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Using HRV to Improve Performance, Why We Got into Biohackng and the Myths of Water
What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)?
-Chantea Goetz
Heart rate variability is the change in the time intervals between consecutive heartbeats. Variations can be due to age, gender, athletic ability, circadian rhythms, core body temperature, and metabolism. 24-hour recordings are the gold standard. To measure the autonomic, cardiovascular, & respiratory systems a short-term reading of 5 minutes a day is sufficient. HRV is a critical indicator of health, resilience, well-being, and performance. Several research studies indicate that lowered HRV values lead to increased reports of diabetes, coronary disease, anxiety, depression, asthma, and poor performance. These aliments are due to autonomic dysregulation. HRV biofeedback positively effects the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, performance, and behavior.
The benefits of using HRV biofeedback has the ability for people to become aware of their proper breathing rate, also known as resonant frequency. Proper breathing patterns can improve professional and athletic performance, improve focus and concentration, reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, improve overall health and mental well-being, while reducing risk factors for disease.
HRV biofeedback training involves slowing the breathing rate to achieve the RF breathe. For most people the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is maximized when breathing at a rate of 6 breaths per minute. In order to obtain an ideal HRV there needs to be a balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. When a person is over-stressed and under-recovered there will be a decline in performance. Some ways in which to separate emotional responses from physical actions are to practice mindfulness and meditation.
My Journey in BioHacking Functional Fitness-Jim GoetzI work with people daily in order to help them achieve their goals and improve their way of life. What good is life if it’s a life that’s not worth living? Everyone deserves a happy and healthy life but many lack any clue on how to achieve this. Goals are an essential part of health and happiness. Without setting objective goals, having a plan and being accountable to this plan, success will not happen.
What biohacking is and some thoughts on this were discussed in a recent interview I gave with The Vitamin Shoppe in their publication, What is Good. My journey is not unlike any other. However the plan I use to achieve my goals is highly researched. As goals may be and should be in different aspects of life, this article focuses on health and fitness goals. I began working out in the fourth grade. My grammar school teacher was not the best and as a result I became very unhappy. I found enjoyment through running, push ups, and sit ups. There was a burning sensation in either my legs, chest and arms or abs that was perplexing. The more I did, the more it burned. As an eight year old, this confusing sensation led to greater experimentation, which essentially meant to do more exercises. I would do these exercises daily, timing myself to see how long I could do them until the burn began and then how long I could push through the burn until I literally could not move that body part any longer. I was utilizing the most unscientific manner to increase lactic threshold and muscular endurance and function but for an eight year old, it made sense.My life was always filled with sports. Grammar school through high school it was cross country, basketball and baseball. In college it was baseball. Like most, I only did what the coach had me do. Like most I did not realize the coach had no clue himself in how to make better athletes. It was in undergrad when I changed majors to exercise science that I began to learn new techniques in how to improve athletic ability. Some ideas worked for me, some did not. For instance, increasing carbohydrate intake before and after working out caused a dissipation of the visual appearance of muscle. In other words, carbs for energy and replenishment caused me to gain body fat. I also noticed that by consuming high carb meals the nigh before an event, I would wake up in the morning lethargic and with stomach pangs. I would also find that during a distance event, I would eventually feel depleted of all energy and not flow through the event as planned.Training for my first Tough Mudder was also an experiment. Though I ran long distances all my life, I loathed running at this point in my life. Instead of running, I did a spin class each morning and then later on would complete two circuits of six exercises with extremely heavy weight, being able to complete no more than 1-3 reps. I would move through this as fast yet efficient as possible. In the three months leading up to the Tough Mudder, I inadvertently lost 16 lbs and gained an incredible amount of strength. For example, before I began training I could do six pull ups. By the time three months passed, I was doing twenty pull ups at a time with ease.Through these two experiences and examples, I had self discovered methods that indeed were topics of research yet had no idea about it at the time. My journey to biohacking was well on the way before I had even heard of the idea of biohacking.I went through an arduous two year period without access to a gym. I became weak to the point of no longer being able to do a pull up or a full range of motion dip. I lost forty pounds and was emaciated. Refusing to be beat, I adapted and learned I needed to make some changes and utilize every ounce of exercise science, physiology and neurology that I knew. I found rocks, concrete, steel pipes and built some awkward equipment that I could use and train in a functional manner. Each day I would apply the lessons I knew from the text books and research journals to my personal physical development.Some say nutrition is 80% of the solution when it comes to lean muscle gain and body fat loss. I personally believe it is closer to 90% of the solution. During the two year period without access to a gym, my access to nutritious food of any sort, even food in any quantity was limited at best. I was able to find access to large amounts of peanut butter, to which I hoarded and lived off of.In January of 2017, I weighed 160 lbs. I began to hone eating a ketogenic diet that I plan on keeping a lifestyle for the rest of my life. The science appears to be there for my Genotype that my physiology thrives on this manner of eating.I combined daily undulating periodization with cross fit workout of the days, power lifting for the lower extremity, Pilates, Olympic lifting and moderate distance running. On certain days, I utilize KAATSU and ensure I train all muscles every day in some manner yet ensure I do not go past no return so that I may properly recover.There is no one size fits all formula for success. Each individual has goals. Each individuals goals are unique and important to that person. Yet 95% of people will fail in their workout routine. This is due to a lack of setting a proper goal, lack of a plan towards that goal, and most importantly accountability to execute this plan on a daily basis. The book BioHacking Your Brain for Success: Becoming a True Champion in All Aspects of Life written by myself and Chantea Goetz discusses this in great detail. There's a reason some people are successful in all they do. Others make excuses for their failure, which really is a result of never actually putting in any effort. The most important aspect of success is passion!!! People tell me all the time they want to lose weight. I often tell them that there's no chance they will lose the weight and keep it off. They should save their money and do something enjoyable with it. Yes, these individuals are shocked at what I say but it is true. When one gets out of bed in the morning, they need to have a true passion and meaning in why they put their feet on the ground. If there's no passion for getting up, then the odds of success at an idea are futile at best. Does anyone really have a true passion for losing 20 lbs? They have the best intentions in the world but will assuredly fail. Take that same person who is 20 lbs overweight and sign them up for a competition and they may find that passion in training. The 20 lb weight loss will occur as a result. As Yogi Berra once said, "half of the game is ninety percent mental". I can write the greatest program in the universe for someone to succeed. If there's no passion behind it then success is not happening. One has to show up to the field to play the game.Exercise is a lot more than simply opening up a magazine and doing chest and tri's on Monday, back and bi's on Tuesday, shoulders on Wednesday, skipping legs on Thursday because let's face it, doing legs suck and with all good intention of doing something Friday, it just does not happen. Most do "abs" every day, without ever being able to see a true six pack. So many aspects of this model are flawed from the get go. First and foremost, muscles only stay anabolic for around 48 hours. This means that after a tough "chest" day, by Wednesday this muscle ceases growth. Unfortunately, the overzealous weight lifter has damaged their muscle fibers too great to be able to work it again and is left with a muscle that is catabolic. Bodybuilders can get away with this because they are taking anabolic steroids. This keeps them anabolic all day and every day. For those of us not on performance enhancing drugs, we need to stay a few steps ahead of the game and can use science (BioHack) our way to our goals.Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So why do the majority of individuals do this single or double body part split day week after week, month after month, and think they are making progress? If someone goes to the gym with no plan, how can they see if they are progressing and progressing in the right manner? That would be like a strength and conditioning coach having a professional football team "just go lift" as opposed to having a highly specialized and detailed season long program. Perhaps progress can be optimized if they followed the rules of human physiology. Yet people do this day after day, week after week, month after month until they realize they "will never" reach their goals and eventually give up.Daily undulated periodization (DUP) has a key, which is getting in maximum workout volume, without impacting recovery, which is why the undulating and periodization aspects are critical. One trains the entire body multiple times per week and utilizes different repetition ranges, thus focusing in on more specific muscle fiber types. Training in this manner has been shown to be more effective than linear exercise programming in terms of muscular hypertrophy, strength and endurance. Combine DUP with KAATSU (vascular occlusion moderation training) and you get extreme muscle strength and growth in a far shorter time frame than would be believed. It is believed that the restricted blood flow recruits a greater number of fast twitch muscle fibers and even converts fibers to fast twitch. This combined with the increase in chemical mediators to repair tissues has been shown to have phenomenal results.High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has it's place for fat burning and strength training. Some utilize it to save time in a day. Others can utilize it to have amazing physical performance results. Pilates is utilized for dexterity, flexibility, and fine tuning a strong core. This can be done literally by anyone.Never let a fat person on statins tell you how to eat. Never let a skinny person tell you how to lift. And never get accurate information from the media. Open up recent text books. Read peer reviewed journals and do critical appraisals on each article you consider utilizing. In the end, set your goals to mirror your passions. Set a realistic plan to achieve them and stay accountable each day towards it. Do this and welcome into your life the success you very much deserve.My goal...pull a 500 lb deadlift and on the same day run and complete an Iron Man triathalon. What's yours? Let's get to BioHacking our way there!!!!References:Jennifer T. Fine, Graham A. Colditz, Eugenie H. Coakley, George Moseley, JoAnn E. Manson, Walter C. Willett, and Ichiro Kawachi. A Prospective Study of Weight Change and Health-Related Quality of Life in Women . JAMA 1999 282: 2136-2142.Alfred Wirth and Jutta Krause. Long-term Weight Loss With Sibutramine: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA 2001 286: 1331-1339Shinichi Amano, Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin, Rachel Clift, et al. Effectiveness of blood flow restricted exercise compared with standard exercise in patients with recurrent low back pain: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials201617:81Zourdos, Michael C.; Jo, Edward; Khamoui, Andy V. et al. Modified Daily Undulating Periodization Model Produces Greater Performance Than a Traditional Configuration in Powerlifters. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: March 2016 - Volume 30 - Issue 3 - p 784–791Nicholas J Krilanovich. Benefits of ketogenic diets. Am J Clin Nutr January 2007 vol. 85 no. 1 238-239BioHacking the Myths of Water-Dr. Michael Brandon, DCWe all know that as long as we drink 8 cups of water a day our skin will be softer and glisten, we'll have a faster metabolism, better kidney function, we'll clear out toxins from our body, perform better, and lose weight.Well, now it's time to state that you have been lied to. In fact, only about half of that appears to hold any truth. The other half has either never been proven, or worse, been proven incorrect but is yet repeated to everybody as health advice. So what is false tales vs true benefits? Lets do what biohackers do best and get to the science of the life requiring, ultimate biohack of H2O!Let's begin with hacking the untruths, and target the big one. There is NO proof or reason to have 8 cups of water each day. Yep, I said it. In fact, there has been multiple studies done proving this is illegitimate! In reality, there are too many variables that effect hydration requirements such as weight, gender, activity levels, what/how much you have eaten, heat, and heart or kidney pathologies just to name a few, so no one amount will work for even half of the population. The Committee at the Institute of Medicine even states that “While it might appear useful to estimate an average requirement (an EAR) for water, an EAR based on data is not possible” There are 2 easy guidelines to account for this and the first is quite simple. If you are thirsty or active, you should drink some water. You can over do it, but it takes a lot to do so. Again, everyone is different, but typically after a gallon or so within 2-3 hours is too much for almost everybody and can cause some acute health issues. At that point you almost literally have to force water down your throat which brings us to guideline number 2; if you're drinking and it becomes physically difficult to drink water, you've probably had enough. We have a reflex that slows down our swallowing strength when we are over full of food and fluids, so as always, listen to your body, it knows best. Also, our bodies can only absorb about a quart an hour, so even if you are in heavy exercise, any more than that is going in and straight out without any benefit anyway other then depleting your body of more salt and electrolytes.The next myth to bust is that caffeine dehydrates you, so here you go, it doesn't. Well not if you're used to drinking it, and it only minimally does if you are a caffeine novice. Moderate amounts of caffeine usage (4 cups of coffee or 100mg of caffeine) showed no significant diuretic effects leading to lower hydration levels. This is not to be confused with saying that coffee and water are equal, as caffeine does lower our bodies' salt levels and does not give all the same effects as water which will be covered down the page. Based on the most current research, increasing water intake alone also DOES NOT provide the following benefits as many have proclaimed; healthier and shinier skin, better kidney functions, clearing out toxins, and giving more energy. These were all thought up by one industry or another to help promotions and as far as could be found, held no scientific support.So what does drinking water help with? Still quite a bit, I mean it is necessary for a reason! Staying hydrated is great for both physical and mental performance.Muscle is 80% water, so staying fully hydrated helps prevent early muscle fatigue, cramping, and may allow for an extra rep or 2 in the gym. Also when dehydrated, our bodies release less anabolic hormones and more catabolic hormones including cortisol, so having sufficient water levels may help with exercise gains.Though these effects of dehydration effect all activities, it appears that it hampers high intensity and endurance activities like long distance running significantly more than anaerobic ones like weight lifting. Being dehydrated, also can effect short term memory, focus, visual perception, and other cognitive factors. Both these and the physical decreases can occur once someone has lost as little as 2% of weight from water such as sweating. This would be about 3lbs for someone weighing initially 150lbs, and it's not uncommon for many athletes to lose 6-8% in any given workout.Drinking water can also help with weight loss, and this is 2 fold. First the simple mechanism; drinking 500ml of water (around 16 oz) before a meal helps with satiety and forces us to eat less. However, there is more to it then that. The same amount also is shown to increase metabolic rate by roughly 30%. This increase in metabolism begins in only 10 minutes and peaks after about 30-40 minutes and can last up to 3 hours. So you can burn a few extra calories a day just by staying hydrated; sounds worth-while to me. Even if water doesn't hold up to all the “facts” that many of us have heard time and time again, it is still the item which should be consumed the most by everybody on any given day. With all the benefits mentioned, let alone the thousands of physiological reactions it helps with in the body, I say bottoms up with the bottle to good health!References:Boschmann, Michael, et al. “Water Drinking Induces Thermogenesis through Osmosensitive Mechanisms | The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism | Oxford Academic.”OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Aug. 2007, academic.oup.com/jcem/article-lookup/doi/10.1210/jc.2006-1438.Killer, Sophie C., et al. “No Evidence of Dehydration with Moderate Daily Coffee Intake: A Counterbalanced Cross-Over Study in a Free-Living Population.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0084154. Popkin, Barry M., et al. “Water, Hydration and Health.” Nutrition Reviews, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954/. University of Michigan. Myth of 8 Glasses of Water a Day. 24 Aug. 2015, www.med.umich.edu/1libr/Gyn/ObgynClinic/8GlassesWaterMyth.pdf. “What Is Hyponatremia?” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-hyponatremia#1.
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By Dr. Chantea PhDWhat is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)?
-Chantea Goetz
Heart rate variability is the change in the time intervals between consecutive heartbeats. Variations can be due to age, gender, athletic ability, circadian rhythms, core body temperature, and metabolism. 24-hour recordings are the gold standard. To measure the autonomic, cardiovascular, & respiratory systems a short-term reading of 5 minutes a day is sufficient. HRV is a critical indicator of health, resilience, well-being, and performance. Several research studies indicate that lowered HRV values lead to increased reports of diabetes, coronary disease, anxiety, depression, asthma, and poor performance. These aliments are due to autonomic dysregulation. HRV biofeedback positively effects the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, performance, and behavior.
The benefits of using HRV biofeedback has the ability for people to become aware of their proper breathing rate, also known as resonant frequency. Proper breathing patterns can improve professional and athletic performance, improve focus and concentration, reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, improve overall health and mental well-being, while reducing risk factors for disease.
HRV biofeedback training involves slowing the breathing rate to achieve the RF breathe. For most people the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is maximized when breathing at a rate of 6 breaths per minute. In order to obtain an ideal HRV there needs to be a balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. When a person is over-stressed and under-recovered there will be a decline in performance. Some ways in which to separate emotional responses from physical actions are to practice mindfulness and meditation.
My Journey in BioHacking Functional Fitness-Jim GoetzI work with people daily in order to help them achieve their goals and improve their way of life. What good is life if it’s a life that’s not worth living? Everyone deserves a happy and healthy life but many lack any clue on how to achieve this. Goals are an essential part of health and happiness. Without setting objective goals, having a plan and being accountable to this plan, success will not happen.
What biohacking is and some thoughts on this were discussed in a recent interview I gave with The Vitamin Shoppe in their publication, What is Good. My journey is not unlike any other. However the plan I use to achieve my goals is highly researched. As goals may be and should be in different aspects of life, this article focuses on health and fitness goals. I began working out in the fourth grade. My grammar school teacher was not the best and as a result I became very unhappy. I found enjoyment through running, push ups, and sit ups. There was a burning sensation in either my legs, chest and arms or abs that was perplexing. The more I did, the more it burned. As an eight year old, this confusing sensation led to greater experimentation, which essentially meant to do more exercises. I would do these exercises daily, timing myself to see how long I could do them until the burn began and then how long I could push through the burn until I literally could not move that body part any longer. I was utilizing the most unscientific manner to increase lactic threshold and muscular endurance and function but for an eight year old, it made sense.My life was always filled with sports. Grammar school through high school it was cross country, basketball and baseball. In college it was baseball. Like most, I only did what the coach had me do. Like most I did not realize the coach had no clue himself in how to make better athletes. It was in undergrad when I changed majors to exercise science that I began to learn new techniques in how to improve athletic ability. Some ideas worked for me, some did not. For instance, increasing carbohydrate intake before and after working out caused a dissipation of the visual appearance of muscle. In other words, carbs for energy and replenishment caused me to gain body fat. I also noticed that by consuming high carb meals the nigh before an event, I would wake up in the morning lethargic and with stomach pangs. I would also find that during a distance event, I would eventually feel depleted of all energy and not flow through the event as planned.Training for my first Tough Mudder was also an experiment. Though I ran long distances all my life, I loathed running at this point in my life. Instead of running, I did a spin class each morning and then later on would complete two circuits of six exercises with extremely heavy weight, being able to complete no more than 1-3 reps. I would move through this as fast yet efficient as possible. In the three months leading up to the Tough Mudder, I inadvertently lost 16 lbs and gained an incredible amount of strength. For example, before I began training I could do six pull ups. By the time three months passed, I was doing twenty pull ups at a time with ease.Through these two experiences and examples, I had self discovered methods that indeed were topics of research yet had no idea about it at the time. My journey to biohacking was well on the way before I had even heard of the idea of biohacking.I went through an arduous two year period without access to a gym. I became weak to the point of no longer being able to do a pull up or a full range of motion dip. I lost forty pounds and was emaciated. Refusing to be beat, I adapted and learned I needed to make some changes and utilize every ounce of exercise science, physiology and neurology that I knew. I found rocks, concrete, steel pipes and built some awkward equipment that I could use and train in a functional manner. Each day I would apply the lessons I knew from the text books and research journals to my personal physical development.Some say nutrition is 80% of the solution when it comes to lean muscle gain and body fat loss. I personally believe it is closer to 90% of the solution. During the two year period without access to a gym, my access to nutritious food of any sort, even food in any quantity was limited at best. I was able to find access to large amounts of peanut butter, to which I hoarded and lived off of.In January of 2017, I weighed 160 lbs. I began to hone eating a ketogenic diet that I plan on keeping a lifestyle for the rest of my life. The science appears to be there for my Genotype that my physiology thrives on this manner of eating.I combined daily undulating periodization with cross fit workout of the days, power lifting for the lower extremity, Pilates, Olympic lifting and moderate distance running. On certain days, I utilize KAATSU and ensure I train all muscles every day in some manner yet ensure I do not go past no return so that I may properly recover.There is no one size fits all formula for success. Each individual has goals. Each individuals goals are unique and important to that person. Yet 95% of people will fail in their workout routine. This is due to a lack of setting a proper goal, lack of a plan towards that goal, and most importantly accountability to execute this plan on a daily basis. The book BioHacking Your Brain for Success: Becoming a True Champion in All Aspects of Life written by myself and Chantea Goetz discusses this in great detail. There's a reason some people are successful in all they do. Others make excuses for their failure, which really is a result of never actually putting in any effort. The most important aspect of success is passion!!! People tell me all the time they want to lose weight. I often tell them that there's no chance they will lose the weight and keep it off. They should save their money and do something enjoyable with it. Yes, these individuals are shocked at what I say but it is true. When one gets out of bed in the morning, they need to have a true passion and meaning in why they put their feet on the ground. If there's no passion for getting up, then the odds of success at an idea are futile at best. Does anyone really have a true passion for losing 20 lbs? They have the best intentions in the world but will assuredly fail. Take that same person who is 20 lbs overweight and sign them up for a competition and they may find that passion in training. The 20 lb weight loss will occur as a result. As Yogi Berra once said, "half of the game is ninety percent mental". I can write the greatest program in the universe for someone to succeed. If there's no passion behind it then success is not happening. One has to show up to the field to play the game.Exercise is a lot more than simply opening up a magazine and doing chest and tri's on Monday, back and bi's on Tuesday, shoulders on Wednesday, skipping legs on Thursday because let's face it, doing legs suck and with all good intention of doing something Friday, it just does not happen. Most do "abs" every day, without ever being able to see a true six pack. So many aspects of this model are flawed from the get go. First and foremost, muscles only stay anabolic for around 48 hours. This means that after a tough "chest" day, by Wednesday this muscle ceases growth. Unfortunately, the overzealous weight lifter has damaged their muscle fibers too great to be able to work it again and is left with a muscle that is catabolic. Bodybuilders can get away with this because they are taking anabolic steroids. This keeps them anabolic all day and every day. For those of us not on performance enhancing drugs, we need to stay a few steps ahead of the game and can use science (BioHack) our way to our goals.Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So why do the majority of individuals do this single or double body part split day week after week, month after month, and think they are making progress? If someone goes to the gym with no plan, how can they see if they are progressing and progressing in the right manner? That would be like a strength and conditioning coach having a professional football team "just go lift" as opposed to having a highly specialized and detailed season long program. Perhaps progress can be optimized if they followed the rules of human physiology. Yet people do this day after day, week after week, month after month until they realize they "will never" reach their goals and eventually give up.Daily undulated periodization (DUP) has a key, which is getting in maximum workout volume, without impacting recovery, which is why the undulating and periodization aspects are critical. One trains the entire body multiple times per week and utilizes different repetition ranges, thus focusing in on more specific muscle fiber types. Training in this manner has been shown to be more effective than linear exercise programming in terms of muscular hypertrophy, strength and endurance. Combine DUP with KAATSU (vascular occlusion moderation training) and you get extreme muscle strength and growth in a far shorter time frame than would be believed. It is believed that the restricted blood flow recruits a greater number of fast twitch muscle fibers and even converts fibers to fast twitch. This combined with the increase in chemical mediators to repair tissues has been shown to have phenomenal results.High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has it's place for fat burning and strength training. Some utilize it to save time in a day. Others can utilize it to have amazing physical performance results. Pilates is utilized for dexterity, flexibility, and fine tuning a strong core. This can be done literally by anyone.Never let a fat person on statins tell you how to eat. Never let a skinny person tell you how to lift. And never get accurate information from the media. Open up recent text books. Read peer reviewed journals and do critical appraisals on each article you consider utilizing. In the end, set your goals to mirror your passions. Set a realistic plan to achieve them and stay accountable each day towards it. Do this and welcome into your life the success you very much deserve.My goal...pull a 500 lb deadlift and on the same day run and complete an Iron Man triathalon. What's yours? Let's get to BioHacking our way there!!!!References:Jennifer T. Fine, Graham A. Colditz, Eugenie H. Coakley, George Moseley, JoAnn E. Manson, Walter C. Willett, and Ichiro Kawachi. A Prospective Study of Weight Change and Health-Related Quality of Life in Women . JAMA 1999 282: 2136-2142.Alfred Wirth and Jutta Krause. Long-term Weight Loss With Sibutramine: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA 2001 286: 1331-1339Shinichi Amano, Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin, Rachel Clift, et al. Effectiveness of blood flow restricted exercise compared with standard exercise in patients with recurrent low back pain: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials201617:81Zourdos, Michael C.; Jo, Edward; Khamoui, Andy V. et al. Modified Daily Undulating Periodization Model Produces Greater Performance Than a Traditional Configuration in Powerlifters. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: March 2016 - Volume 30 - Issue 3 - p 784–791Nicholas J Krilanovich. Benefits of ketogenic diets. Am J Clin Nutr January 2007 vol. 85 no. 1 238-239BioHacking the Myths of Water-Dr. Michael Brandon, DCWe all know that as long as we drink 8 cups of water a day our skin will be softer and glisten, we'll have a faster metabolism, better kidney function, we'll clear out toxins from our body, perform better, and lose weight.Well, now it's time to state that you have been lied to. In fact, only about half of that appears to hold any truth. The other half has either never been proven, or worse, been proven incorrect but is yet repeated to everybody as health advice. So what is false tales vs true benefits? Lets do what biohackers do best and get to the science of the life requiring, ultimate biohack of H2O!Let's begin with hacking the untruths, and target the big one. There is NO proof or reason to have 8 cups of water each day. Yep, I said it. In fact, there has been multiple studies done proving this is illegitimate! In reality, there are too many variables that effect hydration requirements such as weight, gender, activity levels, what/how much you have eaten, heat, and heart or kidney pathologies just to name a few, so no one amount will work for even half of the population. The Committee at the Institute of Medicine even states that “While it might appear useful to estimate an average requirement (an EAR) for water, an EAR based on data is not possible” There are 2 easy guidelines to account for this and the first is quite simple. If you are thirsty or active, you should drink some water. You can over do it, but it takes a lot to do so. Again, everyone is different, but typically after a gallon or so within 2-3 hours is too much for almost everybody and can cause some acute health issues. At that point you almost literally have to force water down your throat which brings us to guideline number 2; if you're drinking and it becomes physically difficult to drink water, you've probably had enough. We have a reflex that slows down our swallowing strength when we are over full of food and fluids, so as always, listen to your body, it knows best. Also, our bodies can only absorb about a quart an hour, so even if you are in heavy exercise, any more than that is going in and straight out without any benefit anyway other then depleting your body of more salt and electrolytes.The next myth to bust is that caffeine dehydrates you, so here you go, it doesn't. Well not if you're used to drinking it, and it only minimally does if you are a caffeine novice. Moderate amounts of caffeine usage (4 cups of coffee or 100mg of caffeine) showed no significant diuretic effects leading to lower hydration levels. This is not to be confused with saying that coffee and water are equal, as caffeine does lower our bodies' salt levels and does not give all the same effects as water which will be covered down the page. Based on the most current research, increasing water intake alone also DOES NOT provide the following benefits as many have proclaimed; healthier and shinier skin, better kidney functions, clearing out toxins, and giving more energy. These were all thought up by one industry or another to help promotions and as far as could be found, held no scientific support.So what does drinking water help with? Still quite a bit, I mean it is necessary for a reason! Staying hydrated is great for both physical and mental performance.Muscle is 80% water, so staying fully hydrated helps prevent early muscle fatigue, cramping, and may allow for an extra rep or 2 in the gym. Also when dehydrated, our bodies release less anabolic hormones and more catabolic hormones including cortisol, so having sufficient water levels may help with exercise gains.Though these effects of dehydration effect all activities, it appears that it hampers high intensity and endurance activities like long distance running significantly more than anaerobic ones like weight lifting. Being dehydrated, also can effect short term memory, focus, visual perception, and other cognitive factors. Both these and the physical decreases can occur once someone has lost as little as 2% of weight from water such as sweating. This would be about 3lbs for someone weighing initially 150lbs, and it's not uncommon for many athletes to lose 6-8% in any given workout.Drinking water can also help with weight loss, and this is 2 fold. First the simple mechanism; drinking 500ml of water (around 16 oz) before a meal helps with satiety and forces us to eat less. However, there is more to it then that. The same amount also is shown to increase metabolic rate by roughly 30%. This increase in metabolism begins in only 10 minutes and peaks after about 30-40 minutes and can last up to 3 hours. So you can burn a few extra calories a day just by staying hydrated; sounds worth-while to me. Even if water doesn't hold up to all the “facts” that many of us have heard time and time again, it is still the item which should be consumed the most by everybody on any given day. With all the benefits mentioned, let alone the thousands of physiological reactions it helps with in the body, I say bottoms up with the bottle to good health!References:Boschmann, Michael, et al. “Water Drinking Induces Thermogenesis through Osmosensitive Mechanisms | The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism | Oxford Academic.”OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Aug. 2007, academic.oup.com/jcem/article-lookup/doi/10.1210/jc.2006-1438.Killer, Sophie C., et al. “No Evidence of Dehydration with Moderate Daily Coffee Intake: A Counterbalanced Cross-Over Study in a Free-Living Population.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0084154. Popkin, Barry M., et al. “Water, Hydration and Health.” Nutrition Reviews, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954/. University of Michigan. Myth of 8 Glasses of Water a Day. 24 Aug. 2015, www.med.umich.edu/1libr/Gyn/ObgynClinic/8GlassesWaterMyth.pdf. “What Is Hyponatremia?” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-hyponatremia#1.
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