Water: For Health, For Healing, For Life (6 page)

Figure 4.1:
A graphic model of the proposed body-water regulation at the three major phases of life: the fetus, the growing child, and the fully developed person, using water versus dehydrating fluids.

Early-Pregnancy Morning Sickness

In light of the above information, how does a pregnant woman register her new level of water needs? I am going to share with you a secret that has never before been recognized. The early-pregnancy morning sickness of a pregnant woman is a most meaningful thirst signal. In fact, it is the very first sign of dehydration of the mother and fetus together. It is brought about by the water-regulatory action of histamine.

This indication of the water needs of the growing fetus through the mother's sensory system is an important signal that connects the child's sensory system for its water needs to the mother's regulatory mechanisms. Most mothers adjust their water intake by the third month and the morning sickness disappears, but some don't and continue to live a life that promotes dehydration in the fetus as well as themselves. The consequences can be catastrophic.

When a mother continues to drink coffee, tea, and alcohol during her pregnancy and does not take sufficient water, she influences the physiological pattern of the developing child in her uterus. The child draws the necessary ingredients for growth from the mother's pool of resources. The desperately needed ingredients include water, oxygen, and the amino acids that are available in the mother's circulation. Thus, the level of water intake and the composition of the amino acids made available during intrauterine life determine the assets of the growing child for natural development. These, in turn, establish a metering system that regulates the child's future growth and development.

The importance of the role of the mother's lifestyle during the physiological development of the child in the uterus is not fully realized. The mother is responsible for the creation of a healthy, natural chemical environment in which the child can grow through all the necessary developmental stages from a single cell to a full-term baby.

As we will learn later, the physiology and the chemical commands of stress in the body translate into an immediate adaptive and coping process to anticipated dehydration. Dehydration itself causes the body severe stress. The body establishes certain physiological and hormonal reactions to stress. The fetus is not protected from the physiological signals associated with the stresses of the mother. The indicators of stress that influence the mother's physiology and become the basis for her adaptive behavior also register with the child.

We should remember that all recordings of the mother's physiology are determined by chemical messenger systems. The influences of one or another transmitter system that becomes engaged in the stress-coping process of the mother can possibly affect the fetus. They will possibly create chemical readings in the child similar to those that are designed to be established in the mother.

Simply put, let us not underestimate the influence and responsibility of the mother for providing a normal chemical environment for the development, well-being, and future normal behavior of the fetus growing in her uterus—the preparatory school of life. The child's learning during its intrauterine “school days” can become the format settings for behavior and mood patterns in adult phases of life. Every form of behavior and thought translates into the release of a combination of chemical messenger systems. The release of chemical combinations can also code the brain of a growing fetus in the uterus. Thus, the life-style of a pregnant woman can influence the chemistry of a developing fetus. If she develops an imbalance in her chemistry, her fetus has to cope with the imbalance, too. It is true that the placenta acts as a selective barrier, but certain natural chemicals of the body go across the barrier, even in disproportionate amounts if these are present in the mother.

In short, the mother's range of chemistry is a template for the development of her child.

Similarly, a mother who consumes an excess of alcohol during pregnancy may produce a mentally fractured and unable-to-cope child. A developing brain needs much water. One of the ways of getting water through the cell wall is by the creation of small “showerhead” perforations that allow only water through. Other solid substances that are dissolved in the serum do not get into the cell when water is injected into the cell. The act of producing these very small perforations in the cell wall to let only water in is under the control of a hormone called vasopressin— the agent engaged in the drought-management program of the body.

Alcohol has been shown to prevent vasopressin formation and its functions. When alcohol consumption by the mother prevents the secretion and the needed actions of vasopressin, the same effect is produced in the child. The mother's brain structure is already formed, but the fetus's is not. The lack of vasopressin can result in the child's brain not developing normally. The child's lungs may also develop with abnormalities that could lead to cystic deformation. Because of the vital role of water in regulating all functions of the body, it is not accurate to blame most developmental abnormalities entirely on DNA malformation, as has been the case up to now. Dehydration could be a contributing factor.

Figure 4.2:
The schematic model of a nerve cell, its membrane wall, and the vasopressin receptor that becomes transformed into a type of “showerhead” that lets only water through its very small perforations. This is part of the mechanism of reverse osmosis that the body employs to deliver filtered water into vital cells.

Crib Death

Crib death/cot death (CD) or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the name given to the unexplainable and unpredictable death of a child in its crib. Losing an infant during its sleep is one of the most devastating tragedies imaginable. Every year, seven thousand to eight thousand babies between a few days and a year old die inexplicably while asleep. The greatest frequency is among infants two to six months old. Diagnosis relies on exclusion of other causes and is based on autopsy examination.

Vomiting up milk and then choking on it is usually not the cause of death. It is not caused by infections or colds. It is not the result of a contagious disease. The primary cause of CD is not really known.

I have thought much about the possible physiological events that might cause the death of an infant during sleep. I feel that the only plausible event that might be responsible, from the perspective of the paradigm shift, is the constriction of bronchioles due to dehydration and heat-management programs of the body, when the infant is possibly bundled too much and the room is warmer than it should be. I would call it
infantile asthma.
If childhood asthma can kill a few thousand annually, even when treatment is available, why should asthma not be considered as a primary cause of death in infants who have no means of expression when in deep sleep?

The formula milk the infant drinks may also contribute to CD. There is a marked difference between human milk and cow's milk. Cow's milk is more concentrated and has more fat and proteins than human milk. Cow's milk is designed for the needs of a calf that stands and begins to move and runs around in the first hour of life. The newborn child is immobile for the first several months of life. Herein lies the reason for the difference between the natural consistency and design of human milk and those of cow's milk. When cow's milk is formulated and given to infants as their only source of water—often parents are told not to give infants water—the metabolic system of the infant is burdened by digestion of the concentrated milk. Concentrated milk can have detrimental effects.

I was told at a medical conference that autopsies of infants who had died in car accidents showed an obvious partial blockage of the coronary arteries of those on formula milk, and
not
of those who were breastfed. This is a significant revelation that has not been dealt with publicly and openly. I am of the opinion that the coronary arteries of infants on formula get blocked because the formulated milk composition is more concentrated than the mother's milk.

The normal practice is that the infant is given concentrated milk and bundled to sleep. While asleep, much water, in comparison to the weight of the infant, is lost from the lungs during the exhalation phase of the breathing process. This water loss from the lungs, on top of the fact that the milk contained possibly only just enough water for the digestion of the milk itself, leaves the infant's body short of water and forces it into physiological events for drought management. These include the secretion of increased amounts of histamine, which in infants is also a growth hormone and is abundantly available. Histamine is also a constrictor of bronchioles. It is possible that a certain combination of milk intake, unfavorable environmental conditions, and the inability to cool down could tip the balance toward the constriction of the bronchioles in the infant and cause silent death in sleep.

What surprises me is how the body of an infant is so resilient and adaptive that this problem is not seen more frequently. I can only think that the digestive process in the infant is so strongly active that the metabolic process manufactures some water from the breakdown of the solids in the milk to help the process in the same cycle of milk intake. If this is the case, what tips the balance against the infant and causes CD to occur are unfavorable environmental factors of too much heat and excessive covering of the body.

I think we should go back to the practice of introducing water into the diet of infants, particularly in the second to sixth months of life, when the occurrence of crib death is most frequent. They should not get too much of it, but a balanced amount and always with or after milk. This practice might cultivate a taste for water from infancy and establish a stronger thirst sensation—and prevent overeating when people really are only thirsty—later in life.

WATER REGULATION DURING CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE

When a child is born, its water needs for healthy growth and development are supplied initially by water in the milk it drinks, and then by water intake itself. The growth hormone and other water regulators drive the thirst mechanism and the body's calls for water. At the same time, the body retains water at any cost. The kidneys begin to concentrate the urine and draw as much water as possible away from the final stages of urine formation. The driving forces behind water regulation for growth are the growth hormone and other associated hormones and neurotransmitters, such as histamine.

Because they are growing, children are constantly and naturally dehydrated. The process of cell expansion and division uses up a great deal of water. Seventy-five percent of each cell is water. The body of a growing child constantly needs and calls for water; otherwise growth would not be possible. If the natural calls of the body for water are satisfied by manufactured chemical-containing fluids and sugar-containing drinks, healthy growth and development—events that water itself initiates—may not take place efficiently, and crisis events such as asthma and allergies may occur. Children and young adults should learn to drink water by itself and not substitute other beverages. The brain's alertness and learning capacity are proportionately dependent on the water intake of the individual. When teenagers, who should be alert and full of life, put their heads on the desk and fall asleep in class with a soda can next to them, it could be a sign that their bodies are short of water. Brain functions improve when water intake is increased to fully hydrate the body at all times.

I once had the occasion to lecture to three science classes at a local high school. I checked the urine bowls in the toilet for the color of the morning urine passed by the male students. All the bowls contained very dark, obviously concentrated, urine—an indication of severe dehydration. Parents should become aware of the volume of water their children drink. It is their responsibility to educate their children about the importance of water, and to discourage addiction to manufactured colored drinks. This is not the statement of a puritan; it is based on an understanding of science.