Why water and not pop, coffee or tea?

I often get the above question from people. They think that because they are taking in liquids, like coffee, tea, juice or soda, they are getting what would be considered part of their daily water intake. This isn't true. Substances like coffee and tea and alcohol dehydrate.

A great book to read is You're Not Sick You're Thirsty by Dr. Batmanghelidj. This is what he explains about water: "When you drink coffee, tea or even a beer, your body gets rid of more water than is contained in the drink. If you measure your urine volume after the beverage is taken, you will see that you have passed more urine than the volume of the drink. When the human body is dehydrated, it redistributes and regulates the amount of available water. Within the body, alarms signal to show that areas in question are in short supply, much like the light signal that goes on when a car is running low on gas or oil. The available water is rationed and used where needed. The presence of water will ulitmately regulate the production mechanisms in a drought stricken area of the body."

If this seems unbelieveable to you, I challenge you to do a test. For a week only drink water. Unless I am treating myself to a coffee or a glass of wine or the occasional martini, I never have pop, juice or milk, I instead have water with lemon. I have it with lemon because it is alkalizing and cleansing to the body. This is an easy thing to do at home or to ask for in a restaurant. So back to your challenge. Drink half your body weight in ounces as a minimum - if you are 150 lbs at least 75 ounces of water a day - a litre is 32 ounces. Get a few large 1 litre bottles and fill the number you will need to drink by the end of the day. Drink more if you are in dry heat or exercising. Do not drink coffee, tea, soda, juice or anything else and monitor how you feel. Keep a daily diary. My guess is that you will feel better. You may find you have less headaches, less aches and pains generally, maybe a better and deeper sleep, perhaps you will have more energy and less need for the afternoon pick me up coffee. If this seems really impossible, modify it and make small changes. Post your comments here on what you have found!

Heart Attacks, Cancer, I must vent!

I was saddened this week about the passing of someone I didn' t know. In the past year, my boyfriend Joe has referred me to several of his friends. Most of the people I am referred to talk to me and start on a healthy change. One of Joe's friends, I will call Gordon, (not his real name) was about 65 or so. In his younger years he was a competitive body builder and continued to break records in the senior categories. Gordon and I were going to talk cleansing but he was always so busy and for whatever reason he didn't make it a priority. Six weeks ago, Gordon died a quick death from a brain tumor. He worked in a toxic industry and who knows if what I have could have saved him, we will never know.

Once a week, Gordon and the guys would get together for breakfast. At a breakfast in memory of Gordon, Joe, my boyfriend sat talking with Martin (not his real name either). Martin was concerned about his health. He was 58 years old, overweight and needed to do something. His health was getting out of control and he was worried. He mentioned he had just started at the gym. When Joe told him what I did for a living he expressed genuine interest and asked me to call him. I followed up immediately but when I called it wasn't a good time and he asked me to call back. I called back another day, got voice mail and left a message. I also sent an email. No response. Two weeks later at breakfast with the guys, he never mentioned my calls to Joe, so I dropped it. I don't want to harass someone who really isn't interested.

I put Martin on my monthly newsletter list and sent out my first newsletter to him on February 2nd. I received an email back from Martin's wife, asking that I remove Martin off the list because he died in January; she thanked me for my understanding. I was sickened. I went on line to find the obituary. From what I could infer, he died of a heart attack. Joe was not close with Martin and found out about his death through me. That evening I was so sad. I just thought about all those men who are not taking care of their health. They get carried away with career and the rat race and they are either lazy or uneducated about their health. I wondered if he knew that he was one bite away from a heart attack? Probably not. If he could have told the future would he have had fruit salad instead of eggs benny?

When bodies are young, they can bounce back from abuse but as we age the body isn't so resilient. This guy was teetering on the edge of making a change but didn't fully commit. It would have been so easy to make a small change that might have saved his life. I know there are so many others out there that this will happen to. I know I can help many of them if they are ready and open to it. His poor wife is left alone in what is supposed to be her golden years and his kids are now without a dad. I cried as I thought about how much they are all missing. If you know a man who cannot see his shoes for his belly and wants to make a change but doesn't know where to start or is feeling overwhelmed with the thought, this is a perfect person for me to speak with.

How often do you go a day?

I know, many people like to avoid this topic. Why talk about it? What's to talk about? Do you know what I am talking about? I am talking about bowel movements; why they are important and how many you should be having a day. That's right. I said, how many a day! As in plural.

A healthy system will allow for 3 bowel movements a day. It is important for the body to do this elimination because toxic waste matter builds up on the colon wall and can wreak havoc on the body. When the body does not eliminate properly, toxins that are on the colon walls may be reabsorbed into the body. Colon cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancers. Constipation is believed to be the leading cause of this deadly disease. A clogged colon also results in many other problems like acne, obesity and gas to name only a few.

What can you do to start improving your colon health? Start with the following:

1. Drink half your body weight in water in ounces. 120 lbs = 60 ounces of water minimum daily.
2. Increase your fibre so you are eating at least 35 grams a day.
3. Do an overall cellular cleanse. This means the colon is cleansed too.
4. Do a maintenance program of cleansing.
5. Avoid eating processed foods and "fake" foods.
6. Avoid unnecessary medications.

A misconception is that fibre will constipate. A diet high in fiber from fruit, vegetables, and whole grains has many health benefits. Fiber does add bulk to feces, but it’s soft bulk (because of the water) and that’s why it can help people with mild constipation.

I will blog about processed foods and the bowels in another post. Stay tuned!