الاثنين، 1 نوفمبر 2010

The Water Myth: Debunking the dilution solution


Water. I have nothing against it. There are seas and lakes of it. It flows in rivers, brooks and streams. Sometimes it falls from the sky – great news for plants but not if you've just put the washing out.


Without it, we wouldn't have lovely cups of tea, or chicken soup, showers, baths or – if you are Japanese – a shower and then a bath. And when you're thirsty, there is nothing more refreshing than a glass of it.

But drinking a glass every now and then is rather different from having to drink two litres a day, which is what we should all be drinking, if you believe them: the Water Fascists.



Water Fascists. I have everything against them.

They are everywhere, preaching about the need for two litres a day and its umpteen health benefits. It's the best thing for your skin. It's the bestthing for your liver. It's the best thing for your kidneys. Water is "the forgotten nutrient". Without it, your legs will drop off and your pelvis will explode at a time that might not necessarily be the most convenient for you (while you're in Sainsbury's, for example).

I approached a department store's cosmetics counter the other day to buy an exorbitantly priced skin cream. It probably wouldn't live up to a single one of its promises but, what the heck, I was going to buy it anyway.

But what happened next made my jaw drop. The girl behind the counter (the sort who looks as though she has applied her foundation with a JCB) interrogated me not only on my fluid intake, but also on my output! "What colour is your wee?" she asked. Listen, love, some things are private, you know. "Is it dark?" she persisted.

Not telling. Go away. Just rip me off quickly, cleanly and efficiently. "It should be a pale, straw colour," she concluded, decisively, probably because she was wearing a white coat. On the counter was a little sign that read: "Dehydration is every woman's number one enemy". Mine's actually the VAT man, but there you go.

Now, as I've said, I've nothing against water; it's just the Water Fascists. And what about my parents' generation, who as far as I can see drink little or no water? Indeed, I can't recall my mother ever drinking a glass of water.

I call her up. "Do you ever drink water, Mum?" "No," she replies. I tell her that, by rights, she should be dead. "Well, I'm not, but I'll just check with your father" she says. "Denis! Am I dead?" she bellows. Mum returns to the phone with the verdict: "He confirms that I am not."

See? Not only not dead, but also, at 82, still in full possession of her marbles. Furthermore, she doesn't suffer from fatigue, headaches or muscle pains, and neither does she look like a shrivelled raisin. She also plays tennis every day (badly, and with no backhand, but that's not the point).

Right, let's take the Water Fascists' main claims and see if they stand up. First, two litres a day. Essential? Yes, in fact. Can't pick a fight here. Your body does use two litres of fluids a day. You're actually losing moisture all the time. Breathe on a mirror, if you don't believe me. But does it have to be two titres of water? Well, according to them, yes. Tea and coffee don't count because they are diuretics, they say – they actually make you lose more water than you retain. True? No, not really. Okay, coffee is quite diuretic – although you will still always retain some fluid – while tea, according to a recent review of the literature in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, actually hydrates the body as effectively as water.

Indeed, as Tom Sanders, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at King's College London, says, "Tea is the most widely consumed beverage throughout the world, and there must be a reason for that. It's actually a functional food." Hydrating, you mean? "Yes."

He also adds that you get a heck of a lot of water from food. Fruit and vegetables can contain up to 95 per cent water. Cucumber is water, more or less, but in the shape of a stick. A jacket potato contains 70 per cent water. An egg is 70 per cent. Chicken is 65 per cent. On average, we all consume a litre of water every day through food, plus our bodies produce water metabolically.

So, is there any scientific research showing that above and beyond what we might eat and drink we also need to drink two litres of water a day? The answer, in short, is no.

According to Claire Williamson, nutrition scientist with the British Nutrition Foundation: "If you take into account what you eat, you only need1.2 litres of fluids a day, and that fluid does not have to be water. Tea, coffee, fruit juice – they all count, as does alcohol, so long as it's not too strong." But if I don't drink a ton of water my skin will shrivel off, won't it? Again, no. Or, as a recent study by the foundation puts it: "There currently appears to be little scientific evidence relating to the effects of water consumption on skin hydration, and whether drinking more or less water actually has any impact on skin appearance."

The next claim is the one that perplexes me most: if you are thirsty, you have left it too late; you are dehydrated already. Hang on. Isn't this like saying that if I feel hungry I've left it too late to eat? Surely the safest bet is just to follow your body's signals in these matters? I'm thirsty. I'll have a drink. Now I'm not thirsty. Problem solved. Aren't we in danger of putting thirst out of business otherwise?

Back to Professor Sanders, who says, "There is evidence to show that cognitive function improves on drinking water when you are thirsty. But there is no benefit from drinking lots of water when you are not thirsty."

I wonder, if you are going to drink water, is it better to drink bottled water? "We would never recommend bottled water over tap water," says Claire Williamson. "Although some people do prefer the taste." As for themineral content, according to the World Health Organisation, it is of no proven benefit whatsoever.

Lastly, have you actually tried drinking two litres of water a day? I did for nearly a week, most of which was spent seeking out public toilets and getting up 12 times a night. To make it more scientific, I got my friend Alison to try as well, which was rather cruel, I admit, as she cycles from north London into central London every day. She says that, on her first morning, if it hadn't have been for the nice man opening the Argos on the Holloway Road (who allowed her to use the facilities), there would have been a nasty and shaming accident by Highbury Corner.

One final thought: writer HG Wells once said that the prime aim of any industry is to sell you air and water. Now you can buy bottled water with added oxygen. Not even the great science fiction visionary could have seen that particular scam coming.

Liquid Lunch

The facts reveal that there is plenty of water in the food we eat every day

Egg: 70%

Cucumber: 95%

Fruit and vegetables: 95%

Chicken: 65%

Jacket Potato: 70%

Deborah Ross / Easy Living © The Conde Nast Publications Ltd

'Obeisant' spells Scrabble triumph for transsexual


Casual players of Scrabble, take heart. Even in yesterday’s final of the national championships, the two opponents were unafraid to adorn the board with words more usually suited to the playground.


Alongside “zinebs” (an agricultural fungicide) and “cothurni” (leather boots worn by Athenian actors), spectators were treated to a few smirks at the appearance of “tit” and “nads” along the way. When Mark Nyman played “cut”, perhaps it was the thought of his own young children watching at the back of the auditorium that stopped him from deploying his “n”.

There comes a time in every Scrabble player’s life when you have to choose whether to play that word against your granny, one spectator laughed.

Returnees flee as Indonesia volcano spews more ash


MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia: Thousands of evacuees who risked a trip home near a deadly Indonesian volcano fled in panic as the mountain spewed more searing ash clouds Sunday, while rescuers finally resumed aid to tsunami victims in the country’s other unfolding disaster.

The number of people killed in the twin catastrophes climbed to almost 500 on Sunday, as dozens more bodies were found in the tsunami-ravaged Mentawai islands.

Indonesia, a vast island nation of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and eruptions because it straddles a series of fault lines and volcanoes known as the Pacific “Ring of Fire.” Warning sirens blared, and people sprinted down the slopes of Mount Merapi or sped off in cars and trucks while others who had returned amid a brief lull to check on their livestock jumped into rivers hoping to protect themselves when the volcano erupted, local disaster official Rusdiyanto said.

No new casualties were immediately reported in the latest blast, which sent massive clouds of ash down the less-populated southern and eastern slopes, an official said. The volcano has killed 38 people since it began erupting Tuesday.

Authorities have been frustrated that many of the more than 53,000 evacuated since the eruptions began Tuesday keep going back during the daylight hours, ignoring warnings of the danger. More than 2,000 troops had to be called in Saturday to force men, women and children to leave.

Residents of the once-fertile slopes of Merapi — which means Fire Mountain — say they’re just trying to salvage something of their lives.

“My farm has been destroyed by volcanic debris and thick dust. ... All I have left now are my cows and goats,” said Subarkah, who lives less than two miles (three kilometers) from the peak. “I have to find grass and bring it up to them, otherwise they’ll die.” The 46-minute eruption Sunday shot dust about a mile (two kilometers) into the air and a cloud of hot ash a half mile (a kilometer) down Merapi’s eastern and southern slopes, said Surono, chief of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.

“There should be no casualties from the new eruption because the flow of hot ash is lower and far from populated areas,” Surono said.

The airport in the city of Solo, 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Merapi, was forced to close Sunday for at least an hour due to volcanic dust that fell like rain, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the transportation ministry. He said the facility would reopen later Sunday night.

National airline Garuda Indonesia also rerouted flights from the airport at Yogyakarta indefinitely out of concerns volcanic dust from Merapi, 18 miles (30 kilometers) to the north, would damage plane engines, airline spokesman Pujobroto said.

In the last century, more than 1,400 have been killed by Merapi, one of the world’s most active volcanos.

Since Saturday’s large eruption, the volcano has had 63 lava bursts and nine small gas emissions, said Subandrio, an official with the volcano’s monitoring agency.

“The trend seems to be that the volcanic activity is increasing,” he said.

Surono warned that heavy rain Sunday increased the danger of another larger eruption because water falling into the fiery crater can create sudden vapor pressure in the lava dome, he said.

More than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the west, a break in stormy weather made it possible for boats and helicopters to ferry aid to the most distant corners of the Mentawai Islands, where some coastal communities were pounded by waves up to 18 feet (six meters) high last Monday. The tsunami swept entire villages to sea, and hundreds of homes, schools, churches and mosques were destroyed.

A military helicopter evacuated badly injured survivors who had languished in an overwhelmed hospital with only paracetamol to ease their pain, said Ade Edward, a disaster management official. Among those evacuated was a baby girl born in a shelter after the tsunami and a 12-year-old girl with a life-threatening chest wound.

A C-130 transport plane, six helicopters and four motorized longboats were ferrying food and emergency supplies Sunday, he said.

Relief efforts were brought to a complete stop Saturday by stormy weather and rough seas.

“We’re really glad to finally see the relief workers, doctors and rescue teams able to reach devastated areas,” Edward said, adding that two navy ships arrived Sunday with many more police and soldiers deployed to speed up relief efforts.

The tsunami death toll climbed to 449 on Sunday with the discovery of dozens more bodies, said Nelis Zuliastri from the National Disaster Management Agency.

The fault that ruptured Monday, running the length of the west coast of Sumatra island, also caused the 9.1-magnitude quake that unleashed a monster tsunami around the Indian Ocean in 2004, killing 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Imran Abbas





Mr Pakistan Imran Abbas

Aisha wife of the Prophet Muhammad


Mother of the Believers Aisha bint Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with:
Is one of the wives of Prophet Muhammad bin Abdullah, peace be upon him, and Mothers of the Believers.
I was born in the fourth year after the mission, Ruth Aisha, may Allah be pleased many of the hadith of the Prophet peace be upon him, especially with regard to his private life,
(Numbered 2210, including 316 Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim)


Rates of the mother of believers Aisha, may Allah be pleased:
Father: Abu Bakr ibn Abi dipper Othman bin Amer bin Amr bin Ka'b bin Saad bin bin time Tim ibn Ka'b bin Loay bin Ghalib bin Fahr bin Malik bin Al Nadar Kenana Khuzaymah Ben Ben Ben Ben Elias aware Mudar bin Nizar bin contagious bin Adnan.
Her mother: mother of Roman bint Amer bin Omair bin stunned Ben Dahman bin Harith bin Tim bin Malik bin Kenana Khuzaymah Ben Ben Ben Ben Elias aware Mudar bin Nizar bin contagious bin Adnan.


Marriage the mother of believers Aisha, may Allah be pleased:

Married the Prophet peace be upon him after the death of his first wife, Mother of the Believers Khadija Bint and his marriage to the mother of believers black girl Zama Amiriya Qurashiyyah,
That was two years before the migration, although it appears that was six years old,
While married the Prophet peace be upon him and nine years when it was built as stated in Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim
This, however, responded to the tongue only after I grew older did not return to the San Prophet peace be upon him, therefore, that this was a subject of controversy among scientists
He said some of them, such as Sheikh Khaled soldier that his marriage was the largest of it, especially since the birth dates were not recorded at the time and then the real age of fourteen years old
Depending on the measurement of the age-old big sister Asma bint Abi Bakr, has lived with the Prophet peace be upon him eight years and five months.
Some reports also say that Aisha, may Allah be pleased by the amount to women when they married the Prophet peace be upon him.
And also that Ibn Hajar narrated from Abu Naim that Asma bint Abi Bakr, sister of Aisha, may Allah be pleased by the Great was born before the migration is twenty-seven years old,
This means that Aisha, may Allah be pleased she was seventeen years ago when migration
Any time he married the Prophet peace be upon him grow up because the names of Aisha, may Allah be pleased about ten years.
And that I'm Qutaybah text that Aisha, may Allah be pleased died in fifty-eight was almost seventy,
This means that it was when her marriage to the Prophet, peace be upon him at the age of about thirteen, because marriage is such as migration Prophet Muhammad


The most prominent characteristics of the mother of believers Aisha, may Allah be pleased:

Three areas characterized by including Aisha, namely:
Knowledge and education
Mrs. unexplained the updated
Mrs. fiqh
The reason I have a yoke and a sharp intelligence and knowledge, God bless them gm
And has an effective role in serving Islam through the transfer of the conversations and the interpretation of many of the life of the Prophet peace be upon him.
To go beyond its role as a woman to become a mentor to a whole nation, namely the Islamic nation as a whole.

Hillary Clinton scandal - Smiley





Hillary Clinton scandal - Smiley


US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem addresses a press conference at the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi on Saturday


Dirt out of her nose

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