Excerpt from the book - Your Body’s Many Cries for Water

By Dr. F. Batmanghelidj

“When the human body developed from the species that were given life in water, the same dependence on the life-giving properties of water was inherited. The role of water in the body of living species, mankind included, has not changed since the first creation of life in salt water and its subsequent adaptation to fresh water. 

When life on land became an objective, a gradually refined body water preservation system had to be created for further species development. This process of temporary adaptation to transient dehydration also became inherited as a well-established mechanism in the human body and is now the infrastructure to all operative systems within the body of modern humans.

….. One of the unavoidable processes in the body water rationing phase is the complete cruelty with which some functions are monitored, so that one structure does not receive more than its predetermined share of water. This is true for all organs of the body. Within those systems of water rationing, the brain function takes absolute priority over all other systems – the brain is 1/50th of total body weight, but receives 18-20 % of blood circulation. When the “ration masters” in charge of body water reserve regulation and distribution become more and more active, they also give their own alarm signals to show that the area in question is short of water, much like the radiator of a car giving out steam when the cooling system is not adequate for the uphill drive of the car. 

……. There are basically three stages to water regulation of the body in the different phases of life. 

One, the stage of life of a fetus in the uterus of the mother. 

Two, the phase of growth until full height and width is achieved. 

Three, the phase of life from fully grown to the demise of the person. 

During the intrauterine stage of cell expansion, water for cell growth of the child has to be provided by the mother. However, the transmitter system for water intake seems to be produced by the fetal tissue, but registers its effect on the mother. The very first indicator for water needs of the fetus and the mother seems to be morning sickness during the early phase of pregnancy. Morning sickness is a thirst signal of both the fetus and the mother.

…. Because of the gradually failing thirst sensation, our bodies become chronically and increasingly dehydrated from early adulthood……Since the water we drink provides for the cell function and volume requirements, a decrease in our daily water intake affects the efficiency of cell activity…... As a result, chronic dehydration causes symptoms that equal disease when the variety of emergency signals of dehydration are not understood. 

…...In advanced societies, thinking that tea, coffee, alcohol, and manufactured beverages are desirable substitutes for the purely natural water needs of the daily “stressed” body is an elementary but catastrophic mistake. It is true that these beverages contain water, but they also contain dehydrating agents. They get rid of the water they are dissolved in plus some more water from the reserves of the body. Today’s lifestyle makes people dependent on all sorts of beverages that are commercially manufactured. Children are not educated to drink water; they become dependent on sodas and juices. This is a self-imposed restriction on the water needs of the body. It is not generally possible to drink manufactured beverages in full replacement of the water needs of the body. At the same time, a cultivated preference for the taste of these sodas will automatically reduce the free urge to drink water when sodas are not available. 

……. Pain is a sensation that denotes local chemical changes in the area around the nerves that monitor the acid/alkali balance. The mechanism is designed to safeguard against a buildup of excess acid from metabolism that could “burn” and eat into the cell membranes and the inner structure of the cells in the area. When water is not available to wash the acidic toxic waste of metabolism, the nerve endings sense the change and report it to the brain’s pain centers. 

…… The pain of dehydration includes dyspeptic pain, rheumatoid arthritis pain, anginal pain (heart pain on walking, or even at rest), low back pain, intermittent claudication pain (leg pain on walking), migraine and hangover headaches, colitis pain and its associated constipation, and false appendicitis pain. 

This new paradigm dictates that these pains should be treated with a regular adjustment to daily water intake. No less than two and a half quarts (two and half liters) in 24 hours should be taken for a few days prior to the regular use of analgesics or other pain-relieving medications such as antihistamines or antacids – well before permanent local or general damage can establish and reach an irreversible disease status. If the problem has persisted for many years, those who wish to test the pain-relieving property of water should make sure their kidneys can make sufficient urine so that they do not retain too much water in the body. With increase in water intake, urine output should also increase.”