The Berman Method
The Berman Method
Episode #196: Must Listen If You Hate Drinking Water!
Ever wondered if your doctor is treating your actual health problem or just masking the symptoms? In this eye-opening conversation, Dr. Jake and Jenni Berman, PA-C challenge the status quo of modern medicine, revealing how pharmaceutical companies and healthcare systems consistently prioritize profits over patient outcomes.
The Bermans tackle the widespread misconception about cholesterol, explaining why it's actually essential for brain function and nutrient transport. They share concerning cases of patients suffering from brain fog, fatigue, and memory loss due to cholesterol levels driven too low by medication. The real culprits behind elevated cholesterol? Often gut inflammation and insufficient fiber intake—neither of which statins address. This perfectly illustrates their central argument that most medical interventions merely treat symptoms while ignoring root causes.
As summer heats up, the discussion shifts to proper hydration—a topic more complex than most realize. The Bermans debunk common hydration myths, explaining why electrolyte balance is equally important as water intake and why popular sports drinks fall short. They offer practical strategies for maintaining proper hydration throughout your day, including how to overcome typical objections like frequent urination and taste preferences. Most surprisingly, they reveal how symptoms often attributed to serious medical conditions might actually result from simple dehydration.
Throughout the episode, the Bermans empower listeners to become what they playfully call "askholes"—individuals who persistently question their healthcare providers until receiving satisfactory answers. Their message is clear: taking responsibility for your health means doing research, asking questions, and sometimes challenging conventional medical wisdom.
Ready to start treating your actual health problems instead of just managing symptoms? Subscribe to The Berman Method podcast and join us in revolutionizing how we approach healthcare, one informed question at a time.
This is the Berman Method podcast, featuring Dr Jake Berman and physician assistant Jenny Berman. We are here to treat problems and not symptoms. Disclaimer this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and not to treat anyone or to give medical advice. If you are interested in any information that we are giving and would like to use this for yourself, we recommend that you contact your primary care physician or reach out to us and ask us questions about yourself specifically. Enjoy.
Speaker 2:And we're rolling baby with the Berman Method Podcast. Dr Jake Berman here with my beautiful co-host.
Speaker 1:Jenny Berman, physician assistant.
Speaker 2:We are treating problems and not symptoms. David, going against Goliath, goliath being the corporate medical system, big pharma, insurance companies, health insurance companies, big pharma. They do not have your best interests in mind. They will choose profits over patient outcomes every single time. They are a business and they need to turn a profit. However, you need to be taking your own health into your own hands. You need to do the research, you need to ask questions. You need to become an ask hole, like my two-year-old is right now. Ask, ask, ask, ask. Can I have a cookie? No, can I have a cookie? No, can I have a cookie? No, can I have a cookie? No.
Speaker 1:My turn, my turn, my turn, my turn. Okay, fine, it's your turn, it's your turn Become an askhole.
Speaker 2:Just keep asking questions until you get an answer that makes sense to you. Most of the time we're asking questions to doctors and they're giving us an answer, and because we're not familiar with it or educated in the field, we just take the answer and say, okay, I guess that's the answer right, they're the doctor they know best yeah so maybe not always it's just not true and again, I cannot say this enough.
Speaker 2:where doctors are not being maleficent, they're're not doing this intentional. It's just the given circumstances of the system. 98% of US medical-based med school is pharmaceutical Driven. Yeah, like the whole entire program is around pharmaceuticals.
Speaker 1:Right right, Backed by pharmaceuticals, paid by pharmaceuticals and that's what they learn in med school, as opposed to taking a single nutrition class yeah, your med school brought to you by pfizer right and it's going like what the hell.
Speaker 2:There's not a single pharmaceutical on this planet that is geared towards treating the actual problem. Every single pharmaceutical on this planet treats a symptom, not the problem.
Speaker 1:It's a symptom treater right, right, including statin medications where patients are like no, it's treating the problem of my high cholesterol. No, it's lowering your cholesterol, but it's not treating the problem of why your cholesterol is elevated in the first place. Cholesterol is not bad.
Speaker 2:Cholesterol is necessary. Cholesterol forgive me for my fifth grade reading level example or analogy of this. You need cholesterol to get nutrients across your blood, brain barrier to your brain. Nutrients across your blood, brain barrier to your brain. Like there's this little think of a little screen that separates blood from your cerebral spinal fluid, which is around your brain.
Speaker 1:You don't have blood on your brain.
Speaker 2:That would be toxic and bad. That's why brain bleeds are so bad, and the only way that blood can bring nutrients to your brain so that you can live and survive and thrive is if it can cross, if those nutrients can cross through the blood-brain barrier. And cholesterol is. What does that?
Speaker 1:Right, right. So cholesterol is necessary. We've even had this case, most recently, where clients have been being treated by physicians, by cardiologists. They're put on cholesterol medicine. We recheck their cholesterol and it is too low, like there's such thing as your cholesterol being too low, and we, you know, talk to the clients about it and say when your cholesterol is too low from these medications that you're taking, you may experience brain fog, fatigue, memory loss, because you don't have the nutrients getting to the brain, the energy getting to the brain.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It's freaking insane, absolutely insane, and it's 100% treating symptoms, not treating problems. Why is your cholesterol high?
Speaker 1:Yeah, most of you it's because of your gut Inflammation from your gut. Everybody thinks of cholesterol and they think, oh, sodium is so bad and I shouldn't eat red meat. And majority of the time it really has nothing to do with the sodium or the red meat you're consuming. It's more related to inflammation from your gut, so food that you're sensitive to, or internal inflammatory responses, from high cortisol levels even, and from not eating enough soluble fiber, not getting enough fiber in your diet that your body actually absorbs to drive down inflammation. Those are the two biggest reasons to high cholesterol, neither of which are treated with a statin or fixed by a statin, I should say.
Speaker 2:You know, one of the classic examples of this is eggs are bad for you this month. Next month they're great for you. The following month they're really bad for you. They drive up your cholesterol. Then the following month they're the best thing you could possibly eat are eggs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or now just eat egg whites, don't even touch the yolk.
Speaker 2:It's like what the heck is going on now. Whose propaganda is this? Whose pocketbook or whose bank account are we trying to fill here? Eggs are freaking delicious and they're nutritious. They're full of protein.
Speaker 1:They are, and healthy fats, the only people that should be avoiding eggs, or even egg yolks if you're sensitive to them. If you have a true food sensitivity or allergy to the egg itself or to egg yolk, there's a reason to be avoiding it and then instead have a duck egg, yes, or have a quail egg.
Speaker 2:Yes, all eggs are not created equal just because it's a chicken egg. Chicken eggs are very different in chemical molecular composition than a duck egg. Right Then a turkey egg.
Speaker 1:Still very protein dense. Actually, I think turkey eggs even have a bit more protein than chicken eggs, but regardless we just went on a rant about cholesterol, and now we're talking about eggs did you hear that?
Speaker 2:you just said, we went on a rant versus me.
Speaker 1:I I rant on nutrition.
Speaker 2:You do. The vast majority of the rants are mine, though. Yeah, stay in your lane.
Speaker 1:Reel it in, pull her back in Tunnel vision. Okay, hey, happy Monday.
Speaker 2:Yes, happy Monday. You better be listening to this as soon as it's released, and we're actually recording this a couple of days before we're doing our StemPod workshop, flying in world-renowned neurologist Dr Collins to come do some in-depth, high-level training with us and our staff on the more complex pain patients the people that have these really complicated cases and then we're doing a workshop Friday at two o'clock, Friday at 6 pm, Saturday at 9 am. So by the time this thing airs, that will already be done. So we are really jacked up about this opportunity.
Speaker 1:StemPod yeah, we talked a lot about it last episode. So if you didn't hear us talk about StemPod and what it does and how it works and who it's for, then certainly go back to the last episode, the one just prior to this. But really excited to use the SimPod on a lot of clients in your world and my world my world more for vagus nerve issues, neurological responses, definitely my patients who also have diabetic neuropathy being able to use that and really see a lot of benefit from their anxiety anxiety oh yes, that's right.
Speaker 1:We are using that for a lot of our clients as well versus your world, where it's more true nerve pain response.
Speaker 2:Correct, cool, so can't wait to share about how that went. What are we even supposed to be talking about today? Back on track, back on track.
Speaker 1:I really wanted to focus a bit on hydration and electrolyte use. I've had a lot more questions about it, especially as we're going into the heat of the summer. I mean it's 90 degrees at 9am here now, with a heat index probably higher than that, so it is definitely warm outside. We're spending a lot more time outside Our clients that are golfing outside and we've had to talk a lot about the fact that some of the symptoms they're experiencing recently have been actually related to dehydration. They don't sense that they're not feeling like they're having a headache or muscle cramps, but they're experiencing other symptoms that are actually correlating back to not just being dehydrated but being dehydrated of electrolytes, specifically Speaking of sodium. Sodium is not bad we didn't even plan that to have this so correlated to the beginning rant but sodium is not bad and we need to make sure we're replacing it, especially as we're in the heat of summer.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, definitely so. So many people are out there golfing Like that's a big one, just out there golfing and at best you're getting in 16 ounces throughout an entire round, saying that you drank water the whole time you played and it's like wait a minute. First of all, you just drank water. You didn't have any electrolytes to battle it or to augment it, sorry. And second of all, you should have had close to 64 ounces in an entire round. We're talking about four hours in the sun, perspiring, losing water, like you're losing salt, losing salt. You've got to replace it, you got to replenish it. 16 ounces, one cup of water on the front nine and one cup of water on the back nine is not enough.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Especially when you're filling it with ice Ice, yes, so there's really not even that much water in it.
Speaker 1:Right, and that's something that my team will always ask. Clients will say, oh, I get through three of these cups a day and they'll show us their 32 ounce Yeti and we're like, okay, that's just over 90 ounces of water if you're not adding ice to it. So are you adding ice? And they say yes, and I'm like, okay, then we have to say that you're probably only getting about 60 ounces of water then, as opposed to over 90, 96 ounces when you're filling half of your cup with ice. We have to remember that that takes up room for fluid, so we're actually getting less water quantity.
Speaker 1:When we're using ice in the cup. It doesn't mean that ice is bad. You can certainly use ice in your cup, but then we need to be getting through four or five of your Yeti cups a day the 32 ounce cups, the hydro jugs or Stanley's or whatever it is to make sure that we're actually getting the right amount of fluid. We can't, however, only consume water. We can't just consume salts or waters. Your iced tea doesn't count. Your Bud Light doesn't count, right, your decaf coffee doesn't count. These do not count as fluid or electrolytes. We need to make sure we're replacing appropriately.
Speaker 2:Bud Light doesn't count, but everybody calls it water.
Speaker 1:Or Gator Beer, putting Gatorade in the Bud Light and calling it a day. You're hydrating as you're dehydrating, oh my gosh, how ignorant.
Speaker 2:So back in college we used to On game day, on game day, tailgating all day, and we used to think that we were hydrating when we would open up a Bud Light, take a sip out of it and put a splash of orange Gatorade in it and say, gator beer, we're hydrating right now.
Speaker 1:Getting electrolytes in the beer, so it's counteracting.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it doesn't count. Yeah, not even close.
Speaker 2:Not even close, but it was fun.
Speaker 1:It is fun and you have to be careful getting you know kind of. Going on that topic of Gatorade, you have to be really careful about the types of electrolytes that you're using, because so many of them are full of sugar and junk. You know not to bash Gatorade, but they're one of them that puts sugar in their electrolytes or in the drinks and it makes people crave more. You want more of it because of that sugar. So it's a great marketing scheme but it's not the best option for your body.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's been at least 10 years since I've had a Gatorade.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I didn't ever drink another one after I had a colonoscopy and had to drink 64 ounces of Gatorade. Remember that.
Speaker 2:Oh, my gosh A blue Gatorade.
Speaker 1:It was absolutely horrendous. I don't think I've had another one since then. But they do make. I think it's called Gatorlite, maybe like the zero sugar electrolytes that Gatorade makes. Still not my favorite brand, just because actually the amount of electrolytes in it is very minute. It's not even really worth it for the calories that you're drinking, honestly. But there are some really good ones out there, like in our office. We have the LMNT or some people call it element. But the LMNT electrolytes those are definitely a higher sodium, a thousand milligrams of sodium per pack. But then we also have the Versalite electrolytes, which is from PE science. Those are also very clean. Some of our clients like the Noon electrolytes, which are decent High Noon.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not High Noon, but Noon. They don't have as much sodium in them as the Versalite or the Element T, but they're not bad, yeah. So there's definitely good electrolytes out there. You just have to be educated. You have to read the labels. The sugar-free liquid IV still not my top favorite because it still has sucralose in it, so I don't love those. We used to drink liquid IV.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I used to pound those, but there wasn't any other options at that time.
Speaker 1:That's true. Pedialyte and liquid IV was what's out, yeah that was it.
Speaker 2:So let's go. Let's just battle the two most common pushbacks that we get every single time we bring this topic up. You're telling me I have to drink 100 ounces of water a day. If I do that, I'll be peeing all day. And then the other one which is such a cop out is I don't like the taste of water. I don't like it, I can't just keep drinking it. So let's just spearhead those right now, because we talk about this every single time we talk about this topic. Yes, you will be peeing every seven seconds when you try to up your water intake until your body acclimates to it.
Speaker 1:Until the body starts absorbing the water and utilizing it into the muscle, into the tissues, with our organs actually utilizing it. But the body starts absorbing the water and utilizing it into the muscle, into the tissues, with our organs actually utilizing it. But also, if you're urinating frequently, you're technically dehydrated and you're not getting the right amount of electrolytes to help your body to actually absorb the water and utilize it. So if you're increasing your water intake and you're peeing every five minutes and you've done it for two weeks and your body's still peeing every five minutes, you probably need more electrolytes in your diet. So that's number one. If you're going to drink more than 64 ounces of water, which we recommend for most individuals, at least those without congestive heart failure or any kidney issues we're recommending 100 to 128 ounces of water a day we need to be consuming electrolytes once a day. With that Not more than once a day, but once a day for majority of the population.
Speaker 1:Secondly, with the taste, flavor your water. Use the true lemon packets, which are sugar-free, stevia-based packets that flavor the water. Put lemon in your water. Put cucumber in your water, put a slice of watermelon in your water, whatever you want to do, but flavor the water so that you can actually consume. And sure, you could use the sparkling waters. I have no problem with that. I probably wouldn't recommend living off sparkling water just because at some point the esophagus is going to get irritated from the bubbles. But if you want to supplement your water intake with that, go for it from the bubbles.
Speaker 2:But if you want to supplement your water intake with that, go for it. I think the biggest thing that has helped me with this is just getting the F over it and just chug it. So first thing in the morning, every single morning, I wake up, I go out into the kitchen, put the dishes away and chug 16 ounces of water. No questions, it just goes straight down. I just drink it. Five seconds later, 16 ounces is gone. Okay, so we jumpstarted the day.
Speaker 2:And then my strategy on the boat this is one that's helped me the most is I never sip water out on the boat because it's just annoying and there's other things to do. We're fishing, we're playing, we're swimming, whatever it is, it's just annoying. So every hour or so, just take a bottle of water, lukewarm, like just air temperature, not out of the cooler, and just chug it. It's 16 ounces. Just chug it. It literally takes less than 10 seconds to be done with it and it's like okay, 16 ounces gone. And you do that a couple of times a day and you're like okay, success, it doesn't have to be this painstaking thing. This gallon jug is sitting on my desk just staring at me, like it does to me every single day. So on the hour, every hour I chug for 10 seconds deep chugs. Put some water down, be done with it.
Speaker 1:So get over it, just drink the freaking water. Right, and that's what I tell the clients all the time is get 16 ounces first thing as soon as you wake up, get started. There you go. Now you only have 74 ounces left to go for the day, but get the 16 ounces done first, or did I do my math wrong? 84 ounces left.
Speaker 1:I'm not a math major, obviously, but whatever it is, drink your 16 ounces of water. Then, before every meal we're trying to get 30 ounces done. So 16 more ounces. By breakfast time there's 30 ounces to start your day, 32 technically. See, that was good math 32. Then before lunch, you're getting at least your 30 ounces done. So you know, certainly drink it throughout the day, but chug it before you eat lunch. Eat your lunch, chug the rest of it after and be done with 30 more ounces, and then do the same thing between noontime and 6 pm when you're eating dinner another 30 ounces done. Try to finish the 30 ounces before your meals. Even if you just have to chug it right there, then it actually helps to control your appetite while you're eating too, because you've drank more water.
Speaker 2:It does, and my strategy actually just changed for my total day water intake, probably just two months ago or so, where I'm now getting 64 ounces of water in before I even eat breakfast. So the first 16 ounces right out of the gate, right when I wake up, and now I'm putting 16, 32, 42, 40.
Speaker 1:40 ounces down at the gym.
Speaker 2:Well, 48.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So now I've gone up to three 16 ounce pours into my big gym jug, so now half of my water intake is done before 6.30 am. Like that's insane to so many people.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Half of my water intake, 64 ounces of water, is gone before 6.30 am. Like just get a jumpstart on it and be done with it or not done with it. Get a jumpstart on it.
Speaker 1:Right, right, and get a hydro jug or something that is 30 ounces plus 30 to 40 ounces, so that way you can also have an easier time realizing and calculating how much you've drank. You have a cup you can bring with you every day. You have something that's consistent, that you're using on a daily basis, that you can make these goals and say, okay, if this is a 40 ounce jug, I'm finishing the first 20 ounces by breakfast. I'm finishing, you know, just making your own goals.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree with you, Is that jug 72 ounces 72. Yeah, so 64 ounces is done before 6.30 am and then I fill that thing up to bring to work. So there's 72 more ounces that have to be done. Ideally it's not always done by the time I get home at 5.30 or 6. But a big dent is placed in it and if it's not, when I'm driving home I'm chugging water on the way home to make sure that I'm done before dinner.
Speaker 1:Right, right, and I tell clients, I sit and talk to people all day long, so I don't have time to drink a ton of water throughout the day, which is why I make those goals. I'm like, okay, no-transcript, and that is a sign of dehydration as well. So sometimes these symptoms that you're having of dehydration, we start going through this rabbit hole of oh my gosh, I need to go see a neurologist because my headaches when really we have a water dehydration and magnesium and sodium deficiency.
Speaker 2:So, speaking of all this water, this is really making me want to go pee, okay.
Speaker 1:Sorry, your Kegel, so we're done All right. Oh, and speaking of overactive bladder, the stem pod helps with that.
Speaker 2:Stem pod helps with overactive bladder, it's like. But wait, there's more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so go back and listen to our last episode. If you feel like you won't be able to increase your water because of overactive bladder, maybe you need to come try out the StemPod.
Speaker 2:Good little plug there.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Good.
Speaker 1:Hope everybody has a great Monday.
Speaker 2:Go drink your water. Like subscribe, share this episode with somebody else that hates water and let us know your comments. What do you want us to talk about on the next episode?
Speaker 1:Ciao for now. Thank you for subscribing on your social media and podcast platforms to the Berman Method Dr Jake Berman with Berman Physical Therapy and Jenny Berman, Physician Assistant, with Berman Health and Wellness. You can find more information on our website wwwbermanptcom for physical therapy. Wwwbermanptcom forward slash wellness for the health and wellness. You can also find us on social media, Facebook, Instagram and on your podcast platform, so be sure to follow us, like us, subscribe to us and, if you would like any further information, definitely visit our website and reach out to us. You may also find our free reports on the websites as well, where you can download this free information for yourself. Have a great day.