Why do I say "Drink More Water??"

All this information is taken from Dr F Batmanhejidj's Book - Your Body's Many Cries for Water.

Below are many common ailments of the body - in alphabetical order. See how water can help your particular condition. Amazing huh?

Your body needs an absolute minimum of 6-8 8ounce glasses of water per day. Alcohol, coffee, tea and caffine containing beverages don't count as water. The best times to drink water are one glass half hour before food and a similar amount 2.5 hours after each meal. Two more glasses should be taken around the heaviest meal or before going to bed. Adjusting water intake to mealtimes prevents the blood from becoming concentrated as a result of food intake. Ordinary tap water is recommended. If an open-top jug with water is left to stand in the fridge or the work yop the chlorine will evaporate.

Alzheimer's
The primary cause may be chronic dehydration of the body. In prolonged dehydration the brain cells begin to shrink. (pg36/37)

Arthritis Pain
The cartilage surface of bones in a joint contain much water - the lubricating property utilised allows the two opposing surfaces to glide freely over one another. In a well hydrated cartilage the rate of friction damage is minimal, in a dehydrated cartilage the rate of abrasive damage is increased. Actively growing blood cells in the bone marrow take prority over the cartilage for the available water that goes through the bone structure. The initial pain indicates that the joint is not fully prepared to endure pressure until it is fully hydrated.

Asthma and Allergies
Asthma and allergies are indicators that the body has resorted to an increase in production of histamine. It is recognised that asthmatics have an increase in histamine content of their lung tissue and that it is the histamine that regulates the bronchial muscle contraction. Since one of the sites for water loss through evaporation is in the lungs, bronchial constriction produced by histamine means less water evaporation during the act of breathing - a natural process to preserve the body's water. Histamine plays an important role in the defence systems in the body and normally remains unnoticed, but when a body is dehydrated the histamine activity becomes exaggerated. Concentrated blood reaching the lungs trigger histamine production. Salt is a natural antihistamine. People with allergies should begin to increase their salt intake. Salt is needed to break up the mucus in the lungs and render it watery. A pinch of salt on the toungue after drinking water fools the brin into thinking a lot of salt has arrived in the body and the brain begins to relax the bronchioles.(pp107_114)

Colitis/Constipation
One of the main functions of the large intestine is the process of taking water out of the excrements. When there is dehydration the process is slowed down and the contents squeezed - with further food more solid waste will be packed and increase the burden for passage and cause pain. With adequate water intake the abdominal pain will disappear.(pg37)

Dyspeptic Pain (heartburn, ulcers etc)
Dyspeptic pain is the most important signal for the human body - it denotes dehydration. Water passes immediately into the intestine, but within 30 minutesalmost the same amount of water is secreted into the stomach in the mucosa, ready to be used for food breakdown - digestion depends on the presence of copious amounts of water. Mucus consists of 98% water, sodium bicarbonate becomes trapped in the water layer and as the acid from the stomach tries to go through this protective layer it is neutralised. The balance needs to be maintained and water is the only substance that can do this. Antacids are designed to attack the acid in the stomach which upsets this balance. (p33)

Excess Body Weight
Sensation of thirst and hunger are generated simultaneously to indicate the brain's needs and we do not recognise the sensation of thirst and assume both are indicators of the urge to eat. We eat food even when the body should receive water. By drinking water before eating food it helps seperate the two sensations. Diet drinks containing caffine are diuretics and can cause weight gain. The water is forced from the body, the person drinks more and is never satisfied as the water doesn't stay in the body long enough - the person then assumes they are hungry. (pp93-106)

Headaches
Including migraine headaches, these may be prevented by regular intake of water.(p52)

Hiatus Hernia
You will need to read the book for a full explanation, but basically when we drink water a hormone called motilin is secreted which helps the internal contractions of the digestive system. When there is not enough water in the body the stomach contents are not allowed into the small intestine - too much acid is present which will cause damage - the valves constrict to stop progress and the acid is forced upwards. (p38) Dyspeptic pain is thist signal associated with chronic or severe dehydration of the human body.

Higher Blood Pressure
Cholesterol production in the cell membrane is part of the cell survival system and is a necessary substance, its excess denotes dehydration. Cholesterol is the agent that regulates permeability of the cell membrane to water and gives it the power to survive dehydration and drought. If we don't drink water before food the process of food digestion will take its toll on the cells of the body. Water will have to be poured on to the food in the stomach for processing, in the intestine more water is required to further process the food and then send them to the liver. In the liver more water is used. In the lungs water is evaporated. Dehydration may register itself halfway through a meal with dyspeptic pain. The solution is to drink water. Water is the most essential ingredient - if we give the necessary water to the body before we eat food all the battle against cholesterol formation in the blood vessels will be won.(pp93-116)

High Blood Pressure
Vessels of the body have been designed to cope with fluctuation of their blood volume by opening and closing different vessels,when the body's total fluid volume is decreased the main vessels also have to decrease their aperture. When we do not drink enough water some cells become dehydrated - 66% is taken from the water volume normally held inside the cells, 26% is taken from the volume outside the cells and 8% taken from the blood volume - the blood vessels have therefore got to decrease their aperture and some capilleries in less active areas are closed off. Excercise opens up capilleries to hold a greater volume of blood - the capillaries must remain open and full and offer no resisitance to blood circulation. Thereis much more information on this.(pp69-78)

Lower Back Pain
the spinal joints are dependenton the hydraulic properties of water stored in the disc core. Fully 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% supported by the fibrous materials around the disc. To prevent back pain one needs to drink sufficient water. (p47)

Neck Pain
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 by doing simple head and neck exercises. Slowly and repeatedly bend the head and neck backwards as much as they will, keeping the neck extended for 30 seconds at a time - this brings water into the disc spaces.(p49)

Stress and Depression
A state of depression is said to exist in the brain, in confronting a stressful emotional problem finds it difficult to cope with the other attention-demanding actions at the same time. Some form of depression is natural in the process of development, but when for some time it gets beyondthis help may be required. The brain uses electrical energy that is generated by the water drive of the energy-generating pumps. With dehydration the level of energy generated in the brain is decreased. Many functions of the brain that depend on this type of energy become inefficient. We recognise this inadequacy of function and call it depression. This can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome. For full physiological information see pp 55-68