The SHN #19: Your New Pre-Workout Drink, Fluoride, and Meditation

Welcome back to The Synergetic Health Newsletter! 

In this edition, I’ll introduce you to a performance enhancing drink.

After that, a look at fluoride and its health effects.

Then comes a book spotlight, a meditation study, and more!

Joe Burt

🧂 Your New Pre-Workout Drink: Water with Salt

Hydrating with salt before exercise is the ultimate pre-workout strategy, surpassing all other supplements in its performance-enhancing effects.

During exercise, the body’s core temperature elevates, leading to decreased blood flow and eventual exhaustion. Drinking water with salt boosts blood volume, providing a larger circulating fluid to dissipate heat and cool the body.

This cocktail effectively slows the rise in core temperature and reduces sweating and electrolyte loss during exercise.

Numerous studies (here, here, here, and here) have validated the benefits of pre-exercise sodium loading to improve endurance and fluid balance. These studies have demonstrated that high-salt solutions consumed prior to exercise increase exercise duration significantly compared to low-salt solutions or other popular workout supplements like beta-alanine or beetroot juice.

For instance, in one study involving female cyclists, those who consumed a high-salt solution were able to cycle on average 20.1 minutes longer than those who took a low-salt solution. Similarly, trained male runners who drank high-salt solutions extended their exercise duration by 20.8 minutes.

The advantages of pre-hydrating with salt have been studied to offer a substantial increase in exercise duration (about 20-21 minutes), a decrease in heart rate by 9-10 beats per minute, a reduction in core body temperature by 0.4°C, and reduced feelings of fatigue.

By postponing the rise in core temperature during exercise, pre-hydrating with salt prevents performance decline and allows athletes to perform better for more extended periods. When the core temperature reaches 38°C (100.4 F), performance begins to decline, and once it reaches 39°C (102.2 F), performance will eventually stop.

The optimal hydration formula is outlined by Dr. James DiNicolantonio in this video, which is 2,300-4,300 mg sodium + 4-8grams of glycine in 22-33.8 oz. of fluid.

You’ll note that the sodium recommendations is far higher than is included in popular electrolyte formulas like LMNT and Liquid I.V.

My napkin math has 3 grams (3,000mg) of sodium to be approximately 1.5 teaspoons of salt. So an at-home pre-workout electrolyte cocktail would be something like this:

-1.5 teaspoons of a high quality salt

-5g of glycine

-Mixed in ~25oz of high quality water

Incorporating high-salt solutions into pre-workout routines can significantly enhance performance, making it an effective strategy for anyone seeking to maximize their potential during exercise, especially in hot conditions.

🚰 Fluoride: Worth Being Concerned About?

Fluoride is added to most commercial toothpaste, but is also present in pesticides and various dental items such as gels, varnishes, and mouthwashes. It can also be detected in approximately 30% of pharmaceuticals and is encountered in the food industry, including herbal teas, raisins, fruit juices, soft drinks, and was once utilized in antibiotics.

Although believed to prevent cavities, this practice is based on outdated science, and in reality, fluoride can be harmful to health in various ways.

The addition of fluoride to water, known as fluoridization, gained popularity in America after its discovery in 1909. Dr. Frederick McKay observed that a population near Pike's Peak, Colorado, had discolored and damaged teeth, but surprisingly fewer cavities. The reason was the higher concentration of fluoride ions (2 to 13.7 mg/mL) in their drinking water, which originated from mountain rock formations.

In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city to add fluoride to water, and by 1951, fluoridization became the official health policy of the U.S. Public Health Service. However, the early comparison studies between fluoridized and non-fluoridized cities were criticized for their unscientific methodologies.

Despite the lack of evidence supporting fluoride as an essential nutrient for the human body, it is still added to most water supplies and toothpaste in America. Unlike other water treatment chemicals that ensure safe drinking water, fluoride is used to "treat" the people who consume the water, making it a mass treatment approach.

The primary chemicals used to fluoridate drinking water are silicofluorides, which are by-products of the phosphate fertilizer industry. These chemicals are not pharmaceutical-grade fluoride products, and their addition to water and toothpaste raises concerns about their safety.

Fluoride is known to be toxic, which is why the FDA requires fluoride toothpaste sold in the U.S. to carry a poison warning. 98% of Western European countries reject water fluoridation due to lack of scientific support for the practice and differing opinions on how to administer medicinal treatments.

Some common ailments associated with fluoride consumption include tooth discoloration, gut distress, brain dysfunction, thyroid dysfunction, glucose intolerance, arthritis, and bone fragility.

Dr. Arvid Carlsson, a former winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, says “I would advise against fluoridation. Individual prophylaxis (treatment) is preferable on principle grounds and is as equally effective. Fluoridation of water supplies would treat people who may not benefit from the treatment. Side-effects cannot be excluded and, thus, some people might only have negative effects without any benefit."

For a super deep dive into all things fluoride, check out this lengthy article. And if you’re hungry for more and don’t mind heavy scientific jargon, check out the video below.

To reduce or eliminate fluoride exposure, consider focusing on the following areas:

Drinking Water: Be cautious about consuming fluoridated water. Refer back to my post on upgrading your tap water, where I go into detail about the questionable nature of drinking from your tap. In that post I also talk about spring water, filter options, and reverse osmosis (RO) water.

Shower Water: Consider installing a shower filter as well, like this one from LivePristine. You could also limit the duration and temperature of your showers, as long hot showers could be detrimental for your health.

Oral Hygiene: Check toothpaste labels for fluoride content and opt for fluoride-free options like this one:

Infant Formulas: Be mindful of fluoride levels in formula products. Here are five ways to reduce fluoride exposure from infant formula.

Is it necessary to freak out about fluoride and try to eliminate consumption at all costs? Probably not. For me, I drink spring or filtered water instead of tap and use fluoride-free toothpaste. I like the research on copper helping to detox fluoride from the body, so I make a homemade liquid copper solution that I put in my coffee. That’s about as far as I go.

To go even deeper, this writer talks about 10 ways he detoxed fluoride from his body.

🧘🏻‍♀️ Meditation Impacts Immunity: Joe Dispenza et. al just published a paper which concluded that “meditation can enhance resiliency to viral infection and may serve as a possible adjuvant therapy in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Based on the current findings, overexpression of specific molecules may play a pivotal role in preventing or ameliorating viral infection and COVID-19 disease, suggesting that regular meditation practice has the potential to improve wellbeing and develop a healthy state through modulation of biological processes.”

The study was done at one of Dispenza’s 7-day retreats, an event I’ve always wanted to attend. For those who don’t know him, Dispenza is a leading figure in mind-body medicine, and has written several excellent books.

Want to read more about the science behind meditation? How about over 100 scientific benefits?

📚 Book Spotlight: “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle

This spiritual classic is nearly 25 years old already! Despite its age it still is the 19th most read book on Amazon Charts. If you’ve never read it, I would certainly add it to your list.

Rather than making a super long post here about my takeaways, you can find my highlights from the book on this Google Doc, or better yet you can find a much prettier synopsis from Kyle Kowalski over at Sloww.

The book “takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light.”

Tolle’s clear pointing comes across perfectly in his writing, but also in his talks and interviews, many of which can be found on his YouTube channel. Even though some may think his teachings are for the novice spiritual aspirant, I believe everyone can glean something from this esteemed teacher.

𝕏 Thread of the Week

🏋 Ben Greenfield Fitness Diet- Unlocking the Secrets to Fat Loss: This blogger did a fantastic job summarizing Ben’s health advice. I’ll write more about Ben, a renowned fitness expert, biohacker, and author, at some point in the future since he’s been a huge influence on me. The post linked has 50 principles distilled from all of Ben’s health advice.

🫀 Confused About Cholesterol? I really enjoyed this video between Dr. Alo and Paul Saladino, MD. It’s awesome to find a conversation between people with different viewpoints that remains respectful and informative. Some of the topics covered in this debate are cholesterol and cardiovascular risk, insulin resistance, metabolic health of Americans, seed oils, and more.

🩺 Ubie-Check Symptoms and Find Causes by AI: This health quiz is designed to offer potential diagnoses by gathering information about user-reported symptoms. By describing your symptoms and answering a series of clarifying questions, the tool provides a possible diagnosis. It is essential to remember that this tool is not a substitute for medical advice from healthcare professionals, and any results should be confirmed by a qualified doctor.

𝕏 My Favorite Twitter Thread: Naval Ravikant is one of my favorite nuevo philosophers, and this is his most popular Twitter thread, with 225k+ likes.

✔️ That will do it for this time! Hopefully you got some value out of it. If you have any questions/comments/things you’d like to learn more about please don’t hesitate to reach out.

👉🏼 If you know anyone who loves learning about these types of topics, send them this link!

📩 To read all past newsletters, go here.