Date:   3/4/2006 4:01:34 PM ( 18 y ago)
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URL:   https://www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=359238

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To all my friends on CureZone:

About 60 million Americans suffer from some
form of arthritis. 40 million suffer from low
back pain. One-half of all Americans endure
at least one day of back pain each year,
which interferes with their daily routine.
It's quite likely that you know at least a
half-dozen people who suffer from back or
joint pain, every hour of the day or night.
If so, I hope some of what I'm about to say
will resonate with you; and through you, with
them.

The Earth's surface is 70 percent water. Your
body is about 67 percent water. And like the
oceans, the salinity of your blood and lymph is approximately the same as sea water.

The average human body contains 10 to 13
gallons of water. Your blood is 83 percent
water, muscles, brain, and heart 75 percent
water, lungs 86 percent. kidneys 83 percent,
eyes 95 percent, and bones just 22 percent.

If your body's water content drops by as little as 2 percent, you will feel fatigued.
If it drops by 10 percent, you will experience
significant health problems, such as arthritis
and back pain.

Let's talk about back pain first. I want you
to stand up now -- keep reading -- and put
the fingers of your right hand on the ridge
of bone in the back of your neck, just below your head.
You with me? Now place the fingers of your
left hand on the small of your back, about
two inches up from your tailbone.

Your spinal column -- consisting of 24 vertebrae and 23 soft discs -- is found in
the space between your fingers. Now you can
sit back down again!

You've heard the word "vertebrae," and you've
heard the word "discs," but you may not have
a clear picture of what they look like.

Here's how I describe them. Open your mouth
about an inch, and extend your tongue out so that
the end of it sits just between your lips.
Your slightly open jaw is the "Vertebra,"
and your soft tongue is the "disc."In that
position, your tongue (disc) will prevent
your teeth and jaw (vertebra) from coming
in contact with each other.

Your spinal column has 24 of these mouth-like
vertebrae facing away from your body, and 23
tongue-like discs between them.

AND HERE IS THE HEART OF THE DEHYDRATION
PROBLEM THAT CAUSES BACK AND JOINT PAIN:
The discs are the shock-absorbers that keep
your bones (vertebrae) from rubbing together.
But the discs are UNABLE to do their job
unless they are fully hydrated! The cushioning
abilty of your discs is based on their water
content. Imagine for a moment what you tongue
might look like if it were completely dehydrated. It might feel like a piece of
melba toast; thin, dry, and brittle.

That's EXACTLY what happens to the discs in
your back when you don't drink enough water.
And that's EXACTLY what happens to the cartilage in your joints, whose function --
shock absorption -- is virtually identical
to that of the discs.

Let's say you lift your child up on your
shoulders. Pressure is put upon the vertebrae,
which move toward one another. But if your
discs are fully hydrated, they absorb the
pressure by squeezing out a little of their
water. When you put the child down, a vacuum
around the disc pulls water back into it.

If your discs are NOT fully hydrated, they
are no longer soft and spongy. They shrink,
become hard, and may even slip out of the
"mouth" of the vertebra. Then your bones
grind together, and the nerves at the back
of the vertebra become pinched and painful.
If you NEVER drink enough water, that nerve-and-bone pain becomes a chronic condition.
Tens of millions of Americans are in exactly
that position.

One more analogy: The oil in your car keeps
metals in your engine from rubbing against
one another. In your body, water keeps your
cartilage strong, discs hydrated, and joints
floating. If your car runs out of oil, it stops. When your body runs short of water,
important parts of it come to a stop. That may sound overly simple, but it's a deep truth.

How much water do you need? Most of the experts recommend you drink at least one-half
ounce of pure water for every pound you weigh.
If you weigh 140 lbs, your minimum intake
should be 70 oz of pure water a day. If you
weigh 200 lbs, then your minimum is 100 oz,
a bit over 3 qts.

I weigh 140 lbs, and I drink about a gallon
of liquids a day: pure water and fresh juices.
My body is well-hydrated, and I have no pains
in my back or connective tissue.

You'll know your body is well-hydrated if the
color and odor of your urine are neutral.

If it's summer, or you live in a warm climate,
like I do, then you need to drink MORE than
the minimum recommended amount of water.

Don't expect to fully rehydrate your body in
a day or two. It will take weeks, perhaps months. And the older you are, the longer it
takes.

You may say to me, "Owen, I never feel thirsty." My response is that chronically
dehydrated people USUALLY feel no thirst.
The long-time dehydration has deleted their
thirst instinct. However, true thirst will
return during the days and weeks that you
rehydrate yourself.

WARNING: Alcohol, coffee, and most soft-drinks
are DEHYDRATING liquids! If you feel hungover
after a night of boozing, it's because your
poor brain is severely dehydrated. The next
time you pick up a can of beer or diet-soda,
consider this: After you drink that liquid,
your body will need the equivalent of THREE
cans of water, to overcome the dehydration
caused by the beer or soda-pop. You don't have
to be a math major to see that's a losing
proposition. People who suffer from arthritis,
back, or joint pain should drink pure water
and fresh juices ONLY -- at least until the
pains and aches are gone.

A good night's sleep is very important for
disc maintenance. At night, the soft inner
pulp of the disc, absorbs water. You will be
taller, first thing in the morning, because
your discs are fully hydrated. By 10 p.m.
even healthy discs are a tad thinner and less
flexible.

One final thought: The five lowest vertebrae
and discs -- a hand's width above the small of
your back -- are slightly bigger than the
vertebrae and discs above them. Why? Because
75 percent of your body's weight is supported
by those lumbar vertebrae. When the discs in
those five vertebrae become thin, brittle, and
hard, you're in for BIG trouble -- especially
if you're overweight. Dehydrated discs also
force your body to put extra pressure on your
back muscles, and that causes more problems.

So if you don't want to be one of the 200,000
Americans who undergo disc surgery every year,
start drinking LOTS of pure water. Try it for
3 months. At the end of that time, your bones
and joints will probably feel much better
than they do today. And you may find that
other health problems, also caused by chronic
dehydration, have all but disappeared.

If you ARE successful at eliminating your
aches and pains by rehydrating your body,
spread the word amongst your friends and
relatives.

Blessings,

Owen






 

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