Do you want more energy without having to do any more work? If so, this will probably be one of your favorite articles. After making just slight modifications in your diet, outlined in the next few pages, your body and your mind will have up to 70% more energy to draw from.
What could you do with that extra energy?
To explain this you must first understand that the human body uses more energy digesting food than it does by performing all other normal acts combined. So, with that in mind, if we stopped eating altogether we would have endless energy...right?...not quite.
Our bodies are very complex mechanisms. In order for us to perform any action, we must first supply it with enough energy (calories). We do this, obviously, by eating and drinking. However, like a car, if we supply it with the wrong type of fuel or energy it will eventually stop performing, or at least stop performing efficiently.
This next paragraph is vitally important, so please read and re-read it until you understand exactly why it has been included here. In today's hectic society we find ourselves spending less and less time thinking about the nutrients that we put into our bodies. We do this so that we have more time to concentrate on work, family and everything else. We then justify eating fast, overcooked food, which dulls our focus and slows our physical as well as mental pace. Hmm, what went wrong? If we spend more time planning our food intake, then it makes sense that the foods we eat would supply us with an infinitely greater supply of energy to do everything and anything we require of our body on a daily basis, because our digestive system would require much less energy for the digestion process!
This can be easily visualized in the following equation:
POORLY PLANNED DIET = MORE TIME AND ENERGY SPENT DIGESTING FOOD = LESS ENERGY, MENTALLY & PHYSICALLY
= STRESS
PROPERLY PLANNED DIET = FAST, THOROUGH DIGESTION
= MASSIVE ENERGY RESERVES
There are two nutrients that outperform all others when it comes to squeezing the most out of every calorie that we consume, enzymes and water. Enzymes have been called the spark plug of life. They are responsible for digesting everything that goes into our mouth, nose, and everything that contacts our skin. Without enzymes, not only would these substances literally sit and stagnate inside our systems, but our hormones and glands would not work, and that would not be a pretty sight.
There are 4 major enzymes:
Amylase - needed to break down starches
Lipase - needed to break down fats
Protease - needed to break down protein
and Cellulase - needed to break down cellulose
By now you could probably guess that without each of these enzymes in their correct proportions we would fail to function. Remember, everything that our bodies ingest, no matter how large or small, it must either assimilate or eliminate. Both processes are controlled directly through our enzymatic pathways.
Enzymes are found in all living things. Enzymes though, are destroyed by the chemicals and the temperatures that we use to process, clean and cook our foods. Our best sources of enzymes are fresh, raw vegetables that have not yet been tampered with.
In addition to enzymes, in order to aid in the digestion of our foods we must also consume a certain amount of plain fresh water. Although this is essential to our bodies functions, there's a trick to this. We cannot consume large amounts of water with our foods, because the water itself tends to dilute the enzymes in our digestive tracts. So to maximize the benefits of enzymes and water, the consumption of water is best done between meals and in the following manner...
WATER
We all know how great an ice cold glass of water feels and tastes on a hot day. But do you realize how absolutely important plain, clean water is to your daily health? Water is a rather simple organic compound composed of two parts hydrogen and one part
oxygen. It is tasteless, odorless and clear, yet no living organism or chemical reaction can survive for more than 72 hours without a constant supply of this overlooked miracle of nature.
The human body is 70% water. It can, through stress or starvation, become depleted of 50% of its carbohydrate, fat and protein stores before death or disease are just around the corner. But, if the human body is not supplied with ample water, and
consequently it loses 20% of its stores then delirium and death are immanent.
Your personal requirements for water will vary with your weight, physical activity and stage of life. Under normal environmental conditions, a physically active adult body requires approximately two-thirds of an ounce of water per pound of body weight. This
adds up to about 8-10 glasses of water per day for an average size female, and 10-12 glasses for an average size male. To be more specific body/water balance is maintained when the input of water matches the output of body fluids. The main avenue for water loss
is through the urinary tract, but the body also excretes water through feces, exhaled air and sweat.
As stated earlier water comprises over 70 percent of body weight in humans. It is stored in various areas within the body. We will focus on only two of those areas, intercellular and intra vascular.
Intercellular water if found around body cells and is responsible for the health of the cells that it protects. Unfortunately, it is also the main component of subcutaneous water deposits. This is the water that accumulates between a person's muscle and skin that promotes the "bloated" appearance we all dread.
The term intra vascular, when used here, refers to the water within the veins that regulates our blood pressure as well as other things. When the body is deprived of waterfor an extended period of time, it compensates for this disturbance by moving the water from one storage site to another, thus maintaining an equal balance of water everywhere.
The problem occurs when water is taken from the intra vascular storage sites to be used in other areas, forcing a person's blood pressure to rise accordingly. Therefore, athletes who perform their activities without replacing the water lost through sweat are taxing their bodies in more ways than they might realize.
In addition to creating an unhealthy atmosphere for the body, a lack of water places the entire system in a survival mode, forcing it to retain any water that is consumed from that point on. This is one of the main reasons nutritionist insist that people who retain water naturally, gradually consume more water until their body's defense mechanism is dropped, and they begin to excrete the optimum amount of fluid. This takes the pressure off of the body and allows it to freely excrete both the old and the new water on a regular basis. When this balance is not attained, the cells are forced to function with the old, more polluted water within them. Think of your cells as existing in a lake of water. Where would you rather live? In a lake that is stagnant and filled with mildew, or in a lake that is constantly being refreshed with a clean supply of water? The answer is obvious.
Pure water is, by far, everybody's natural choice as a coolant and thirst quencher. Soda's and sports drinks that contain sugar (sucrose, fructose, glucose) and sodium actually increase the body's need for pure water. In a country blessed with some of the cleanest drinking water in the world, it is hard to believe that most Americans consume far more carbonated, sugar filled drinks than plain water.
THE ENZYME/WATER LINK
Truly the healthiest supply of water lies not only within our great water reservoirs but within the foods those reservoirs help us to grow. The most natural and nutrient rich state of both enzymes and water is their live state. Although that might sound a bit unorthodox or even gross, think of it this way:
A vegetable has both a massive supply of enzymes and water. Even better than that those enzymes and water are combined in their most natural and useful state. When we, as humans, were created we were given certain vegetation and animals to help us quench our hunger.
Whatever religious background you adhere to, you must believe that those things were not given to us in a cooked or chemically cleaned state. Humans were designed to function at their peek level of efficiency only
when consuming adequately combined nutrients. ‚Nature' took care of that for us by combining life giving nutrients inside of these pretty packages we call vegetables, fruits, grains, fish and meats.
Each of these were given the exact amount of enzymes needed to digest that particular type of food. The problems arise when we ‚put our two cents in' and cook that food. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not
suggesting or advocating the consumption of raw meats. Exactly the opposite.
What is so helpful about this whole equation is that there is one exception to this rule that allows us to eat and properly digest some cooked meats. Vegetables were given an abundant supply of both water and enzymes. As a matter of fact, they were given so much that if we consume just that particular category in its raw state, assuming that we consume enough of it, we can get away with digesting quite a bit of the other four categories of foods in a cooked state. Therefore, cooking your meat and fish and in the same meal combining raw (preferably organic) vegetables will provide you with a broad spectrum of enzymes. The enzymes in the raw vegetables we eat will help us digest the meats that we consume in that meal.
