WATER

For my first post I'm going to talk about water because it is the simplest thing that everyone can do to improve their health. Many of us think that anything liquid that may contain water counts for drinking water. This may or may not be true. Also, we've all heard that we should drink 8 glasses of water a day but does that really make sense since we are all different shapes and sizes, and we all do varying amuonts of activity. Also, do we know why we need to drink water. I have always tried to drink 10 glasses of water a day because of my activity level and also because I feel better when I do.

So what qualifies as water? First of all coffee or that morning latte does not qualify. Actually any drink that contains caffeine actually dehydrates our body. For every coffee or latte we need to drink an extra glass of water just to make up for it. So if you should be drinking 8 glasses of water a day and you drink a coffee in the morning you really need to drink 9 glasses each day. A better rule of thumb for how much water we should be drinking is to take our weight and divide by 2. This is the number of ounces of water we should be drinking each day, specific to our body size. Now if you exercise and sweat you need to replace that water, meaning you need to drink additional water above the number of ounces based on your body weight. This may sound complex but it is really simple.

Now you know what qualifies as water (non-caffeinated drinks), and you also understand how much water to drink, but do you know why we need to drink water in the first place? I recently read a very interesting book that explains this and also poses a question every doctor should be asking patients: "How much water do you drink each day?" The name of the book is Your Body's Many Cries for Water by F. Batmanghelidj, MD. Did you know that when your mouth is dry you are already dehydrated? Our bodies are 75% water and our brain is 85% water. Water is essential in all aspects of body metabolism, cell energy, and it acts like glue that "sticks the solid structures in the cell membrane together." It drives all the chemical reactions that create life. Hmmm...haven't we heard before that if we want to loose weight we need to drink more water? Well, now you know why.

In addition, pain also could be a "localized thirst signal of the body." Dr. Batmanjhelidj lists the pains of dehydration as: "dyspeptic pain, rheumatoid pain, anginal pain, low back pain, leg pain on walking, migraine and hangover headaches, colitis pain and its associated constipation, and false appendicitis pain." What if these pains were associated with dehydration? Drinking more water is not going to hurt us so why not try increasing our water intake to see if this could be a cause. He suggests that before you take pain relieving medications to try drinking two and a half quarts in 24 hours. Dr. Batmanghelidj has treated over 3,000 people with dyspeptic pain (heartburn, ulcers, gastritis, etc.) with only water. A report on this new way of treating dyspeptic pain was published as an editorial article in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology in June 1983.

I found the following paragraph in Dr. batmanghelidj's book made me say. "Wow!" I never would have linked dehydration to Alzhiemers. "In prolonged dehydration, brain cells begin to shrink. Imagine a plum gradually turning into a prune. Unfortunately, in a dehydrated state, many, many functions of the brain cells begin to get lost, such as the transport system that delivers neurotransmitters to nerve endings. One of my medical friends took this information to heart and started treating his brother who has Alzheimer's disease by forcing him to take more water every day. His brother has begun to recover his memory, so much so that he can now follow conversations and not frequently repeat himself. The improvement became noticeable in a matter of weeks."

You may be asking yourself, "What has water got to do with MS?" Well, this is one of the many essential tools that your body needs in order to heal itself. Water is the most basic and essential of the body's needs yet many of us don't make sure we get enough every day. This is a simple thing for all of us to correct. Below is a link to a website where you can read more about Dr. Batmanghelidj and his book; www.watercure.com. If you being to drink more water and see results please feel free to post comments. I'd love to hear your stories.