Water Babies
Healthy Eating
Natural nutritionist Vardit Kohn gives us 7 reasons why children who drink plenty of water are a step ahead of their fizzy-drink guzzling peers.
(All other things being equal) children who drink water…
Are less likely to suffer from the effects of sugar
Water contains no sugar; fizzy drinks contain lots. Sugar causes sharp energy and mood swings and undermines concentration. It can bring about panic attacks, nightmares, hyperactivity and chronic tiredness. It's addictive and also extremely common in all processed foods, so you are likely to be ingesting large amounts of it even without topping up with fizzy drinks. Drinking water means you control sugar consumption at least in the drinks department.
Are less likely to pile on the weight
Sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks are a major factor of obesity, which continues to soar, particularly amongst children, throughout the Western world. Despite being packed with sugar, calories and CO2, sugared fizzy drinks fail to make children feel full or trigger proper satiety controls. By contrast, water is sugar and calorie-free and helps to maintain and even reduce weight.
Are less likely to develop diabetes
Obesity can be a precursor to the life-threatening Type II diabetes which is currently on the rise in the UK. This type of diabetes is often the result of excessive sugar consumption, and one of the easiest ways to ingest sugar is sugar-loaded, fizzy drinks. Drinking water instead cuts daily sugar consumption by a long way.
Are at a lesser risk of developing dental cavities
Fizzy drinks bathe the teeth in a regular mixture of not only sugar but also acid, which attacks the enamel coating of the tooth and causes its decay. Dental disease remains a significant problem throughout the Western world, starting at an ever-younger age, and is made worse by unhealthy drinking habits. Drinking water presents no challenge to the teeth and provides a neutral environment in the mouth necessary for oral hygiene.
Can maintain more easily proper mineral and vitamin levels
Water allows the body to digest food properly and extract the required nutrients from it. By contrast, fizzy drinks contain high levels of phosphorus and chemical substances which are health-damaging in themselves and also hinder proper food absorption and utilisation. Over time, this can bring about a significant nutrient deficiency and imbalance, a major cause of chronic illness.
Provide their body with its primary working tool
A child's body is composed of at least 75% water; the brain is 80%; the blood 91%. Water is essential for most of the biochemical processes in the body - from digestion to spinal fluid flow to hormone transport. No other fluid can do what water does, which is why the only fluid found in nature (and therefore the one we are meant to drink) is water - there are no orange-coloured fizzy rivers out there! Drinking water ensures your body gets what it needs to function optimally; drinking fizzy pop does not.
Do not overload their body unnecessarily
A child's body, any body, works every second of the day and night, every day of its life on removing CO2 through the breath. Imbibing extra quantities of CO2 via fizzy drinks introduces an unnecessary pollutant into the body, and makes the body's self maintenance work that much harder.
