hear you – In regard to my Sunday Hack No. 1 many will complain “Drinking still water is boring!” And I am 100% with you. So let’s pimp it up a little bit.

But first let me emphasize that we need to become aware that we all are totally “over-sugared” too. Meaning in this case, our tastebuds are out of whack. And I will come back to this “sugar issue” in many other hacks again in the future.

So pure, plain and simple water often tastes like “nothing” for many. And that’s another reason why many need “sparkling water” for at least some kind of “sensation”. 🙁

First, also find a “local spring” in your area / county. Quality matters, “quality” water already tastes totally different. Don’t buy your mineral water in the supermarket if possible. For example, by law “spring” water may contain eg. max. 10µg/liter of “lead” (most have none though) whereas “mineral water” in the supermarket may contain four times as much (40µg/liter). This doesn’t sound like much but it accumulates badly over time. And Foodwatch even found for children critical amounts of Uranium in well-known brands like San Pellegrino or Perrier.

Of course it goes without saying that the water should be bottled in glass NOT PET, for much too many (bad) reasons to have them all listed here!

Lucky us, we do have several “springs” in our region, and I order my “still drinking water” from these local water companies most often even directly. And I also use it for my coffee and tea (and even ice cubes).

If you can’t find any or even don’t have any local springs, put some effort in googling for a company which bottles water from an “artesian spring” nearest by (state, country).
“Artesian” means that the water pushed itself up, taking all the good minerals with it, and wasn’t pulled out from down-earth by force.
It’s really worth the little extra effort (and money). Because you don’t really wanna know what’s in the supermarket-water, in your tap-water (despite the many claims of your local water-company) or sometimes even worse in your home’s water-pipes. But despite, your tastebuds will tell the big difference too.
And again, I often wonder why people are prepared to pay a “fortune” for “sugary liquids” (Cola etc.) but sneer if they have to pay an extra dime for pure high quality water.

Sidenote: For cooking (pasta water etc.) I use regular tap-water in combination with a good water-filter just to be safe.

Another sidenote: I know there are many other ways how to additionally “improve” your water like extra alkalisation or oxygenation etc.. But, as emphasized, let’s keep it simple here.

Second, get some organic lemons. Some for at home, and some for the office. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze a couple of “spritzers” into your “boring, still water”. Just some drops so that the water gets a nice “twist” but is not too bitter.

That’s the “taste” part. Now let’s have a look into the additional “health benefits” of drinking “lemon water”.

Most might know that lemons contain Vitamin C. A couple of lemon drops into one glass of water is not much of course. But if you follow the Sunday Hack No. 1 and you do have ~10 small extra glasses of water every day, these few drops accumulate to a real nice dose of extra Vitamin C daily.

Some science background if I may – Vitamin C supports the production of white blood cells known as lymphocytes and phagocytes, which help protect the body against infection, and Vitamin C also helps these white blood cells function more effectively while protecting them from damage.

That’s why your mom used to bring you a “hot lemon water with honey” when you were a kid lying in bed with a bad cold.

But foremost Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can strengthen your body’s natural defences. Antioxidants are molecules that boost the immune system. They do so by protecting cells from harmful molecules called free radicals which are the root cause for many diseases. And these antioxidant compounds also have a positive effect on blood glucose levels and improved insulin resistance, the two main factors in the development of type 2 diabetes as well as obesity.
Meaning, adding some lemon into your water may even further support weight loss. 🙂

And in Ayurvedic medicine it is said that the sour lemon taste helps stimulate your “agni”. A strong agni jump-starts the digestive system, allowing you to digest food more easily which also helps to prevent the buildup of toxins. And a strong agni is of major support for your liver in its critical detoxification process.

But that’s enough background information for today. I will refer to above mentioned topics like antioxidants or insulin resistance in future Sunday Hacks again because they are of huge importance for our health.

So, to wrap it up – today’s Sunday Health Hack No. 2 is A) please find a good source of “spring water”, as local as possible, and B) “upgrade” your water with a “spritz” of (organic) lemon juice, freshly squeezed.

Again, as I have and will emphasize all the time, this doesn’t require any changes in your current lifestyle, but it may have a very positive effect on your overall ”system” (health).

And if your colleagues snitch one of your lemons from the office kitchen, be happy for them, knowing you did something good for their well-being.

Sweet & Sour,  Andreas

Quote of the Day
When Life gives you Lemons, sweeten it with Gratitude!

Music of the Day
A nice lemonade is made for a summer storm –

Sunday Health Hack No. 1 – Drink a glass of water in addition to every other “liquid” you indulge during the day.

Let me start with something “funny”. A couple of years ago, long before Corona, I was invited to a nice, vegan dinner event and I was lucky that three of the six guests on my table were young doctors.
Soon the topic of the evening became “Let food be thy medicine”, Hippocrates’s most famous statement. First, all three doctors complained that they hardly learned anything about “nutrition”, food or diets in their university education. It was all about “symptoms” and how to treat them, never addressing really its roots (which is most often caused by “not so good” diet/food choices).
Next, interesting, all three had privately gone on a quest after university for exploring the impact of nutrition on health in-depth.

“Most often people are so contaminated, and their system is so clogged up with all kind of ‘waste’ that it even doesn’t make much sense to run a blood test or to treat the apparent condition because I have no clue where the root cause is coming from” one doc explained.  

This is why this doctor started to implement a new “treatment” first. If possible, without endangering the health/life of his patient of course, this young doctor puts his patients on a “diet” for 10 days first.

>> Please, just for 10 days, please don’t eat any meat, dairy products, grains, and nightshade plants. Also try to avoid sugar as much as possible, less caffeine, no alcohol but loads of water, up to 3 liters per day. Just for 10 days. After that you can eat and drink whatever you want again. <<

Sounded pretty much like “fasting” to me, without her calling it “fasting” because of its “bad rep” with many people, but which undoubtfully offers multiple health benefits.

Did you know that animals instinctively go into a “fast” if they don’t feel well? Must have a reason. So next time your dog declines his food, let him. She probably knows what she is doing.

Especially the “drinking 3 liters of water a day” part is most important, the doctor went on, because if we don’t drink enough our body can’t flush out all the toxins which then accumulate over time all over the place in our system, causing eventually unidentifiable symptoms. Unfortunately, she also pointing out, studies proof that 80% of the western population, some claim even 90%, are actually severely “dehydrated”. Which is not only due to bad “drinking habits” – coffee and sodas (and alcohol) are “liquids” too, right? Not quite, these often have even diuretic effects (besides many undesired others). But also humans lose their natural urge to drink (thirst) with age which slowly but surely can lead to dehydration too.

Most patients, severely in “pain”, do anything and concurred with the doctor’s advice. Well, it’s just for 10 days. It can’t get any worse, hopefully?

50% of her patients, the doctor joked, then return after this 10-day-diet (fast) proclaiming joyfully that they have never felt better in their life before and almost all symptoms (pains) were gone. Most of the other 50% of her patients also showed sometimes even major improvements and now, after having them “cleaned up”, the doctor was able to identify and address the real underlying conditions.

But I liked the first 50% group much better! How many go to their doctor, just to get a pill prescribed for the symptoms, and two others for the side effects of the first one, whereas all they actually needed was the advice to “DRINK (much) MORE WATER”.

Sunday Health Hack No. 1 – Smart “drinking” (water)

I will come back to (the benefits of drinking) “water” later in some other hacks again for sure but for today, the easy Sunday Health Hack is – Drink one small glass of still water to every cup of other “liquids”!

Maybe you had been to Austria before and visited one of the many lovely “antiquely” coffee houses. Do you remember that they always served a tiny glass of still water to your coffee? An “old tradition” but with a genuine background.

So next time, you have a cup of coffee or tea, either at home or in the office, have a glass of water with it too. Just a small one. Just eg. 200ml which you can drink in two or three large gulps. If you like to indulge a coke or an energy drink during the day, complement it with a glass of water. And if you relish your evening beer or your wine with friends, have even two, ratio 1:2 (and say Good-bye to foggy hang-overs the next day as well).

Forget about eg. the famous 1,5l bottle on your office desk which you promise yourself to drink every day. This rarely works. But of course, if you already do have your own successful “drinking water” habit implemented, please definitely continue.

Stick with what you are doing (drinking) and make it a simple routine to just add an extra glass of water, eg. while waiting for the coffee or the tea to brew.

It’s a game of numbers – I read an article with a statistic that on average people drink three cups of coffees a day, two cups of tea, five glasses of soda or other “fitness / energy” drinks, and two beers or glasses of wine (they left out the hard stuff, good!!).

So to every of these “drinks” you have just a small glass of water, eg. 200ml, but which then sums up to an “extra” 2,4 liters per day (12x 200ml)!! Without ANY effort. Without you having to change or forgo anything, or to gulp down a “forgotten” 1.5 liter bottle in one go. Let alone you don’t have to deny yourself anything (which would be sabotaged by your sub-consciousness anyway).

And don’t beat yourself up. Of course I am constantly missing out an extra glass of water here and there too. But still, inducing effortless an extra 1-2 liters of water daily, your kidneys, your blood vessels, your immune-system, your gut (the HQ of your immune-system), your skin, your brain, your energy levels, your “overall system” will appreciate this “additional flush” on the long run very much for sure!

Much Flow & Good Spirits,  Andreas

PS: We are talking about “still water” here! Though I can’t prove it, I am sure that “sparkling water” has been invented and sold to people with a huge marketing effort by the food industry on (wicked) purpose.

The carbon dioxide in the sparkling water stimulates the gastric acid which then triggers hunger pangs. Which then leads to “multiple snacking attacks” during the day or “overeating” in the restaurant or at home. Meaning, huge extra business for the food corporates.

Whereas “still water” has a “calming” effect on your gastric acid. And with time the “lust” for futile snacks vanishes. And next time you are in a restaurant, please have a glass of still water before your meal and you will notice that your stomach will signal you much earlier that you are good.

Thus you may benefit from an additional nice side effect – Without having to abstain from your beloved food choices by force, just drinking (lots of) “still water” is a great weight-loss trick too!

Stay in the flow, Andreas

Quote of the Day
Let “water” be thy medicine. And medicine be thy “water”.
Please forgive that I rearranged Hippocrates most famous quote, using “water” instead of “food”.

Music of the Day
Around 70% of your body-mass is “water”. Water is “energy”. And energy can be influenced by “music”. Most famously the Japanese scientist Dr. Masaru Emoto proofed in many studies how water changes its “form” (crystals) and even its “colour” when treated with different music genres, from heavy metal (blurry / dirty) to classical music (clean / shiny).
So try to give your water (body) a good music treat. Let it vibrate 🙂 –

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