Water is all around us. It makes up more than two-thirds of the earth and more than half of our bodies. One doctor believes water is the cure-all.
There are so many choices when deciding what to drink.
"My favorite drink is a margarita," Dwayne Bassett said.
"Coffee and wine. I find out sometimes that's all I've had to drink all day long," Rachel Bassett said.
What people don't reach for enough, according to one author and doctor, is what Holley Henderson reaches for -- water.
"I think it flushes out your system. I think it keeps you hydrated. I think it keeps you full," Henderson said.The late Dr. Batmanghelidj wrote that the health of a person is directly related to how much water they drink. He's the author of a book called You're not sick, you're thirsty.
"Water is the main source of energy. It's the main source of life," he wrote.
People who follow Batmanghelidj wrote they have been cured of disease: migraines, asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis, all by having a healthy and hydrated body.
According to Batmanghelidj's book, "dehydration is the origin of pain and disease in the human body, including cancer."
His formula for drinking water was to divide your body weight in half. That is the amount of ounces of water a person should drink per day. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should drink 100 ounces, or 12-and-a-half eight-ounce glasses each day. Batmanghelidj also added a fourth teaspoon of sea salt for every 4-5 glasses of water.
CBS Atlanta asked a local doctor whether she prescribed water to her patients.
"I don't prescribe water enough and I should. Just like most people in healthcare... make it a more common recommendation," said Dr. Sharon Bergquist, who practices internal medicine at Emory.
Bergquist said she doesn't believe water cures all, but said it is part of the cure.
"Water will reduce your likelihood for example of developing urinary tract infections, kidney stones, constipation, having a fatal attack. So it can make you healthier in that sense, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's curing those problems," she said.
But for Betty Wainwright, water was part of the cure.
"I found it very difficult to even walk," Wainwright said.
She had quickly become dehydrated, and it affected her entire system.
"It was very quick and I was quite amazed and surprised you could become dehydrated and how essential water was to you," Wainwright said.
Bergquist agreed with Batmanghelidj's recommendation of the amount of water a person needs per day, but said you shouldn't completely turn away from traditional medicine in exchange for more water.
"From a clinical standpoint, there is really no research that supports that it can actually prevent and cure and perform these miraculous things, but intuitively we all know water is a critical part of our health," Bergquist said.
Copyright 2012 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
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