![\"water_in_glass\"](\"http:\/\/pilatesfitness.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/water_in_glass.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPlease note… I did say WATER and not coffee, tea or soft drinks. I didn’t even say decaf coffee or tea or herbal teas. Just WATER.<\/p>\n
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What kind of health improvement were obtained by drinking water?<\/p>\n
HIGH CHOLESTEROL<\/p>\n
One patient had high cholesterol – this had stayed high (creeping towards 300, US measurement) for a year in spite of appropriate organic diet, supplements etc. Once the doctor realised the patient had been drinking carrot juice and herbal teas over that period of time (thinking “it would take care of the water intake requirement”), the doctor insisted that the patient stop drinking herbal teas and start drinking WATER.<\/p>\n
Result? “His total cholesterol dropped 63 points and his HDL, the alleged\u00a0\u201cgood\u201d cholesterol, went up considerably”. In other words: water intake had done effectively in six\u00a0weeks what many heart-friendly supplements and an ideal, nutritionally-sound diet had\u00a0failed to do in a year. [2]<\/p>\n
Science bit (skip if not interested). Water certainly serves many functions in our body,\u00a0as a solvent in the blood, as well as \u201cfiller\u201d in the extra and intracellular spaces, but it\u00a0also functions as a main adhesive in cell membranes, keeping them intact while yet\u00a0fluid, allowing the necessary passage of molecules in and out of the cell. As a polar\u00a0molecule, water\u2019s electrically charged surfaces keep the complex molecules that make\u00a0up the membrane itself in place, where they are supposed to be. In a state of deficiency\u00a0as the water level in the membranes falls, the movement of nutrients into the cells and\u00a0wastes out becomes significantly less efficient, and the membrane structure itself\u00a0becomes less stable. In this situation, if chronic, the liver begins synthesizing and\u00a0releasing cholesterol into the bloodstream; this lipid can then substitute for water as a\u00a0last ditch adhesive in the cells, to keep their membranes functional. So an elevated\u00a0cholesterol in the context of undiagnosed chronic water deficiency reflects the body\u2019s\u00a0wisdom, rather than some random or genetic mystery [2].<\/p>\n
DIABETES<\/p>\n
Lack of water intake produces dehydration, which is an undesirable state of affairs. How does this relate to diabetes?<\/p>\n
Insulin drives nutrients across membranes so it can be used by cells as an energy source. So nutrients including glucose,\u00a0other substances including potassium, certain amino acids, and importantly, water pass\u00a0into the cell interior.<\/p>\n
According to Dr. Batmanghelidj (and others), the insulin-stimulated\u00a0flow of\u00a0water from the extracellular (outside the cell) to the intracellular (inside the cell) space can be a problem even with mild\u00a0dehydration, because it an lead to further depletion of the body\u2019s extracellular fluids and\u00a0reduced blood volume. Since neurons are 85% water in their healthy state and since\u00a0the brain receives and requires fully 20% of our total blood supply, carrying with it\u00a0oxygen and essential nutrients, the effect of vascular volume depletion (i.e. reduction) can be\u00a0catastrophic.<\/p>\n
Dr. Batmanghelidj argues that to preserve its own blood supply and the\u00a0integrity of its nine trillion cells, the brain, through prostaglandin and neurologic\u00a0signaling, suppresses insulin synthesis and secretion. This in turn reduces the constant\u00a0flow of water into the various cells of the body, conserving water to satisfy the brain\u2019s\u00a0own requirements. Of course there is a tradeoff, reduced fluid supplies to most cells in\u00a0order to meet the water demands of the central nervous system.<\/p>\n
Dr Nicholas Gonzales added more complexity to this picture, with two main pathways: SNS (sympathetic-dominant) and PNS (parasympathetic-dominant). But in short, both paths lead to the same end\u00a0result, in a state of dehydration, a state of insulin suppression, less water seeping into cells and higher extracellular glucose acting as an\u00a0osmotic pull to keep water where it is most needed in the bloodstream. As well as diet and an appropriate supplement regimen, Dr Gonzales claims that adequate water and with it (full spectrum) salt are a must [2][to improve or reverse the situation].<\/p>\n
ENERGY<\/p>\n
Who does not want more energy?<\/p>\n
Lack of water in the intracellular space has a cost: lack of “energy”. [I am keeping it a bit simple here to avoid a highly technical explanation]. Water is absolutely critical, as critical as glucose itself, for the production of energy. In fact, without adequate water, insufficient hydrogen atoms will be available to produce the high levels of storage ATP\u00a0energy needed to fuel every reaction in every cell in the body. [2]<\/p>\n
WATER, ENERGY and HEALTH<\/p>\n
Low grade chronic dehydration is suspected to affect the great majority of Westerners. “This overall subclinical deficiency curtails water\u00a0availability even at the level of the cell cytoplasm and mitochondria, in turn reducing\u00a0production of ATP and leading to all manner of disability, from chronic fatigue to, Dr.\u00a0Batmanghelidj argues, auto immune disease, even cancer. This shouldn\u2019t be\u00a0surprising, since in one sense disease, whatever its form and whatever the name the\u00a0experts give to it, represents at its core a state of cellular energy inefficiency”. [2]<\/p>\n
TAKE-AWAY POINTS<\/p>\n
Dr. Batmanghelidj insists:<\/p>\n
- \n
- we all need to cut out all caffeine-containing and most other\u00a0non-water fluids<\/li>\n
- substituting instead a full 8-10 eight ounce glasses of plain water daily,\u00a0including WITH meals contrary to popular teaching.<\/li>\n
- In addition, he recommends we\u00a0also ingest for each 10 glasses of water one-half teaspoon of good quality mineral-containing sea salt, such as Celtic or Himalayan, available in any health food store.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
With increased water intake, we will lose salt, an essential nutrient, so we need to make\u00a0up the difference. And please, don\u2019t rely on your sense of thirst to determine water\u00a0needs \u2013 in chronic dehydration, from which most of us suffer, our thirst thermostat in the\u00a0brain down regulates so we learn not be thirsty, even when we need water. Forget the\u00a0traditional teachings that we should drink only when we are thirsty, and that salt is our\u00a0enemy.<\/p>\n
To our health!<\/p>\n
R.I.P. Dr Gonzales<\/p>\n
References<\/strong><\/p>\n
1. Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj (1992 and 2008), Your\u00a0Body\u2019s Many Cries for Water<\/p>\n
2. Water, Energy and the Perils of Dehydration<\/p>\n
http:\/\/kellybroganmd.com\/article\/perils-of-dehydration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DRINK MORE WATER? You may have received the advice to drink more water “for health reasons” or “to suppress hunger” and even “to lose weight”. But if you found the advice not very compelling, you are not the only one. … Continue reading