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"There's No Money in Spinach"
— An editorial written by Paul Harvey

The Science of nutrition has been retarded because there's no money in spinach.

A patented pill that promises to relieve some ailment gets widely distributed and lavishly advertised.

A specific vitamin that promises to relieve some ailment has to be discovered by word-of-mouth hearsay - because there's no money in spinach.

Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj of Falls Church, V.A ., is certain that much arthritis can be remedied "just by drinking water."

He is having to be his own missionary, promoting his idea with articles in professional journals and with a book called "Your Body's Many Cries for Water."

Lioyd Palmer of Albert Lea, Minn., suffered from arthritis of the spinal column for 30 years. Gradually, the disease ankylosed.

Ankylosing spondylosis is the kind of arthritis that leaves a patient so crippled - so "bent over" - that Palmer described himself as "a walking comma."

But he read the Batmanghelidj book. He started drinking copious quantities of water (with some added salt). He is now pain-free, and his blood pressure is normal.

The same book cites medical histories of individuals suffering ulcers, asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, chronic fatigue, breast cancer, impotency and depression who responded to increased intake of water, pure water (at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day).

It is not easy to drink that much water. It's recommended that water be consumed between meals. That makes it more difficult to many. But Dr. Batmanghelidj says water intake is intended to "help digestion rather than dilute it."

The water remedy as it applies to arthritis pain presumes that chronically painful joint conditions of the lower spine of the joints of the hands and legs "is a sign of water deficiency in the area where the pain is felt." "The pain occurs because there is not enough water circulation to wash out the local acidity and toxic substances. Cartilage is a gelatinous living tissue, the cells of which like to live in an alkaline environment. The alkalinity of the medium is dependent on the flow of water through its substance - water that would wash the acid away."

Why added salt? "Salt helps to extract the acidity and carry it away from the medium."

The water prescription (at least 2 quarter a day) does not include coffee, alcoholic beverages or caffeinated-containing soft drinks.

Dr. Batmanghelidj challenges his colleagues to learn more about the effects of water in the human body. He is convinced that a wide range of diseases relate to carrying degrees of dehydration.

Paul Harvey, doesn't a "water cure" sound more like a placebo than a valid remedy? It does indeed. Maybe it is - or maybe that's why its significance has been overlooked.

Paul Harvey News 1996, Paul Harvey Products, Inc.