by Ann Miller

Created on: September 08, 2010

Is ‘Sassy Water’ an aid to weight loss in the Flat Belly Diet?  While I was reviewing the book, Flat Belly Diet by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass, I was introduced to Sassy Water, created by Cynthia, the nutritional editor.  The water recipe is mooted to be an aid to weight loss.  Naturally curious, I just had to research why Cynthia combines ginger, mint, cucumber, lemon and water and why they should feel it would help weight loss.  You can find the recipe on Page 80 of their book.

It is advisable to drink lots of water at any time, but especially so while you are on a diet.  Indeed, people who drink two glasses of water before each meal were found to lose weight faster than those who did not.  The water fills up the stomach, but it also serves to flush through the system.  When you diet, you pay more attention to what you eat and in general eat more healthily, with less in the way of processed foods.  That gives your body the chance to get rid of toxins that have built up.  Water helps the kidneys get rid of excess toxins.

Added to water in this instance is cucumber.  Cucumber is a natural diuretic, that is, it makes you pass urine more often.  This produces a two-fold process: you get rid of excess toxins and you also get rid of excess water, especially if you refrain from eating salt.  It has a high water content in itself, so cucumber can help to balance the acid in your stomach which can produce bloating, gas and wind.  Aside from that, cucumber is full of minerals, vitamins, enzymes that help healthy cell growth making it a strong antioxidant, i.e. it is thought to help prevent cancer.  Incidentally, cucumber is an anti-inflammatory, it reduced inflammation and it helps to eliminate uric acid which is laid down in joints in rheumatism and gout.

 The mint that is added to Sassy Water helps to sooth the digestive tract.  It is well known to promote easy digestion, its aroma itself having an impact on stimulating salivary glands in the mouth that aid digestion.  Similarly, mint stimulates digestive glands to produce enzymes in the rest of the alimentary tract.   We should also consider how well mint cleanses the mouth.  When you are dieting, and therefore getting rid of toxins, you may well feel your mouth and tongue to be furry.

Lemon is also a diuretic, flushing through toxins and uric acid as well as aiding against excess water retention. 

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