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. While you may think of lemon as being acidic, it actually helps with bloating, with heartburn, biliousness and nausea. It acts as a tonic for the liver and stimulates the production of bile to help digestion. This is particularly effective taken before meals. Lemon is also thought to be an anti-carcinogenic, neutralising food of its cancer-bearing properties. It is certainly a wonderful way to help free the blood system of toxins.
The final ingredient in Sassy Water is ginger. Ginger has long been known for its ability to sooth the digestive tract. It helps to digest fatty foods and to break down proteins that can cause gas. Like cucumber, ginger is a natural anti-inflammatory, it reduces inflammation. It is therefore, particularly soothing in inflammatory digestive ailments. In this instance, it helps to prevent bloating and excess gas. It aids the digestive enzymes to properly digest food and may even be instrumental in reducing cholesterol.
In short then, these ingredients have much to say for them. They act as diuretics: they rid the body of retained water and help flush toxins. When you start any diet, the first thing you loss is excess water so it can seem as if you are getting dramatic results. They also aid digestion, sooth the digestive system and reduce bloating. That, I suspect, is where it ends. While it seems a good de-tox aid, and is very pleasant to drink, I would doubt it has, of itself, any property that will make weight loss fast and easy.
http://www.indepthinfo.com/ginger/health-benefits.sh tml
http://www.drbenkim.com/ginger-health-benefits-ginge r-ale-recipe.html
http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-10-Health-Benefits-of-Gi nger
http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/articles/Cucumb er-health-benefits.html
http://health.learninginfo.org/benefits-mint.htm
http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-an d-spices/health-benefits-of-mint.html
http://www.ayurvediccure.com/health/benefits-of-mint -in-ayurveda/
http://health.learninginfo.org/health-benefits-lemon s.htm
http://hubpages.com/hub/20-Health-Benefits-of-Lemon