Actually, clean water is the absolute best thing one can have, as our bodies evolved processing it. So not only does it cleanse the blood, but also regulates all the other bodily functions too! So on a hot day, adding ice to just water is sometimes wonderful beyond words - Which is why I mostly fill myself up with water only, but at the end I take just a little bit of lemonade. Which actually fools the subconscious mind into thinking that I must have drank a bucket full of sugary lemonade, (while in reality I took only a glass)...
Cappy, I loved reading about your lemon harvest! Such a blessing to have lemon trees in the garden. Our climate only allows us to have them outdoors in the summer, but overwintering a container-bound little tree is not an option for me: no space . The way you describe those freshly washed lemons as looking perfect, I can just see them in front of me, shiny, fragrant, round & bursting with juice . As you may have guessed, my favourite drink on a hot day is indeed lemonade, even though I make do with store-bought syrup. I always use fizzy mineralwater, seems to quench my thirst better. The fizz-sound kind of adds a summery feeling, too
It is now believed that the three most dangerous things on the dining table are sugar, flour and salt. Flour is said to be good for constipation! And constipation is the mother is many problems. Flour contains hardly any fibre. Salt is nothing but Sodium chloride and sodium is not needed through salt to our body. Once in the body, it has the tendency to absorb water from the tissues. Salt is used for taste and imagine the times when its use was not in recipes a century ago when there were less health issues. We take more of these things than actually our body needs and the body organs are not ready to handle the inputs! Salt available in natural fruits and vegetables are enough to meet the daily requirement but what we consume for taste is extra and this is what lead to problems that develop over the years. For sugar to be white, chemical processing is needed and more white the sugar and more 'free flowing' it is the more dangerous it is. Using in moderation and even better near-total avoidance of these things, they say, is one of the better ways if one wants to enjoy good health. Just imagine how much quantity of these things and many more our livers and kidneys have to process! Imagine the work load. They are asked to do jobs they are not qualified at! And too much. Right? Of course, I'm generalizing the scenario. One more thing I heard.. sodium chloride.. once in the body, the body does not know how to throw it out. Yes, lemon and honey go well. Jaggery is not refined and hence contains minerals and iron. We buy it from an organic farmers' outlet and we get clean jaggery, which we use for cooking. A little jaggery is advised after eating peanuts, to neturalize any ill-effects the aflatoxins in the peanuts may cause. Craving for sugar is a clear 'mind symptom' identified in Homeopathy which indicates a drug called 'Argentum nitricum' [silver nitrate]. @Tooty2shoes, please look up this, even if it is just for information. You may find other symptoms that are bothering you [homeopathy is based on symptomatology] and this red-line 'symptom' of sugar craving will help you cure many of those 'ailments' [what it may be], through Argentum nitricum.. in either 30th or 200th or even 1000th potency. You may consult a homeopath with this very important and clear symptom, if you wish. I'm just mentioning the broad abilities of homeopathy. @cajuncappy, very thoughtful of you to prepare something out of the lemon peels. I like dried peels that are sweetened and spiced a bit. We also prepare occasionally a sort of pickle [different from lime pickles] by mixing tamarind juice, chilli powder, mustard, slight oil, salt and jaggery. It is to be boiled till the things become like paste. Lemon peels are cut into small pieces. I love this. We also prepare this with bitter lime. Orange peels also can be used in this.. I love all these. It can be stored for a few days in the fridge. @S-H, when I visited 2 people who had built new houses to see how they had made rain-water harvesting, they were mentioning the benefits of regular use of rainwater. One person told that his wife had kidney stones and that disappeared and also the joint pain was almost cured with about 10 months use. They showed me how they made separate sumps to collect rain and one season's rain would last a year's supply - for cooking and drinking. Of course, the water from the rooftops are properly filtered [sand]. The cooking vessels do not develop scales and food cooked from this water is tastier, both the families said. They gave me a glass to drink and it was different. I'll wait for your lemon juicing machine. Coca cola and Pepsi - there is so much of publicity for these! What they can do on toilets and sinks they can do on our stomachs and intestines. Are not there people that complained of myriad problems after drinking them frequently? There are hardly anyone who speaks ill of lemonade or even tender coconut water...... Two pictures from my trip to Delhi on the way to Dehra Dun [to play cricket]. We had some time in Delhi and we strolled through Karol Bagh, a popular shopping area. Two lemonade carts.
Sounds great, the lemons but I dar'nt go near anything lemon if it goes down wrong way I almost choke. I have had that happen to me twice, sensitive throat I think. The Becks Tooty; I bought six - six weeks ago, put them in the fridge and there is still six......... I will drink them though, I love them. K
Interesting post that you did Denu, I believe also the bowels are the center of all our ailments. 'We Are What We Eat'. I listened for a short time last night about Wheat being bad for us, also sugar and salt as Denu mentions. Obesity is so bad here they are thinking of taxing sugar. I am not Obese by the way quite the oposite. I do have Rheumatoid arthritis though which is probably down to diet, bowels problems with the medication and not drinking enough water. I really wanted to know why Wheat and Gluten are bad for us but I caught the program late.
Wow I love it. You all are such a great fountain of good info. I will definitely go to my local homeopathic shop and see what they suggest for my sugar craving. Today was a hard day. But I am going to have a glass of fizzy water and try and ignore those little sugar demons. Kate-I did watch a program on PSS about how bad wheat is for us. You often see people who are over weigh carrying a lot of their weigh around their bellies. It is called Wheat-belly. But it is hard to find a good substitute for bread. I try and use organic Spelt flour which is not as harmful to you. Or other non-wheat flour blends that I love to bake with. If I wasn't so lazy I would make my own bread. I always well someday. I would check out a homeopathic for your arthritis. But also not drinking enough water does cause joint problems. Who new that one question would lead to so much great information from other Stewbies all over the world. I love it.
My favorite drink on a hot day (like today in which it was a blazin 98 degrees) Is ice cold WATER!! However, every once in a while especially on a Friday afternoon, I love an ice cold Rolling Rock. It's a nice mild tasty beer.
Please don't demonize slat... Because in the merciless hot climate I am in, one can loose way too much slat by sweating. So the available amount in natural fruits, vegetables, plus the quantity of beef that I always consume - Is never enough to make up for this loss... Seriously, if your body starts to run low on slat, you can get very painful cramps, specially in the lower limbs and back. Anybody who has gone through this will know exactly what I am talking about. While those who dwell in cooler areas of the world may think I am exaggerating a bit... However, reality is that we cannot let salt levels go too low - Or else we pay for it, often very painfully! Which is why some people over here like to add a bit of slat in their lemonade too. Also, our bodies (mainly the chemical processes by which we turn food into energy) are regulated by electrolytes. And since water alone makes a very poor electrolyte, is the reason why we need salt all the time.
No, @S-H , I was not demonizing salt. What we do is overdose. We have this tendency, don't we? This is the danger in the long run. I know sodium is required for the body. A good substitute can be rock salt. Some information here: http://www.livestrong.com/article/387840-himalayan-rock-salt-health-benefits/ I'm sure you will know of this. I know what pain cramp in the muscles can do... even if it is temporarily, from my own experience. I take homeopathic Magnesium phosphate [Mag. Phos, in short, in the tissue salt form] in case I get. Not that we avoid salt in the diet, but the extras we add - occasionally it would be ok, but salt craving is an ailment that indicates homeopathic Natrum Mur [nothing but Sodium chloride.. remedy prepared from it]. Black salt and rock salts can be added too. Table salt I hear is treated and hence not good for health. Crystal salt is better. Gluten in wheat is now found to cause many ailments and some naturopaths advocate avoiding wheat only because they are genetically modified and grown - a major portion of it. This is what is causing diseases - even if this is only a part - in people. There is a variety of wheat grown - the long variety - in the Punjab area that cannot be GM-d and also it contains very less gluten. More later. Bye for now.
Okay, wonderful as all the above information is, it is getting a bit off topic here. Feel free to start another topic to continue since many are really interested. On a really hot day I grab a can of Yeo's Chrysanthemum Tea. It cools my system after being in the heat and reduces any inflammation in muscles from getting up and down a lot in the garden and just generally makes a hot day much better.
Another wonderful beverage that everyone seems to have forgotten about - Is sugar cane juice!!! It too is also extremely common here in Pakistan, and specially in Karachi city, (where the climate is always mercilessly hot). When ice is added to it, it becomes something that isn't easily expressed in words. One really need to taste it to fully understand what I am saying. By the way, sugar cane juice works wonders for people who have an impaired liver function. So aside from a recreational beverage, this one is often take as a medicine too, (as it's packed with vitamins and glucose)!
Sugarcane juice, yes yes, it is common here to find roadside carts selling them. Peeled canes hanging and a crusher on the cart is a common scene here. Lemon and ice also are added - some do not prefer ice. Sugarcane juice is good for patients suffering from jaundice - as S-H mentioned about its action on the liver. This is of course, a very refreshing drink on a summer day or at any time. We must not forget also Coconut water. It is also very common. Pavements are their shops... it is not legal, but the police are hand in hand... they get bribed. This is my favourite too. Sometimes we bring the raw nuts home to drink. We also get Palmyrah fruit, something like the tender coconut. It has a short season. They are grown in the neighbouring states and not much in our state of Karnataka. This summer we were able to eat them 3 times. The kernel has to be raw to be enjoyed. It if matures too much, it becomes too hard to bite. It is a good summer fruit. But coconut is available throughout the year. Our city's temperatures reach a max. of 37-38C in summers. Winter minimum will be about 12 on some days but mostly 14-15.
slush is a good one to cool you down on a hot day...we leave out the booze and add seven-up to the icy drink. I just made a batch this morning to have this weekend when we are suppose to have hot temperatures...it has tea in it, orange juice and lemonade...
I found the sugar cane and lots of India stuff. http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acat...&network=pla&gclid=CNbPwbTy38YCFajHtAodLHcKSw K
