Day 46: Your Body's Many Cries For Water

"In Your Body’s Many Cries For Water by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D., he talks about the importance of drinking at least 8 large glasses of water a day to avoid many health problems.

“Pathology that is seen to be associated with “social stresses” – fear, anxiety, insecurity, persistent emotional and matrimonial problems – and the establishment of depression are the results of water deficiency to the point that the water requirement of brain tissue is affected. The brain uses electrical energy that is generated by the water drive of the energy-generating pumps. With dehydration, the level of energy generation in the brain is decreased. Many functions of the brain that depend on this type of energy become inefficient. We recognize this inadequacy of function and call it depression. This “depressive state” caused by dehydration can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome.”

The doctor goes on to state that chronic fatigue syndrome can be “improved beyond recognition” by correcting the dehydration. Furthermore, he shows anyone wanting to lose weight a simple and effective method: ensure you are drinking plenty of water every day and are not dehydrated, and drink water before you eat (ideally half an hour before) so that your appetite will return to normal. He explains scientifically that the brain often calls for water but as it calls for food at the same time, we just eat and ignore the call for water; whereas when we drink first, we eat less.

The ideas I am sharing from Dr Batmanghelidj, since their publication, have already gained mass popularity in the press and have been widely advanced now by the medical establishment. But few of us do these things.

The most important philosophy in Your Body's Many Cries For Water is to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day to avoid dehydration. The book has many quotes at the start, including this one by The European, London (December 1995): "The water principle has a convincing logic but turns much of current medical practice on its head. Does it work? You only have to turn on the tap to find out."

The doctor adds "The precaution to keep in mind is loss of salt from the body when water intake is increased and salt is not. After a few days of taking 6 [6 is the bare minimum to stop chronic dehydration occurring in your body] or 8 or 10 glasses of water a day, you should begin to think of adding some salt to your diet. If you begin to feel muscle cramps at night, remember you are becoming salt-deficient.

Cramps in unexercised muscles most often means salt shortage in the body. Also, dizziness and feeling faint might be indicators of salt and water shortage in the body. If such occasions arise, you should also begin to increase your vitamins and minerals intake - particularly if you are dieting to lose weight or do not eat properly, including vegetables and fruits for their water-soluble vitamin and mineral content. I have developed a rule of thumb for daily salt intake. For every 10 glasses of water (about two quarts), one should add to the diet about half a teaspoon of salt per day; that's three grams. Of course, one should make sure that the kidneys are producing urine."

For those seeking to lose weight, drinking several glasses of water half an hour before eating works excellently at decreasing appetite - in fact, frequently, we eat when really we are thirsty and not recognising our body's simultaneous cries for water as well as food.

Drink up and let me know how you get on! You can learn more at www.watercure.com

Day 46: Extra News

Yesterday, I went to help out at my choir's jumble sale with Ania where We worked on the men's clothing section. There were some very friendly people there and one woman really was unwashed (referring to my joke yesterday about 'the great unwashed') yet a fantastic character seemingly straight out of a Dickens book.

She wanted an extra large top but we only had a large one at that time and she said (whilst smoking a fag, natch!) that it wouldn't fit her and showed us the area that needed covering. It was considerable. She later told me, whilst I browsed the books, that she came to The Highgate Choral Society jumble sale before when it was held in Highgate, reporting that she preferred South London and that someone had come from there just for the jumble sale.

It was absolutely packed, although the women's clothing had brisker business than we did. I asked my friend on the book stall to find my Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years Of Solitude as the fools at Haringey Libraries don't even stock it in the whole of Haringey. No wonder children are illiterate criminals, hehe!

Amazingly, he found it and brought it over to me at my stall. I am overjoyed. At last, I'm making progress with reading David Copperfield, too. I ended up leaving the jumble sale looking like a bag lady, with six bags stuffed with books, a wet suit and various other articles including a Barbour jacket. Betsy tried to get rid of some lacey black knickers at the end by tossing them in one of Ania's bags, which was funny.

Now I must crack on with researching the magazine market and applying for a contributor post. My photo shoot pictures are still being prepared.