MANILA, Philippines ? It?s surprising hoe such the most basic bond between two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen can at once be taken for granted and then be so contentious, especially on the subject of illnesses and cures.

Take, for example, the philosophy of Doctor Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, who carries around the mantra, ?You are not sick, you are thirsty. Don?t treat thirst with medication.? He believes the underlying cause of many diseases is dehydration.

Batmanghelidj is the author of ?Your Body?s Many Cries for Water,? which has been translated into 15 languages. He has been described in watercure.com as one who has devoted the last 20 years of his life promoting public awareness of the healing powers of water.

The New York Times in 1983 related how Batmanghelidj, a prisoner of Evin from November 1979 to May 1982, found relief from the pain of peptic ulcers by just simply drinking several glasses of water at regular intervals.

Thirst

During his interview with Mike Adams at naturalnews.com, he said he had created an organization called National Association for Honesty in Medicine. He was quoted as saying: ?Because I think it?s totally dishonest, in fact, criminal, to treat a person who is just thirsty, and give them toxic medication so that he gets sick and dies earlier than normal.?

Such attacks on conventional modes of medicine, of course, would not go unnoticed. Thus, Dr. Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch, has taken him to task for his pronouncements:

?Even if his prison experience were considered research, nothing I have seen indicated that he has done any research since his release from prison in 1982. The 1992 edition of Your Body?s Many Cries for Water states that he had done ?12 years of clinical and scientific research,? and he updates this figure as the years go by. But as far as I can tell, he has not described any data acquired since he emigrated to the United States in 1982,? Barrett said.

Among Batmanghelidj?s controversial treatment courses, for instance, is for arthritis patients to take a glass of water half an hour before meals, then taking at least two glasses two hours after eating and more water just before sleeping.

Not reliable indicator

He said that dry mouth is not a reliable indicator of dehydration, and that dehydration actually produces pain and many degenerative diseases, including asthma, arthritis, hypertension, angina, adult-onset diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, back pain and constipation.

Stress, he stressed, causes more dehydration and results in a vicious cycle.

Though Batmanghelidj?s nearly fanatic cure-all prescription involving water and only water raises many doctors? eyebrows, it still wouldn?t hurt to drink at least eight 200-ml glasses of the good stuff a day, a practice universally recommended by health and wellness experts.

?Natural Health, Natural Medicine? author Dr. Andrew Weil relates that one of the questions he asks when learning of the lifestyle history of a patient is ?Do you drink water??

?So many people answer ?Not as much as I should,?? he related.

?I do not know a better drink than good quality water,? Weil said

Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, former health secretary, said he has always preached ?what you eat and drink is what you are.?

But water itself is now marketed in just so many ?forms,? Tan observed.

?With the proliferation of so many varieties of water, the consumers are more confused than ever?from tap to distilled to alkaline to ionized and purified to so-called rehydration fluids,? he said.

Tan advises people to drink water as soon as they wake up and then every hour on the hour until only 6 or 7 p.m. (Drinking just before bedtime) ?makes people wake up in their sleep just to pee, and this is unhealthy,? he said.