Brain damage from a diet

[ragtag]

I came across this article from the UK.

This woman got brain damage from a diet that consisted basically of reducing her salt intake, and drinking an extra 2-3 liters of water a day, and won the case in court against her nutrionist.

To me this diet doesn't sound to excessive at all. Anyone heard of similar cases? I would think the same effect would be experienced from for instance water fasting.

[Zwynd]

Originally Posted by ragtag

I came across this article from the UK.

This woman got brain damage from a diet that consisted basically of reducing her salt intake, and drinking an extra 2-3 liters of water a day, and won the case in court against her nutrionist.

To me this diet doesn't sound to excessive at all. Anyone heard of similar cases? I would think the same effect would be experienced from for instance water fasting.

The thing we don't see is this:

1) We don't know what else she's eating.

2) The woman should have picked a better nutritionist in the first place and would have known her 'nutritionist' was full of crap if she had bothered to find the knowledge about her body by researching it online, books, and a second opinion.

3) She would also know that drinking a LOT of water can kill a person or cause damages to their body.

4) She should also know that humans still need iodine in their diet and that in her particular case she may need more salt than the average person. Eg, she could have a thyroid condition.

All in all, it's an article about the blind leading the blind.

As to your question about water. I don't know the exact amounts for you but if you drink more than a few litres a day and -even worse- all in one sitting (rather than sipping over the course of a day) then you're going to have a bit more of a problem than excessive urination.

Drink slow, drink in moderation. You're fine.

[Barcs]

2-3 liters plus more water from foods is a little excessive depending on her body weight. She didn't look that big in the picture, and probably isn't doing much heavy duty work, so that is overkill. I drink about 1.5 liters a day and probably weigh more than her. I'm not sure how it could mess up her brain though. I would think if anything it would mess with her kidneys and bladder.

In a somewhat related story, I use to know a friend of somebody who was something like 200 pounds overweight and then decided to go on an all canned vegitable diet. He lost a crapload of the weight but then went insane. That can't be good for you. I could see an all organic fresh vegitable and fruit diet, but all canned veggies? Yuck.

[Zwynd]

Not counting the lack of nutrients in canned veggies in comparison to fresh veggies, but considering the high amount of sodium in canned foods I wouldn't be surprised about the unfortunate end result of your old friend's odd diet.

High sodium can in most cases will damage (sometimes permanently) the thyroid gland and cause a lot of problems anywhere from physical rashes, fatigue, muscle pain/weakness, insomnia/narcolepsy, all the way to mental issues like depression, confusion, and irritability.

I would say, that if you were still friends with that individual, to ask him to go to a doctor to get bloodwork done: Especially to see where his TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) levels are at.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by ragtag

To me this diet doesn't sound too excessive at all.

Although we tend to get too much of it in a modern diet, sodium is absolutely vital for body functioning (including transmission of nerve impulses).

A diet that flushes your sodium and doesn't replace it is a recipe for something like this to happen.

A nutritionist should know that and, unless Dawn made her own adjustments to the prescribed diet, I don't see how they can deny responsibility.

Originally Posted by Zwynd

Not counting the lack of nutrients in canned veggies in comparison to fresh veggies[...]

It's true that canned vegetables contain less vitamins than the same vegetable just plucked from the ground (about 1/3-1/2 less for A, C & Riboflavin, much less for the others).

However:
(a) If you eat a decent amount of them, that's still a lot of nutrients, so it's a bit misleading to describe it as a 'lack' of nutrients.
(b) Only a few days after harvesting, food has lost around 50% of some nutrients if it's not chilled or preserved. So if you're buying 'fresh' fruit from a supermarket, you may be as well or better off with canned.
(c) IIRC, frozen generally trumps both.

I totally agree that the added salt is a problem.

[Zwynd]

I stand (rather, sit) corrected. I should have said "lower value of nutrients" rather than a full lack.

I also agree that 'fresh' veggies picked days later have less nutrients than fresh-out-of-the-garden ones. But, I'd personally rather go for a 3 day old carrot sitting in my fridge from my garden than a container of high-sodium non-organic veggies that could have been canned the last time I payed my taxes.

(Which was many years ago...)

Still though, nutrients are nutrients. Agreed.

And as a note, if there were no healthy sources of protein around I'd probably brush up on my entomophagy practices rather than eating canned beef, chicken, or "pork."

[NightSpirit]

We also need a minimum amount of carbs and fat for our brains to function properly. There has also been a lot of research on how the "B" vitamins affect our mental state.

There was a radio station contest once where a woman was asked to drink a certain amount of water to win a prize and they broadcasted her difficulty in doing it. A nurse called in during the show and told them how dangerous it was but the contest continued. The lady died from ingesting the water and her family won their suit against the station. Ten Fired After Radio Contest Tragedy, Woman Died Despite Listener Warning On Danger Of Chugging Too Much Water - CBS News

[Tigerlily]

That diet sounds ridiculous and her nutritionist sounds incompetent. Our bodies have evolved for thousands of years to regulate water intake and output. We also get a lot of water from fruits and veggies. There is no scientific basis for drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Drink when your thirsty. It's not complicated.

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by Zwynd

The woman should have picked a better nutritionist in the first place and would have known her 'nutritionist' was full of crap if she had bothered to find the knowledge about her body by researching it online, books, and a second opinion.

She should have picked a better nutritionist as in doing 1000 hours of research and interviewing 10 of them to make sure the advice was aligned with her own new found beliefs? In fairness to Dawn, there are a lot of laypersons who don't and in many cases can't do their own research in such matters and instead rely implicitly on their doctor or other authority (in this case the nutritionist) to make these recommendations for them.

In fairness to the nutritionist, how different is her advice from the advice we are bombarded with daily in the media to "drink at least 2 liters of water per day" (while any upper limit is never mentioned and we are left to determine this on our own ) and "limit your sodium intake". Who among us hasn't heard both of these recommendations a thousand times? 2-3 liters "above normal" over a 24 hour period isn't something i would choose to do because i believe in drinking only to thirst, but it seems very much to be within the realm of this widespread unspecific media teaching.

This tragedy makes me think of prescription drugs and how people die on a daily basis as one of the many serious side effects.

[Optimus Lime]

Damn.. This sucks. What a bad nutritionist.

[Brutha]

That diet sounds ridiculous and her nutritionist sounds incompetent. Our bodies have evolved for thousands of years to regulate water intake and output. We also get a lot of water from fruits and veggies. There is no scientific basis for drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Drink when your thirsty. It's not complicated.

I happen to feel much better when I drink 4 liters a day than when I don't.

It's however good to read this post as I might put a bit more sodium in my foot.

In fairness to the nutritionist, how different is her advice from the advice we are bombarded with daily in the media to "drink at least 2 liters of water per day" (while any upper limit is never mentioned and we are left to determine this on our own ) and "limit your sodium intake". Who among us hasn't heard both of these recommendations a thousand times? 2-3 liters "above normal" over a 24 hour period isn't something i would choose to do because i believe in drinking only to thirst, but it seems very much to be within the realm of this widespread unspecific media teaching.

The job of a nutritionist is however to be better informed than that.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by ragtag

I came across this article from the UK.

To me this diet doesn't sound to excessive at all. Anyone heard of similar cases? I would think the same effect would be experienced from for instance water fasting.

4 pints is a gallon. 6 pints is a gallon and a half. That is addition to the 50 gallons a day she was already drinking. Actually that is not mentioned. The body tells you when you need water with thirst. Too much water at one time can kill you.

Say I tell you to stand on a bridge and breath twice as fast as normal. There is a good chance you will die. You do not need someone to tell you how much to breathe. Of course she did not follow my advice below-- drink tea, not water.

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

4 pints is a gallon. 6 pints is a gallon and a half.

Are you quite quite certain about this?

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by MightySunTzu

Are you quite quite certain about this?

8 pints in a gallon. There are 4 quarts in a gallon. So an extra 3/4 of a gallon is not a lot but no mention how much she added that to.

Since everyone makes mistakes, maybe she was drinking an extra 4 gallons a day.

[russianrocket]

sometimes I feel like the brain damage comes BEFORE the diet.

[secrets0stolen]

This is interesting. Personally, I feel best when I drink 2-3 liters of water a day and consume no salt. Although I do eat a large amount of celery, tomatoes, bok choy, etc. which all contain sodium.

Perhaps the nutritionist would have been wiser to tell the client the signs of over-hydration? And dehydration? As opposed to giving concrete numbers like this, because it can be different for the individual.

[Tigerlily]

Originally Posted by Brutha

I happen to feel much better when I drink 4 liters a day than when I don't.

That's interesting. I know I don't feel any different when I drink more water, except for the fact I have to go to the toilet more frequently. Water is regulated so that there is a stable constant level in your body (homeostasis) at all times. The more you drink the more you pee. The level of water in your body shouldn't change much unless there is a disease process occurring.

[Terry C]

I guess this woman didn't watch her water intake so she ended up drinking 6 liters or more a day which can be harmful...
Both her and the nutritionist should be in jail for crimes against humanity XD