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Home Page | Exercise Routines | Fitness Articles | Food for Thought The Fitness Files Ignorance of Water Is No Excuse The other day my brother was stating he was starting to suffer from arthritic pain in his hip joint. He made the statement as if he was surprised by the fact he was suffering from this ailment at the age of 40. To be honest I wasn't, I will make my lack of surprise clear as you read on I listened to his ramblings on his own diagnosis of arthritis and when he stopped to take a breath I asked a simple question, even though I knew what he was going to say, but I asked anyway. How much water are you drinking, is what I asked. His response was not surprising at all, he said oh I drink plently. If I had a nickel for everytime someone responded this way I would be wealthier than Bill Gates. I tried explaining to my brother if he monitored how much he actually dranked per day he would see he really wasn't drinking enough water for his body weight, therefore, creating arthritic symptoms. "Not recognizing arthritis and low back pain as signs of dehydration in the joint cavities and treating them with pain-killers, manipulation, acupuncture, and eventually surgery will, in time, produce osteoarthritis when the cartilage cells in the joints have eventually all died. It will produce deformity of the spine. It will produce crippling deformities of the limbs. Pain medications have their own life-threatening complications."~~Dr.Fereydoon Batmanghelidj (My Forever Healthy & Pain-Free Program) Like so many people in this culture he shook his head and said there's no way water can make a difference as to preventing or curing any disease. I begged the differ with him and encouraged him to read more on the subject, instead he became more objectionable on the water notion. "Improvements in the aches and pains of arthritis also make sense, given that 85 percent of the cartilage and virtually all of the synovial fluid lubricating the joints are water." ~~Dr.Julian Whitaker (Health & Healing Newsletter August 2000) "Whenever you feel pain in any of your joints, the first thought that should occur to you is, "My body is severely short of water." That's because the parts of your body that suffer most when you are dehydrated are those without direct vascular circulation, like joint cartilage. Without sufficient water and the nourishment that water provides, cartilage cells eventually shrivel up and die. Taking medications to mask the pain simply allows you to put more wear and tear on your joints, making matters worse. Only water can restore your joints to their more youthful strength and flexibility." ~~Dr.Fereydoon Batmanghelidj (My Forever Healthy & Pain-Free Program) My brother's response is far from being rare, quite to the contrary, it's the mainstream way of thinking. In this day and age we would rather live on over-priced drugs that only temporarily elliviate the discomforts of dehydration rather than to give our bodies water. It would appear we as "modern" humans are so far removed from the simpliest facts we cause our own demise to disease. This is very unfortunate, so many intelligent people will spend great portions of their precious lives suffering needlessly from sheer ignorance of how their bodies function. If you as a individual don't know water is a must for a disease-free life don't expect doctors and pharmaceutical companies to be honest and tell you. Keep in mind, doctors are trained to diagnose and prescribe, and the pharmaceutical companies are watching their bottomline which is profits, something they would lose if people really understood the role water played in their bodies. In medical school, I had been taught that water was essentially an inert substance - necessary, of course, but primarily as a carrier for the far more important things that are dissolved in it. But think about it: water makes up 70 percent of our magnificently engineered bodies, and while we can survive for months without food, we can last only -days without water. So when I encountered the hypothesis that water - or a deficiency of it - may be a factor in disease, I thought the doctor (Fereydoon Batmanghelidj) might be onto something.~~~Dr.Julian Whitaker (Health & Healing August 2000) Creating disease is one of the ways the body let the owner know there's a shortage of water, actually disease is usually the final step of dehydration. It has been proven the body needs oxygen, water, and salt to keep the immune system functioning properly, but what if one or maybe two of the necessary ingredients were missing would this not be a cursor for suffering,disease, death? How long do you think your car would last driving it low on water and oil? You will find yourself replacing parts often until finally the car stops working altogether. Most can understand the premise stated above but can't comprehend it when substituting the human body for the car.The human body is the same way, it will function low on water and salt but leaving in its wake ailments and discomforts until finally a disease. We're taught to be illogical with our health, like avoiding salt, a substance our bodies need to conduct all our bodily functions. When you're admitted to the hospital saline, i.e salt water, is administered to you. Why would they do this if salt is suppose to be so bad for you and water isn't needed for good health? Go to any gym or office building and you will see people gulping large amounts of sugary and caffeinated drinks attempting to quench their thirsts. The same is occurring in social functions but with a twist, they're drinking sugary drinks with another dehydrator called alcohol. The logic of filling the body with any liquid substance to take the place of water is plain ludicrous. I guess this would explain why people in this "civilized" culture suffers from cancer, arthritis, asthma, kidney failure, heart disease, and glaucoma at such young ages. Here's the simple truth, as long as people turn their noses up on drinking half their body weight in ounces of water the more they will be held hostage by pharmaceutical companies and doctors who only see dollar signs when they see someone sick. The reality of seniors making monthly pilgrimages to Mexico will continue into another generation, another generation of people too miserable with their bodies to know peace and tranquility, but unlike seniors of today these pilgrims will be forty-somethings looking for relief. I'll offer the same challenge to you that I offered to my sibling, have any doubts about the effectiveness of drinking water, first use yourself as a guinea pig and began drinking half your body weight in ouces of water. Secondly, research the benefits of water on the internet and in your local library, there's plenty to read. It's time people stop assuming their doctors know all there is to know about the human body and actively pursue the truth for themselves. Chances are you'll be educating your doctor when he/she see the remarkable improvements in your health just by incorporating the correct amount of water into your daily consumption. "YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY NOT THE GOVERNMENT ,YOUR DOCTOR, OR THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT, NO IT'S YOURS." Regena English, editor of The Leather Spinsters Newsletter and Leather Spinsters on the Web publications for happily unmarried careerwomen. She is also the author of the controversial ebook Leather Spinsters and Their Degrees of Asexuality, based on her 12 month interview of 100 women aged 19-87. Check it out at: Leatherspinsters.com Advice found on this website is meant for informational purposes only, and should not be considered medical advice for dealing with a given problem. Always use common sense when exercising, and see your doctor for any, and all serious medical conditions. |
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