Hydration Therapy
by Dr. John Veltheim
During the past few months I have been treating patients on a regular basis for the first time in ten
years and I have been able to observe many of the trends that have been occurring with the
average patient. One thing that has become very obvious to me is the fact that a large number of
patients are ill, or not responding to treatment from any practitioner, largely because of cellular
dehydration.
I feel prompted to write this because of the tremendous lack of understanding there appears to be
in the health professions about the nature of dehydration and its effects.
Water therapy is often talked about but little understood. We always give lip service to the
importance of water intake and most people think that means fluid intake based on the
supposition that all fluid contains water and therefore helps to supply the water needs of the body.
The fact is that coffee, tea, herb teas, or sodas all contain caffeine or caffeine like substances.
Caffeine is a dehydrating agent that increases the function of the kidneys causing dehydration.
Therefore, the drinking of these beverages without supplementary pure water has the final effect
of dehydrating the tissues and cells. The water must be taken into the body in its natural form.
This can include spring water, and clean tap water. Distilled water is controversial because there
is an argument that it is ‘empty’ and will tend to be corrosive to the body in its efforts to dissolve
things in itself and leach the body of certain minerals.
Many people seem to think of water as merely a solvent, a packaging material, and means for
transportation of other substances in the body. Most emphasis is placed on proteins, minerals and
vitamins. The fact is that water is vital in energy production in the cells, metabolism, and in
neurotransmission.
Hydrolysis is the splitting of the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen. Whenever this occurs,
energy is released. The energy produced by water helps to produce ATP - a major source of
energy stored in the body.
Many parts of the brain draw much of their energy from water. The brain is 85% water if fully
hydrated. Neurotransmission is heavily dependent upon water. The transmission of a nerve
occurs via charged minerals called cations. Cation exchange gets its energy from water. Another
benefit of water in nerve transmission is the existence of small waterways or micro-streams along
the full length of nerves. These float the brain products along microtubules to the nerve ending.
When the body is dehydrated, nerve transmission is compromised and brain function is strongly
diminished. Chronic nerve pain is often simply the end result of chronic dehydration. I have seen
pain in chronic arthritis reduced by 80% after patient rehydration.
Another important consideration is that water actually holds the cells of the body together. Water
keeps the cell membrane together by forming ‘hydronium’ ions (H3O2+) which makes the water
‘sticky’ and helps bond the cell. This gives the cell a lower viscosity that helps the efficiency of
proteins and enzymes. In a dehydrated cell, the metabolism is greatly impaired. This involves all
metabolic problems in the body. It has particular dramatic effect on sugar metabolism, the
immune system and detoxification.
Dehydration is the greatest producer of free radicals in the body and effective hydration removes
free radicals faster than any other therapy. Taking supplements to reduce free radicals is silly
when the body is dehydrated because they cannot work effectively. Further anti oxidant
supplements are a waste of money in a fully hydrated body because they are unnecessary!
Lung dehydration is considered a significant factor in respiratory diseases and sometimes the
most dramatic results can be obtained in asthma with rehydration.
Dehydration is a major producer of stress in the body and it alters the balance of amino acids.
This will allow DNA errors during cell division that can lead to many diseases such as cancer and
other cell mutation problems.
Water is also considered a vital conductor of energy such as meridian energy and other body
energy systems. When the body is dehydrated, it is very difficult for energy based therapies such
as Reiki, polarity therapy, magnetic healing, some aspects of BodyTalk, bioenergetic work, etc., to
work. The body simply cannot take full advantage of them. I am finding that the patient who is
slower to respond to treatment, is invariably dehydrated.
Emotions are synthesized and harmonized by water. Dehydration is a major precursor to
emotional and mental disorders. I have yet to test a bipolar (manic-depressive) patient who is not
dehydrated. Children, in particular, are very prone to dehydration these days because they simply
are not drinking plain water. Hyperactive children are invariably dehydrated and tend to only want
to drink water in the form of sodas, etc.
Dehydration is by far the most important factor in aging. Just look at the skin of the older person.
It is simply dehydrated!
Alcohol dehydrates the body. The morning after headache and aches and pain can be attributed
to the side effects of dehydration. In fact most headaches, including migraine, respond well to
rehydration.
OK - so we now know that water is vital. Most patients will tell you that they drink plenty of water. I
have had patients who have come to me for fluid retention because they have far too much fluid
in their body. Yet, when I test them for hydration, the test says they are very dehydrated! The
other problem is that drinking large glasses of water often doesn’t rehydrate them - it just makes
them feel sick. This is like the reaction of the person found in the desert and given a large amount
of water - the body reacts.
Rehydrating the body:
1. Gradual rehydration of the body by the correct consumption of water. The patient must
gradually rehydrate by drinking large amounts of water each day but in small doses. If you
attempt to drink large glasses of water the body wont absorb it and will often reject it by making
you feel sick or bloated.
Drink sips of water frequently. Keep a large glass of water nearby and sip it frequently say every half hour. Several sips can be taken each time. Start with three ten ounce
(large) glasses a day and build up over a week to 10-12 glasses a day. It will probably take a
month to rehydrate. Then the water will easily be tolerated in larger amounts less frequently and
the water consumption will reduce according to circumstances.
2. With BodyTalk, the process can be greatly sped up and improved upon. In fact you can force
the cells to rehydrate and repair further and faster than they normally would.
It is important to realize that many people have a condition that stops them from having fully
hydrated body cells and brain tissue despite their drinking adequate water. The BodyTalk
treatment of the cortexes of the brain addresses this problem. I now believe that the ability of
BodyTalk to significantly help to correct this malabsorption of water is probably going to end up as
the most important contribution that BodyTalk will make to the healing professions!
Summary
It is obvious that with the rapid increase of water substitutes (coffee, soda, etc.) so readily
available in this modern age, the incidence of drinking pure water has decreased. I am certain
that is a major factor in modern disease and the often poor results obtained. The list of illness,
physical and mental that are dramatically improved with rehydration are as big as the medical
dictionary.
Reference and suggested reading: ‘Your body’s many cries for water." By Dr. Batmanghelidj.