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Rob (Kentucky) on 10/15/2026: 
From the Book: Preventing and Reversing Arthritis Naturally - The Untold Story, p. 34-35, by Raquel Martin; Karen J. Romano ~ 2000
Dehydration can contribute to arthritis. Joint cartilage suffers when there is a shortage of water. F. Batmanghelidj, M.D., argues, “Rheumatoid joint pain is a direct signal of ... water deficiency.” Water is essential to life, and, in its pure form, to health. Dr. Batmanghelidj explains why arthritis and other diseases are often caused by chronic dehydration. One of the first things to try when you encounter the pain of arthritis, backaches, headaches, and stomach and intestinal disorders is to nourish the body with generous amounts of water. You may be amazed at the results. Dr. Batmanghelidj warns us not to treat thirst with medication, explaining that pure water will bring about cell-volume balance in the body and result in more efficient cell activity.
When the body is in a dehydrated state, enzymes and proteins are not as efficient. Dr. Batmanghelidj says, “The damage occurs at a level of persistent dehydration that does not necessarily demonstrate a “dry mouth signal.” So it’s important that we drink pure water throughout the day. If we wait till we’re thirsty, our cells have already suffered. The swelling of joints will often disappear when the joint becomes hydrated, and the joint structure itself will begin to-mend.
Many health professionals recommend we drink approximately one- half ounce of water a day for every pound of body weight. Make sure, however, that it’s distilled water fortified with liquid minerals. Health pioneer Paul Bragg tells us that drinking distilled water flushes out mineral deposits from various parts of the body and cholesterol from our arteries. Tap water contains these inorganic minerals as well as approximately seven hundred other chemicals (129 of which are cited by the Environmental Protection Agency as causing serious health risks). In his book Water Can Undermine Your Health, Dr. Norman W. Walker éxplains that if water is not distilled, inorganic calcium (lime), magnesium, and other inorganic minerals cannot be utilized by the body. Dr. George H. Malkmus says that what is not eliminated can accumulate in the body and cause stiffness in the joints.
Distillation (or reverse osmosis) is as close as we can get to nature’s form of water purification. Also, the 212-degree heat in a stainless steel condenser produces steam that is free from impurities and chemicals; the heat also kills bacteria and viruses. Alternative water treatments using filters can be breeding grounds for bacteria. Filtering attempts to “remove contaminants from water, rather than removing water from the contaminants.
Dr. Batmanghelidj, author of a variety of research papers on water metabolism and pain, shows how cells throughout the body, and within the bone, depend most particularly on water. He tells us that chronic pain is a sign of chronic dehydration and “rheumatoid joint pain is a direct signal of local water deficiency of the body.” In his book on how to deal with arthritis, he discusses how this can lead to damaged cartilage. Patients who have found relief through his diet and stretching program applaud his research, which recognizes the regulatory and reactive hydrolytic functions of water in the body.
As we get older, we need more water, yet the thirst sensation is decreased, and thus level of thirst is not a reliable indicator of chronic dehydration. We normally consume water quickly and without thought to whether our bodies have had enough. But when we drink more than our thirst calls for, proteins are used more efficiently.' Putting Dr. Batmanghelidj’s investigation into practice seems to be a sensible way to fight disease and avoid pain.
