10 Reasons to drink water

Your body’s many cries for water

Do you feel any of the following on a regular basis?

• Tired
• Heartburn
• Brain fog
• Aches and pains in joints and muscles
• Colitis pain
• Migraine headaches
• Constipation
• Unable to lose weight
• Depressed or anxious
• Are you pre-type 2 diabetic?
• Do you have allergies or asthma?

Well, believe it or not, all of these physical and mental problems could be due to one very simple thing, your body’s many cries for water.

Yes, this elixir of life, freely flowing from the taps of those of us who are lucky enough to live in the developed world, is the one thing that many of us are just not getting enough of, and the lack of it is damaging our health and causing us to take medications that damage our health even more.

This knowledge has been out there for many years now, and Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, M.D, an eminent pioneering physician, has spent twenty years of clinical and scientific research into the role of water in the body, and he explains it all to us in this book. He has discovered that Unintentional Chronic Dehydration (UCD) produces stress, chronic pains and many painful degenerative diseases.

Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.’s book “Water – You’re not sick; You’re Thirsty – don’t Treat Thirst with Medication“ will amaze you with its factual information and case studies that show just how powerful and essential water is to our continued good health, both in prevention and cure.

This review is not meant to replace professional medical advice, but to give you information you might not otherwise receive.

Medicine – The pharmaceutical scandal

Whilst no-one can argue against the fact that medicines such as antibiotics have contributed much to the treatment of serious infections, and their effect on us when suffering is nothing short of miraculous, it is also a known fact that correctly prescribed medications make over 2 million people sicker, and kill over 100,000 every year.

Mistakes involving prescription medications kill a further 100,000 a year. These mistakes include misdiagnosis and errors in the selection of medication, illegible penmanship of physicians and dispensing errors at the pharmacy.

When the body needs a top-up of water, it is given toxic chemicals instead.

In December 2003, the unthinkable happened; Dr Allen Roses, International Vice President of Glaxo-SmithKline at the time, one of the major manufacturers of drugs in the world, went public in a front-page interview with The Independent newspaper in London, England. He admitted “The vast majority of drugs – more than 90 percent- only work in 30 to 50 percent of people”.

These figures were correct in 2003, and things may have changed a little by now, but I would be surprised if they have gone down.

In fact the London cardiologist, Dr Aseem Malhotra, is quoted in his book “The Pioppi Diet” as saying in 2017 that it has been estimated that prescription medications are now the third most common cause of death globally, after heart disease and cancer.

It’s estimated that up to a quarter of hospital admissions in the elderly are a result of dangerous drug interactions. The side effects of blood-pressure pills, for example, can result in falls; and a quarter of elderly patients who fall and break a hip will subsequently die in hospital after admission.

It is a fact that our reliance on drugs is extensive, and the power of the pharmaceutical Companies is massive. It is in the interests of many factions to keep us hooked on these drugs and to keep quiet about natural therapies, such as plain old water, which could combat our ailments. The pharmaceutical industry is a multi-million dollar one, employing many, many people, and there are those who would rather not rock the boat.

In this review of Dr. Batmanghelidj’s book, I hope to open up your mind to the wide and all encompassing benefits of a resource that could make all the difference to your health, quality of life and longevity. Whilst not exhaustive, here are 10 reasons to drink water, and lots of it.

1. Overeating – Weight gain and loss

We overeat for various reasons, physical, mental and emotional; but for the purposes of this review, we are focusing on the physical effects of dehydration on the appetite.

The brain uses a large amount of energy, which it constantly needs to function, and this is provided in two different ways. The first and most acknowledged one is the consumption of food and its breakdown into glucose. The second, less known, method is by hydroelectric energy, which it gets from its water consumption.

However, when we are constantly dehydrated, we lose the ability to recognize thirst, and mistake it for hunger. If the brain can’t get what it needs from hydroelectric energy it will switch to option 1, the consumption and breakdown of food.

When we give our brain the water it needs, it will stop asking us for food and start getting its energy from the breakdown of fat.

Of course, it isn’t easy to make this switch. We have programmed our habits and associations with sweet, starchy carbohydrates, which then stimulate the pleasure centers of our brains, and create an addictive, habitual behaviour in our association with food; but if we can stick with it for a week or so, we can retrain our brains and bodies to work more efficiently to stimulate better health, energy and functionability.

Once we start the breakdown of fat, each gram of fat will give us 9 calories of energy, but the breakdown of muscle gives only 4 calories. This is why once the fat starts to be metabolized we are much less hungry.

To do this, we have to start using our muscles more, and once we do, they begin to activate a fat-breaking enzyme, hormone-sensitive lipase. It has been shown in repeated blood tests in Sweden that this enzyme’s activity is seen after one hour’s walk, and it retains its fat-breaking activity for 12 hours. When muscles begin to use fat, more sugar becomes available to be used by the brain.

Once the fat starts to be broken down, we really do need lots of water to flush it through and out of our bodies.

2. Pain

• Nerve cells are said to be 85% water, and there seem to exist small waterways or microstreams along the length of nerves from these cells that “float” the packaged materials along “guidelines” called mocrotubules. These products are taken to the nerve endings of their respective cells for use in the brain’s communication system in the entire body.
• When there is not enough water to transport everything around the body, the brain will prioritize what it sends and where.
• When there is not enough water to flush out toxins, the brain tries to warn the conscious mind of the shortage of water and so creates pain as a thirst signal.
• If this is ignored, the intensity of pain increases until movement and mobility of the area is affected – to prevent the production of additional toxic waste.
• The pains of dehydration include dyspeptic pain, rheumatoid arthritis, anginal (heart pain on walking, or even at rest), lower back pain, intermittent cludication (leg pain on walking), migraine and hangover headaches, colitis pain and false appendicitis pain.

These pains should be treated with a regular adjustment to daily water intake; ideally two and a half liters in 24 hours for a few days, prior to the regular use of analgesics or other pain relieving medications.

You should make sure that the kidneys can make sufficient urine so that they do not retain too much water. Urine output should be equal to water intake. If in doubt, consult your doctor.

3. Low back pain

The spinal vertebrae and discs are dependent on different hydraulic properties of water stored in the disc core and in the end plate cartilage covering the flat surfaces of the spinal vertebrae.

Water is not only a lubricant for the contact surfaces, it is held in the disc core within the intervertebral space, and supports the compression weight of the upper part of the body.

75% of the weight of the upper part of the body is supported by the water volume that is stored in the disc core and 25% by the fibrous materials around the disc. Water helps to support the weight or tension produced by muscle action on the joint.

To prevent back pain, we need to drink sufficient water and do a series of special exercises to create an intermittent vacuum to draw water into the disc space. These exercises will also reduce the spasm in the back muscles that is the main cause of lower back pain in many people.

4. Neck pain

Bad posture, from keeping the head bent for too long when writing, working at a low bench or at a computer in a “freeze position” or from too many pillows whilst sleeping, can be a contributory factor in the production of neck pain.

Neck movement is essential for adequate fluid circulation within the disc spaces in the neck. The weight of the head forces water out of the discs over a period of time. To bring back the same water, the force of vacuum has to be created within the same disc space. This can only be done if the head and neck are moved adequately – backward.

To do this you should slowly and repeatedly bend your head and neck backward, as much as they will bend. Keep the neck extended for 30 seconds at a time to enhance the force of vacuum to bring water back into the disc spaces, which will in turn retract the discs back into their normal spaces between the vertebrae and away from the nerve roots in the neck.

Another good way is to lie on your back on your bed and hang your head over the edge. The muscles will stretch better because they are relaxed in this position. You should then raise your head to look at the facing wall or window. Doing this several times will create the necessary vacuum in the vertebral space, which will then draw water into the disc spaces and into all parts of the neck joints, lubricating their movements.

Once you have done this a few times, you can then turn your head from side to side whilst hanging over the edge of your bed to get a similar result. Do make sure you have consumed plenty of water to make all of this work properly.

5. Anginal pain:

Dehydration can exacerbate heart and lung problems. It is essential that we have enough fluid in our bodies for our organs to work properly. There are case histories in the book of people who have drastically improved their angina pain, just by making sure they have sufficient daily water intake for their bodies’ needs.

If you are experiencing anginal pain, you need to start exercising as well as increasing your water intake. Remember to walk, walk, walk.

6. Headaches

These are often caused by inflammation and congestion within the brain, due to excess alcohol or just not moving very much for a long period of time. The consumption of water and the action of moving around to pump it round your body, especially in the fresh air where you can take deep breaths, will alleviate most headaches, including sometimes migraine.

7. Digestion

Water is used in the breakdown of food in the stomach. Acid is poured onto the food, enzymes are activated and the food is broken down into a homogenized fluid state that can pass into the intestine for the next phase of digestion.

Mucus in the innermost layer of the stomach consists of 98 percent water and 2 percent physical “scaffolding” that traps water. In this water layer a natural buffer state is established. The cells below secrete sodium bicarbonate that is trapped in the water layer. As the acid from the stomach tries to go through this protective layer, the bicarbonate neutralizes it.

A dehydrated body will have an inefficient mucus barrier that then permits acid penetration. Hydration will provide a much better acid barrier to the mucosa than any medication on the market

8. Colitis

This is closely connected to constipation. When there is not enough water in the gut to properly process the food, then the resulting waste matter becomes much harder to pass and this process causes pain. In addition to drinking more water, eating fruit will help to soften the stool and aid its passage.

9. Dyspeptic pain

This pain is the most important signal. It denotes dehydration – a thirst signal of the body. Dyspeptic pains are as follows;-

• Gastritis
• Duodenitis
• Heartburn

These should be treated with an increase in water intake alone. When there is associated ulceration, attention to the daily diet to enhance the rate of repair of the ulcer site becomes necessary. Ulceration is a common factor in long term untreated Dyspepsia.

Dr Batmanghelidj has treated over 3,000 persons with dyspeptic pain. They all responded well to an increase in their water intake, and their clinical problems associated with the pain disappeared.

One case that sticks in his memory is a young man in his 20’s. He had suffered from peptic ulcer disease for a number of years before the crisis time when he presented to the Doctor. The young man was in so much pain that he was almost semiconscious. He was folded in the foetal position on the floor of his room and groaning. When asked if he had taken anything, he replied that he had taken three tablets of Cimetidine and a whole bottle of antacid, with no relief at all in the ten hours that he had been suffering.

The Doctor gave him two full glasses of water. After 15 minutes the pain had lessened and the doctor gave him another full glass of water – half a pint. In a few minutes, his pain disappeared completely and he started taking notice of the people around him. He sat up and started talking with his visitors. Ten hours of suffering and large amounts of medication was ended, and water had produced total relief in about 20 minutes.

10. Rheumatoid Arthritis

The articular cartilage in a well hydrated joint gets its nutrition from the blood supply to its base attachment to the bone. A dehydrated joint will need to get some form of fluid circulation from the capsule of the joint, hence the swelling and tenderness in the joint capsule. The inflammatory process may appear as if there is infection when there is actually only dehydration.

Besides increased water intake, sufferers should repeat gentle bending of the joints to bring more circulation to the area. If there is no improvement after a few days, one should consult a medical practitioner.

Giving our bodies what they need

As I have said, this review of Dr. F. Batmanghelidj’s book is not meant to replace professional medical advice, and I am not suggesting you throw away all your pills and potions in favor of water.

However, I hope you will take on board some of the information contained herein, and bear in mind just how important drinking enough water and keeping hydrated is in keeping our minds and bodies functioning in the best way possible, giving us more energy, wellbeing, brain function and improved quality of life.

This review is a mere drop in the ocean of the Doctor’s book, and there is much, much more valuable information, and a whole lot more in detail advice as to the effects of dehydration on the body’s systems and the benefits of water in combatting it.

Your life could be transformed just by turning on the tap.

Here’s to a healthy, happy life.

Anne

Source: Dr F Batmanghelidj, MD – Book – Your body’s Many Cries for Water 

You’re not sick; you’re thirsty – don’t treat thirst with medication

www.watercure.com

Published in the USA by GHS Inc  – GHS ISBN 0-9702458-8-2

https://www.amazon.co.uk