Stress can affect you in four different ways:

The Physical Effects of Stress

These result in a physically perceived overload. These are present in many forms. One of first areas to consider is chemical burden from our modern and affluent lifestyle. Pesticides, fertilisers, additives, sprays and other chemicals which we constantly contact initiate stress reactions within our bodies.

In excellent book "Allergy Overload", Stephen Griffiths alerts us to 5,000 allowable food additives; some of which we will ingest daily. Bluntly stated, they slowly poison us. The ingestion of allergenic foods is highly stressful. Most people are considered intolerant to something, detrimental effects of tea, coffee and alcohol. In addition to being nutritionally valueless, these beverages create a direct physical stress on internal organs responsible for detoxifying them (mainly liver) and further unbalance our emotional state because they are stimulating drugs.

There can be physical stress from over exertion as in case of unfit people attempting stressful exercise, or athletes pushing to achieve goals well beyond intended capacity of their bodies. Some people feel driven by a fanatical desire to exercise and often end up exhausted and totally depleted.

Consider also, people who work long hours or shift-hours where natural rhythm of bodily function and internal energy exchanges are either inhibited or thrown out of balance. The proverbial 'workaholic' very often suffers, primarily from physical exhaustion caused by deep - rooted psychological origins.

The Emotional Effects of Stress

Create tension and irritability which is very often manifested as disease and illness as ways of dealing with emotions that cannot be expressed. When a person finds themselves in a circumstance which they feel is beyond their control and with seemingly no resolve, they will often subconsciously transfer their feelings to physical, as its form of expression.

A common example here is headache, and a common cause of headache is feeling of hopelessness that results from being locked into a particular role or circumstance. Of course, more organic causes of headache could include eyestrain, constipation or neck problems and these areas would need to be investigated too. However, no amount of physical therapy will solve problem if there is a strong emotional "cause" behind it.

A further example of way that we use disease would be stomach aches in children. This can be a very effective means of gaining parental attention by a child who feels that a new member of family is getting more than their fair share of attention.

Skin problems usually have an identifiable emotional basis. An irritating skin complaint can often be result of irritating life circumstances or an irritating person that one would rather not be involved with. It might be irritation with one's job.

If such stresses are not dealt within right way at emotional level, they will most likely manifest as an irritating rash or similar condition until problem is resolved. Another example is constipation. If chronic cases do not respond to physical priorities of more water and fibre in diet, cause may be retention in mind for example holding on tenaciously to old ideas or relationships that no longer serve our best interests. These mental retentions can manifest as physical retention of rubbish that we would best be well rid of.

Do note at this point that a seemingly identical emotional problem may manifest as a particular physical disease in one person and yet as a completely different disease in another person. There is no hard and fast rule of "one stress, one disease".

The Mental Effects of Stress

These impair logical thinking and can occur for many reasons. There may be a conflict at work or at home; worry about ones appearance or abilities or relationships, children, career or finances. Indeed anything.

A problem which does not bear a second thought for one person, may be a catastrophe for another. These stresses and conflicts are very real for those who are experiencing them. In this sense, stress is highly subjective and here in lies a major key to correcting it. To change ones thinking about a problem is often enough to correct that problem.

The very existence of worrying stress is confirmation that better ways of approaching and handling situation need to be found. Stressful problems must be rectified or they will make us miserable emotionally and will very likely manifest physically. The vehicles for this physical manifestation being our nervous and endocrine systems, which form link between thought and physical. Suppressed emotions result in physical disease as well as mental disease. Two of more common conditions which are easily related to stress are ulcers and hypochlorhydria. These are often direct result of emotional and physical stress.

You can regard body as being water, thickened with protein, which prevents us from "running away". This gelatinous mass is then hung on a skeleton made up of minerals. Not a very flattering analogue. But it does put things in perspective.

Water performs many functions.

A few of more important ones follow:

1. Most reactions in our bodies (of which there are millions every second) will not take place unless reactants are dissolved. For example, water component of our blood dissolves oxygen from our lungs and in this way it can be transported to our cells. Carbon Dioxide is removed in same way. 2. Almost every cell in our body is bathed in interstitial fluid which is almost entirely water. 3. Most of molecules in our body are suspended in water and are thus able to come into contact with other molecules. Indeed, water is often a part of these chemical reactions. 4. Water is a great stabiliser of body temperature. It absorbs and releases heat very slowly. 5. We have seen that digestive tract utilises some 2 gallons of water per day. Much of this is reabsorbed, however, a certain amount needs to be replenished daily. 6. Water also acts as a lubricating medium. It is major part of mucous and other lubricating fluids. Lubrication is especially necessary in chest and abdomen, where internal organs touch and slide over each other. 7. Finally, water is flushing medium which is used to clean kidneys. These vital organs filter our entire volume of blood about every five minutes! Sufficient clean water must be passing through kidneys to collect wastes from this process. If these toxins are not removed, they will remain in tissues.

How Much Water Do We Need?

Now let's look at some of practical aspects of using water for healing. Please be very clear that following appropriate dietary modification, next most important step in nutritional improvement is to provide body with sufficient clean water.

Most human bodies require 6 to 8 small glasses of pure water every day if they are to function efficiently. Part of this can be made up from water contained in freshly squeezed fruit or vegetable juices but not from other drinks like tea or coffee.

Water, or any drink for that matter, should not be taken with meals. Ideally, small amounts of water should be taken hourly. This keeps clean water passing through kidneys so that they can flush poisons from our bodies. There is little point in drinking more than half a glass half hourly as this excess will just pass out as clear urine and will not be used to flush. Tap Water and Salts Tap water is not suitable for human consumption. It is heavily laden with inorganic salts, additives and toxic chemicals and is a slow poison.

How many times have you heard someone say, "I don't like water so I never drink it"? The majority of people are highly intolerant to toxins and salts in tap water and unconsciously avoid drinking it. However their bodies are still dependent on some fluids for survival, so they have soft drinks, tea or coffee to disguise flavour of water. It is literally only way they can get it down.

One risk from drinking tap water is its high mineral content, particularly mineral salts. A concentration of salts in our tissues favours fluid retention and so we retain too much fluid in our bodies. Similarly, salts "preserve" our insides just as effectively as they preserve salted meats and fish. This causes hardening and inelasticity of our arteries.

Both fluid retention and hardening of arteries are major contributing factors of hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease. Salts collect in our tissues from tap water that we drink and from other dietary sources. As well as this, we are not drinking enough water (of any sort) to help flush them away. The problem of salt build up is easily rectified by drinking distilled water only for a period of time. This will draw salts out of tissues. Later, one should switch to filtered water.

Other Pollutants in Water