Everyone knows that we are supposed to drink eight 8oz glasses of water per day. But some people believe even that is not enough. Check out http://www.watercure.com and http://www.watercure2.org/

The theory is that if you weigh more you will need more water and if you way less you will need less water. The formula they give is to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day. So a 120lb person would drink 60 ounces of water per day (just less than the 64 oz that are generally recommended). A 300lb person would need to drink 150 ounces water daily.

Of course you don’t drink the water all in one sitting. Ideally you divide it up so that you drink it throughout the day in 5 or 6 separate time periods that are a half hour before meals and at least an hour after a meal, preferably two.

So what does this have to do with muscle cramps? Well, they also recommend you take 1/4 teaspoon of natural salt (Sea Salt (Celtic) or Himalayan salt are best) with each 32 oz of water you drink. This is to make sure your body does not flush all it’s electrolytes out, such as Magnesium & Potassium. Please note, do NOT use table salt, or even the Morton’s salt you find in the grocery store that says “sea salt”, because it has been processed and stripped of all the other minerals that is in natural salt. Real, unprocessed salt, has 86 minerals in it. Table salt has two (sodium and iodine).

Because I have been watching my blood pressure I decided to cut the salt out and just eat a diet high in greens and veggies. My family came out for a visit and brought all sorts of junk foods and for the last few days I had been eating processed foods and other “non healthy” food products and had been skipping my daily salad and veggies entirely. This resulted in very odd muscle cramps and a feeling of stiffness all over. My right thigh is tight and I can’t get it to relax and my left calf is in a knot. Knees, shoulders, elbows and even feet joints are making popping sounds as I walk.

The fastest way, besides taking a suppliment pill, to the the electrolyes back into my body was to drink a sports drink. Sure, there is a lot of sugar in it, but it’s a price I will gladly pay. Of course I also took a small amount of pink himalyan salt and today my plan is to put my juicer to work with spinach, carrots & celery. I should be back to normal in no time, but it could be pretty dangerous to drink that much water and not replace the electrolytes that the body needs.

UPDATE – MAY 10th

It turns out my naturalpathic doctor is a reader of my website, and when she saw this she “prescribed” a solution that she says is MUCH BETTER than gatorade:

Emer’gen-C Raspberry 36 Pkts

Emergen-C Super Orange – 36 – Packet