Edgar and Rubi Chacon’s family leads an active life: Edgar walks more than
7 miles a week at work. Rubi chases their toddler Emmanuel around all day.
Andrew spends an hour every day in 9th grade basketball drills. Jennifer and
Daisy get a lot of vigorous play in PE at school. But that’s not enough...they have strict limits on TV time (but enjoy family DVD movie night at
home).
On Sundays they walk a mile or two and get a workout at the park
playground to reach the “silver” activity level: At least 2 1/2 hours of exercise a week!
Sunday walks are special for Andrew and his father as they get a
chance to talk about things they might not have time for otherwise.
The whole family feels closer in their playtime together.
The Chacons also accepted Dr. Pont’s no-soda-in-the-school-week challenge
last month, and they took it way further: They never drink sodas, just a lot of
water and things like fresh pineapple juice. Fast food is rare and things
like homemade chicken vegetable soup are the usual evening meal.
What's more Frances and her husband Favian, and their two sons discovered they prefer to make their own aguas frescas at home on special occasions, instead of drinking soda. It's more fun, more refreshing, and much healthier. Here they share their recipe for "agua de pepino" (cucumber juice).
Frances Acuña and her famous "agua de pepino"
Easy Recipe for "Agua de Pepino"
2 cucumbers
1 liter of water
NO MORE than 1/4 cup (less is better - too much sugar is unhealthy!)
Lime juice to taste
Mix all the ingredients in a blender, and your "agua de pepino" will be ready to drink in just a few minutes. A glass contains less than half the calories of a can of soda...and it's just so much better.
WATCH THE VIDEO (in Spanish):
Little brother Ricardo Acuña drinking his watermelon juice (but he mostly drinks plain water!)
Favian Junior and his little brother Ricardo are glad they promised not to drink sodas during the school week. Favian Jr. says, "It's easy to say 'no' and drink water instead of soda."
Adjusting to a life without soda wasn't a problem for little Ricardo either. Now he loves cucumber and watermelon juice, especially after playing ball outside with his dad and older brother. Every Sunday afternoon before dinner, Favian Sr. and his two sons enjoy some kind of sport activity in their backyard.
Although they've switched from sodas to "aguas frescas" for special occasions, they still drink water every day. Pure, plain water is always the healthiest option!
Diet Sodas
"Diet sodas can be free of calories, but
not free from the health consequences."
-- Dr. Helen Hazuta
What about diet sodas? They are WORSE because they falsely lead us to believe that they are a healthy alternative and they don't cause us to gain weight. más saludables y que no nos hacen engordar.
Researchers in San Antonio discovered that diet sodas can be equal to or worse than regular sodas, in terms of negative health effects. In studies they did over a period of 9 years, they found that people who drank two or more sodas daily gained weight five times faster than those who didn't drink any diet sodas at all.
Furthermore, when people consume artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, which is present in diet sodas, they are at higher risk for diabetes, as well as other illnesses and health problems. (Faculty of the School of Medicine, University of Texas San Antonio -- ScienceDaily, 6-28-2011)
Favian Junior says NO to soda!
Avoid All Drinks High in Sugar The best thing is to not drink any kinds of sodas -- neither diet or regular. Even many of the juices, sports beverages, and fruit-flavored punches marketed to children contain way too much sugar. The healthiest alternative is to drink water or "aguas frescas" with very little sugar (or no sugar at all -- some fruit provides natural sweeteners!).
