I've recently familiarized myself with the concept of hormesis, or stressing the body to a tolerable degree in order to elicit a beneficial overreaction that improves overall health (e.g. exercise).
I've become interested in the idea of a particular, salient nutrient: water. I know that dehydration can cause the release of powerful neuropeptides, such as vasopressin (which if I'm not mistaken wakes you up thirsty in the night?). I also could see water withholding instigating a serious response from the body that, if managed correctly and the stressor releived properly, could yield some sort of remarkable benefit, although I don't know enough about how the body regulates hydration to draw any detailed conclusions about the scenario.
Has anyone else looked into this? Are there any studies that could be drawn upon to understand if what I'm getting at would make any medical sense?