My own two cents' worth.
Drinking water is fundamental. Drinking tap water is OK, should be OK, provided the local water authorities don't overdo it with chlorine and other additives to "purify" the water.
(Adding chlorine etc. actually makes the water "heavier" and more difficult for the kidneys to purify)
Drinking milk should be fundamental, provided you drink your milk in the morning. Milk (animial) fats are more difficult than vegetable fats,
so drinking milk with your dinner is one of those "american things" that European nutritioninsts shake their head at in disbelief.
It simply makes your digestion slower and more cumbersome.
Drinking wine (moderately) should actually be encouraged. The tannin in the wine (especially in red wines) helps digest animal protein (of which you are very fond)
and the sugar content is controlled, i.e. there is onloy so much sugar in a unit of wine - unlike soft drinks, which I shall comment later on.
Ask any nutritionist, red wine has a "formula" very very similar to human blood: per unit of water, you find the same % of sugars, the same % of natural salts,
the same amount of protein (as in a person on an empty stomach) the only real difference being that 11-13% of alcohol.
In many Countries, wine is a culture, not "just a drink". It holds within itself the history of that land.
Beer is another "health drink" but many disdain it because "it's alcohol".I will not criticize an individual abstaining from "drink"
because it contains alcohol, but I must say, to mistake beer for whiskey
because they contain alcohol is confusing.
One thing is a hard liqueur and quite another is fermented barley and hops.
So I guess that person will also NOT eat home-made fruit jam or preserve because that liquid that naturally runs within the preserve... is actually alcohol !!!
(Yes, it really is).
Incidentally, every autumn Bishops and Priests are often invited to the breweries to bless the vats for the coming season!
Beer was acknowledged as "liquid bread" in the Middle Ages, when monks were expected to carry on toiling yet fast during Lent.
http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Doppelbock.htmlI was in Belgium a few years back and visited a large historical brewery in Bruges.
http://www.halvemaan.be/en/home "The Half Moon"
As our guide, a Senior Biermeister, introduced himself, he greeted us with
"
Any beer with less than 5.5% alcohol is not a beer, it is sodapop for children"
We all laughed, and my (then 14-y.o.) son felt... encouraged
Ah ! So, here we are,
sodapop !
If one is encouraged to "abstain from alcohol for the sake of temperance"
and allows him/herself to this
then I must confess guilty to not understanding.
May I quote from the everlasting fountain of know-it-all knowledge, Wikipedia
"
The consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks is associated with obesity,[14][15][16] type 2 diabetes,[17][18] dental caries, and low nutrient levels.[15]
Experimental studies tend to support a causal role for sugar-sweetened soft drinks in these ailments,[14][15] though this is challenged by other researchers.[19][20]
"Sugar-sweetened" includes drinks that use high-fructose corn syrup, as well as those using sucrose.
Many soft drinks contain ingredients that are themselves sources of concern: caffeine is linked to anxiety and sleep disruption when consumed in excess,[21]
and some critics question the health effects of added sugars and artificial sweeteners.[22] Sodium benzoate has been investigated by researchers at University of Sheffield[23] as a possible cause of DNA damage and hyperactivity.
Other substances have negative health effects, but are present in such small quantities that they are unlikely to pose any substantial health risk provided that the beverages are consumed only in moderation.
In 1998, the Center for Science in the Public Interest published a report titled Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks are Harming Americans' Health.
The report examined statistics relating to the increase in soft drink consumption and claimed that consumption is "likely contributing to health problems."
It also criticized marketing efforts by soft drink companies.[24]"
So... do I drink soft drinks ? Or do I limit myself to water, beer and wine ?
Your Honor, I plead guilty to drinking cola
I will drink small quantities of Coke, Pepsi or the Italian traditional soft drink, "Chinotto"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinotto_(soft_drink) but all strictly in their "full sugar" version.
I bow to such vice an average of once/month, for a whopping 2 (two) glasses of cola !
On the other hand, my refrigeratos is always replenished with one or two
small bottles of beer...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birra_Morettihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birrificio_Angelo_PorettiWho says only Germans and Belgians make good beer ?
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