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Dr. Batmanghelidj believes that because medical practitioners have lost sight of the many roles which water fulfils in the body, they tend to prescribe drugs for symptoms, which could be alleviated by drinking more water. "The error in silencing the different signals of water shortages in the body with chemical products may result in injury to the cells of the body of the person being treated." (11) In spite of controversial character of Batmanghelidj's work his point of view is worth consideration. After all the water is the safest and most economical in all sorts of medicines and everybody may be able to avoid unnecessary medications and their untoward effects.

Treating Migraines

In my personal experience, migraine headaches seem to be brought about by dehydration: excess bed covers that will not permit the body to regulate its temperature during the sleep; alcoholic beverages initiating a process of cellular dehydration, particularly in the brain; dietary or allergic triggers for histamine release; excess environmental heat without water intake. Basically, migraines seem to be an indicator of critical body temperature regulation at times of 'heat stress'. Dehydration plays a major role in the precipitation of migraine headaches.

The most prudent way of dealing with migraine is its prevention by the regular intake of water. Once migraine breaks the barriers, a cascade of chemical reactions will stop the body from further activity. At this time, one may be forced to take analgesic medications with copious water. Sufficient cold or iced water may be by itself able to cool the body (also the brain) from inside and promote closing of the peripheral vessels might be the root cause of migraine headache." (12)

Treating Stress

Depression and social stresses such as fear, anxiety and insecurity often lead people to indulge in alcohol, coffee, cigarettes and other drugs in order to escape the distress. Under these cirumstances they often forget about water intake. It has been suggested that depression and stress might themselves be resulting from the dehydration or exacerbating it. It should not be forgotten that the human brain is 70 - 85% water and if deprived of even a small amount of its fluid requirements, thought process and emotional stability are the first to be affected.

Although coffee, milk and flavoured drinks contain water, they do not adequately supply the body's needs. They should not be counted as part of daily water intake. On the other hand, any increase in water intake will probably decrease somebody's consumption of other less vital fluids.

Frequency of water intake

If 2 litres or 6 - 8 glasses of water is the minimum daily intake, the next question is when should we drink it ? According to the experts, it's best to replace fluid as out body eliminates it. In other words, there's no point in getting up in the morning and downing 8 glasses all at once. Our kidneys would soon eliminate the excess, and it would not be available when needed in the day. However, after a night's sleep, the body is somewhat dehydrated:

• so we should start replacing water by drinking about 2 glasses at least 15 minutes before we have breakfast
• once we have our morning meal, we have to wait a couple of hours to make sure the food has left our stomach, and then have another glass
• we should drink 2-3 glasses of water throughout the afternoon, and have 1 or 2 after dinner. This adds up to a total of seven or more glasses of water during the course of our day.

Two things are likely to happen, insh'Allah, if we follow this regimen.

• Our thirst will be quenched
• Not only shall we replace the fluids our body needs, but also we'll do so with a liquid which is more health promotiong than fluids like coffee

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