Health info

BEVERAGES AT THE HEART OF OUR DIET

Drinking is essential to our body. To avoid dehydration, nutritionists recommend to drink 1,5L of water every day and at least 2L for pregnant women and elderly people. It’s important to drink often any time during the day.

Water in all its forms

Notre corps est constitué à 65% d’eau en moyenne ce qui nous permet de comprendre à quel point l’eau est la seule boisson indispensable à la vie. On retrouve sur la table, différentes nature d’eaux :

  • spring water: it comes from a safe and protected underground spring.,
  • mineral water: it is spring water that has specific qualities: it is enriched with minerals like magnesium, calcium, iron…

Beware with tap water ! Tap water must be treated to be drinkable. Ask your local authorities before drinking it.

Different lifestyles, different drinks There are a great number of beverages with various energetic and calorific values. To keep a balance weight, you must choose a drink according to your lifestyle and your daily needs.

For example, a sportsperson can drink beverages containing sugar before exercising. On the contrary, if you don’t exercise much, it’s best to drink sugar free drinks like water or light soft drinks. These have sugar substitute that keeps the good taste but no sugar.

Don’t forget to prefer water, as it is the best beverage for your body.

LIGHT IN REVIEW

A light drink is a drink in which added sugar has been replaced by a substitute (a product that has a sugar taste, like aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, sucralose or maltitol. They are generally products that are adding a sweet taste without adding calories, or that gives a sweet taste with fewer calories than sugar).

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener of a sweetening power of 200 times more than sucrose (or plain sugar).

Only a small amount is needed in a drink to obtain the same taste of sugar. The pleasure of the taste is the same with fewer calories.

Aspartame is one of the most studied added foods; it is recognized as safe for human consumption in more than 90 countries especially by food security agencies like the European food security agency and the FDA.

The recommended daily intake (RDI) told by the European food and safety Authority EFSA is of 40mg/kg daily.

To overdose the daily recommended intake a person of 60kg would have to eat in one day 100 lollipops or drink more than 30 cans of 355ml.

WHAT IS THE RECOMMENDED DAILY INTAKE RDI ?

The Recommended Daily Intake: is the daily intake level of a nutrient that we need in average. (For an adult with a daily need of 2000 calories).

A glass (250 ml) of Coca-cola contains less than 108 calories, or 5% of your RDI.

**the daily energy needs are different per individual, if you are male or female or children, also criteria like height, weight, age etc. Recommendations for food labeling quantities are given as an indication.

WOMEN MEN ADULTS CHILDREN (5 to 10 years old)
Energy in kcal (calories) 2000 2500 2000 1800
Protein 45g 55g 45g 65g
Carbohydrates 230g 300g 230g 220g
Of sugar 90g 120g 90g 85g
Fat 70g 95g 70g 70g
Saturated fatty acid 20g 30g 20g 20g
Fibres 24g 24g 24g 15g
Sodium 2.4g 2.4g 2.4g 1.4g
Salt 6g 6g 6g 4g

Based on intake of 250ml

A BALANCE DIET IS :

55% OF CARBOHYDRATES

Basic energetic nutrient of the body, also called sugars.

A privileged source of energy for our body, muscles and brain that uses this fuel to function.

  • Fast sugar: sweet and derived products (cakes, sweets etc…)
  • Slow sugar: cereals, potatoes, pasta, rice, fruits and dry vegetable etc…

30% OF LIPIDS

Fat from animals or plants.

In order to store energy for the body, lipids are assimilated after the complete elimination of sugar.

It is best to control our daily intake and practice regular physical exercises, because our body stocks this energy as fat. Sometimes if storing is too important, then it leads to obesity.

  • From animals: butter, cream, meat, dry meat and cheese
  • From plants: oil, margarine, olives, nuts, avocados, peanuts etc…

15% PROTEINS

Give elements to structure our body.

Compulsory to make and maintain our body (muscles and immune system for instance).

  • From animals: dairy product, meat, fish, and eggs
  • From plants: cereals, dry vegetables, etc…

2.5 LITERS OF WATER COMES DIRECTLY FROM OUR FOOD AND DRINK EVERY DAY.

More information on nutrition is available on www.mangerbouger.fr the French national website for food and pleasures recommendations.

WELL IN YOUR BODY, WELL IN YOUR HEAD

To have an active lifestyle is important for your health and prevents you from overweight. There are a few tips, simple and efficient that will allow you to blossom completely.

30 MINUTES OF DAILY PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES

To exercise is the best way to be in shape. You don’t have to practice a competition sport or in an intensive way. Walk, swim, dance or just being active around the house or the garden can be enough to exercise. The most important thing is to be active every day more than 30 minutes it will be enough to be beneficiary. You feel better after exercising. To practice a sport is not only good for your health, it also has other advantages. For instance it is good for your mental health and is an excellent way to fight stress. Also for young people, a physical activity has benefits on concentration and consequently on schoolwork too. Sport is the best way to feel better in your body and in your head: so don’t hesitate !

DIVERSIFY YOUR ACTIVITIES.

Everyone can choose its own sport, there is one for every taste: individual sports or collective one, it is your choice. Sport must be a pleasure first, just choose the one you like the best. Swimming, cycling, walking are sports that you can do on your own or with friends and that are advantageous for your body while fortifying it. You can also join a team by enrolling in many clubs or associations. French Polynesia offers a great choice of outdoor activities like hiking, swimming or va’a (local boating) so don’t hesitate and get some fresh air! And don’t forget that you can exercise daily simply by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, by walking or cycling instead of driving or by gardening. There is a sport for you, just choose it !