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brain can reflect its concern over water shortage in its domain of activity. I cannot imagine a more eloquent way for the thinking brain to reflect its anxiety about dehydration in the body of its delinquent owner. Obviously, when the body wanted water, it must have been given other beverages that did not satisfy its real needs.
5.
Feeling dejected and inadequate.
The capital assets of any body are its essential amino acid reserves. These types of amino acids are used in so many different functions, including for neurotransmission, that their shortage in the body means loss of assets that the brain assesses as insufficient and inadequate for its undertakings. Dehydration depletes some of these amino acids incessantly, and this shortage triggers a feeling of dejection.
6.
Feeling depresssed.
This heralds a more serious phase of dehydration, in which the body, in the absence of water, has to use up some of its vital assets as antioxidants to cope with the toxic waste of metabolism that has not been cleared by sufficient production of urine. These assets include the amino acids tryptophan (pronounced
trip-toh-fan)
and tyrosine, which are sacrificed in the liver as antioxidants to neutralize toxic waste. For the manufacture of serotonin, melatonin, tryptamine, and indolamine, the brain uses tryptophan; all of these elements are vital neurotransmitters that are used to balance and integrate body functions. If they are inadequate in the body, depression sets in. Tyrosine is another amino acid that the brain uses to manufacture adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine, which are the “go-getter” neurotransmitters. Their insufficient activity will ground a person into inactivity and a sorrowful state of mind.
    As I was editing this book, an article on depression in the
Washington Post
of Tuesday, May 7, 2002, revealed a deep-rooted deception by the pharmaceutical industry. Headlined AGAINST DEPRESSION, A SUGAR PILL IS HARD TO BEAT, the article exposes how the drug industry has bent the truth in clinical trials to show an edge in favor of Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, whereas a simple sugar pill—placebo—produced more positive results in relieving depression. This article surmises that the splendid results of the sugar pill against the much-touted drugs could be because, in the clinical trials, the subjects received much more attention and care than a depressed person who visits the doctor for a few minutes a month. It seems there is an infinitely greater healing power within a person who is cared for. In medicine there used to be a dictum, now for-gotten—“The duty of a doctor is to amuse the patient while nature heals.” Doctors have to show empathy to their patients.
    Now that I am addressing the role of water in emotional problems, let me quote from a reader review of my book
Your Body's Many Cries for Water,
posted on the Barnes & Noble Web site, www.bn.com. M. S. writes: “‘Water’ has made a difference in my life.” It seems that M. S. had been diagnosed with mild manic depression and had been given lithium for four to five years. He says he started on water and salt and some vitamins, according to the instructions in the book, and within two months he was able to stop taking his lithium. He had been visiting his doctors for nine years without significant improvement, and now writes, “My LIFE has been truly ENHANCED from reading the book.”
7.
Feeling heavy-headed.
This is the sign that the brain is commanding more circulation for its needs. It could be the heralding sensation for a migraine headache that may ensue if the increased blood flow to the brain does not result in adequate hydration of the brain cells. Do not forget that the brain cells, in their constant activity, produce toxic waste of metabolism, which must be cleared at all times. The brain cells cannot endure a buildup of acidic materials in their interior environment. The initial heaviness felt in the head could reflect this phase of brain