Water For Health, For Healing, For Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty!

by F. Batmanghelidj

Asthma, allergies, arthritis, hypertension, depression, headaches, diabetes, obesity, and MS. These are just some of the conditions and diseases that are caused by persistent dehydration. But there is a miracle solution that is readily available, all natural, and free: water.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Self Help, Science, Nutrition, Medicine, Education

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D., an internationally renowned researcher, author and advocate of the natural healing power of water, was born in Iran in 1931. He attended Fettes College in Scotland and was a graduate of St. Mary's Hospital Medical School of London University, where he studied under Sir Alexander Fleming, who shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery of penicillin.

Reviews

[I_love_a_happily_ever_after · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has healed me so many times from allergies, sinus infections, and skin issues. I read it years ago, but re-read it this week because I needed some modivation to work at not getting dehydrated so easily. READ READ READ this book! It will make an amazing difference in your life. 8 glasses of water a day is a myth...you may need much more.

[Ron Wroblewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Explains how dehydration of the body results in so many diseases and how adequate drinking of water prevents the same. From treating 3000 stress induced peptic ulcer case to explaining how our modern liquids that have replaced water drinking lead to so many physical problems. Other things: how to eliminate asthma and allergies, how to prevent heart failure, stroke, Alzheimers. Parkinsons and cancer. And especially how to lose weight without dieting.
I have been drinking much more water and have seen 40 pounds come off without dieting. This book is well worth reading. His water cure doesn't cost anything - why not try it.

[StrangeBedfellows · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will change your life, starting with your awareness of your own body. An excellent read for people who dislike doctor visits, pharmaceuticals, or even being ill for that matter. In fact, I recommend that everyone read this book, cover to cover.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book five stars because the information in it is important and so easy to apply. Everyone reading this has access to water and salt. As reading goes, it does get a bit heavy with jargon on occassion and it is repetitive which can get a bit dull. He was definitely not the most thrilling writer. With that said, I did enjoy the book a lot. The basic explanations were easy to understand and make sense with everything I know about how the body works. The jargon came in as he tried to explain more indepth about how the body works.

The woman who recommended this book to me has suffered for about ten years, since her early twenties, with severe arthritis pain. She increased her water intake and added some salt and now her arthritis pain has been greatly reduced and she hopes with time it will disappear entirely.

I have personally seen the effects of water in removing headache and migrane pain.

So, we all know we should drink water to be healthy. But, do we drink enough and regularly enough to keep our bodies consistently hydrated? And do we add some salt too if we are drinking a lot because urinating removes the necessary salt from our bodies?

After reading this book and seeing all the problems dehydration can cause in your body, I want to drink enough. Plus, it is a non-evasive and free remedy. Can't hurt... might help.

He recommends taking your weight and dividing by 2. Then, drink that number in ounces daily. So, someone who weighs 150 pounds would drink 75 ounces of water daily. If you don't weigh much, the minimum is 64 ounces daily. Also, you need to increase your salt intake to replace the salt expelled from your body from increased urination. He recommends 1/2 teaspoon daily for every 64-80 ounces of water.

I could go on and on, but you should just read one of his books or check out his website. He spent approximately 25 years of his life researching water. The website is www.watercure.com Also, some others put out a website www.watercure2.com that has a basic formula for following the water cure. It explains how much water to drink and salt to add to your diet to replace the salts that are washed from your body.

[Denise Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

With all the migraines I was experiencing, my manager said I needed to increase my water intake. She also loaned me the book. I now have a better understanding of just how important water is to our health. Though some of the jargin was a little more technical, I was able to get the gist. Would recommend this book to anyone who wants a different approach (?better) than being tried and tested with pill upon pill upon pill that just does not seem to work. I have noticed an increase in my energy level, as well as experiencing fewer migraines.

Thanks Jane!

[Lady Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

TL;DR This book, while its premise is solid (people don't drink as much water as they should, which can cause problems in the body) the absolutely absurd claims he makes call into question the author's credibility as well as the publisher's. It gives outright dangerous recommendations to treat life-threatening emergency situations with water and salt, instead of seeking professional medical help. DO NOT TAKE THIS ADVICE! But do increase your consumption of water. The content of this book is irresponsible and dangerous.

This book has an excellent table of contents, which is very detailed. The book is predictably outlined with headings throughout the book. I like that the chapters all start on the right-hand side. The pages are soft and the margins are wide, so it's easy to hold while reading.

It also has a helpful index in the back.

I am skeptical of many of Mr. Batmanghelidj's claims after just the first chapter.

He uses no scientific evidence to back his outrageous claims. For example, this passage in chapter 4:

"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 breast-fed. 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."

First, who told him that? A custodian? Just some random person? Where is the data? There is no citation for any of the "information" in this chapter. Second, who would order an autopsy on a child who died in a car accident? There is already a known cause of death. It has to be a super small number, certainly not large enough to make huge leaps in logic including assumptions about formula and breast milk. Furthermore, why shame women who feed their babies formula? Many women can't breastfeed for myriad reasons. It just isn't productive to even broach the subject. Fed is best. Additionally, his assertion in a previous section of the same chapter that SIDS is caused by dehydration has no scientific merit, and only serves to shame parents after an incredible loss.

The author asserts that drinking any liquid other than water will not hydrate a body. However, he claims that breastmilk for infants is both the water source and the food source. He cannot have it both ways. Either other liquids are okay to drink for hydration or they aren't. His point about caffeine is sound, as caffeine is, in fact, a desiccant.

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANGINA, DO NOT JUST DRINK WATER, GET EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE! Angina is a sign of a heart attack. Go straight to a hospital. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Tell them you are having chest pains, and may be having a heart attack. Although the author claims it is a sign of dehydration, it is a serious symptom that should be addressed promptly.

In chapter 7, which is just a bunch of "testimonials" for his work, he recounts a review from a user on barnesandnoble.com. I checked the website, and it contains no such review. Perhaps it did in the past, but it does not, now. I got the feeling the "letter" written to him by Andrew J. Bauman IV was just something Mr. Batmangheldji made up. I don't know that to be true, but it just didn't seem plausible, which is a critique I'd give a work of fiction. I did find that Andrew J. Bauman IV died at age 55, pretty young for someone who claimed to be healthier than his much younger doctor. Of course, he could have died in a car crash or something.

And my favorite part so far is when Mr. Batmangheldji posits that HIV/AIDS is caused by dehydration and not a viral infection, totally and completely absurd!

Chapter 8 lists diseases and conditions he claims are caused by dehydration including, but not limited to rheumatoid arthritis, hiatal hernia, dyspepsia, bulimia, ALS, and Parkinson's, for which he gives his "mechanisms" of disease that all pertain to dehydration.

The book is painfully repetitive. If I read the phrase "new information" one more time, I might scream. There are whole diagrams repeated in the book, a book that could have been at least 100 pages shorter and still get the point across.

He often claims his information comes from "clinical and scientific research," though he gives exactly zero studies that support his claims. The things he does reference are his own publications that contain only anecdotal evidence, if that. Dehydration seems like it would be very easily studied in scientific research, and yet, he provides none.

Chapter 10 starts out by including autism and attention deficit disorders in a list of "dreaded conditions," that are treated and prevented by adequate hydration, which is nonsense.

The book is based mostly on conjecture and speculation rather than facts. To demonstrate this, here is a direct quote from chapter 12:

From my perspective, most painful degenerative diseases are states of local or regional drought--with varying patterns. It naturally follows that, once the drought is corrected, the problem will be cured if the dehydration damage is not extensive, I also believe that to evaluate deficiency disorders--water deficiency being one of them--we do not need to observe the same research protocols that are applied to the research of chemical products. Identifying the shortage and correcting the deficiency is all we have to do."

This shows a blatant disregard for actual medical research, which is appalling in a book that purports to give medical advice.

In chapter 14, he claims that cholesterol as the cause of heart disease is "erroneous and unscientific," which shows an equal disregard for the many decades of evidence-based medical research literature that does exist. It also shows a lack of understanding of basic human biology.

While I can get behind the need for hydration, and even the fact that many people are unconsciously making themselves dehydrated causing some problems in the body, I can't get behind the completely ridiculous notions in this book. Also, he was never licensed to practice medicine as an MD in the United States of America. Give him a quick peep on Wikipedia to get an idea of his character and how well accepted his claims are.

Also, the title is entirely too long. It's like it has two titles in one. Pick just one.

[Courtney Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this author made a good point about our society not drinking enough water and drinking too many other unnecessary drinks. I think, though, he may have taken his point too far. He seems to believe water can cure just about anything and I think that is a stretch. I just can't believe that all medical conditions are caused by dehydration.

I was disappointed that he doesn't recognize the merits of drinking milk, particularly for women and children. At one point in the book, he mentions something to the effect of water should be the only beverage children drink.

Some of his arguments didn't jive with me, either. For example, he says that the sun doesn't cause skin cancer. His argument in support was that he played tennis for 3 hours a day in the sun for years and he didn't get skin cancer.

Overall, the book was enlightening and a good reminder to drink plenty of water and not to replace it with pop, juice, etc. Oh, and yes, I have been drinking the amount of water he recommends daily for 2 years now... unfortunately, no improvement in any of my health conditions. (Of course, based on this book, he might recommend I increase my salt intake)...

[Cindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could also be rated 2 or 3 stars. I give it 4 stars because of the ultimate message and because I like descriptions of physiology. People who don't like to get into the nitty-gritty of the workings of the body can just use the take-away message. Drink half of your body weight in ounces and make sure you are getting adequate salt.

But, if you like physiology, you might want to read it. There are chapters on different disorders and diseases and descriptions about how water is involved and how dehydration is the ultimate cause of the problem.

A HUGE problem though, is that the author doesn't quote many outside sources. He relies mostly on his own research, which might not be bad, but it isn't cited. And, he doesn't often point the reader to other sources outside of his own books he has written.

It can be fairly repetitive and the writing is not terribly good. However, recently I have been drinking lots more water on a regular basis and I'm interested to see how this affects my overall health!!

P.S. I admit that I didn't read the whole thing. There were sections that were less interesting to me that I skimmed or skipped.

[Jenette · Rating 2 out of 5]

My doctor put me on a gallon of water a day regime, which has been helping me a lot. I heard about this book in a class I took and it was suggested that I read it. Just another "cure all" book. Some of the things the book claims water can do, I think give a sense of false hope to those who are suffering from those conditions. I think most of the information is over-blown and can be quite dangerous. Not as good as I would have hoped.

[Cheree Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mom recently recommended You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D., a medical professional from Iran. Dr. B. spent three years as a political prisoner in an Iranian prison where he discovered, that without access to medicine, prisoners responded to water to cure their ailments.

Read complete review at http://chereemoore.blogspot.com/2010/...

[M.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing read about a doctor who, while imprisoned during the war began finding that he could cure his fellow prisoners and prison guards with nothing but pure water. You will discover the science behind why water cures so many things that we typically think require expensive pharmaceuticals.

[Cade Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very insightful into the inner workings of the human body. Dr. Batmanghelidj explains simply the benefits of being fully hydrated. The suggestions in this book have already helped my back pains. I highly recommend this book.

[Katie O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of wild leaps and long reach conclusions.
I don't dispute that the body needs more water than we tend to give it. But I also know that water doesn't cure all the diseases the author claims it does.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the easiest read because he's not dumbing anything down, but not impossible either. Everyone should read this - really eye-opening. An easy, free change that could potentially make a HUGE difference.

[Douglas Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was an Iranian doctor who trained in the UK then returned to Iran. He later moved to the U.S. He passed away in 2004. This book is an expansion of his ideas first proposed in his earlier book, Your Body's Many Cries for Water.

[Denise Messenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. How many of us ever think about water and how important it is to the entire functioning of our body. We only think of it when we are thirsty. The author did an excellent job of outlining just why it is important and we don't drink near enough of it.

[Naomi Ash · Rating 1 out of 5]

the first two chapters were interesting....but then it just.....dragged...and I skimmed....his tone was a bit pompous, like he was so amazing for discovering that water is good for you....wasn't the best.

[Yury]

I love the overall idea and definitely recommend this book. The only downfall is that it can get a bit repetitive which makes it a bit of a drag to finish. Once you get the general idea, you will feel enlightened.

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, good information on the importance of drinking more water for the body’s health. But I found some inaccurate or outdated health information info, and lots of typos. I do like the premise of this book and there are some valuable nuggets about the medical industry in here.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It just makes sense that many of our problems are related to not enough water. A good read but check it out from the library - not a keeper.

[Mr Ogologo · Rating 4 out of 5]

My interest in this book was sparked quite unexpectedly. I had just begun to actively track how much water I was drinking each day—something I'd never done before. True to my nature, I decided to dive a little deeper into the science behind hydration, and that's when I came across You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty! by Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj.

What initially seemed like a niche topic quickly revealed itself to be far more significant. The book is surprisingly comprehensive and dives into the biological and physiological importance of water in the human body. Dr. Batmanghelidj outlines the role dehydration plays in the development and persistence of many chronic ailments, suggesting that symptoms we often treat with medication—such as headaches, hypertension, asthma, and even depression—may actually be the body’s way of signaling its need for water.

What stood out to me most was the way he combines scientific explanation with anecdotal evidence. There are detailed sections on how water impacts cellular processes, digestion, circulation, and energy regulation. These are interspersed with testimonies from people who reportedly alleviated longstanding health issues simply by improving their hydration habits. It was both informative and compelling.

Another strong point in the book is his emphasis on balance—water intake shouldn’t be considered in isolation. Dr. Batmanghelidj stresses the importance of salt consumption alongside water, offering specific guidelines on how much natural salt to include per quart (or ounce) of water. This was something I hadn't considered before and added a practical dimension to the advice.

He also makes it clear that not all liquids are equal. Coffee, sodas, and even fruit juices are called out for their diuretic effects, which can actually exacerbate dehydration rather than relieve it. His focus remains squarely on pure water—no substitutes.

All in all, You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty! is a compelling read that made me rethink how vital proper hydration is, not just for energy and skin clarity, but as a core pillar of health. It’s one of those books that’s worth having on hand for reference—especially if you're taking your health seriously or if, like me, you enjoy connecting the dots between daily habits and long-term well-being.

[Susan Curll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book. A little technical and repetitive at times but well worth reading. Gave me a better understanding of how my body works and the importance of water as well as the effect of diuretics such as alcohol and coffee. I will be drinking more water, adding a little salt and walking an hour a day! Everyone should read this book Dr. "Bataman" clearly lays out the case that dehydration in the body is the cause of many "issues" we have with our body from heartburn to weight gain to asthma and more!

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

You hear people say you should drink 6-8 glasses of water a day, but this really shows you why. It's a fascinating account of how dehydration affects your joints, your organs, cholesterol, histamine and more. There's a figure that shows what a dehydrated stomach lining would look like next to a hydrated one, for instance. Muscle aches, stuffiness, dry skin, hunger pangs, all kinds of things can be signs of dehydration. Thirst is the last sign, long after your body parts are desperate. Very useful information.

[Jason Zielonka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required read for anyone interested in well-being ...

Great review of the medical literature on dehydration as well as selective "chronic illnesses" that are in fact most likely signs of chronic dehydration. Well worth reading ... and if you a health care professional, especially useful j. Giving you an alternate theory for what signs & symptoms mean and an alternate hypothesis for the etiology of major diseases of the Western world.

[Michael_stones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly informative, well expressed book on merits of hydration.

This book, the first I’ve ever encountered on dehydration, has sent me back to the water jug and increased my daily consumption of water by 50%. Plus I am adding decent salt to the jug.
I feel my health will benefit from practicing what I’ve learned from Dr. “Batman’s book.” I will share my new found knowledge with family and friends.

[Gina Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very eye-opening book about the importance of drinking water. A lot of people do not get enough water in their systems, which can cause a lot of health issues, some you wouldn't even think would be connected. While he lists many reasons why you should be drinking a lot of water, he also goes into detail about how our bodies are supposed to function when we're fully hydrated.
Definitely enjoyed reading his thoughts, and looking forward to reading his other books.

[Jnsy Blmsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me insight on how industrialized modern medicine has become, and how so much can be prevented by just by drinking water. It is simple to understand and easy to apply to ones life. It explains how the body absorbs and uses water giving you a better understanding of why it is important.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved The Information

I learned a great deal about WHY being properly hydrated is so important. In addition, I loved his explanation of how nutrition and exercise fit into the whole scheme of health. I felt that I walked away with a complete picture of what healthy habits should look like. It is a very motivating read,

[Targe Movis · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure I can say i believe everything 100%, but there is a lot of valuable information regarding hydration and how the body functions with/without water. Discussion at home has led to us increasing our water intake, so we consider it a win. 👍🏼