Lunchtime: What to prepare and eat?

Forget about McDonalds or KFC or Pizza or any fast foods outlets. Forget about hawkers stalls or mamak foods. Once in a while, why not prepare your own foods from home and have a healthier nutritious meal? No time? Too expensive? You are running out of excuses dude! No time for exercise, no time for meal preparation or cooking, no money to buy organically grown whole foods, well, its all only excuses after excuses. If you have time to go shopping and watch movies in cinema and hangout with your friends, then you will be able to allocate 20 mins for exercise daily. If you can pay for pizza or McDonalds or dine in nice restaurants, then you can afford eating organically grown produce. And certainly, if you are driving a Honda , BMW or any luxury car above RM100k, you surely can eat organic whole foods.  

Anyhow, below is a sample of how a simple yet nutritious meal for lunch time anyone can prepare and eat.  It will not take you more then 20 mins to prepare the foods from home. Can't wake up early rnough to prepare it? That's just another excuse and you know you need to fine tune your sleep wake cycle and better time management. Well, try it out, you may enjoy it as much as I do. Better digestion, much more nutrients and live enzymes, lots of fibre, gluten free, soy free, pesticides free, vegetable oil free(trans fat) and you will feel much more energy after the meal for the next couple of hours or so. 

Lunch ingredients: Organic raw spinach and baby greens, raw brazil nuts and macadamias, organic free range eggs (hard boiled), a pinch of sea salt. 

Dehydration : Is your body thirsty? (Part 4)

How much water do you drink each day? Do you often feel thirsty? How about your skin and lips? How is your bowel movement? Do you feel constipated most of the time? Do you have regular headaches? All these questions, are related to your body telling you how much water you need, or if you are dehydrated. 

Now that you may be convinced that water is perhaps the best and most natural beverage for your body, the next challenge is to find a source of water that doesn't make you sick. There are tons of harmful substances which make you sick and bad for your body, and yes, it's in your water. Chlorine in your water, can certainly make you sick, apart from dry skin and hair. 

According to a huge Finnish study, the researchers were able to determine that women who were exposed to chlorinated water had a 48% increased risk of bladder cancer, 38% increased risk of rectal cancer, and 90% increased risk of esophageal cancer, as well as 11% increased risk of breast cancer. However, men were not affected as much as women. Adding chlorine to drinking water causes a chemical reaction that results in the formation of a cocktail of carcinogens.

Some of nature's most valuable and essential anti-cancer and disease prevention phytochemical nutrients, which are commonly found in natural foods, have been discovered to form deadly cancer-causing substances when consumed or combined with chlorinated tap water. Just think of how many people eat their meals but also drink chlorinated tap water, or even so called 'plain water' from restaurants and food outlets. The main concern is that once eliminated from the body, large amounts of these poisons are infiltrating our wastewater treatment and water recycling systems.

It is very disheartening that especially the fresh plant foods we wash with chlorinated water generate these toxins. The deadly cancer causing agents this combination produces are extremely toxic. Thus, only very little amount of chlorine is required to bring about a powerful destructive effect. 

I'm sure some of you must be asking, "Which type of water filtration system is ideal to install at home?". Well, there are many simple filtration system that don't  cost you a bomb but can make a huge difference to your health. U can look for dual ionization and oxygen electrodes filtration system, activated alumina with bone charcoal for fluoride removal, good RO system, and other high quality filtration system preferably the ones which can remove fluoride and other similar poisons and toxic substances from the water supply. 

The most common ones are filtration and reverse osmosis systems, but these can also be a quite pricey but still an affordable option if you consider the cost of suffering through a bout of cancer. To help replenish some of its lost minerals, you may add in a pinch of sea or rock salt to the water. Both these salts are sold and available in most organic outlets and some supermarkets too.

As for distilled water, which is produced when water is boiled, evaporated and the vapor condensed, is the closest to natural rainwater. It is excellent in hydrating the body cells, but unlike rainwater, it is lifeless. As in the case of reverse osmosis water, adding a few grains of basmati rice or couple pinches of sea/rock salt in the water, gives back most of its minerals. 

Distilled water is free of dissolved minerals and therefore, has the special property  of actively absorbing and removing toxic substances from the body. Studies validate the benefits of drinking distilled water when one is seeking to cleanse and detoxify the system for a short period of time. But, despite the potential benefits, distilled water could be harmful if taken for prolong periods. Distilled water can lead to the loss of electrolytes and trace minerals such as magnesium, which can cause heart beat irregularities and high blood pressure. Also, please take note that cooking with distilled water may pull the minerals out of the foods, thus, lowering nutritional values.

When exposed to the air, distilled water actively absorbed carbon dioxide and become more acidic. Drinking distilled water regularly, therefore, may increase the overall acidity in the body. This was confirmed by USA EPA.

Now, regular consumption of cola and other soft drink beverages are harmful to the body because of their high content of sugar, artificial sweeteners, coloring, and other acidic chemicals. Studies have shown that heavy consumers of soft drinks discharge high amount of calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals into the urine. However, one major ingredient of these beverages, distilled water, may be another major factor involved in the loss of minerals in human body.

Although distilled water draws poisons out of the body, it is best to use it only about 7-10 days at a time. Discontinue its use, when you feel weak or otherwise unwell. It is best to avoid using distilled water as your general drinking water.

Finally, another inexpensive way to get rid of most chlorine in water is to use Vitamin C. One gram of vitamin C, will neutralize 1ppm of chlorine in 100 gallons of water. This is particularly useful if you want to lie in the bathtub without suffering the irritating effects of chlorine on your skin and in your lungs.

Meanwhile, before I sign off, I would like to propose to all of you to try stay away from water or other beverages contained in plastic bottles, especially the soft types. Many people now have large numbers of phthalates, and bisphenol A is another critical concern. But when you travel, it may be unavoidable but try not to consume water from plastic bottles on daily basis. In a nutshell, try your best to consume as much clean high quality water as you possibly could, and avoid caffeinated and sweetened beverages the best you can. 

Dehydration : Is your body thirsty? (Part 3)

The human brain, working around the clock, requires more water than any other part of the body. Typically, the brain contains about 20% of of all the blood that circulates through the body. It is estimated that brain cells consist of 85% of water. Their energy requirements are not only met by metabolizing glucose, but also by generating 'hydroelectric' energy from the water drive through cell osmosis. The brain depends greatly on this cell generated source of energy in order to maintain its hugely complex processes and efficiency.

Water deficiency in the brain tissue cuts down the brain's energy supply, and thereby subdues many of its vital functions, a situation most people called depression. With a lower then normal level of energy, you are unable to meet your physical, personal and social challenges and subsequently succumb to fear, anxiety, anger and other emotional affliction. You may feel drained, lethargic, stressed and depressed. Chronic fatigue syndrome, for example, is mostly a symptom of progressive brain dehydration that results from the inability to readily remove all metabolic waste matter and cellular debris from the brain and other vital parts of the body.  Heard of brain fog? Apart from yeast infection which is another cause of brain fog, this is actually an accurate description of the congestion that occurs in the brain. CFS, is not a vicious disease that somehow gets hold of a person for no apparent reason. It may disappear quite spontaneously when the afflicted person stops stimulating the brain with substances such as caffeine, tobacco, medication and begins a consistent program of cleansing, hydrating, and nourishing the body. 

When dehydrated, the body has to put up the fight of a lifetime. similar to the one experienced during a famine or a 'fight or flight' situation. It responds to such a crisis by mobilizing several powerful hormones such as adrenalin, endorphins, cortisol, prolactin, vasopressin and Renin-Angiotensin. I'm sure some of you heard of endorphins, but what it does is it help us to withstand the pain and stress and allow the body to continue most of its activities. Cortisol orders the mobilization of stored energies and essential raw materials to supply the body with energy and basic nutrients during the crisis. This hormone actually allows the body to feed oelf, a situation that is warranted during a famine. Of course, this is also very stressful and potentially very dangerous for the body, as can be seen as such emotional expressions as cannot cope anymore". Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis, MS or other degenerative diseases take cortisone drugs, which often give them a boost of energy and morale for a relatively short period of time. The effect or so called 'success' of the drug, however, only last for as long as the body can tap into any energy and nutrient reserves still available. Once the body has used up its emergency provisions, it will barely function anymore, and the symptoms of disease will worsen considerably.

Now, let's talk abit about blood vessels. When the cells in the body are under-supplied with water, the brain's pituitary gland produces the neurotransmitter vasopressin, a hormone that has the ability to constrict blood vessels in areas where there is cellular dehydration. During dehydration, the quantity of water in the bloodstream is reduced. Vasopressin, as its name suggests, squeezes the vascular system, which includes the capillaries and arteries, to reduce their fluid volume. This maneuver is necessary to continue having enough pressure in the vascular system to allow for a steady filtration of water into the cells. This gives vasopressin a hypertensive property. High blood pressure is a common experience among people who are dehydrated.

A similiar situation occurs in the liver's bile ducts, which begin to constrict in response to water shortage in the body. Gallstone formation is a direct result of dehydration. Drinking alcoholic beverages suppresses the secretion of vasopressin and thereby increases cellular dehydration. If alcohol consumption is excessive, cellular dehydration may reach dangerously high levels.

I'm sure most of us gotten drunk and experienced 'hangover' before. The typical hangover that occurs after alcoholic abuse is nothing but an extreme state of dehydration of the brain cells. To survive the alcohol-induced 'drought', the body has to secrete more stress hormones, among them are the addictive endorphins. With regular consumption of alcohol such as daily drinking for several months or years, dehydration increases even further, and endorphin production becomes an addictive occurrence. This may lead of alcoholism, a disease that has devastating consequences on a person's personal and social life. Sadly, me myself have known quite a few such people.

Next, let's discuss about water retention and how it link to kidney damage. First of all, the Renin-Angiotensin system becomes activated whenever there is a shortage of water in the body. This brilliantly designed system is used to direct the body to hold on to water whenever possible. it instructs the kidneys to inhibit urination and tightens the capillaries and the vascular system, particularly in areas that are not as vitally important as the brain and the heart muscles. At the same time, it stimulates an increase in the absorption of sodium(salt), which helps the body to retain water. Unless the body returns to its normal level of hydration, the RA system remains activated. But this also means that the pressure of the blood against the walls of the blood vessels remains abnormally high, thereby causing the damage that is known as cardiovascular disease.

Bear in mind, that hypertension and the retention of urine in the kidneys may lead to kidney damage. Conventional treatments for this condition consists mostly of diuretic drugs and restricted salt consumption. Please take note that both can  have severe drawbacks. Diuretic drugs, which are used to normalized blood pressure, as well as reduced salt intake, strongly undermine the body's emergency measures to save the little water it has left for normal cellular activities. The resulting stress response causes a further increase in dehydration, and the vicious cycle is complete. Many of the kidney transplant performed today are a result of chronic dehydration, which is caused by something as simple as not drinking enough water, consumption of alcohol, and overstimulation of the nervous system.

Moving on, let's talk about caffeine and soft drinks. Many people tend to rely on coffee or other caffeinated beverages to keep up their energy levels day in day out. A cup of coffee in the morning, and a few more cups throughout the day  to keep them 'focused' and able to stay up during daytime. The caffeine contained in such beverages as tea, coffee, soft drinks and most 'power drinks', not only stimulates and stresses both the central nervous systems, but also acts as a powerful diuretic.

For every cup of coffee or tea you drink, your body has to relinquish up to three cups of water to remove the toxic caffeine. Yes, you read it right, three cups of vital fluid from your body! Wonder why you hit the toilet so often?  The caffeine containing soft drink beverages work in a similar way too. Caffeine, being a nerve toxin, stimulates the adrenal glands to secrete stress hormones and to trigger a strong immune response that may give you the false impression that this newly found energy and vitality was somehow provided by the consumed beverage.

The secret behind this stimulants is that the immune reaction mobilizes enough energy for you to feel perked up and clear-headed, at least for as long as your body remained stimulated. To remove the caffeine from the blood, the body is forced to take or sacrifice the water from its cells. This results in cellular dehydration and temporary thinning of the blood. Because the thinning of the blood makes you feel good, you won't notice the imminent danger of dehydration. The dehydrating effect of the caffeine in soft drinks is ample reason to avoid them. Unfortunately, caffeine is not the only culprit in soft drinks.

I've blogged before about soft drink beverages, how damaging these drinks are to human body and explained why we should not be drinking it. There are evidence in studies confirm that soft drinks cause serious cells damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA. This can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's. The findings reveal serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who consume carbonated beverages.

Check this out. The biggest concern is the safety of E211, also known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used to decades in global carbonated soft drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It is used in large quantities to prevent mold from forming in soft drinks such as Sprite, Dr.Pepper and others. This common preservative is also added to pickles and sauces.

In the past, sodium benzoate had already been identified as indirect cause of cancer. When mix with additive of Vitamin C in soft drinks, it produces benzene, a carcinogenic substance. It is known that sodium benzoate damage an important area of DNA power station of cells also known as mitochondria. These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it and knock it out altogether. The mitochondria  consumes oxygen and gives you the energy and if you damage it, then the cells starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to the DNA. Some of the diseases such as Parkinson's and quite alot of other neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all, the whole process of aging.

For whoever reading this, it is now up to you to protect yourself and your loved ones. Not allowing your children or loved ones to drink soft drinks is one of the most important things you can do for their safety and good health. And of course, yourself must set a good example for your loved ones and ensure no soft drinks are in the refrigerator at all times. The same applies with sport drinks which, according to a report issued by University of Californian in Berkeley, can raise body weight to a stunning 13 pounds each year, if only 20 ounce bottle is consumed daily. 

Over the long term, the effects of the acidity, sugars, artificial sweeteners and flavors, and such preservatives as E211 contained in soft drinks can be devastating to the body. Check this out. It would take 32 glasses of water at an alkaline pH of 9 to neutralize the acid from just one 12oz of cola or any other soda/soft drinks. In response to ingesting a cola, apart from risking dehydration, the body will have to use the reserves of its own stored alkaline buffers, mainly calcium from the bones, teeth and DNA. This raises the body alkalinity levels in order to maintain proper blood alkaline pH levels. Once these reserves are exhausted, your life is at risk.

Remember, there are enough acids in one soda to kill you, if your body didn't posses a mechanism to neutralize them. How long does it takes before your body succumbs to the acid attack and suffers an acidosis depends upon how soon your mineral buffers are depleted. Acidic blood levels are one of the leading cause of death!

Before I sign off this post, always remember, caffeine, which is a major component in most soft drinks, removes water from the body faster then the body can absorb it again, thereby generating constant thirst. People who frequently drink soft drinks are never really able to really quench their thirst because their bodies continually and increasingly run out of cellular water. Stay tune for the final post of this topic as I need to logoff and hit the bed now.

Dehydration : Is your body thirsty? (Part 2)

I've met quite a lot of people who suffer from pain. From low back pain to migraines to arthritis, none of them these people realized the body is severely depleted of water. And when they consulted a doctor, guess what? More drugs to mask the symptoms and more side effects to further impair the immune system and the body. 

Another major indicator of dehydration in the body is pain. In response to an increasing shortage of water, the brain activates and stores the important neurotransmitter histamine, which directs certain subordinate water regulators to redistribute the amount of water that is in circulation. This system helps move water to areas where it is needed for essential metabolic activity and survival when facing such a shortage, as may occur during a drought. When histamine and its subordinate regulators for water intake and distribution move across pain-sensing nerves in the body, they trigger strong and continual pain. The pain signals may manifest, for example, in rheumatoid arthritis, angina, low back problems, fibromyalgia, migraine and headaches as well. Bear in mind, they are necessary to alert the person to attend to the problem of a widespread or localized form of dehydration. 

Bear in mind, taking analgesics or other pain relieving medications such as antihistamines and antacids can cause irreversible damage in your body. They not only fail to address the real problem, which in this case could be dehydration, but they also cut off the connection between the neurotransmitter, histamine and its subordinate regulators, such as vasopressin, renin-angiotensin and prostaglandin. Although the actions of pain killing drugs can relieve localized pain for a while, it also precludes your body from knowing the priority areas for water distribution. This can greatly confuse your body internal communications systems and spread chaos throughout the body. Antihistamines, often  times, referred to as allergy drugs. It effectively prevent the body's histamines from ensuring balanced water distribution.

The problem worsen once the body has reached a certain pain threshold. In addition to jeopadizing the water regulation mechanisms, these painkillers become ineffective because the brakes takes over as a direct center for monitoring pain perpetuation, unless the body is properly hydrated again.

If our body produces lasting pain for no apparent reason, which in this case not caused by injury, before drawing to any other conclusions, you should interpret this as the body's cry for water and its attempt to remedy an unbalanced condition. Prescription pain medication suppresses the body's primary signal of dehydration. Pain killers 'short circuit' the body's emergency routes for water supply, and they also sabotage proper waste of elimination and sow the seeds of chronic illness.

There is enough documentation to show that pain medications may have fatal side effects. They can cause gastrointestinal bleeding, which kills thousands each year. The morphine-type compounds these legal drugs contain can also lead to serious, life-altering addictions. Once you started using dehydrating medications like these, you will mostly likely develop the same kind or even worse pain over and over again.

The most widely documented and widely popularized side effects of pain killers such as Vioxx, Celebrex and Naproxen, should tell you that there are no safe painkillers. Do your own research on these drugs and you will find out some unpleasant news. These drugs were found to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes by at least 50%. Aspirin and other so called harmless drugs belong to the same class of painkillers as the above. Well folks, let me repeat what I've mentioned before over and over again, to friends, colleagues, family members and all clients. Today, there are many people including heart disease sufferers, who out of ignorance and misguided trust in the medical system, the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry, believed that taking a little baby pill wouldn't do them any harm. The revelation that this pill could destroy their heart or damage their brain if they took it more then 10 days may be no less then shocking. But, question is, how many people listen to such warnings if all they want is to get rid of that annoying pain?

Taking a 'harmless' little pill that makes you feel better within a matter of minutes and allows you to get on with your life may feel like the right thing to do. And if the pain medicine tastes delicious, the so called' miracle drug' couldn't possibly do you any harm, or could it? Check out Tylenol Extra Strength 'cool caplets', it is one of the painkilling medications, makes these dangerous drugs appear harmless. It's both breath mint and a pain killer. You could call it a 'flavored painkiller'.

Now, once you decided to end the drug addiction, life is not going to be easy. Those who are able to afford a rehabilitation treatment can choose a rapid anesthesia detox for a few thousands of dollars perhaps? Oh yeah, it's in $USD. To become truly rehabilitated, though, they will need to deal with the underlying causes of the pain that orginally lead them to take addictive drugs. The bottom line is, the body's natural pain signal is a perfectly normal response to an abnormal situation, which is simple dehydration. In many cases, the body's blood vessel walls, liver bile ducts, lympathic ducts, kidneys, intestinal tract, and other organs of elimination are so congested that chronic dehydration becomes inevitable. Remember, to restore health, the body needs to be cleansed and nourished properly, and this apply to everyone.

You see, most people have no real understanding what pain is. They rarely perceive it as to be an important part of the body's healing efforts. Pain is always a sign of resistance to what moves or flows naturally. The resistance can occur either as a result of some physical obstruction, such as constipation of lymph congestion, or from an emotional resistance to a particular person or situation. Once recognized, the causes of resistance can usually be resolved.

Fighting pain tends to lead to more pain, whereas releasing pain, rather then suppressing it with drugs, you will find that it will decrease naturally in a matter of hours or maybe few days. Trying to combat every ache or pain with painkillers, on the other hand, is an addiction that causes much fear and more pain in your life. Feeling one's pain with an attitude of acceptance removes all kinds of fear from your life. In addition, the pain experience itself with stimulate the secretion of the body's own natural painkillers and healing hormones, the endorphins. Overall, once you have identified an dealt with the causes of the pain, it is just a matter of time before the pain dissapears altogether.

Of course, in some rare case that the pain becomes simply unbearable, the use of painkillers may be unavoidable. At the same time, the pain afflicted person should get on a hydration and cleansing program, as well as end any dehydrating influences in his or her life. In the next post, I will discuss about body drought which is identified as arguably the strongest type of stress in human body, and well as which type of water anyone should be drinking.

Dehydration : Is your body thirsty? (Part 1)

Today's topic is about importance of water and dehydration. When you consult a doctor, a dietician, a nutritionist or even most health professionals, they will advice you to drink 8-9 glasses of water daily. A lot of people asked me, how much water should I drink per day? Does everyone consume the same amount of 8-9 glasses daily? If an average adult of 120 pounds drink 9 glasses of water daily, what would happen to an overweight adult who weighs 160 pounds if he or she consume the same amount of water? The answer is simple, dehydration. 

Now, let's start off with some understanding of human  body and dehydration. The human body, is composed of about 75% of water ad 25% of solid matter. To provide nourishment, eliminate waste, and conduct all the trillions of activities in the body, we need water. Most modern society, however, no longer stress how importance of drinking water as the most important 'nutrient' among nutrients. Entire population is substituting water with tea, coffee, alcohol and other manufactured beverages. 

Many people don't realize that the natural thirst signal of the body, is a sign that it requires pure plain drinking water. Instead, they opt for other beverages in the believe that this will satisfy the body's water requirements. What do most people do? They hot the vending machines or convenience stores buying sweetened beverages such as soft drinks, energy drinks, sport drinks, teas and coffees. Well, this is a false belief.

It is true that beverages such as coffee, tea, wine, beer, soft drinks, sports drinks and juices contain water, but they also contain caffeine, alcohol, sugar, artificial sweeteners or other chemicals that act as strong dehydrators. The more of these beverages you consume, the more dehydrated your body becomes because the effects they create in the body are exactly opposite the ones that are produced by water. Beverages containing caffeine, for example, trigger stress responses that at first have strong diuretic effects, leading to increased urination. Beverages with added sugar drastically raise blood sugar levels. Any beverage that provokes such a response coerces the body to give up large quantities of water. Regular consumption of such beverages results in chronic dehydration, which plays a part in every toxicity crisis. 

There is no practical or rational reason to treat an illness or toxicity crisis with synthetic drugs or even with natural medications and methods unless the body's need for hydration has been met first. Drugs and other forms of medical intervention can be dangerous for the human physiology largely because of their strongly dehydrating effects. Most patients nowadays are suffering from 'thirst disease', a progressive condition of dehydration.

Some parts of the body may be dehydrated more than others. Unable to remove toxins from these parts due to insufficient water reserves, the body is faced with consequences of their destructive effects called toxemia. The lack of recognition of the most basic aspects of water metabolism in the body more often than not becomes a 'diagnosed' illness, when it is really the body's urgent cry for water. What doctors generally refer to as disease, is largely an advanced condition of dehydration and the resulting inability of the body to rid itself of waste materials and toxins. 

We have created an opportunity for the drug industry to thrive, and have given birth to the current 'sick-care' health system, at the expense of people's precious lives and resources. The 'sick-care' system survives and thrives when more and more people are continuously sick. This is exactly what us going on now globally. 

It is now crystal clear that the human body has many different ways of showing its general or local water needs. These manifestations of drought in the body have been assumed to be indicators of this or that disease condition, Based on this ignorance, and protected by the pharmaceutical industry, mainstream medicine has labeled the different complications of dehydration as various diseases. 

We must understand that persistent dehydration brings about a continuously changing new chemical state in the body. When a new dehydration-produced chemical state becomes fully established, it causes many structural changes, even to the genetic blueprints of the body. This is why prevention of dehydration is crucial. 

Those who lived for many years without proper water intake are the most likely succumb to the buildup of toxins in the body. Chronic disease is always accompanied by dehydration and, in many cases, caused by it. The longer a person lives on a low water ration and/or high ration of stimulating beverages or foods, the more severe and long lasting will be the toxicity crisis. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity, stomach ulcers, hypertension, cancer, MS, Alzheimer's and many others are chronic forms of disease are preceded by years of body drought. Infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses cannot thrive in a well hydrated body. Drinking enough water is, therefore one of the most important disease-preventing measures you can take.

Those who do not drink enough water, or who unduly deplete their body's water reserves through overstimulation for a period of time, gradually lower the ratio of the volume of water that exists inside the cells to the ratio of the volume of water that is found outside the cells. Normally, the water ratio inside the cells is higher than the one found in the cell environment. Under conditions of dehydration, the cells may lose up to 28% or more of their water volume. This certainly undermines all cellular activities, whether the cells in question are those of the skin, stomach, liver, kidney, heart or brain.

Whenever there is cellular dehydration, metabolic waste products are not removed properly. This causes symptoms and resembles disease, but they are really just indicators of disturbed water metabolism. Since more and more of water begins to accumulate outside the cells in order to dilute and help neutralize the toxic waste products that have accumulated there, the dehydration may not be apparent to the afflicted person. Normally, cellular enzymes signal to the brain when cells run low on water. Enzymes in dehydrated cells, however, become so inefficient that there are no longer able to register the drought-like condition. Subsequently, they fail to convey the emergency situation to the brain, which would normally push the 'thirst alarm button'.

A dehydrated person may also be suffering from a lack of energy. Because of a shortage of water inside the cells, the normal osmotic flow of water through the cell membrane becomes severely disturbed. Similiar to a stream running down a mountain, the movement of water into the cells generates 'hydroelectric' energy, which is subsequently stored as ATP molecules. As a rule, the water we drink keeps the cell volume balanced, and the salt we eat maintain the balanced volume of water that is kept outside the cells and in circulation. This generates the perfect osmotic pressure necessary for cellular nourishment and energy production. In a dehydrated state, the body fails to sustain this vital mechanism, thereby leading to potentially serious cell damage.

In the next post, I will discuss about how pain is associated with dehydration. It's getting late now, time for bed. Stay tuned.