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Welcome to christopherfrey.net. This blog offers simple solutions and tips for living a healthier, happier, more balanced life.
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Just how important is water to our health? Take a look at it this way, we can survive four weeks without food, but only around four days without water.
Water can help to cure asthma, arthritis, heartburn, migraines, type II diabetes, and high blood pressure. If there is one magic health bullet that almost everyone could benefit from, it would be to drink more water. But what is the American drink of choice? Coffee, Soda, Gatorade and Sprite for the kids. Many of these drinks are diuretics and work to further dehydrate the body, not to mention most are loaded with sugar.
When I was doing health counseling, clients would randomly complain about drinking water. They would have all sorts of arguments for not drinking enough water - “I don’t like the taste”, “It makes me pee too much”, “I hate to carry a bottle around with me”. All of these are poor reasons to avoid getting and staying hydrated.
When the Iranian Revolution broke out in 1979, a doctor named Dr. Datmanghelidj was placed in the infamous Evin prison as a political prisoner for two years and seven months. It was there that he discovered the healing powers of water. One night, Dr B. had to treat a fellow prisoner with crippling peptic ulcer pain. With no medications at his disposal, Dr. B. gave him two glasses of water. Within eight minutes, his pain had disappeared. He was instructed to drink two glasses of water every three hours and became absolute pain free for his four remaining months in the prison. Dr. B. successfully treated 3,000 fellow prisoners suffering from stress-induced peptic ulcer disease with water alone. While in prison he conducted extensive research into the medicinal effects of water in preventing and relieving many painful degenerative diseases. Evin prison proved an ideal “stress laboratory”, and despite his being offered an earlier release, Dr. B chose to stay an extra four months in prison to complete his research into the relationship of dehydration and bleeding peptic ulcer disease. The report of his findings was published as the editorial of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology in June 1983. The New York Times Science Watch reported this discovery on June 21, 1983.
Dr. Batmaghelidj wrote his first self-help book Your Bodies Many Cries for Water in 1992, in which he stated that a dry mouth os not a reliable indicator of dehydration. The body signals its water shortage by producing pain. Dehydration actually produces pain and many degenerative diseases, including asthma, arthritis, hypertension, angina, lupus and MS. Dr. B’s message to the world is, “You are not sick, you are thirsty. Don’t treat thirst with medication.”
How is this possible?
Dr. B, makes a convincing argument that dehydration triggers break downs in the function of many systems of the body and therefore causes pain. Look at it this way. Our bodies are roughly 75% water, but our brain is made up of about 85% water. The body’s first priority is to keep the brain hydrated, so the brain receives close to 20% of the circulation. When we don’t drink enough water, as most of us are doing every single day, the body still provides the same amount of water to the brain, and our less vital systems and tissues suffer the water shortage. We get sore joints and muscles, aches and pains. All caused to some extent from a lack of water. In the stomach, water is needed to produce mucus to protect the lining from acid damage. When we are dehydrated this protective mechanism breaks down and an ulcer forms.
Dr. Batmans re-hydration protocol is to drink half your body weight in ounces every day. So, if you weigh 200 pounds, then you would want to drink up to 100 ounces of water during the course of the day.
Need some proof? A rise in kidney stones in children is seen.
Though most of the research on kidney stones comes from adult studies, experts believe it can be applied to children. Those studies have found that dietary factors are the leading cause of kidney stones, which are crystallizations of several substances in the urine. Stones form when these substances become too concentrated.
Forty to 65 percent of kidney stones are formed when oxalate, a byproduct of certain foods, binds to calcium in the urine. (Other common types include calcium phosphate stones and uric acid stones.) And the two biggest risk factors for this binding process are not drinking enough fluids and eating too much salt; both increase the amount of calcium and oxalate in the urine.
For more information on Dr. Batmanghelidj’s water cure, visit www.watercure.com
Everyone has a predictable future, a future that would automatically occur by doing the things you do all the time. When we eat well, move our bodies, stay in tune with the natural order of things, we feel good, right? When we eat chemicalized, artificial junk foods, we create a predictable future of weight gain and health issues like low energy and sleep problems.
I was reminded about predictable futures when reading a recent newsletter by Amy Kalafa and Susan Rubin, the “Two Angry Moms.” It said, “Americans spend about 10% of their income on food, and about 18% on healthcare. Europeans spend 18% of their income on food, but only 10% on healthcare. My family has made the choice to spend a bit more than the American average on food-we buy organic, grow our own, shop at farmer’s markets and purchase some specialty and superfood items online. The result is predictable: we spend much less than average on healthcare!”
It’s really that simple. We know how to create predictable results.
“I believe that our thoughts have real, powerful effects on us. For instance, let’s say you wake up one morning in a rotten mood. You don’t know why, but you’re just looking for a fight. Well, in my experience, the moment you walk out the front door you’re going to find someone who wants to fight you back. He’ll probably be standing right there.
“On the other hand, if you’re just thinking about enjoying yourself, you’re probably not running into a lot of complications.” - Laird Hamilton
Laird Hamilton is one of those rare living legends, larger than life, although he often appears as a mere spec on some of the waves he rides in his backyard at Jaws off Maui.
He pioneered the sport of tow-surfing, utilizing jet skis to streak aboard mountainous peaks. More recently, he modernized stand-up paddle-surfing and not long ago paddled the length of the Hawaiian island chain — standing up, in daylight, darkness and on rough seas.
Now Hamilton has written a book, his first, appropriately titled “Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul (and, of Course, Surfing),” published by Rodale Books.
It’s not what you might expect. It does not boast of Hamilton’s many accomplishments, for they’re known already. It is, rather, the surfer’s philosophy on life and a revelation of his extreme health-oriented lifestyle.
And chances are that “Force of Nature” — thought it won’t necessarily turn you into one — will inspire you to enjoy a fuller, healthier and more confident existence.
The pages are splashed with photos and accounts from people who have influenced Hamilton’s life, including wife Gabby Reese. But it is Hamilton’s take on life, his honesty and genuineness, that drives this work.
The following are just a few of what I call Lairdisms, his words to live by:
On risk: “If you live in Afghanistan, you’re not in need of any extra uncertainty. But for those of us who are fortunate enough to live in places where our lives are relatively safe, I think if we challenged ourselves—even scared ourselves—once a day, we’d be better people. It helps to have that little jolt of perspective to remind you that life’s fragile.”
On fear: “Meet up with your fears. If you’re afraid of sharks, go learn all about sharks. Get into the water with one. If you respect fear, face it straight on and act anyway. What you’ll find isn’t terror—it’s exhilaration and the moments that you never forget.”
On negativity: “If you’re plagued by negative thoughts, here’s a simple cure: Do something. If you think about it, negative thoughts are a luxury. They’re a way to avoid getting down to work. We are each our greatest inhibitors. We stop ourselves. The irony is that if you just get out of your own way, you’ll do really well.”
And so the book goes, expanding beyond philosophy to work ethic and physical conditioning. Hamilton describes his favorite workouts, which might explode the heart of an average person. He’s deeply into yoga and reminds that notorious warriors under Genghis Khan did 1,000 sun salutations to start their day.
Hamilton describes the foods he loves — all of it fresh and, whenever possible, organic — and supplements he swears by.
Later in the book Hamilton talks about growing up. He and Gabby discuss raising three girls. “We’re balancing out the testosterone,” she says.
Hamilton recounts the Hawaiian island channel crossings, which were to raise autism awareness. He discusses the evolution of surfing and provides tips for those wanting to expand their surfing horizons.
What does it all mean? Hamilton says what matters is to find your passion and look inward. “If you look outward,” he writes, “all you’ll see is what other people are doing. You’re not other people.”
Our goal at this blog is to offer simple, real world solutions and tips for living a healthier, happier, more balanced life. This seems like an opportune time to talk about love handles and belly fat, especially since so many of us just spent the entire day eating everything we could get our hands on.
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Carrying extra fat around your middle dramatically increases your risk of early death, even if your overall weight is normal, say researchers.
A study of almost 360,000 people from nine European countries found waist size a “powerful indicator” of risk. They noted that - each extra 2 inches (5cm) raised the chance of early death by between 13% and 17%. That is a pretty big increase in risk and they are just talking about the fat around your belly, not how much you weigh overall.
Normal-weight male participants with waists measuring 102.7 centimeters (about 40 inches) or more were twice as likely to die as those with waists measuring 86 centimeters (34 inches) or less. Women who weighed in the normal BMI range but had waists that were 89 centimeters (35 inches) or more were 79% more likely to die than those with waists measuring 70.1 centimeters (28 inches) or less.
What’s a normal guy to do??
The New England Journal of Medicine study stressed GPs should regularly measure patients’ waists as a cheap and easy way to assess health.
How To: Measure your waist
Read the Wall Street Journal article
Not to burst your bubble, but maybe your exercise is keeping you fat.
Since we all know that we need some proof - here are some results of Intermittent Fasting (IF) on mice.
photo credit
NOTE: I got the following day 80 update email from Joe C. Officially to be everafter known as the “burpeelicious” Joe C. Sounds like 80 days of burpees is not slowing him down. Here is an artice on this very, very criminal exercise program.
The Burpee spirit is amongst us!
This morning, my normal routine was interrupted by a friends text message asking my assistance to transport his abandoned car. After parking my car next to his, I scrounged through his ice cold car looking for the keys with the wind howling and blowing up my P-Coat onto my bare legs because I was on my way to the gym. After a good 2 minutes of freezing and looking through his car, I retreated back to the warmth of my car to call this friend and ask the question… “Where in the FRICK
our the keys?” Sure enough, they were under the mat just as he said, but he didn’t tell me he had two mats! I was lifting the rubber winter mat and there was actually a carpeted mat underneath it that matched the interior of the car(without my glasses I couldn’t even see the carpeted mat!). So now I’m running late, still have to drop a kid off at school, and get to work at a decent hour where I also have another car I’m running in for service. There’s no way I can go to the gym, do my normal work out, and do my Burpees. Then I thought about it. I was in my gym clothes. I had to shower and change somewhere. Do I swing back by the house? Should I just use the locker room at work? Do I go to
the other car dealer in my shorts and P-Coat? Hell NO! It’s Burpee time. 80 or bust. Screw the workout, just go to Gold’s Gym and do the Burpees!
It was a Burpeelicious morning. Not only did I do my 80 Burpees, but I also had the pleasure of seeing the lovely Rose, wife of Chris Frey, the Burpee Challenge Man himself. I’ve been trying to mix it up by
alternating push-ups every other set(the woman who blogged about her push-ups has inspired me to include them). This way I get strength or cardio every set. After 6 sets of 12 and feeling strong, I figured I should have fun with the last 8, so on the first repetition I went down and instead of doing 1 push-up, I did 8, then I did 8 straight Burpees, and then I did 8 Burpees with push-ups. I was pumped! As much as I hate it by the third set, there’s nothing better then finishing that last set!!!
So you have to ask yourself…why in the heck does this Joe guy think he can write such long emails that say absolutely nothing and expect us to read them like we care?
Answer: Because I can! It ain’t easy being me! Have a Burpeelicious Day!
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