The Art of Hydration, Part 2

As I discussed in The Art of Hydration, good hydration is particularly important for MVPS sufferers. But the catch is that, conventionally, sugar is an essential component.

Sugar intake causes your insulin level to rise temporarily, which in turn signals your cell membranes to open up in order to imbibe the sugar. When this occurs, it's possible to sneak water-soluble nutrients into through the membranes as well. That's why we feel hydrated by fruit with water.

I have no problem with this hydration methodology, in principle. As long as one uses berries for hydration, or exercises sufficiently after eating some other fruit, the temporary rise in blood sugar won't have much impact on longterm health. I would also add that flossing and brushing are critical, shortly after the fact.

But wouldn't it be nice if we could hydrate without sugar at all? In principle, a vitamin pill taken with water accomplishes this feat. But vitamin pills are loaded with excessive iron and manganese, and intuitively it can't be a great idea to subject sections of your digestive tract to ultrahigh mineral salt concentrations. And without sugar, your cells will be less interested in admitting the nutrients. What we need is a fat-soluble vitamin pill that can effuse through the cell membrane -- mostly fat itself -- without requiring the havoc induced by insulin.

Such a pill is the holy grail of low-carb dieters. It means that we can avoid the hazards of sugar, yet fully nourish our cells by feeding them nutrients bound to fat-soluble molecules. The lack of such a pill has been the reason why I've worked so hard to figure out how to hydrate with fruit, in such a manner as to minimize the impact on diabetes and gingivitis. It can be done, but it is, truly, an art.

Recently, however, I found that there is a fat-soluble multivitamin already on the market. I just happened to run across it during my compulsive browsing of nutrition literature. It's called a "sardine"!

That's right, sardines are loaded with nutrients too numerous to mention. Have a look at this data from Nutrition Data. All with zero carbs.

They are also one of the few low-mercury fish, according to Got Mercury. Note that the region in which they're caught also matters, with Norwegian brisling being some of the cleanest on the planet. This is due to their low position on the food chain, and the pristine waters in which they are caught. (You can't avoid methyl mercury in fish entirely. It has permanently entered the food chain, thanks to centuries of coal burning.) My favorite brand, with exceptional processing hygiene and delicious flavor, is King Oscar. The taste is slightly smokey, which probably means that they've been lightly smoked. But I don't worry about such low concentrations of carcinogens, in light of the extraordinary nutrient density. For the paranoid, you can eat them with 300mg of alpha lipoic acid, which loves to bind with free radicals and presumably heavy metals. And -- why not -- some tumeric to add an Indian flair and protect your colon from cancer.

When I eat these particular sardines, which I enjoy with steamed organic spinach and organic shiitake mushrooms, my hunger ceases about 10 minutes later and stays down for hours. It's like my body is saying: "Thanks for the nutritional bounty. I'm loaded." Even when I eat healthy nuts, my hunger takes much longer to shut down. Therefore, I suspect that it's the nutrient diversity, and not merely the amount of any particular one, which accounts for such thorough satiation. Indeed, I like the taste so much that I often crave another can. But for the most part, I just can bring myself to eat more. I'm full.

Now, you may notice that sardines are loaded with cholesterol. "What a shame," you say. I'm not worried in the slightest. Why? Because it would appear that the cause of cardiovascular disease is, among other hazards, oxidized deposits of cholesterol-rich plaque on the artery walls, as opposed to cholesterol in and of itself. The best way to oxidize your cholesterol is to smoke and eat sugar. After all, how could the Okinawan islanders of Japan live well into their eighties, despite eating high-cholesterol seafood in such high quantities? And why aren't French cheese connoisseurs dropping dead in droves? For an exceptionally high quality analysis of the available data, and some other great superfoods, visit Cholesterol and Health.

Take care. I'm gonna have an egg. Meanwhile, take a moment to radically improve your cardiovascular health by learning about vitamin K2, which is found in high concentrations in some cholesterol-rich foods, and prevents arterial calcification that can kill you!

When a Panic Attack, Isn't

A couple weeks ago, I managed to get a fever, which is rare for me. It spiked to 38.3C, whereas my normal is 36.0C. But I didn't bother going to the doctor because it appeared to be a typical seasonal flu. Instead, I stayed home and did the usual things necessary to deal with it.

My temperature slowly started to return to normal. But then, I awakened in the middle of the night with a tight chest and labored breathing. I thought it might be due to the almonds I'd eaten, to which I'm mildly allergic, but hopelessly addicted (which is only possible because I balance their high omega-6 fat content with sufficient omega-3 from other foods).

Whatever the cause might have been, the effect persisted, and I decided that I needed to see a doctor promptly, in case I was coming down with aggressive pneumonia or who-knows-what. It was about 5am, so I called a cab.

Now, a year ago, I had bought a great little pulse oximeter from Nonin Medical. It shows my blood oxygen saturation percentage, and heart rate. The reason was that I have sleep apnea, but sometimes I prefer to sleep without the aid of a CPAP. In that case, I want an alarm to awaken me if my oxygen drops to an unacceptably low level, which for my preference is 91%. So I simply put the laser clamp on my finger, and go to sleep. It has worked quite well, saving me from mild hypoxia on a number of occasions. Although, I do wonder whether it would actually extend life, as I get quite an adrenaline spike when the way-too-loud alert goes off in the middle of a night, which could in principle cause a stroke when lying down.

Back to the taxi. I brought my Nonin along in order to determine whether my groggy state was due to "fever insanity" or hypoxia. Unfortunately, I had dumped the batteries prior to my last plane trip, in order to ensure that the device would not pose any overheating danger while sitting in my luggage. So I had the cab stop at a convenience store. I picked up some batteries, and started monitoring myself.

I noticed that my heart rate was elevated, around 100bpm. (My normal baseline is 48bpm, up from 38bpm a few years ago, when I was doing 134 floors on the stairmaster in 20 minutes.) I figured it was just nervousness, and ignored it. The important thing was that my oxygen was 98% (my new normal, thanks to air pollution or perhaps a chronic mild lung infection, down from 99% a year ago, back in the USA).

When I got to the hospital, after relaxing in the waiting room a few minutes, they took my vital stats. My heart rate had fallen to 91bpm, which the nurse said was "normal". I looked at her, puzzled. I said my baseline was 48bpm. She asked if I was an athlete, and I said yes (albeit much less so than before my MVPS days). I was a bit nervous, but not excessively so, which made me wonder why my heart rate was so high. Maybe I was having a panic attack without being aware of it; I wondered how that could possibly work.

Finally, I got in to see the doctor. I asked him about the heart rate, and he explained that it was a normal consequence of my illness. Apparently, it's a defensive response to infection, just like elevated body temperature. He explained that it would remain elevated until I returned to normal temperature. That is, in fact, what happened.

So just because you're experiencing shortness of breath with a rapid heart rate, does not mean that you're having a panic attack. If you can manage to calm yourself, and the symptoms persist, it's probably something else, such as the flu. I learn something new everyday!