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The Water Cure | What's the Alternative to Water | The Immune System

The Water Cure

People have been using water for their health for centuries, from the very earliest times the connection between water and health must have been clear. There are a number of signs that indicate we are not drinking enough water. Skin is one very visible indicator and it can be affected in a number of ways. It may become flaky and dry and it is more likely to get lined and wrinkled.

If you are prone to skin conditions, such as eczema or psoriasis, dehydration may make them worse. Another visible sign is urine, which becomes darker and thicker if you don't drink enough. If you are drinking enough water, it should be almost colourless. Headaches can be caused by dehydration. Mentally, dehydration can make you unable to concentrate or think clearly and you may feel tired and rather disengaged from life too.

The earliest forms of health care would have evolved over the course of years, based on observation and empirical treatments. And water played a pivotal role in all such early medicine. In different times and different places in the world - from Egypt to China, and from Rome to India - water has been seen as vital to health and the water 'cure' has taken on numerous forms. Water treatments have been used both to treat specific ailments, particularly digestive and muscular disorders, and as a prophylactic - a general preventive against illness.

Different types of water have also been used. From the earliest times, the water from hot and cold springs and the salt water of the sea were both used to improve health. The high salt and mineral content of the Dead Sea meant that nothing could live in it but gave it its celebrated therapeutic powers and made it a focus of the ancient world. Cleopatra, for instance, made use of both its water and its mud in her beauty routine. The Greek physician Hippocrates, too, prescribed spring water for internal and external treatment 400 years before the birth of Christ.

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What's the Alternative to Water?

To prevent dehydration, the obvious solution is to drink more - but will any drink rehydrate? Unfortunately not. In fact, some of the most popular drinks will not only not rehydrate you, but will actually dehydrate you instead! You are better off taking in moderation drinks like alcohol, tea, coffee and many carbonated drinks. This may sound rather daunting, especially if your favourite drink is on the 'forbidden' list. However, nothing is ruled out completely - it is merely a case of wise and occasional drinking. Rather than having several cups of coffee in the morning, limit yourself to one, and preferably not every day.

Alcohol - Alcohol dehydrates the body. Anyone who has ever suffered a hangover knows that one of its side-effects is a raging thirst. For the weight-conscious, alcohol is high in calories without offering any nutritional benefit. Alcohol also overworks the liver in detoxification and tend to lead to liver damage.

Cola Drinks - Most cola drinks contain caffeine, sugar and other undesirable additives. Some cola drinks have been tested to be 100,000 more acidic than pH neutral water.

Coffee - Coffee is a very effective diuretic on the body. This means that urination increases and not only do you lose fluids but at the same time the coffee robs you of such precious minerals as magnesium, which pass out of the body in the urine. The caffeine in coffee has the effect of blocking vitamin absorption by the body. It also encourages the build-up with the system of one of the least desirable heavy metals, cadmium. Coffee is also linked to raised blood pressure, with all its accompanying dangers, and it now seems that caffeine may also interfere with the way in which the cells of our body repair themselves on the deepest level - thus, in the long term, injuring our immune system.

Tea - Tea contains tannin, the astringent also used in the tanning process of turning hides into leather. Tannin does not have a particularly beneficial effect on the body, either. Tea also contains caffeine which is diuretic and has a dehydrating effect.

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The Immune System

When any of the major organs dealing with detoxification or elimination are stressed and overloaded, it is the immune system that is likely to suffer. Our bodies are profoundly complex organisms which, on a cellular level, are in a state of constant growth and renewal. Every day they rid themselves of old, damaged or dead cells and replace them with new, healthy ones.

The body has its own set of priorities for its metabolism. So, should we fall ill, our bodies concentrate on repelling invading infections and on the healing process. The organs of the body are prioritized, too - this is why, in extreme cold, the body will keep the vital organs working at the expense of the extremities (hence frostbite occurring first in the toes or fingers).

For most of us, illness and infection are, fortunately, only occasional problems and, once returned to a healthy state, the body can go back to its normal work of cleansing and renewal. However, the body reacts to a dehydrated, toxic state of health in much the same way as it does to disease. Instead of its everyday processes of cellular renewal, it focuses its energy on ridding itself of the toxins. And when the body is dehydrated, many of its organs and systems (in particular the kidneys, the digestive system and the lymphatic system) become sluggish and work below par.

Drinking 2 litres or more of alkaline reduced, mineral enriched water every day is the simplest method of lightening the load on the body's immune, digestive and detoxification systems. Living an active and healthy life calls for drinking quality and healthy water.

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