How important is it that I drink plenty of water when I'm dieting? Almost everyone I talk to says that drinking water is important but they don't tell me why. Is it because water fills you up so you're not hungry?

You're right about water filling you up. Unfortunately it doesn't last long and the hunger comes back pretty fast. So drinking water won't take the place of eating or even hold hunger off for any useful period of time.

Although it's not going to fill the hunger void taking in enough water every day is crucial for anyone trying to lose weight. Not only does water keep you properly hydrated but unlike what most people believe, drinking water can actually decrease fluid retention. That's because whenever you excrete water you also have to pull some sodium from your body and this results in less fluid buildup in the body.

But water does much more. It keeps the metabolism running smoothly and allows for the proper excretion of waste products. It also helps prevent constipation. For all these reasons it's doubly important in lower carb, high protein diet in that it allows the excretion of the extra byproducts of protein metabolism, and because of decreased food intake, helps keep you regular.

I usually recommend at least 8 glasses of water a day and even more if you're on the stricter form of The Metabolic Diet.

Thanks for assessing **** and doing the blood work. The results were interesting, especially the mercury levels. I haven't told him yet about the mercury levels because I did not want to unnerve him on a game day and he has been playing really well lately and claims to have lost 8 lbs since increasing his dietary intake of fat so I didn't want to give him any bad news...if he calls you this week maybe you can soften the blow.

Out of curiosity, is it odd that both **** and I have high mercury levels, is that abnormal in general populations? Also, as if I have not pestered you enough, I'd like your help to get leaner and ripped for summer. Although I've made a lot of progress over the last few years, to the point where I really look the part, I want to get better. Right now I feel I've got too much mass and I want to decrease muscularity but without losing a ton of strength, and tailor my diet based on my blood work.

The mercury issue is a tough one and I've done a lot of research and thinking on the subject. Before we go into the specifics, let me educate you a tad.

First of all the mercury that accumulates in our bodies comes from several sources. Even if man didn't exist, mercury in the environment would. That's due to constant off-gassing of mercury from the earth's crust. This mercury enters waterways, where it is methylated by algae and bacteria. Additional mercury, released from industrial sources into the atmosphere (everything from coal and oil burning, cremations, mercury containing fungicides, outdoor paint (mercury is banned from use in indoor paints), gold mining, chlorine manufacture and use, and even dental offices), also is converted in waterways into methylmercury. Fish absorb methylmercury from water passing over their gills and as they feed on aquatic organisms. Methylmercury accumulates in fish, and ultimately in humans as it travels up the food chain.

So the main culprit, at least as far as the food source of mercury buildup in our bodies, is fish. All fish contain trace amounts of mercury, with fish in the areas of high pollution, like the Great Lakes, having higher levels of mercury and large fish, such as large tuna, kingfish, bonita, shark and swordfish also having higher levels. Canned tuna, usually coming from smaller tuna such as skipjack, have lower levels than the larger tuna species (where tuna steaks or sushi come from).

Methylmercury is efficiently absorbed into the body (more than 95-percent absorption from food) and crosses the blood-brain barrier. Its biological half-life in humans is about 70 days.

Elemental mercury contamination comes mainly from amalgam dental fillings, but there are a lot of other more unusual sources such as broken mercury thermometers. I won't go into dental fillings since it's common knowledge (or at least should be) except to say that people who have them should have them "carefully" taken out.

The effects of mercury is one that is individualized depending on the haplotype. Basically if you're genetically susceptible, even marginally elevated levels can cause increased oxidative damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and cell death, in various tissues and systems of the body especially the CNS, immune system and kidneys. If you're one of the lucky ones that is genetically resistant to the effects of mercury, it takes much higher loads to even give you noticeable symptoms.

The main symptoms of chronic low level mercury accumulation in the body are fatigue, stress symptoms/labile moods (irritability, anger, depression, anxiety, insomnia), decreased cognition (not thinking as clear, muddled more than usual), impaired physical and mental performance, HPTA dysfunction with resulting low serum testosterone levels, etc.

As far as seeing elevated levels in the both of you (although ****'s levels are three times higher than yours) I'm not surprised. I see elevated levels of mercury in many of those that I test. In fact in the last 12 tests (which includes yours and ****'s), 8 had elevated levels, and 3 had levels close to ***'s level. All three ate a lot of fish. One also had amalgam fillings. It seems, at least from my small sample, that it's almost an epidemic.

Treating elevated levels doesn't have to include invasive therapy such as chelation, which can cause problems on its own. I'm in the process now of formulating a supplement that will contain all of the ingredients that have been shown to, or are likely to, decrease both the mercury load and as important, the effect of the mercury in the body on the CNS and immune system.

At this point, as far as you and especially **** is concerned, and you as well, you should cut down on fish consumption dramatically. I would leave the removal of any dental amalgams (if you or **** have them) to after the finals since there can be adverse effects even if done right, for up to 3 months after they are removed.

Since I haven't finished formulating the specific supplement I mentioned (and even when I do some of the supplements below can be used along with it), we can make do quite well with mixing and matching what I do have in my lineup. The best supplements for **** to use right now, and he'll have effects within less than a week (BTW the improvements he's already shown are in part due to the fact that he's using some of the supplements already, especially the Myosin Protein), are:

MVM
Antiox
EFA+ (I know what you're thinking but the mercury in fish isn't present in fish oils because methylmercury binds tightly to fish proteins)
Regulate (the main method of mercury excretion is via the bowels and fiber has been shown to bind the mercury so it can't be reabsorbed).
Myosin Protein
Power Drink

The protocol should be simple and easy to implement. For example the MVM, Antiox, EFA+ and Regulate can be taken together and used twice to three times a day. I would start off on one of each twice a day and build that up to two or each three times a day over the next month or so. The Myosin Protein should be used as one of his main protein sources throughout the day (the MRP LoCarb contains the basic Myosin signature and would be good for **** as well), and the Power Drink could be used during (more dilute) and after (more concentrated) training/games/events.

If it's possible, I'd like a rundown of both your diets over the next week or so.

BTW I think that anyone on the team who's not performing up to par would benefit from this protocol, or at least a version of it.

And as far as getting leaner and ripped for summer, that shouldn't be a problem. We'll talk about it when we meet.

Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale is one of the most influential voices on diet, performance and athletic training in the world. His innovative work in finding safe nutritional alternatives to anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs has won him praise from athletes, trainers and fitness experts around the globe. Dr. Di Pasquale was a world-class athlete for over 15 years, winning the World Championships in powerlifting in 1976 and world games in 1981.

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