The Cellular Water Principle®: The Source of All Vitality Fact: Without water, there is no life as we know it.
Fact: As we age or have disease, we lose water in our tissues.
Fact: Anything that is not living has no water. Conclusion: The common pathway to all aging and disease is water loss. In order to understand how to effectively address cellulite and stretch marks, it is necessary
to understand the core principle behind my breakthrough treatment. The Cellular Water
Principle® is the theory I developed that enables people to utilize water in the most efficient
way to give their body the optimal level of health and vitality so it can repair conditions such
as cellulite and stretch marks. Drinking enough water is only the beginning. With age and disease, our tissues become less
capable of utilizing the water we drink. In short, the Cellular Water Principle® is a
comprehensive approach that repairs our tissues so they are again capable of utilizing this
water. The Cellular Water Principle®: The Fountain of Youth How to Repair Cells and Connective Tissue to Prevent Water Loss You know that water is essential for life. You have heard the common wisdom that you
need to drink eight glasses of water a day. There is no question that you need to provide your
body with enough hydration to make up for what it expends in breathing, sweating, and
general daily function. However, it is even more important to ensure that your body uses this
water efficiently and effectively, that it doesn't go to waste. What happens when you drink eight glasses of water a day? Chances are that you are in the
bathroom eight times a day as well. All of that water that you are trying to replenish your
body with is just passing right through you. This is because as we age, our body's cells break
down and lose the ability to hold onto water. A baby's body is 75 percent water. By the time
we reach middle age, our body's water content can be as low as 50 percent. Anything that is
no longer living has no water. A damaged cell that cannot maintain its water is like a pocket
with a hole in it. You can keep putting money in it, but it doesn't do you any good because it
just passes right through. But once you repair your cells, they will hold onto all of their needed
water, and prevent a number of age-related ailments.
Independent studies as well as studies in my own lab have shown the benefits of attracting
water to the tissues. I often put patients on the Cellular Water Principle® program. In addition
to the benefits to their specific ailment, such as acne, wrinkles, or cellulite, there consistently
is a decrease in body fat, an increase in skin and muscle tone and firmness and, of course,
increased cellular hydration. Your Body's Chest of Drawers Your body contains two kinds of compartments that house and utilize its water: cells and
connective tissue. Cells make up your muscles and organs, including your surface skin.
Connective tissue is the fibrous material that binds your muscles and organs in place, and
connects one organ to another. Unfortunately, as we age and are exposed to environmental
damage, our cells and connective tissue break down. They lose the ability to attract and hold
onto all of the water they need in order to function at their optimal levels, like they do in a
baby's body. The water that seeps out wanders aimlessly through the spaces between cells
and connective tissue. This is non compartmentalized or "wasted" water. This water is not only useless, it causes problems. It builds up in inconvenient areas, leaving
you with puffy ankles or eyelids. This water should be inside the cells and connective tissue
throughout your body, keeping your heart, lungs, brain, liver, and skin healthy and vital, but it
isn't. Your body can be full of this water and still be dehydrated, because the water is dangling
just out of reach, unavailable to the areas that need it. My Cellular Water Principle® program
focuses on healing your cells and connective tissue and enabling them to become and remain
fully hydrated and vital-to take back and use that wasted water for the health and well-being
of your entire body. Throughout this book you will learn how a body-hydrating program is
the only way to reduce cellulite. Look at a baby's skin. It is firm, vibrant, and elastic. Now look at your skin. What do you
notice? The tone may be unbalanced. It is not as firm. It may be wrinkling. It is dryer and
more brittle. These are the visible effects of the difference between optimal and less than
optimal connective tissue and cellular water levels. A baby's cells are at the strongest point that they will be in his or her life. They have solid cell
walls that can lock in all of the body's water and therefore function at their highest level. This
is true for the cells all over the baby's body, including brain cells, liver cells, and heart cells.
However, as skin is the body's most visible organ, it is easiest to see the effect of this optimal
hydration by looking at the skin. People frequently ask me what is happening to their skin as they age. I often use the analogy
of a tennis ball. Think of a brand-new tennis ball as a cell in a baby's body. It is strong and
buoyant. When you hit it, it bounces high and functions at its highest level. Now think of a ball
that you have been using for a while. It is not as firm as a new ball. When you squeeze it, it
gives. It doesn't bounce as high as it used to. The reason is that with use and damage inflicted
on the ball, it has developed tiny holes in its outer shell, enabling the air inside to escape. And
while there is air all around it, the ball has no way of attracting and utilizing this air, so it now
functions at a lower level. The cells in our body are very similar. As we age, our bodies are subject to countless
environmental insults, such as stress, pollution, sunlight, the foods we eat, and many more.
Although the causes may be different, the results are the same. Our cell walls become
damaged, allowing the precious water that keeps them functioning slowly to escape. Maybe we
are drinking a lot of water. But it often becomes wasted water throughout our body, all around
our cells but not inside them. The cells are incapable of attracting and retaining water as they
did when we were younger. The second compartment is the connective tissue, which in the skin is the dermis. It can be
compared to a sponge. If a sponge does not contain any water, it is dry and brittle. It is
inflexible and can break apart. If a sponge is full of water, it is thicker, flexible, and more
elastic. The same applies to the body's connective tissue. If connective tissue stays well
hydrated and full of essential nutrients, it is strong, elastic, and youthful. If it does not get
these nutrients, it succumbs to environmental damage. The connective tissue weakens and
loses its ability to hold onto water. Eventually it breaks down, causing conditions such as
cellulite, stretch marks, and wrinkles. An older person's skin's connective tissue is dry and
damaged, much like a dehydrated sponge. It bruises with the slightest injury in the same way
that the sponge tears with the slightest force. If we rehydrate these tissues, they are far less
susceptible to tearing and bruising. To increase the water-holding properties of a sponge, we would need to increase the material
it is made of. It is the same with the body's connective tissue. As we increase the matrix by
providing the body with its building blocks, glucosamine and amino acids, it is able to hold onto
more water, making it firmer, smoother, and more resilient.
As skin is a visible organ, looking at it provides a window into your cellular and connective
tissue health throughout your body. Do you have visible cellulite and stretch marks? Is your skin
wrinkling? Is it displaying a loss of elasticity? When you pinch the skin on your hand, does
it wait a beat before returning to its normal shape? Is your skin dry? If you can see any of
these signs of aging and damage, chances are that your other organs are in a similarly
weakened state. Can anything be done about this water loss? Absolutely. While it is true that natural, or
intrinsic, aging is inevitable, the environmental aging that is the result of such problems as
pollution, sun damage, cigarette smoke, and internal stresses can be reduced or prevented,
and the damage caused to our cells and connective tissue can be reversed. What follows is a
guide to repairing your cell walls in a way that is proved to reduce cellulite and stretch marks
and to allow every part of your body, from your brain to your skin, to be youthful, healthy,
and vibrant.
Compartments of Water
 |
Cells |
|
Connective tissue |
|
Non compartmentalized-wasted water |
Life is defined by water. Aging and disease is defined by water loss. A Simple Triple-Tier Program The cellulite prescription I detail in the upcoming chapters is a three-pronged approach.
Internally, it involves strengthening and healing the cell walls to maintain water levels and
functionality, and strengthening and healing the connective tissue. Externally, it involves the
use of topical agents to soothe and strengthen the stratum conium (the outer layer of the
skin). This will protect the skin from environmental damage and thereby prevent the resulting
loss of water and nutrients. Finally, the program involves some simple lifestyle changes that I
address in Chapter 7. If you follow this program, the cells and connective tissue throughout
your body will benefit enormously. You will be healthier, less susceptible to premature aging,
and have firmer skin and connective tissue all over. First I focus on the skin, to show how my
Cellular Water Principle® can repair your cellulite and stretch marks. To reduce cellulite and stretch marks, we must do three things: (1) repair cell damage, (2)
repair connective tissue damage, and (3) repair the stratum conium. Repair Cell Damage
What we need to do to keep the water inside our cells is repair the cell walls. Our body is like
a factory, and it is a truly remarkable one at that. It is constantly repairing damage done to its
cells and connective tissue. However, the body often lacks the raw materials necessary to
make these repairs. Like a factory, with age the body often needs more and more raw
materials to do the same work. Remember my tennis ball example. If you wanted to prevent the air from continuing to escape
from it, you could take it to a factory that would put a layer of rubber around it. But what if the
factory didn't have any rubber? You would need to provide that too. Once the factory has the
rubber it needs, it can take it from there and make any necessary repairs. The same is true for your body. It knows how to heal your cells. That is one of its primary
functions. The problem is that you probably don't get enough of the ingredients in your diet
necessary to repair cell walls. Your cell walls are made up of lecithin and lipids, among other
things. Because lecithin is found in egg yolk, for example, I often tell my patients who do not
have high cholesterol to include whole eggs as part of their diet. Lipids or fats are another component of cell walls. Prime examples are essential fatty acids.
They are "essential" because they are necessary for maintaining a healthy body, yet our
bodies are unable to produce them. Other lipids can be produced, but as we age we produce
less of them so we need to supplement them in our diet. The problem is that we eat "bad fats"
and not enough of the good fats, so our body uses these bad fats to help repair the cell
membranes. These bad fats are more subject to damage by free radicals and inflammation,
thereby making the problem worse. In order to get your body to rebuild its damaged cell walls, you need to supply it with the
necessary ingredients. Then it will do the rest. Essential fatty acids are found in cold-water
fish, as well as some nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils. You can also take supplements that
contain these ingredients, which I discuss in detail throughout the book. Essential fatty acids do more than just build up cell walls. They actually have the ability to
extract wasted water from between your cells, where it does no good, and infuse it inside your
cells, where it benefits your body. And this water stays inside the cells now that you have
reinforced their walls by adding lecithin and lipids to your diet. Not only does this allow all of
your body's cells to function as they are supposed to, it also reduces the bloating, swollen
ankles, and puffy eyelids that are the result of wasted water buildup. The added benefits are
what it does for your cellulite. Your body is poised to spring into action to repair the damage that time and the environment
have done to your cells. It just needs the raw materials to complete this task. A diet rich in
lecithin and essential fatty acids will provide your body with the raw materials it needs to
rebuild and reinforce your cell walls and keep the water where it belongs-inside your cells. Repair Connective Tissue Damage
Environmental and internal damage and stresses can break apart connective tissue in the
same way that they break apart cell walls. Like your cell walls, connective tissue is made up of
substances that our diets rarely provide in sufficient amounts. The skin's connective tissue is
the dermis, which is made up of the body's matrix. The dermis contains collagen and elastin,
which are made up of amino acids, while the rest of the matrix is made up of GAGs, including,
for example, hyaluronic acid. The building block for hyaluronic acid is glucosamine. A good example of the powerful effects a vital nutrient can have on the body is the treatment
of osteoarthritis. This form of arthritis is caused by a weakening of the tendons and ligaments,
which are the connective tissue of your body's skeletal system. Simply providing your body
with the glucosamine it needs to repair this weakened tissue can reverse the debilitating pain
of arthritis. Glucosamine works on the connective tissue throughout the body, not just in the
skeletal system. If your body receives this badly needed nutrient and the ingredients
necessary to metabolize it, the brittle, weak connective tissue in your skin becomes as firm
and vital as it was years ago, which means you can say good-bye to many of the wrinkles,
sags, and dimples that we have all come to accept as part of the "normal" aging process. |
