Minor dehydration - not enough to kill - is both the result and the hidden cause of many illnesses. The inverse is also true. Good hydration is at the foundation of good health. Drink up now, because the price for administering an intravenous saline water solution in the hospital is approximately $350.From Dr. Batmanghelidj's perspective, most so-called incurable diseases are nothing more than disease labels given to various stages of drought. Americans diligently check the fluids in their cars, but neglect the fluids in their bodies. In a car, oil prevents metal from rubbing up against metal. In the body, water keeps cartilage robust and joints floating. Once dehydration sets in, cartilage thins and fails to buffer the joints and bone rubs against bone causing arthritic pain. But doctors are not taught to check the water and salt levels. Instead they treat the complaint with pain killers that mask the body's alert signals. Pain killers treat the effect, not the cause, and eventually surgeons shave off some bone to create more float in the joint or replace the joint altogether. Taking a pain killer in this instance is like cutting the wires to stop the oil light in your car from flashing. If auto mechanics used the same logic as mainstream medicine, they would never check the fluids and when things wore out, they would simply install replacement parts.
There are two kinds of water in the body: Intracellular and extracellular - inside the cells and surrounding the cells. To the degree that water can reach every cell, the cell can be regularly cleansed and the waste products of normal cell metabolism can be carried away. Once inside the cells, the water is held there by potassium. Batmanghelidj says there are two oceans of water in the body, intracellular and extracellular. The saline content of the water outside the cells is said to be similar to the saline content of the ocean. Good health depends on maintaining the balance between these two internal oceans. The balance is achieved by regular intake of water, potassium from the diet, and salt. When there is insufficient water to reach the cells, they draw upon the extracellular water. This is the first stage of dehydration. It is also the cause of edema because the brain commands an increase in salt in order to retain more water. When the shortage of water reaches a more critical level, the body increases the osmotic pressure in order to deliver more water to the cells. This is a cause of hypertension.
Within the three months that I have been drinking the right amount of water the right way, my chronic mucous began to leave, my hair became soft, and my skin is becoming softer. I have fewer wrinkles (I am almost 70 years old). My stomach aches stopped. My toenails are not brittle. Two black spots I have had on my leg from several years ago as an aftermath of deep cuts has disappeared. My eyebrows grew back. There are dark streaks showing in my gray hair. My hair is coming in thicker and my memory is improving. Ann Louise Gittleman, author Guess What Came to Dinner.
Increasing the intake of your water must be slow and spaced out until there is a corresponding excretion of urine. When the urine is clear, it indicates we are drinking adequate amounts of water. Salt is also lost in the urine which helps get rid of edema. Water is arguably our best diuretic. For years mainstream medicine has preached the avoidance of salt because it promotes high blood pressure and salt has become taboo. But this boomerang reaction of avoiding salt can backfire on our health. The proper proportion of salt to water, a teaspoon per quart of water, is necessary to maintain proper hydration and to generate hydroelectric energy needed for cell to cell communication - the spark of life. If your weight suddenly increases, you are taking too much salt. The cure, drink more water.
After only four days of drinking eight glasses of water, eight year old Jeremy's asthma cleared up to the extent that he was able to discontinue all of his medications. Within one month his lung capacity increased from 60% of normal to 120%. Arthritis, ulcers, edema, even blood pressure - I've seen them all improve with water. Julian Whitaker, M.D., editor Health & Healing Newsletter
Asthma, Allergies, and Dehydration
Asthma is the constriction of the air sacs in the lungs. Histamine is an important neurotransmitter that regulates the body's thirst mechanism and water intake. In a condition of dehydration, histamine production increases, this in turn swells the body tissues, including the small sacs of the lungs. This constricts the air flow causing the tell-tale shortness of breath experienced in asthma. Allergies and asthma cause histamine to be released because histamine is part of the body's immune response. Dehydration would ordinarily cause dryness in the membranes of the nose and eyes, but histamine and its subordinate chemicals increase the distribution of water to those organs. As a preventative, the asthma and allergy patient should force themselves to drink the recommended amount of water daily to avoid excessive histamine release.
Cancer Protection from Water?
It is a little known fact, but insufficient water consumption is actually a risk factor for getting colon, breast, and urinary tract cancers such as cancers of the kidneys, bladder, prostate, and testicles. When the body is well hydrated, blood circulation is expanded and immune system cells can reach the cancerous tissues in greater numbers. Statistical studies indicate that cancer victims drink precious little of the wet stuff. On the other hand, women who drink more than five glasses of water per day actually reduce their chance of getting kidney and bladder cancer by 45 percent. Men reduce their chances of contracting prostate and testicle cancer by 32 percent. How can this be? The theory is that water flushes toxins from the body before they can do their damage or be reabsorbed. In one study, female water drinkers reduced their risk of developing breast cancer by 79%. One interpreter of the study, water expert Dr. Susan M. Kleiner, postulates that, “possibly maintaining a dilute solution within the cells reduces the potency of estrogen and its ability to cause hormone-related cancer.”
Kidney stones affect approximately 15% of the population and kidney stone manufacture can be another side effect of insufficient water consumption. One study reported that individuals with a history of kidney stones reduced their reoccurrence by as much as 15% just by increasing their water intake to 4 or more glasses per day. Lack of water promotes the formation of the stones by concentrating the calcium salts inside the kidneys.
Lose Weight with Water
Are you thirsty or hungry? It is possible that we are interpreting our signs of thirst for hunger. Food is a major source of water and about one third of our daily water intake comes from foods. Raw fruits and vegetables are 70% to 95% water. Even bread is 35% water. So it is possible that your desire for food is a hidden desire for water. Try not eating between meals. Reach for the water bottle instead of the ice cream. Once you fill up on water, it creates a satiety - a feeling of fullness. Then get busy with something. Chances are your mind will be off your stomach; you will feel full, and your hunger will disappear. Repeat this daily and you will save calories and shed pounds. Sometimes hunger masquerades as thirst.
The Fountain of Youth
According to legend, the fountain of youth is a spring of water located on a Bahamian island. This is the spring for which Ponce de Leon earnestly searched. This island, surrounded by its green ocean, blue sky, and pristine air, is in itself a healing experience. But drinking its healing waters was purported to rejuvenate the drinker. All around the earth, one can find healing waters, from steam baths to mineral spas, to geysers and springs, these waters are some of the most special places on earth. The stuff that comes out is truly God's liquid.
Can water keep you young? There is a theory that cells are immortal and just the fluids in and around them degenerates over time. If you subscribe to this theory, then replenishing them with adequate amounts of the highest quality water is the simplest and most sublime way to stave off the process of aging. The stooping of older people, their dry wrinkled skin and brittle bones all point to a dehydrated condition. But this condition did not occur overnight. This dehydration, as well as that of other illnesses, is a chronic condition that accumulates for years until your “thirst” manifests itself in pain. Water is the most important element in your body. Your cells cannot function without it. Low level dehydration can be both perfectly hidden and managed. The body simply adapts to a state of drought. But this condition manifests many long-term illnesses which shorten our lives and eventually cripple our health.