Participants: George Guthrie, Tim Arnott
Series Code: WM
Program Code: WM000333
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00:01 The following program presents principles designed
00:03 to promote good health and is not intended to take 00:05 the place of personalized professional care. 00:08 The opinions and ideas expressed are those 00:10 of the speaker. Viewers are encouraged to draw their 00:13 own conclusions about the information presented. 00:36 Hello, welcome to Wonderfully Made, my name is 00:41 Dr. George Guthrie, Medical Director at the 00:44 Lifestyle Center of America. Here to talk to you today 00:48 about drinking, when someone says, they are drinking 00:52 plenty, is that a good thing or a bad thing. 00:57 Well, I suppose it depends on what they're drinking; 00:59 joining me is Dr. Tim Arnott. Hello, Tim. 01:03 Hi, welcome. Well, something's are good for us to drink 01:08 and something is bad for us to drink, let's start with 01:11 the basic. If I'm drinking water is that a good 01:15 thing or a bad thing? Well, it can be, 01:18 earlier we were talking about the amount of water 01:22 that you drink, and some individuals were probably hear 01:25 this program and may actually be encourage or tempted 01:30 over drink water, yes that can be a problem, 01:35 and especially if individuals have congestive 01:38 heart failure or kidney disease called chronic 01:41 renal disease, chronic renal failure and otherwise 01:45 if their kidneys are at risk or if their heart is weak, 01:47 you can actually drink too much water and truth be 01:52 known water by itself doesn't actually cover up some 01:57 of the other things that we may not be doing like not 01:59 exercising or not having the optimal diet, 02:02 but it is important to drink water and we're gonna 02:04 be talking about some of the reasons 02:06 why you would want to do so. 02:09 Seems like I remember they are being a problem 02:11 with too much water actually causing death and 02:14 we called a drowning, right? So, there is proper amount 02:16 so it just about everything. 02:18 That's correct, the temperance is one of the 02:20 principles that the creator has given us and so that 02:24 applies to water as well, but many people aren't 02:27 drinking enough water and the other thing is that lot 02:31 of people are drinking things other than water and 02:34 we're gonna be talking about some of the results, 02:36 some of the side effects when you choose 02:38 something other than water. 02:41 Let's focus in a little bit on what happens in our bodies 02:45 when there is not quite enough water present. 02:49 Well, certainly one of the things that can happen, 02:51 is that if your, if your body does not have the water 02:54 that it needs your blood becomes more 02:57 concentrated and it actually they involve something 03:01 called the viscosity of blood or the thickness 03:04 of the blood and the blood actually has more cells as 03:07 a greater percentage of cells, a lower percentage 03:10 of the plasma or fluid and that may increase the risk of 03:14 something called a blood clot and that you may 03:17 or may not know that nearly every heart attack 03:20 is the result of a blood clot and the vast majority 03:24 of strokes are also the result of blood clots and 03:27 so if you become dehydrated and your blood becomes 03:30 thick you could be increase in your risk of 03:33 heart attack or stroke. 03:36 I was, I was going to add you know, 03:37 when the blood flows well, there is better circulation 03:41 you're actually better able to exercise as well. 03:43 People who are dehydrated have a hard time 03:46 keeping up with the exercise. 03:48 In fact there is still maybe a few individuals 03:50 who have not heard the story, so we will share it one 03:52 more time. There was an attempt to climb a 03:56 Mount Everest. The very first attempted it was a Swiss 03:59 attempt, so you would expect them they have no problem 04:02 that we're reaching the top of Mount Everest, 04:04 but just a few hundred feet short of the summit they 04:08 were unable to complete that task and then the 04:13 British team, few years later they looked at the Swiss 04:17 experience and they found that the Swiss average 04:20 less than two glasses of water a day during their attempt 04:24 on Mount Everest. And so there the British actually 04:28 decided that they were gonna drink twelve glasses 04:31 of water a day and be about three liters or 04:35 three fourths and they led the first successful summit 04:40 journey on Mount Everest. So, indeed the body has mostly 04:45 water and if you're dehydrated the cell activity 04:50 is going to be compromise and that means your muscle 04:52 activity is gonna be compromise your endurance is gonna 04:56 be compromised. And so that's very important as well 05:00 endurance water they're needed they go together. 05:04 That fits with my experience as well, 05:05 when I go out to exercise to, to run or walk and I always 05:11 feels better, I enjoy it more of, when I am hydrated 05:15 without the water I pump out a whole lot sooner. 05:18 Absolutely, but we want to get to some of the research 05:21 that's has been done regarding water, there is not a lot 05:24 of research regarding drinking water, but there are 05:27 few studies come in and go. And so we're gonna look 05:29 at one of the studies that was actually published in the 05:33 American Journal of epidemiology by 05:36 Dr. Jackie Chan and her colleagues at the Loma Linda 05:39 school of public health and what they did was to examine 05:44 a group of individuals, several thousand individuals 05:47 there is Southern California and they looked at the 05:50 amount of water that they drunk and then they looked 05:53 at their risk of dying of heart attack. 05:56 And what they found is very exciting George why don't you 05:59 share with us just a little bit of, of what they found 06:03 there when they compared those who drank the 06:05 least water with those who drank that the most water, 06:09 what was the least less than two glasses a day 06:11 and the most was five or more glasses of water a day. 06:16 Well, at least the females had a 40 percent decrease 06:20 in their risk of heart attack, if they had the most water 06:23 compare to the least. Males 50 percent 06:28 decrease in risk. So, in other words 06:30 these individuals are able to reduce their risk of dying 06:34 of a heart attack or let's put it this way they were 06:36 at 40 percent in the women, 40 percent lower risk 06:40 of dying from heart attack, if they were at the top 06:44 of the chart for drinking water and the man at less, 06:48 less than half the risk of dying of a heart attack, 06:51 if they were drinking five or more glasses of water 06:54 and if you're drinking about 9 or 10 glasses of water 06:58 a day you should know that you're in the 90th upper 07:01 90th percentile for Americans for drinking water. 07:04 So, that's why you may not think that five or more 07:08 glasses is very much, but on an American average 07:12 that's actually quite a bit of water. 07:14 So, Tim I need to get a fluid in, but just plain water, 07:17 just seems a little bit plain. So, is it okay if I take 07:22 it in as soda pop, what about diet soda is, 07:26 is that okay? Well, it's interesting that Dr. Chan 07:30 there her colleagues at Loma Linda School of health 07:34 looked at this as well. They looked at the intake of 07:36 non-water beverages and the associated risk 07:41 of dying of a heart attack and what they found in the, 07:44 in the women, the women who were drinking the most 07:47 non-water beverages actually had two and a half 07:51 times greater risk they were at two and a half times 07:55 greater risk of dying of heart attack. 07:57 And for the man it was actually a 50 percent greater 08:01 risk of dying of a heart attack. 08:03 Now, these were not direct cause and affect 08:06 relationships necessarily, but they are associations 08:09 and these researchers tried to screen out all of the 08:13 other causes of heart disease that they possibly 08:17 could to try to just look at the water affect. 08:20 So, apparently if you read their discussion in that 08:23 article, apparently some of these other fluids like the 08:26 fruit juices for example they are very high and what 08:29 we called ausmedic content, which means when you 08:33 take them into your intestine the, the water is 08:36 actually drawn into your intestine to dilute the fruit 08:40 juice and that can be dehydrating your blood 08:43 at the same time at least temporarily and that 08:46 could at least for the short term increase the viscosity 08:50 or thickness of the blood, increasing the risk 08:53 of a blood clot and heart attack. 08:54 I think it's important to point out that it's not that, 08:58 this article does not prove the cause and effect 09:01 relationship between poor blood flow and water, 09:05 but it's a good we can speculate that that's a 09:08 good explanation. If there is a lot of liquid water 09:14 in the blood, so it flows well then that's less likely 09:18 to cause a heart attack or a blood clot, 09:20 but if it's sticky while it doesn't flow as well, 09:23 poor circulation and the risk goes up, 09:27 very interesting. Now, George there is 09:29 another interesting phenomenon that we want 09:32 to talk about most individuals may or may not 09:35 realize that when you stand up about a half a 09:39 liter of blood cools in your legs, or at least that's 09:42 the potential and so what should happened is that 09:46 those arteries and veins should, should actually 09:49 squeeze down and increase the return of blood 09:52 to the heart, but there are some individuals 09:55 who have a condition and let's talk more about 09:57 what their condition is? 09:59 We call it orthostatic hypotension and it goes 10:03 something like this, sitting down or lying down 10:06 and you get up quickly when you get up quickly the 10:10 blood tends to go down to the feet, 10:12 when it goes to the feet there is not quite enough 10:14 blood for your head and without enough oxygen 10:18 well I thinks may feel just a little bit dark or 10:22 maybe dizzy and some people will actually faint or fall. 10:26 Now, when they fall their head gets down where 10:28 their feet is and the blood catches up and they will 10:31 wake up again, so it's not nearly the problem. 10:35 Orthostatic hypotension is not treated often by 10:39 doctors in the United States, but in Europe doctors 10:43 actually use drugs to help raise the blood pressure 10:46 and people who are having this orthostatic 10:49 hypotension. Orthostatic hypotension 10:52 may be cause by several things. 10:54 Yes, actually if someone has diabetes type 10:57 I or diabetes type II they can actually have injury 11:01 to the nerves that would normally stimulate the, 11:05 the blood vessels to constrict when you stand up, 11:08 maintaining perfusion of blood to the head, 11:11 but in those individuals those nerves are damage 11:13 and so you don't get the blood vessel constriction, 11:17 blood cools in the legs, blood pressure drops 11:20 and you may or may not get enough blood 11:22 to the head, these individuals as George 11:24 mentioned can be dizzy they could be light headed, 11:27 they could even passed out and remember 11:29 as you're going down you could hit your head 11:31 and sustain of, as a serious injury. 11:34 So, doctors are looking for simple treatments 11:38 for this problem because of course there is more 11:40 and more individuals with type II diabetes 11:42 a lot of neuropathy out there and so they have 11:46 found that there is a very simple way that you 11:49 can help alleviate this problem. 11:51 Wait, wait don't tell me, let me guess. 11:55 Is water isn't it? Because that, That's exactly right, 11:58 would increase the volume, so they wouldn't be 11:59 or the bottom, the feet would fill up sooner. 12:03 It would be more left over for the brain, 12:05 is that the way, works? That's exactly right, 12:07 you know, it's very interesting when you 12:08 read these general circulation one of the Premier 12:11 Journals of the American Heart Association. 12:13 And you see them touting, advocating water, 12:18 not a fancy medicine, but water and actually 12:21 Dr. Schauder at Humboldt-University 12:24 in Berlin showed that if healthy individuals were 12:28 given just two glasses of water that's just 16 ounces 12:32 of water when they stood up they did not have a 12:35 significant drop in their blood pressure versus when 12:39 they didn't have the water they did and so water 12:42 can maintain the blood flow to your head when 12:45 you stand up preventing some of that dizziness. 12:47 So, if you have been getting a little dizzy or little, 12:50 or little fuzzy when you stand up it just may mean 12:53 that water is on, is in your future. 12:56 You know, I have discovered something else Tim 12:58 I in the past I've donated blood either for the 13:02 laboratory or and you know, when they come at me 13:04 with a needle sometimes it happens once I remember 13:09 they put the needle in and somebody said, 13:12 he is going as I slipped off on the floor I have 13:16 discovered that a couple glasses of water before 13:18 I have to give blood at the doctor's office 13:20 or donate blood we will keep that from happening. 13:22 It doesn't seem like a lot, but just a small amount 13:27 of water just two glasses to the small Styrofoam 13:31 cups can make a big difference at helping your body, 13:34 maintain your blood pressure and that can help 13:37 keep your blood pressure from falling when you stand 13:40 up. This is especially important with the, 13:42 for those with diabetes in fact the Dr. Sherman 13:45 at Vanderbilt University actually show that two 13:49 glasses of water and just one and a half ounces of 13:53 mineral water in this case, kept the blood pressure 13:57 from falling and those who have the condition 14:00 orthostatic hypotension that simply means 14:03 individuals who had the condition that their blood 14:05 pressure bottoms out when they stand up and in fact, 14:09 if your blood pressure drops 20 points or your pulse 14:12 rate goes up 20 points, when you stand up from 14:15 a line, from this line to a standing position then 14:18 that by definition is orthostatic hypotension 14:23 and your benefit from water, but you will have to wait 14:25 for the measurement just try it and you will the results. 14:30 So, how much water should we drink everyday Tim? 14:33 Well, usually we record, the usually recommendations 14:36 about 8/8 ounce glasses of water a day, 14:39 some of us feel that probably 10 to 12 would be a 14:43 little bit better, but it depends frankly on your 14:46 activity, if you're spending all day in an air condition 14:49 environment and you're not really using your big 14:51 muscles probably 8, 8 to 10 glasses would be sufficient, 14:56 if you're doing a little bit more, outdoor activity 14:59 10 to 12 and if you're doing heavy exertion then 15:03 you may need anywhere from 3 to 4 liters, but be, 15:06 be aware that over intake of water really is not 15:12 advised anymore than under intake of water, 15:15 but probably 10 glasses would be a nice ball part. 15:19 So, I have a job that leads me outside and it's hard 15:21 to keep the water with me, I can't remember 15:23 so I know, I'm suppose to get about 10 to 12 glasses 15:27 of water a day. So, I get home from work at night 15:30 and I have four of them and then just before I 15:32 go to bed, I take the other eight, 15:34 you think that's a good idea. 15:35 That one other things that we recommend at the 15:38 Lifestyle Center of America is that individuals 15:41 discontinue their water intake about 5 maybe 6 PM 15:46 in the evening, otherwise you may actually disturb 15:50 something at, that's very important for health and that 15:53 is your sleep and so be careful and actually the best 15:57 time to take water and that were, 15:59 were given in council to take large drafts of warm 16:03 water not coffee hot, not enough to burn your mouth, 16:06 but just nicely warm water first thing when you get 16:09 up in the morning to flush the intestinal system 16:12 to actually help retard the constipation and deal with 16:17 that whole problem and then we're also encourage 16:20 to drink water what would be the best time 16:23 to drink water during the day. 16:24 Well, I think all day long, It makes the more sense 16:28 doesn't it? All day long, but what about meals, 16:30 should we, are we, Oh! Yes, oh yes, it is encourage 16:32 to drink water with meals. 16:33 Too much water with the meals can shall dilute 16:37 the digested juices, the stomach has to adjust the 16:41 amount of fluid digest best and so it will be best if you 16:45 could actually drink the water maybe get glass or two, 16:48 30 minutes before meals. So, it has a chance 16:51 to absorb and, and help with the digestion 16:54 rather than interfere with it. 16:56 Exactly, if I like that idea, if you know, your, 16:58 your body needs water to digest the food, 17:01 huge volumes of digestive enzymes are coming out 17:04 of the pancreas, coming out of the saliva and so get 17:07 that water on board early. First thing in the morning 17:12 half you know, shut down about a half hour before 17:15 meal, but getting water in before those meals because 17:18 your going to need it to properly digest your food. 17:22 Just one more note on that Tim, you may remember 17:26 that people are more likely to have heart attack 17:28 when they first get up in the morning and we think 17:30 that's because maybe little dehydrated over night 17:33 and their blood is a little bit sticky you know, 17:35 that first drink of water when you first get up 17:38 helps to make the blood flow better and very likely 17:42 decrease the risk of heart attack, 17:44 so that's good news. Absolutely, well some 17:47 of you may be wondering well orthostatic hypotension 17:50 doesn't sound like real major problem, little fuzziness, 17:53 little dizziness when you stand up, but actually a 17:57 Dr. Anton Botes of the University of North Carolina 18:01 has found out that those who have this problem, 18:03 those whose blood pressure drop significantly upon 18:05 standing actually are at twice the risk of, 18:10 of a stroke compare to those whose blood pressure 18:13 does not drop when they stand up. So, you know, 18:17 a couple of glasses of water could actually lower 18:21 your risk of a stroke that's a potential possibility 18:25 and something to keep in mind. 18:27 Now, the creator is very interested in using simple 18:30 treatments to help prevent very devastating 18:34 and disastrous diseases. 18:37 Well, we spend some time talking about water 18:40 which is good to drink plenty of, I guess there is some 18:45 other substances that are quite as beneficial 18:48 we spoke of the soda pops and some of those fruit 18:53 juices even may not be as beneficial as water, 18:55 but there is certainly a substance commonly 18:58 ingested in this country that, that is seriously 19:01 detrimental. Yes, actually George we're presenting 19:05 some sort of different information you may not 19:09 have heard as, of water or something you could do to 19:12 lower your risk of a heart attack, what you have 19:14 probably heard is that you could drink alcohol to 19:18 lower your risk of heart disease. 19:20 Well, on this program what we're showing is that 19:22 water is actually the preferred beverage, 19:26 if you want to lower your risk of heart disease and 19:29 alcohol has a number of side effects that would render 19:34 it less than optimal, if you are trying to avoid the 19:38 nations number killer and that is heart disease. 19:41 I, I, I would like to add at least the first one 19:45 that I think off, it's kind of negative about the alcohol 19:48 when I drink water it has no calories, 19:51 when I drink alcohol that liquid itself has the calories 19:58 and I know that the American Diabetes 20:01 Association and they're exchange diet has labeled 20:05 alcohol as a fat, if you're going to have alcohol 20:08 with the meal you take it as a one of the fat portions 20:13 because that's what our body does too, 20:14 it turns it into generally stored energy. 20:18 And alcohol actually also has an effect on the 20:21 antidiuretic hormone and it actually leads to, 20:25 to dehydration and water loss out of the body in fact 20:29 alcohol is one of the few beverages that when you, 20:32 if you take in 8 ounces of alcohol you will actually 20:35 lose more than 8 ounces of water out of your body 20:39 as a result of that, so it can be dehydrating 20:43 and again that can be a problem. 20:45 That's back to that viscosity issue; 20:46 we want the blood to flow easily through the blood 20:49 vessels to avoid heart attack and stroke, 20:52 good point. Now, we want to talk about the 20:55 affective alcohol in the body. Well, you have heard 20:58 about the effect of, maybe improving the risk of heart 21:02 disease, but actually alcohol is a toxin to the nerves. 21:08 And recent research has indicated that alcohol 21:11 actually interferes with the protein receptors that 21:15 are on the cells. These receptors are very important 21:19 for cell communication, there are important for 21:22 transmitting nerve impulses down the nerves so you 21:26 can have a proper function in the body and especially 21:29 we're concerned about these nerves that are in the 21:32 frontal lobe this very most delicate and, 21:36 and most intricate of our nerves in the body. 21:40 They, they deal with the will, with the will power, 21:43 the, the morality, the decision making processes 21:48 and alcohol by interfering with the, the nerve 21:52 transmission between these nerves can actually 21:55 decrease the power of the frontal lobe and, 21:58 and so we see people making choices under the influence 22:02 of alcohol that they would never otherwise made 22:06 because they're not getting full benefit of their 22:10 reasoning power, their will power and, 22:12 and this is a result of the alcohol on the, 22:15 on the nerve receptors. I notice that Tim that 22:19 the World Health Organization has 22:21 alcohol labeled as a poison and that's what pretty 22:25 serious sort of acquisition, if you were against, 22:28 against the substance, it not only effects the 22:32 nerves and effects our ability to make wise choices, 22:35 but it effects other things in our bodies as well. 22:38 Yes, Dr. Fromme and the Journal of the Study 22:41 of Alcohol, January 1999 show that individuals who 22:45 had been drinking alcohol. Actually engaged 22:48 or more frequently in high risk sexual activity, 22:52 in other words they would do things sexually 22:55 that they would never otherwise do under influence 22:59 of alcohol. So, they are, they are not able to make 23:01 those wise decisions, they are able to reason 23:03 from cause to affect nearly as well under the 23:07 influence of alcohol and so they take risk that could 23:10 lead to some serious consequences down the road. 23:14 For example, they may increase their risk of 23:16 sexually transmitted diseases. 23:18 I understand and the same is also true for violence. 23:22 That's correct the Dr. Gordis and his colleagues 23:25 at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and 23:27 Alcoholism, report that one out of four victims 23:32 of violent crime. And they report that they're 23:35 perpetrated or though that person doing the violence 23:38 had been drinking prior to that episode also two out 23:43 of three individuals who are abused in a domestic 23:47 situation, the individual doing that the violence 23:50 had been drinking prior to that episode. 23:54 So, violence yes increased significantly by the use 23:58 of alcohol doing things that we would never do 24:01 otherwise under the influence of this drug. 24:04 If we understand that alcohol is actually a poison 24:06 or a toxin we might not be surprised to find out 24:10 that alcohol conception is also associated 24:13 with some cancers. That's correct, 24:16 Dr. Beryl at Oxford University in England, 24:20 reports that women who drink three alcoholic 24:23 drinks a day are at 46 percent increase risk 24:27 breast cancer. In fact he found out that the risk 24:31 of breast cancer actually goes up 7.1 percent 24:34 with every alcoholic beverage that they drink every 24:38 alcoholic beverage serving that is, so 7 percent 24:42 increase risk in breast cancer with every serving 24:45 of alcohol, no small increase and this kind of increase 24:48 has been seen in the Nurses' Health Study at the 24:50 Harvard School of public health and those individuals, 24:53 those using the most alcohol they are increased their 24:57 risk of breast cancer about 50 percent and those 25:00 with the lowest risk of breast cancer were those, 25:02 those women taking in no alcohol whatsoever. 25:06 I, it's bad stuff I wonder what happens when 25:08 a mother is pregnant and carrying a baby, 25:10 is it safe to drink? Well, Dr. Kesmodel and his colleagues 25:15 at Aarhus University in Denmark actually showed 25:19 that if a pregnant woman, a pregnant woman 25:22 drinks five or more alcoholic drinks per week, 25:25 that's not per day now five or more alcoholic drinks 25:28 per week, there is a greater than 3 fold increase 25:32 in the risk of having a stillbirth, which means that 25:36 the baby is born dead and so alcohol is actually 25:41 a toxin as George mentions, it's a poison, 25:43 the liver has to get rid of it, has to detoxified 25:46 and so it's something that you're want to turn 25:49 aside from and move toward water instead. 25:53 Even dementia is increased with the use of alcohol. 25:58 Alcohol is a poison, it starts to destroy the brain 26:02 cells and our ability to think as we get older decreases 26:07 although uncomfortable I'm said affects of losing 26:13 control of our mental facilities add up to dementia. 26:17 And Dr. Zador speaking of the dementia, speaking 26:21 of the affect of alcohol upon the mind. Dr. Zador 26:24 in the Journal of the Study of Alcohol actually 26:27 reported that young man basically 16 to 20 years 26:33 of age, who had a blood alcohol level is currently 26:36 legal in many states 0.28 percent to 0.1 percent. 26:40 And they were actually at 52 times increase risk 26:46 of dying in a single motor vehicle accident then 26:50 those young man who did not have any alcohol in their 26:54 blood and so even alcohol the small enough amount 26:59 to give you a legal blood level is still impairing the 27:04 ability to operate a motor vehicle, which requires 27:08 the frontal lobe, requires those quick decisions 27:11 and you just don't have it, in fact loss of sleep 27:15 actually gives you a similar decrease in ability to 27:19 use the, the, the very delicate powers 27:23 of the frontal lobe as alcoholic beverages. 27:26 Well, I guess it's time to summit up, let see we need 27:30 to drink plenty of water to improve the viscosity 27:34 or the flowing of our blood, decrease our risk of heart 27:38 attack and stroke and lot of other things and of 27:40 course avoid all alcohol for even the smallest 27:44 amount seems to be detrimental to our physiology 27:47 and the increase in cancer and foolish thinking, 27:52 variety of things. And alcohol can actually 27:54 lead individuals to make the choices that they would 27:58 never make otherwise. And that's why the creator 28:01 has given us this powerful message in Proverbs 28:04 20 verse 1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is 28:08 raging: and whoever is deceived by it is not wise. |
Revised 2014-12-17