Drinking is also a misnomer, since in the foods we eat every day, there is a very high proportion of water: 90% in fruits and vegetables, but also 70% in meat or fish, and even 34% in bread… Without eating, thanks to our reserves, we can survive four to five weeks. Without water, we die in three or four days. We must therefore drink a large quantity of liquid every day, and if you will always find some researchers to praise the medical virtues of beer or wine, it is quite obvious that pure water remains the best solution.
Several questions arise
First, tap water or mineral water? For years, the French medical profession has conveyed the idea that with very rare exceptions, especially due to agricultural nitrates, tap water was perfect for our consumption, including for baby bottles… However, according to the Organization World Health Organization, 32 million French people consume water whose lead content, for example, is far too high. We might also talk regarding nickel or arsenic, just as dangerous and just as present in our tap water. For the moment, the situation is not worrying, and the consequences are limited to being wary of lead pipes – letting the water run for a few moments before drinking it – or buying rapid purification systems…
But it nevertheless explains the fashion and especially the astonishing progression of mineral waters. Hence the second question: mineral water, okay, but which one? Especially since this WHO study. We can initially recommend the waters that came out unscathed from the test, while waiting for our bottles to certify the absence of plastic microparticles.
The only advice we can give is to alternate the brands so as not to risk consuming too much salt, magnesium, potassium… or plastic, the content of which varies in the composition of our mineral waters.
In the “flat” or “carbonated” debate, it will be the taste and the ability to digest it that will guide your choice, and not the medicine!
Finally, an obvious fact: the world is awash in plastic waste; it seems urgent to ban bottles of all kinds made of this material.
Above all, make children love water.
More than 3/4 of children’s and teenagers’ drinks are sweetened or flavored… And that’s not good. At a time when industrialized countries are looking with dismay at the obesity epidemic that is sweeping their populations, children must be given a taste for water once more. Simple, but not obvious. We can certainly talk regarding the harmful role of television, which constantly sends children – and their parents – the opposite message, without mentioning the potential dangers. And it is in good faith that parents think of refueling energy, vitamins and essential elements, thanks to all these drinks. However, it is necessary to make the difference between water needs and calorie needs. Roughly, we can say that the child needs 1.5 liters and 2,800 calories per day for normal development. However, a significant – and above all constantly increasing – number of children do indeed consume this liter and a half of liquid per day, but in the form of sugary drinks, which represent 1,400 calories, that is to say half of what is necessary, all that without having eaten anything yet! We now understand the imbalance that these drinks represent. Now, how do you make children love water? Well, first you have to give them the taste of it once more… because tap water doesn’t always have a place at the table. Which is not serious when it is replaced by a mineral water bought in the trade, but it is more problematic when, to change the taste, syrup has been added…
The problem is not simple. Especially since, if you want to moderate your child’s consumption of sugary drinks, you must also be very careful: you risk slowing down his overall consumption, and we know that dehydration reduces the child’s performance at school. .
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