All the buzz about water.

With this i mean spring water, mineral water and all other water terms out there and their mineral compositions..

A good source of info can be found:
http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/beverages/waters/water-glossary.asp

mineral water - contains minerals or other dissolved substances (gas, sulfur or salts) that alters its taste and gives therapeutic value.
carbonated water - CO2 (carbon dioxide dissolved in water) to give it that effervescent property

Spring water is differentiated from mineral water in that it has a very low level of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), or minerals

Origin of mineral water: It can either be artificially prepared or obtained from naturally occurring mineral springs. The water from San Pellegrino originates 400m below surface where it is mineralized from contact with limestone and volcanic rocks. It emerges from 3 deep springs at at a temp about 22C.

The U.S. FDA classifies mineral water as water containing at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids (TDS), and is also water coming from a source tapped at one or more bore holes or spring, originating from a geologically and physically protected underground water source. No minerals may be added to this water.

Finewaters Balance: A guide developed by Michael Mascha of Finewaters.com to classify the different kinds of mineral water. It is divided among Still and four degrees of intensity of sparkling water (from right to left): Effervescent, Light, Classic and Bold.










Examples include:

Still: Evian, Fiji, Poland Spring, Spa, Trinity, Vittel, Volvic
Effervescent: Badoit, Ferrarelle, Gleneagles, Sanfaustino, Voss
Light: Daggio, Galvanina, Ramlosa, Sole
Classic: Apollinaris, Fiuggi, Gerolsteiner, Lurisia, San Pellegrino
Bold: Perrier, Saratoga Springs, Tipperary, Ty Nant

As I read somewhere, many people don't like a high concentration of minerals in their water - i.e they prefer water to be flavorless. Those who do, can enjoy San Pellegrino (a sparkling mineral water) to add a bubbly to their main.



For a price difference comparison, a 750ml of San Pellegrino bottle reached US$10 in NY restaurants while in Italy, a 1.5L is sold for 1 euro. wat a mark-up!

On the other hand, distilled water is pure water free from dissolved salts

Different Cuts of meat

Steak are high quality beef taken from the hindquarters of the cow, typically best cooked over dry heat such as on the grill or barby.

Here's a picture of different cuts of meat taken from Britannica.com

2 things to look out for when buying steak. Grade (given by an independent body such as USDA) tells you the quality of the meat based on marbling and age of the meat, and the cut. different cuts have different qualities.

For a fantastic cut, spot the marblings with thin streaks of fat and good bright red color, and the fat a creamy white evenly distributed through the meat.

Starting from the upper back, and moving to the mid back, you have the rib, short loin and sirloin.

* The Rib (prime rib, short rib, rib eye) are the finest cuts of the meat prized for their juiciness, marbling and superb flavor but least tender of the three.

* Short loin (tenderloin, t-bone, porterhouse) This cut also has plenty of marbling. the porterhouse has a top loin that is moist and flavorful and a smooth buttery soft tenderloin. The tenderloin is the tenderest cut of the meat where u get your filet mignon, tournedoes and chateaubriand. though these cuts are tender, they are less flavorful.

* Sirloin (sirloin and top sirloin) - top sirloins are a lesser grade but larger cut of meat.

Other types of cut:
* Round (rump), flank and chuck tend to be tough cuts of meat.

* Brisket - cut of meat from cow's breast or lower chest. not very tender but when cooked properly, it's a crowd favourite

* Shank - animal's leg, one of the toughest meat as its the muscle group used most often (make stew as its loaded with flavor)


Portion:
1 pound per person is a good size. 450g

FYI: Wagyu, the famed cattle type that produces Japan's prized Kobe beef, named for the city that launched the breed.

What is Wagyu?

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-wagyu-beef.htm

On an interesting note from Wikipedia, Argentine people eat the most beef in the world at 64.6 kg/year. People in the EU eat 16.9 kg. USA is at 40.2 kg.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef

Angus, the cattle of scottish origin prized worldwide for their well marbled, meat heavy body.

Tips from the dietitian

1) Keeping your body hydrated
1 litre of water per 25kg body weight
+ more if exercising, drinking soft drinks or coffee/tea, or when sick

This means 3 litres for me, or 15 glasses of water.

Avoid cold water in the morning to prevent stomach spasm.

How to tell if you're hydrated?
-Yellow urine (the darker means the more hydrated)
- Skin test (pinch your skin. if it stays discolored over a sec, you're dehydrated)

And no you can't get overhydrated.

Best hangover cure from the dietitian: Have a Gatorade before going to bed!

Sports Drink Vs Water

sports drinks provides:
- carbs & fluids (500 ml is 30gm carbs on avg) Note: Powerade is sold in 600ml in stores
- potassium and sodium
- electrolytes (medical term for salts, specifically ions) which help the body absord and retain fluid and move into the bloodstream & cells quicker than slush around the stomach like water.

Overall, they taste better than water and makes you drink more - staying hydrated!

Now, there's always a yin to the yang. sports drinks due to the sugary content (sucrose), they promote cavity so reserve only when you need them!

some of the sports drinks that advertise sugar-free are no carbs. no extra energy.

Stay hydrated to avoid headache.

Individual Sweat Rate

One other good idea to monitor is a before & after weight (with or without clothes) +drinks you drank
This gives you your seat rate (e.g. 1.25 l /hr) during workout

Match your sweat rate to fluid intake

Pre and Post training nutrition

For workouts less than 60 mins, snacks are not necessary. either that a banana for a quick fix

Post traning, try to target refuelling within a 30min window. This is the best and most effective time for replenising muscle cards (glycoge) and you either consume a meal or snack with high carb and small amt of protein.


Aim small frequent meals thorughout the day to avoid sugar spikes.

for smokers, cigarettes are appetite suppressant.

Some post training snacks:

• Cereal with Milk & yoghurt
• Up & Go (for carbs and protein)
• Banana & Milk
• Muesli bar & yoghurt
• Fruit smoothie

Protein Supplement

The primary role in the body is to support growth

Here are some samples of min protein intake:

avg man (1g/day)

strength athlete (1.2-1.7g/day)

Measurements

The metric system, put in place on a legal basis in 1795 by the French govt, defines 5 units of measure we use today.

Unit for Area of land: Hectare vs Acres

if you're ever gobbled up with acres, struggling to tranlate sq foot to sq meters, i hear your pain. this is European metric vs American imperial system.

here's a quick recap.
100 sqm = good size 2 bed apartment in Melbourne. this is equiv to 1076 sqfm
1sqm = 10.76 sqft

Now if you're aiming for a piece of land, we're now getting into bigger numbers and different scales of measurement.
1 hectare of land = 10000sqm (think 100m x 100m) which is 107639sq ft
As a comparison, Trafalgar Square in England has an area about 1 hectare.

If you're American, the equiv unit is known as the acre.
1 acre of land = 4046sqm or 44000 sqft, and is approx 40% of a hectare.

Unit of Length (Yard vs Metre)

If you watch golf, you'd have heard of how far these pros can drive the ball in yards.
for example, Woods average drive is 290 yards.

this means 265m.

1 yard = 3 foot = 0.9144 m

Unit of Volume (Litre vs quartz, ounces and gallons)

If you've ordered beer in a bar, this is where you'd be tested.
What's the difference between a pot, pint or scooner?

One of the perplexing aspect of beer drinking is the many receptables that beer come in, and they vary even in Australia states.
A pint is an extremely popular size for drinking beer not of local origin (i.e. Guinness, Kilkenny)
Schooners are an in-between measurement of a pot and a pint, and more favored in NSW than Vic.

Anyway here they are (may differ between states):
1 0z = 28.35 ml
pony = 140ml = 5 oz
Glass or seven = 200ml = 7 oz
pot (285ml) aka middy aka handle = 10 oz
schooner (428ml)
pint (568ml) = 20oz = 2 pots
jug = 1125ml = 40oz = 2 pint


Those getting gas (or what we know as petrol here) means reading gallons instead of litres.
1 liquid Gallon = 3.8 litres

It gets even more confusing to know there is a difference between imperial system and US customary units. The US adopts the latter which is a superset of the Imperial system. for example, their liquid gallon is different to the gallon in Imperial.

the original gallon is 4.5 Litres. even the quartz, pint and ounces differ slightly.

For the cook wannabe, a teaspoon is 5ml and a tablespoon is 15ml. a can of coke is 375ml.

at the very basics also, 1 litre of water has a mass of 1 kg however density of water changes with temperature and slightly with pressure... so be mindful.

Unit of Mass (Grams vs Ounce and Pounds)

1 ounce = 28 grams
1kg = 35.7 ounce
1 kg = 2.2 pounds

Red light therapy aka phototherapy

apparently, these light therapy (red-wand) banishes breakouts and works more like physics. the specific wavelength of red light annihilates the bacteria that breed within the clogged pores.