Continuing with the last post on the symptoms of OVERHYDRATION, here is Sean Croxton and I talking on his Underground Wellness podcast about the dangers of fluid overconsumption. Don’t forget to register to hear Sean and I’talking?again in the upcoming PALEO SUMMIT, which you can register for?by clicking on the big box that is currently afloat in the sidebar off to your right. Yeah, the one with the caveman falling off the side of a mountain haha.
FYI, one of the things I mention in the podcast which is a particularly good example of the physiology behind the negative manifestations of the overconsumption of water, is this study showing that drinking water can induce seizures in infants. And THIS Write up on it. To listen, push the play button below. Our talk starts after several minutes of intro.
As of December 1, 2012 you can now read about this topic at great length in the book Eat for Heat.
Hi Matt,
Great interview! 2 questions – what is your opinion about which water to drink? RBTI was very strongly in favor of distilled. What do you think of it vs. other types, like spring water?
2) What about the diff salts? Is kosher (again RBTI preference) better than sea salt or does it matter?
Gracias!
I don’t know Rosemary. I used to always assume natural is better. But a lot of “natural” things contain unwanted substances. If that is true for salt and water, and you want the purest of the pure, distilled water and Kosher salt would be the choice. I use kosher salt and drink distilled water, but I’m not married to either, and don’t think that either are make-or-break matters. I’m drinking a frappuccino right now, so to be a nazi about the type of water I drink would be totally nuts.
Ha! Almost unknown here, but FIRST !
You are now a legend Lars with your amazing Firstness!
Great talk. Thanks Matt.
And thanks for mentioning Garret Smith’s website. Somehow I hadn’t known what it was before, and had trouble Googling it.
Very informative and such a simple way to improve all kinds of health issues. I certainly have gained control of my health by monitoring the amount of water I am drinking. Interestingly I consumed huge amounts of water for years and still suffered from very dry skin and very constipated. Not anymore! Thanks to you Matt.
Hey Matt,
I wonder if the lady that said that her urine was a darker color has SIADH (they often have an excessive amount of ADH in their system). I say this because people with SIADH usually have dark colored urine because they retain water easily and thus they don’t have to pee all that often and thus when they do have to pee, their urine is very concentrated. Blood sodium levels also tend to be on the low side in people with SIADH. So, water restriction and taking salt pills are often recommend for people with SIADH.
Now on the flip side, people with diabetes insipidus will usually produce little to no ADH, depending upon the type of diabetes insipidus that a person has. And they usually loose water very easily and have too pee frequently. Elevated blood sodium levels can occur in diabetes insipidus, so a low sodium diet is sometimes recommened for people with diabetes insipidus…… especially in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. A low protein diet is also sometimes recomended for people with diabetes insipidus.
sorry, i have to tell you- it’s LOSE, not loose. Loose is like the screws in my head.
Yes, another grammar and spelling Narc! I try to keep quiet, but that is my most face palm mispelling.
Very interesting again Kevin. I contacted Sean and let him know about SIADH. Might be something for Layla to check out. Hope he knows how to get in touch with her.
Here is a fairly good video explaining the difference between SIADH, dehydration, and diabetes insipidus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYX6-YE4jmI
At the 5:00 minute mark there is a chart that lists some common lab measurements that are associated with each of those conditions.
And again, the lady that has the dark urine even though she drinks alot of water could possibly have elevated levels of ADH within her body (SIADH). If this is the case then drinking less water and and eating more salt could potentially be helpful to her.
By the way, since you mentioned chronic fatigue in your video…………
SIADH and chronic fatigue:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9710328
But people with diabetes insipidus (low levels of ADH) complain with chronic fatigue as well. So, it looks as though, too low and too high a level of ADH can cause this problem.
Alcohol, caffeine, antibiotics, even aspirin can effect how the body utilizes ADH. Actually, numerous other things can influence the body’s utilztion of ADH. Exercise, body temperature, body postion, fluid intake, herbs, supplements, drugs and foods can cause the body’s production of ADH to either go up or down and therefore all of those same things can play a big role in how much and how frequently you urinate. For example, caffeine can block the way that ADH works within the body and it will also cause such a person to pee even more frequently. So, consuming caffeine would probably cause someone with low ADH production or diabetes insipidus to feel even more miserable than they already were. But in someone with high ADH production such as SIADH, pure caffeine may possibly make them feel better.
Excuse me sir, are you the pee master?
Awesome again. Urine Sane!
Well, I am a urinator and thus the pee force is strong with me. But really there is only one true jedi pee master and his name is Matt Stone.
May the pee force be with you.
Nice Ghostbusters reference! I will, however, have to chide you for misspelling “mispelling” above!
And the blog comment system just went ahead and inserted a hyphen into my own spelling of the word, thereby clouding this unimportant matter even further.
More to the topic at hand (and inspired by your focus on total fluid intake in recent weeks), instead of boiling them in the normal way, I have been soaking, then draining, blending and pan-frying my breakfast oats, grits, and buckwheat to make them into much drier, giant pancakes for breakfast. Topping these with extra sweeteners and eating some fruit and dried fruit on the side instead of fruit with milk or juice has done wonders for my morning brix readings, as has dropping down from 4 ounces to 3 ounces per half-hour drink. So, thank you, Matt! I’m beginning to think one-size-fits-all drinking recommendations are probably equally if not more damaging than the worst dietary advice floating around. Ironically, even the “tailor-made” RBTI program is guilty of this. Telling everyone who weighs more than 120 pounds that they need to be drinking at least 4 ounces of liquid every hour from the time they wake up until mid-day–based solely on the fact that they weigh more than 120 pounds–is starting to appear a bit lazy and foolish.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
Muphry’s Law!
The last bit was interesting. I like to take baths but usually when I take one my brix crashes…
Yeah, the questions that came in were so diverse and interesting. Gonna have to start showering in the afternoon instead of in the morning!
Yes, the bath thing may affect the brix; not necessarily, (in my case) due to water
absorption. Hot baths cause the body to work hard and, produce sweat. While
this heat felt great to my cold body, in the long run it was compounding my troubles; as
did sunbathing. Too, one should think of saunas as a potential problem.
I have applied all three of the above to my life as a source of health/relief when I didn’t
know that “over-hydration” was my issue. Unfortunately, when you are stuck in this crazy
cycle and, you visit your health professional they recommend the above as healing
modalities. Because, they are completely unaware of what your body is needing.
Certainly I can only speak of those health care professionals I encountered.
Woo hoo! 4:1 sugar:salt is gonna be the next big thing! And NOBODY can corner the market on it, which is awesome. (But the secret himalayan monk recipe headache remedy is damn funny.)
For the lady who asked how much water to have with that, I like to start with NO water and only sip a tiny bit of water if needed.
My favorite part of all this is that sugar and salt, two of the most vilified substances in the last 30 years are literally (yes, literally) the prime generators of energy in the body. Of course, the TYPE of sugar and salt can make a big difference. Less processed and more “organic” are usually superior, IMO.
Great podcast, all around, Matt.
I’m wondering how much you actually put under your tongue, and also wondering like, how long do you wait before you wont really soak up anymore and you have to swallow it like, make a video or something dude!
Bob, it’s so easy. Just put a “little” under your tongue, and hold it there “for a while” until it is fully dissolved. Then swallow when you’re ready. I could measure and tell you amounts and times that I like to use, but that might not be significant for YOU or someone else. Every body is a little different…like unique snowflakes :-)
I keep a tiny little bowl of 4:1 cane sugar:sea salt on my desk. If I feel any “brain fog” or sleepiness, I just dab the bottom of my tongue in the mixture, dissolve it and carry on.
Yeah, I think my problem is drinking for reasons other than thirst, as you mentioned near the end of the podcast.
Matt — I just bought your Diet ebook :: am thinking about purchasing a 1hr Skype call :: had a few questions I wanted to email you about :: but cannot find a contact address…
sacredself@gmail.com
Interesting talk, Matt! I’m fairly new to your site and very interested in this topic, especially because it goes so against the conventional wisdom. I’ve been experimenting with monitoring my temperatures throughout the day, and connecting it to my fluid intake. I’m drinking much less water and sipping coconut water when I feel thirst. I notice that I pee a lot in the afternoon/early evening…maybe from taking in too much fluid earlier in the day. This whole thing might be what finally helps me kick that morning cup of caffeinated something or other!
If I cannot sleep because my limbs feel jumpy (so that I would toss and turn for hours in discomfort), I eat a teaspoon or so of salt. It relaxes me within minutes. And doesn’t taste gross to me at such times. :P
Thanks Duckie. I will remember that and pass that along. That seems to be pretty common.
This is my first time writing. I’ve followed your website for quite some time, & have really enjoyed it. I have learned how stupid I’ve been in the past with some of the diets I’ve tried. What’s even more stupid is that I didn’t even need to lose weight or fix any health problems. I still don’t really need to lose weight, but I did cause some health problems by following a very strict vegetarian & then a vegan diet. I’ve only improved my health by giving up all the restrictive stuff. I eat pretty much anything & everything now. All this talk about water is crazy but true. I always felt like I had to force myself to drink water because that’s what all the experts said. If you would please answer this question, I would like to know if drinking fluids applies to smoothies. At times, I drink fruit &/or green smoothies just about every single day. I don’t really know if it’s affected my health or not because I haven’t really paid much attention. I just thought I was doing something good for my health. Would it better to eat solid food & give up smoothies? Thank you for being such a great service to us idiots out there.
Hey Cindy, great to hear from you. About the smoothie thing, it really depends. My personal daily tendency is to have a harder time avoiding a clear urine crash around 10am, and the total overall liquid intake in proportion to glucose and electrolytes at that hour is the primary determining factor as to whether I end up in the gutter with cold hands and feet around 10am. I personally can’t take in too much smoothie unless it accompanies quite a bit of other food with lots of salt and a very low water content (pancakes and salty eggs, or well-salted homefries or something).
But I can drink smoothies with lunch no problem. But that’s just me. Only you can really answer that question. Overhydrating can pretty much ruin even the healthiest diet and lifestyle. I honestly feel it’s better to eat doughnuts for breakfast and not crash than have a smoothie with a million bajillion nutrients in it and crash. It’s a matter or prioritization, and avoiding entering the washed out state where your cellular energy sources are in short supply, I suspect, is the most important thing for a person looking to improve his or her health. For health maintenance, I imagine a very nutritious diet with mostly whole foods to still be very important.
I’ve experienced getting the shivers with smoothies, I always thought it was the ice.
Hey Matt,
Very new to your site…must say it’s very interesting. I’m in the process of dissecting the complete site…but I found your site via an email from Sean. The topic was “water intoxication”!! Really???…I couldn’t wait to listen in, as I have a “Water” website. :) First question…what are your thoughts about distilled water, as it has been “stripped” of everything…specifically minerals (not like there are any minerals in tap/bottled water), but does this concern you? I’m actually contemplating putting this post on my blog, believe it or not, as the “water” I promote is made with Ionic minerals which are bio-electrically charged; they carry an extra electron. as I’m sure you know, ionic minerals conduct and transfer energy. When ionic substances dissolve in water, the ions become moving positive and negative particles, and the solutions are strong electrical conductors or ELECTROLYTES.
Electrolytes are substances that break up into ions (electrically charged particles) when dissolved in body fluids or water. Some examples of electrolytes are SODIUM, potassium, chloride, and calcium.
I will be posting this subject as well as my “positive” comments on my blog with a link to your interview. Thanks loads…. All water is not created equal!
Thanks!
Thanks Michelle. I believe distilled water has its place, if used for the right reasons. Distilled water is very powerful at pulling things out. It is possible to have cellular concentrations that are too high. And using water to lower urea levels in the urine has some tangible therapeutic benefits as well. That I have experienced personally. I have no doubts that your water is excellent though. Sounds awesome.
What about uric acid levels? Can you use water to lower uric acid? I have a family member with the nasty gout and high uric acid.
Matt, this is OT but I know I’ve asked before and haven’t gotten an answer. Do you think gelatin in supplements is an issue from the pork standpoint? Or do you think it’s unnecessary to worry about those very small amounts?
Probably not something to get too worried about. I suspect the meat and fat is more of the concern with pork than the gelatin.
Thanks, Matt.
What is it about the pork that throws the body’s chemistry out of whack?
Who knows? I assume the protein as that was Reams’s assessment.
There is a interesting investigative series on pork going on over at Perfect Health Diet.com. Starting with “Pork: Did Leviticus 11:7 Have It Right?”
and followed up with “The Trouble With Pork: Pt 2 and 3”.
Pt 3 links to Pt 1 and 2:
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=5650
Ill check it out. Thanks!
You can also get non-pork gelatin from great lakes gelatin. My theory on the pork thing is that 99% of the pork on the market is factory raised in unhealthy conditions, force fed corn and soy, kept alive and fattened with antibiotics and hormones, then finally put out of its misery to be turned into “food” for the masses.
I would expect that a happy, farm-raised pig who gets to live a healthy piggy life would produce pork that isn’t as harmful to the human body. Maybe not, though… the biblical and koranical (is that a word?) prohibitions against pork were written in a time when pigs were raised in a pretty “natural” way. Even most meat-eating east-Indians don’t eat pork, but it’s not a dogmatic rule for them, as far as I know.
Hey Matt,
what’s your stance on excessive sweating do you think it has something to do with water intake? I do sweat a lot under the arm pits even though I don’t workout and I still drink a lot of fluids like juices and milk.
I don’t know Tim. Interesting. Would love to hear your observations with it as you play around with your fluid intake, salt intake, etc.
For years, I’ve drunk a lot of water every day and I sweat less than most people. I’ll sweat if I’m hot, but have never sweat through a shirt in my life or anything like that. I doubt there’s much correlation, from personal experience.
Timbo,
I don’t know what the cause and effect relationship is with sweating and water intake, but you might want to look into hyperhidrosis.
I’ve noticed that when my feet are cold they also tend to be sweaty.
For anyone else out there with cold hands and feet, are they cold and dry or are they also clammy or sweaty?
Also, I’ve noticed that the only time my hands and feet are guaranteed to be dry and warm is right before I fall asleep and right after I wake up. I wonder why that is …
Matt! I hate to do this to you, but a little advice would be greatly appreciated.
I followed a no-carb, low-calorie, daily IFing Paleo diet for about 2 years. You’ve heard the stories a million times, all of the symptoms I suffered from worsened and new ones appeared. Think: nearly every nasty symptom listed on this site and then some :o). No matter how much or how little or what macronutrient levels I ate, I was constantly ill//bedridden and clung to my bodyfat for dear life.
I think the worst thing Paleo did to me was encourage eating disorders. Paleo gave me a crippling case of orthorexia, and the malnutrition from low calorie dieting and digestive disorders led to a ridiculous binge eating disorder, which I’ve struggled with on a daily basis.
The good news – I basically rrarfed on my own over all this time binging. Hooray! The bad news – I gained about 20 unwanted pounds, which I simply CANNOT get off.
Which of your programs would you recommend I pursue? I’m concerned about more weight gain that I wont be able to get off, as well as perpetuating my binge eating disorder by chowing down on “junk” foods. As well as perpetuating my complete fear of ALL foods (thanks, Paleo and GAPS), from chicken to canned coconut milk. Yea, I’m a friggen mess. Could you point me in the right direction, between RBTI or Diet Recovery or something different entirely?
Thanks! And thanks for being the mouthpiece of this whole renegade movement. What a breath of fresh air. Can’t wait to hear your presentation at the Summit!
Hey Erin,
None of my books are a one-hit wonder. I would prefer to see you continuing to binge hard to the point where you feel like your body is going to explode with heat and your temps are around 99 in the morning. That’s step 1. When you complete that, let me know and we’ll move on to step 2 :) I think it’s important to get fully recovered and metabolically-primed before trying to move past the binge eating. Eating more food earlier in the day and less in the evening seems to be helpful for me. The more you really go for it the more quickly you can move on to step 2.
And I want you to eat anything and everything that you think is scary – if it sounds tasty. Regardless of what’s on the food label. McDonald’s is a great place to work on that. I think they have a St. Patties day shake or something, with lots of artificial color added to it. Try a couple of those with fries, a couple double cheeseburgers, and a Coke.
This will really help to retrain your psychological issues with eating. When you eat junk food for health reasons, instead of a lapse in discipline, it will free you. Unholy foods will lose their rebellious, forbidden appeal. And use those foods for making your metabolism rage. They work much better than “health food” for achieving that. And quick too. I think most could be fully metabolically primed in a week with a real effort to eat as unhealthy as possible, and nap after.
When you can’t gain an ounce eating as much of that food as you want, you’ll be free, and ready to move forward with getting your body composition back on track. When your temps do come up around 99, throw in some power exercise, like weightlifting. Okay, that’s step 2 pretty much. Good luck.
Imma be honest with you, it sounds like you are telling people to do a smaller scale form of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_shock_therapy
Really? You’ve got to be joking? I read the link and yeah… interesting stuff and in no way related to anything on this site…
Totally man. Insulin Bin Laden!
Karen, I am missing the connection to ICP and, 180.
Could you elaborate on your thoughts?
Matt,
I am so intruiged by your response, similar to what you suggested for me a few days ago..I so identify Erin, have a similar history with food!
What I am curious is your recommendations taking into account the sensitivity of my stomach and poor digestion in general (currently gluten/dairy and mostly fructose free, also cannot tolerate fiber/large amounts of salt/spices, etc without terrible pain) acid reflux, etc, tested positive for H pylori by stool test…I have no problem eating large amounts of food to raise body temps (currently averaging 97.2), yet confused about what foods to eat so as not to aggravate my stomach more and takes into account my hypoglycemic reactions from years of carb restriction. Any suggestions would be so welcome. After years of eating issues/restriction I cant bring myself to do the GAPS diet at this point.
Thanks!!!
Matt,
I’m going to have to hold you responsible for my inability to get anything done for the next week, as I can’t pull myself away from reading your fascinating blog. :)
I know this is off topic, but a lot what you’ve written regarding parenting and diets strikes a chord with me. I’ve always been lean and strong and never worried too much about what I ate, and I attribute that to my French Canadian mother’s love of great food and home cooking. She wouldn’t dare skimp on the butter or wine at dinnertime, nor did she force me to finish my plate when I didn’t want to, or deny me snacks when I was hungry. Recently I got married and my husband has lost weight since I started cooking for him (with plenty of butter and wine, of course).
Lately I’ve been straying towards an unhealthy relationship with food (feeling guilty etc.) after I cut caffeine out of my diet last month and gained 7 pounds in just a week (those 7 pounds don’t put me anywhere near being overweight mind you- I’m 5’5″ and 130-133lbs most days). It’s pretty mild (I just ate some pizza, yum) and I’m aware of it though, moreso when I started reading this blog so I’m going to work on trashing that attitude ASAP. It’s neurotic!
Caffeinne: bad for your metabolism? :D I wasn’t an average coffee drinker- the stuff basically ran through my veins for a few years until my sleep and anxiety got so bad I had to nix it. The first week was hell. I’ve never smoked but it felt like how quitting smoking must feel.
…Okay, that was a lot of rambling! But everything here is just so interesting and raises up so many new connections between things I haven’t though of before! :)
Oh, and in case there’s confusion I know that weight is basically a useless/loose measurement when considering fat, muscle, water weight, etc. and that fluctuations throughout the day are normal.
Thanks Justine. Your mama sounds like the Zen master of eating.
Justine, I can say that quitting coffee has been good for me.I notice now it is easier to get up and get going in the mornings and my mood and energy are more even. No stomach issues, dizziness, palpitations, or the like any more either. Yes, the first week or so of quitting was rough but I then remember the first morning I woke up feeling good.
I still do consume caffeine in the form of Coca Cola (the kind I get in the country I live in has sugar instead of corn syrup) and occasional sweetened green tea, but even that will screw up my sleep even 12-14 hours after I have it. The Coca Cola is generally fine though.
Butter is very healthy for the metabolism and GI tract because of the effects of butyric acid. I use ghee in my cooking and love the benefits.
Yeah, I’ve noticed huge improvements in my health since quitting caffeine. Mainly, my anxiety has pretty much vanished. I used to get upset and emotional over the smallest things, and also had difficulty falling asleep and getting up. Stomach problems and palpitations, too. I feel much more “clear headed” now, although I still have some difficulty falling asleep. I’ll take it over the adrenaline rush and crash of coffee any day!
My caffeine sensitivity is such that even home made cocoa biscotti gives me jitters, so I daren’t touch anything with caffeine in it except on rare occasions now.
Butter is better- and not just because it tastes great! :) Excuse me while I go bake my hubby’s birthday cake using plenty of the stuff… :)
What are the symptoms associated with sugars being too high, like when they get up around 5 on the Brix?
I don’t think 5 is too high for some people. It may be perfect for you Rick. I know yours tended to hover in the 1.5-2 range but you felt miserable there. The first signs of dehydration are usually what emerge when you get too high. Headache, scratchy throat, irritibility… that’s what I notice. But also some pain in the chest (elevated urea).
Thanks for all this information, Matt! Definitely a huge help to follow your journey and get ideas of what may work for me. Question: Have you noticed (either in yourself or others) any correlation between water intoxication and GI distress? I’m thinking for me there may be a link for me but I haven’t fully figured it all out yet. Thanks!
Yes, absolutely. Jonathan, our resident Crohn’s sufferer, notes that flareups only occur when Brix goes too low.
Have switched from the RBTI drinking schedule to distilled spiked with either juice/salt or sugar/salt according to your 4:1 ratio with huge success in just a few days. My uric acid levels were very problematic prior to the switch and my dry skin is healing. It’s hard not to feel parched with a snortin hot wood stove heating the house. My lesson learned, is that distilled water alone was not bringing balance to my system. Thanks Matt!
It makes you wonder how the internet’s resident angry raw Vegan himself ( aka ‘Durian Rider’) manages to pull off his own philosphy day in day out. He’s regularly expousing the virtues of drinking 2 litres of water first thing in the morning, and then topping that off with a (water filled) fruit smoothie. The idiocy then continues and goes on all day in the from of an all you can drink fluids bender after each of his bike rides 0_o
I find it funny, with the relevance of this post, that I fall upon a yahoo article with the top “20 ways to boost your metabolism” and the first one listed is to drink “8 cups of water a day”!!! haah. I guess they weren’t listening Matt. Not all of the points in the article were wrong though…
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/20-ways-speed-metabolism-180300099.html
The problem is how people define boosting metabolism. Burning more calories does not raise your metabolism. Going jogging does not raise metabolism. Eating ice cubes does not raise metabolism. Jumping in cold water does not raise metabolism. Eating more protein does not raise metabolism. Those are all common things that people think raise metabolism, but that actually lower it.
I’m very thankful for your site and your true passion for honest research, Matt. You’ve shed a lot of light on things. It is so ironic how most people are led to believe the opposite of the truth, though it does happen to all of us unfortunately. That is one big reason why I read your articles; you have no agenda….or do you?….just kidding!
One way I’ve been trying to help my mom see things in a simplistic view is by comparing food to firewood. She’ll say, well I had an apple when I woke up. I’m like Mom, that’s like throwin a wet leaf on the fire. A pancake on the other hand, now that’s some premium cured shit. I just bought gatorade powder and pickling salt. Did 2 scoops, 1 quart water, and added 1Tbsp of the salt. Definitely strong, might be too much, not incorporating the already existing salts, I concluded that a 4:1 ratio would mean I should add close to 8 teaspoons to the 2 quarts. Thank god I didnt. 1 teaspoon for every 4 grams right? I best re-check that.
shit i mean 2 quarts. I put it in a half gallon milk jug, there. lol
Bob, the 4:1 sugar:salt ratio is just something that I came up with as a way to bring up sugars and salts when needed. It doesn’t require any liquids. Nobody knows if this is the “ideal” ratio or not, but anecdotal evidence so far is that it works for people who try it.
The ideal gatorade mixture may be quite different because now you have liquid in the equation. A full teaspoon of salt in a quart of water is probably a good starting point. You might end up with an 8:1 sugar:salt ratio, but it will at least be drinkable! It shouldn’t taste like slightly sweetened ocean water, which is what you would get with 8 teaspoons of salt in one quart.
Quick aside, I sometimes do a “salt water flush” which is a slightly crazy way to clean out the intestinal tract. I use a rounded tablespoon (approx 4 teaspoons) of salt in a quart of warm-ish water on a VERY empty stomach (about 12 hours of fasting) and down the whole thing. Within an hour I’m glued to the toilet to “flush” out the highly concentrated salt water along with anything still in the intestines.
It is quite cleansing, but also creates an acute, short-term imbalance in the body. I definitely would not recommend this to a person unless they know what they’re doing and how to re-balance the body afterwards, which I can’t explain in this format. I only mention it to illustrate how powerful salt-water can be, so be sure not to over-salt your water.
Peace,
Cameron
Heh, I have done the “oral enema” before. Disgusting. But yes, it’ll have you pissin out your ass LOL. I’ve done the master cleanse kinda thing too with pysillium minus the bentonite clay. Screw all that lol. Thanks for the gatorade advice.
Matt,
On the subject of RBTI, you mentioned at a point in your diet you noticed your teeth were a lot whiter than they had been previously. Why do you think that happened and what could have caused it? I remember reading this girl’s blog about how she noticed the same thing and also some obvious remineralization of her teeth at the same time. Any opinions? Thanks!
Matt! LOVE your blog! I’ve been trying to drink more cause we moved from Virginia to Denver a year and a half ago and everyone here says DRINK WATER. I weigh over 350, have had four children in 10 (they’re about 2 1/2 years apart, each). We lived in Vegas for four years and I’ve tried ever since then to aim for a gallon of water a day (haven’t hit that in probably two years). We’ve been probably 70% Nourishing Traditions for about 6 years. I’ve weighed over 200lbs for about 15 years, and I was 280 11 years ago when I got pregnant with #1 Son. We have had raw milk for 6 years (try sourcing that every 2-4 years when the Air Force moves you! – not to mention grass fed beef and chickens and eggs and…. you get the picture).
A year and a half ago I started going to a Maximized living Chiropractor and I know my spine is messed up, but getting fixed.
I’ve always been unconvinced by the fad diets and just done what made sense (never got on the margarine bandwagon). I’ve got a LOT of friends losing weight on Paleo, and it just doesn’t make sense to me (not the weight loss, the Paleo). I come from a LONG line of healthy farmers who lived LONG lives. In my 20’s I was a vegetarian for about 7 years, but I ate garbage to compensate for the lack of meat. I gained a LOT of weight. That was when it started. I went through a Taco Bell and McDonald’s phase too (added more weight).
Anyway, Love your blog – found out about it through Cheeseslave.com – and I signed up for the starter kit and the password won’t work!!!!! No time today to play with this, but I need help! Thanks for your work proving what my gut instincts have told me for years (why I stick with NT over these fads).
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I found your blog when I started to do research into something Mark Sisson said about not over-hydrating yourself, and the timing could not have been better. I am doing a low carb thing (I know your opinion on that, but I’m sticking with it for now and will eventually increase them) and they say everywhere to drink drink drink water. I started to get the symptoms of electrolyte imbalance, and I knew that was happening (because they say it’s normal on a ketogenic diet, but just keep drinking…) and tried to compensate with broth and sea salt and bananas to no avail… all the while drinking glass after glass and getting to where I was thirsty all the time.
My symptoms were constant migraine (which I’ve never had before), constipation, and brain fogginess. While listening to this interview I had just drunk 3 glasses in two hours, as well as a cup of salty chicken broth, and yet I was as dizzy and achey as ever. I realized I was treating my symptoms with their cause and that I should try detoxing from water.
The next day I had coffee and a few sips of water to take pills, but besides that I drank Vita Coco, all day, and only the one 11 oz that i took occasional swigs from. I don’t work out so I wasn’t worried about severe dehydration. I realized my body would tell me if there was an emergency need for water.
I’m feeling better but still not up to speed. Still drinking Vita Coco and limiting my pure water consumption just until my bodies signals are back to normal and I know when I’m really thirsty.
How long do you think it will take for my electrolytes to get back in check? I’m still experiencing some brain fog and a little hint of a migraine.
Thank you for thinking outside the ol’ box,
Molly
Hey Matt,
I got sucked into the Paleo/low-carb dogma about a year ago, and almost immediately experienced all of the problems that you’d expect: waking up in the middle of the night, nonexistent libido and erectile problems, hair loss and thinning, lethargy, loss of interest in all facets of life, constipation, etc. Luckily I wised up pretty quickly and added some starches back in after about 2 months of low-carb punishment.
Since then, I’ve eaten probably 100-200 grams of carbohydrate daily from tubers, rice, and the occasional banana, and the most pressing problems I had on strict LC have resolved–sleep has been fine, energy decent, gut feels OK, etc.
However: my body temperature is consistently between 96 and 98 F, my libido is still very low for a 23-year-old man, my hair is still thinner and flatter than it’s ever been, and I feel that I’m lacking a certain vitality and zest for life that I had just a couple of years ago. At 23, I feel like becoming an old man, with intermittent libido and weak erections, thin and flat hair, little ambition or interest in life, no muscle mass, etc.
Here’s my problem: I have a poor appetite in general and I get filled up easily by eating a couple of potatoes in a day. Even when I’m dropping weight like mad, I have virtually no hunger at any time. And I’m naturally lean, with around 10% body fat and less my entire life. I’ve been trying to keep my diet within “Paleo” guidelines, just with plenty of carbs, but at this point the very thought of eating another sweet potato almost makes me gag.
So should I just ditch the whole concept of “Paleo” eating and go back to eating burgers and pizza and ice cream? I’m realizing that much of the LC “Paleo” dogma is basically geared towards diabetic, overweight, middle-aged folks who haven’t seen their abs in 30 years and just want to fit into a smaller jean size. They care much less about libido, athleticism, looks, performance, ambition, etc. On the other hand, I am a lean, athletic, ambitious young man with high energy needs and a desire to BUILD a strong, capable, resilient, vibrant body. So is it cheeseburgers and Haagen-Dazs to the rescue for this guy??
Thanks for the wonderful work you do.
Hi Matt,
I’m still suffering from severe fatigue, mood swings, gastrointernal distress and fungal overgrowth. I rebuilt muscle the last couple of weeks and gained about 20 lbs, but it didn’t help as much as I expected. Your last articles made me experiment with my fluid intake and, indeed, it helped greatly to drink less and increase my salt intake. However, I’m stuck with feeling thirsty all day long and my appetite pretty much vanished. After the period of overfeeding I literally feel like not eating at all. Trying to quench my thirst I can drink 3 to 4 litres of diluted juice with salt and still be thirsty. I don’t urinate very often, but my urine is always clear. I made an attempt not to drink anything at all for several days and my urine still came out clear.
Do you have any ideas on what my underlying health problem could be? Several physicians, including one leading expert on fungal overgrowth and gastrointernal problems in world, who works at the university clinic in Berlin, have told me that I am in perfect health. Yet I feel like shit.
Thanks in advance
Hi Matt!!
I can totally relate to the above comments too! I have been drinking about 1-2 gallons of water every day for at least the last 5 years of my life. (I am 22.) I think I may have diabetes insipid us because I have tried to limit my water intake for just the last 2 days and I feel like I am dying of thirst!!! And when I say limit, I mean like maybe only 4 or 5 24oz water bottles instead of 12 or 13. (So like half). I know that is still WAYYY too much water. But I thought I should start somewhere. Will I eventually not be so thirsty?? I don’t know how much longer I can do this!! Also, when I am this thirsty, it completely kills my appetite. I am eating anyway, but it is not much fun.
Help!! Any advice you have would be much appreciated! If I just need to push through for a week or so, I can do that. I just need to know that there is light on the other side! :D
THanks!
Sallie