The Healing Power of Water. The simple truth is dehydration can cause disease. Which disease? Well, according to Dr. Batmanghelidj almost all disease, even cancer, can be linked to dehydration. I remember when his book, Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, came out in the early
90s, everyone was talking about water. He discussed biological mechanisms connecting water to almost every condition. People got excited when they read the book, but as they drank the 8-10 glasses of water he recommended, many people still suffered. But some got profoundly better. Water may not fix every problem, but problems “caused” by dehydration cannot be solved without addressing that “cause,” no matter what therapy is employed.

Hydration for Effective Therapy

Keeping this in mind, “Restoring and maintaining adequate hydration can increase the effectiveness of any therapy.” Since Dr. Batmanghelidj spent much of his life studying water, physiology, and clinical application, let’s do a brief review to understand the principles of his work. The human body is 25% solid or solute and 75% water, which is the solvent. The solute refers to the enzymes, minerals, proteins, hormones, etc. Over the years, medicine has attempted to manipulate the solute in the body to achieve health benefits.

However, if the solvent is depleted, the electromagnetic fields of the solute will not work at their capacity. Which means… “Proteins and enzymes function more efficiently in solutions of lower
viscosity.”

Every Body Function Needs Water

Therefore, every function of the body is monitored and pegged to the flow of water! Often, when people think thirst, coffee, tea, alcohol, soft drinks, etc. come to mind. However, these concentrated fluids can never substitute for the body’s need for water. In fact, these substances can actually increase dehydration because the body must further dilute them due to their concentrated composition. I didn’t know, that at the cell membrane, the osmotic flow of water through the membrane can generate “hydroelectric” energy or voltage that is converted and
stored in the energy pools of ATP and GTP. ATP and GTP are like vital cell battery systems storing energy particularly important in neurotransmission. So, dehydration can cause a type of cellular fatigue. The brain has absolute priority in the water rationing system of the body. Products manufactured in the brain cells are transported on “waterways” to their destination in the nerve endings for use in the transmission of messages. There seems to exist small waterways or micro streams along the length of nerves that “float” the packaged materials along “guide-lines” called microtubules.

Water also has a firmly established and essential hydrolytic role in all aspects of metabolism. Water is essential for the splitting or separation of proteins, carbohydrates, enzymes, etc. Let’s
look at a possible dehydration pain link.

Histamine and Dehydration

Histamine is one of the ways the body regulates water intake and distribution in the body. It has
been shown in animal studies that histamine will decrease with water intake and increase with
dehydration. As histamine and its subordinate water regulators, prostaglandins, kinins, etc. become excessively active they cause pain when they come across pain sensing nerves in the body. Non-infectious, recurring, chronic pain should always be translated as a “thirst” signal first. Histamine reactions from foods can also cause issues. HistaGest DAO can help.

Pain

How about stomach pain? Dr. Batmanghelidj has treated more than 3,000 patients suffering from “dyspeptic pain” with nothing but water. He calls it an emergency dehydration or “thirst” signal. Dehydration causes cells to release water externally weakening their internal structure, bringing about tissue changes locally in the gut. As the dehydration persists, the histamine regulated water management system swings into operation, with resultant local dyspeptic pain. Of course, this “thirst” signal can be suppressed with medication, which is the usual recommendation. But wouldn’t it be reasonable to try water first? What water should we drink?

Another “thirst” signal of the body is joint pain. As we know, cartilage has a high concentration
of water. This “held water” allows the cartilage to provide almost friction-less joint movement; the
water being the lubricant that protects the contact surfaces of the joint. As joints move and the cartilage surfaces glide over one another, some exposed cells die and are removed. New cells take their place. In well-hydrated cartilage the rate of friction damage is minimal. In dehydrated cartilage the rate of abrasive damage is increased. For the most part, the water to hydrate cartilage comes through the bone marrow and the bone. However, there is competition as growing blood cells in the marrow take priority over cartilage for the available water.

Conclusion

Dr. Batmangelidj has similar logical mechanisms to link dehydration to angina, allergies, asthma,
hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, colitis, hiatus hernia, depression, obesity, even insulin resistance regulation. Again, that doesn’t mean that water will cure all these conditions, but it is important to realize that problems caused by dehydration cannot be solved without addressing it, no matter what therapy is employed. Perhaps water should be the number one factor that medical professionals address with every patient. I have included a summary “fact sheet” to help you discuss this important concept with your patients and offer further suggestions to support rehydration.