Healthy Homes Asia

Do you suffer from heart disease, allergies, asthma, osteoporosis, sleep disorders, depression, addiction, infection, diabetes, menopausal problems, arthritis, auto-immune diseases and obesity?

Perhaps your body requires more water? Read our summary of why this might be.

• Brain function – The brain comprises two per cent of the body's total weight, yet receives 15-20 per cent of the blood supply, mostly comprised of water. Dehydration will affect cognitive ability drastically, and, through histamine's action, can create depressive states (many anti-depressant medications are anti-histamines).
• Bone function – Bones require plentiful supplies of water; 75 per cent of the weight of the upper body, for instance, is supported by the water core contained within the fifth lumbar disc, the remaining 25 per cent by muscle fibers around the spine.
• Nerve function – Microstreams exist along the length of nerves which transport nutrients and conduct energy along microtubules to the synapses to transmit messages. Dehydration disrupts proper nerve function, resulting in the sensation of pain.
• Hydrolysis – Water, far from being an inert solvent, is intricately involved in the body’s water-dependent chemical reactions. Lack of water means incomplete or faulty metabolic processes, with obvious implications for continued health and well-being.
• Proteins and enzymes, for instance, do not function as well in acidic solutions of higher viscosity (stickiness) where the body is dehydrated.Cellular energy – As water is drawn through the cell membrane, its osmotic flow generates a voltage gradient which can be used in the manufacture of ATP and GTP energy. Dehydration will obviously affect the proper functioning of cells and even kill them.
• Histamine – This neurotransmitter plays a major role in activating systems which encourage water intake when dehydration is detected. Functions in the body which consume large quantities of water are cut back, namely the bronchial tubes constricted to cut down on water use in the lungs; increased peristalsis in the bowels to wring more water out of faecal material, and so on. Other signs of histamine's activity, namely allergies, asthma, depression and chronic pains, are interpreted by the physician as ‘disease’ and treated with anti-histamines, pain-killers (analgesics), etc. Thus the signals of thirst are turned off and the dehydration state continues unabated.
• Dyspepsia (heartburn/reflux) – Over time, this can lead to ulceration and even cancer. Dr Batmanghelidj recommends that these conditions - also gastritis and duodenitis - be treated with water alone as they are one of the body's major thirst signals. Arrested in his native Iran by the Revolutionary Council during the troubles of the late 1970s, he was confined to Evin prison, Tehran, during which time he successfully treated with water alone over three thousand people complaining of dyspeptic pain and associated symptoms.
• Digestion – Requires plentiful supplies of water. The stomach relies on mucus lining the walls to shield it from the effects of the stomach's hydrochloric acid. A bicarbonate solution is produced from the cells in the lining which neutralises any acid attempting to break through the mucus. Water is needed to maintain this effective defence system. Too little water, and the mucus barrier is ineffectual, the acid will penetrate and will lead to pain. Ideally, water should be consumed half an hour before a meal, in time to anticipate the production of digestive acid from glands in the stomach wall.
• Ulcers – Often located at the valve between the stomach and duodenum. Said to be caused by curved bacteria known as helicobacters. Yet many people have helicobacters in their small intestine, yet not all of them suffer from ulcers. Histamine-producing nerves are located at this site, which monitor the through-put of acidic food chyme from the stomach into the intestine. Histamine has growth-hormone effects on these micro-organisms, resulting in small intestine bacterial overgrowths (SIBOs). Once again, an adequate regime of water intake will allow all the functions relating to digestion to normalise. Prolonged water intake should therefore be considered before more drastic drug treatments are entered into.

The body needs water. Nothing substitutes for water. Coffee, tea, soda, alcohol and even milk and juices are not the same as water.

by F Batmanghelidg and Phillip Day - Are you sick or just thirsty? Water is a readily available natural medicine for some prevalent and very serious conditions that are known to kill many thousands of people each year. Lean more about how essential water and salt are to good health.

booklet by Phillip Day - Discover a simple program to restore proper digestive health.