It Starts With Water

Chardin Bersto, MA Why is the sky blue? Im sure youve been asked that question before or maybe even researched the answer. Maybe you have also pondered what makes the planet earth unique in our Solar System? Have you experienced awe at pictures of Earth from space with swirling clouds draping its fair landscape? Much of it has to do with the water in the atmosphere and other elements that reflect light from our Sun, but in respect to life, it is impossible to deny the importance of water to Life here on Earth. There is a new movement in the field of Health Care. It is led by the work of Dr. Batmanghelidj and being spread via his books The Bodys Many Cries for Water and Water Cures Drugs Kill. I remember hearing from our family Doc as a kid and from the doctors I served with in the Navy (Medical/Surgical Urology and Outpatient) the standard eight 8 ounce glasses was the needed amount. On the Urology Ward it was more precise as we measured input and output to assure adequate hydration was occurring. The key to its measurement is to determine a homeostatic relationship in the bodys process. Without this homeostasis things go awry. Dr. Batmanghelidj (www.watercure.com) has determined through his research that the organism (the human body) needs ounce/pound of body weight to establish homeostasis. So take your weight and divide it by 2 and thats your daily dose. If you drink caffeinated beverages, alcohol, or are on medicines you have to increase you intake because all of these cause the loss of water. Batmandji lists numerous common ailments that are dehydration diseases that will surprise you and make you wonder what our Medical Practitioners are thinking when they reach in the pocket for their prescription pad. Meanwhile, back to homeostasis, if you research this online, you will find more information about the contrary. You will also see statements like there is no research to support. So it is apparent that Dr. Batmanghelidjs research has not made it into the limelight. As a matter of fact, in the first 3 pages of a Google search titled medical fluid input/output measures his site didnt even register. Despite the disparity between points of view homeostatic balance is necessary and to create this we need adequate hydration. I was kind of a science geek as a young boy. I was the one volunteering to perform simple experiments for the class as extra credit. Yeh, I can hear you now, he was the teachers pet kind of kid and yes my teachers enjoyed my fervor for science. One that particularly got my attention was the saturated solution experiment where you take a glass of water and slowly, teaspoon by teaspoon, add sugar (or it works with any substance at a different quantity) until the sugar feel out of solution. This is called saturated, the water is too concentrated to dissolve any more sugar. Now consider your body like this glass of water, you need to be adequately hydrated or your fluid base is saturated with countless metabolites (glucose, uric acid, proteins, just to name a few) and unable to be dissolved by the bodys metabolic processes. So, when you get your blood drawn in your annual physical and things start showing up on the high end your body is reaching a place where homeostasis is disturbed and illness is to follow.

This simple experiment defines the difference between pharmaceutical medicine and preventive medicine. Pharmaceutical Medicine comes from the perspective of treating the symptom with a chemical that changes the nature of the solution and Preventative Medicine would say lets make sure the solution is in homeostasis first then go from there. This is probably beginning to sound like Im down on Pharmaceutical Medicine, but to the contrary Medicine has done some pretty miraculous things and I believe it belongs in the array of tools we use to enhance the quality of life. I am for education, for each individual to have an understanding of their own body and not turn it over to the doctor at the drop of a hat. The human body is miraculously intelligent and doesnt take much to maintain. All we need to do is listen to it, but if we are in a state of dehydration the signals are skewed and unclear. In a recent Science Channel program titled Pushed to the Limits (June 2011) it was outlined how different compartments of the body have different demands for water in a story about a father and daughter stranded in the Australian Outback for 8 days. This sequence of events in the bodys attempt to survive was kicked off by the stress of dehydration. Batmanghelidj found that the dehydration alarm kicks off a system wide warning called unspecified stress. This stress is no different than any other stress we may experience when it comes to what the body will do to survive. The Stress Response is well documented signaling the Liver to dump glycogen for needed energy to respond, vasoconstriction in the viscera, suppression of the immune system, increased blood supply to the muscles, decreased blood to the cerebral cortex, and increased blood to the hind brain. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to think clearly when under stress? Every cellular function requires water to complete its needed process and water is the main communicative function throughout the body. The delicate balance of electrolytes in a medium of fluid delivers messages to every system with the goal of maintaining homeostasis. If the body is under long term stress its ability to repair and to rebound from sickness is diminished. Its one thing when we are stressed about something in our lives which may be short term and are over with at a point in time. This kind of stress helps the body get stronger and is needed for growth and maturation. In a state of dehydration we are looking at stress on top of stress and a loop that will keep repeating itself until stress is relieved. There is no harm in drinking water as described in Dr. Batmanghelidjs book The Bodys Many Cries for Water. Dont worry about peeing more because that will change when you reach homeostasis, then youll be on the right track to health and maybe your visits to the MD will diminish.

6/28/11