Change Your Water, Change Your Life!

I have to admit that I was misinformed about water until I learned of the Enagic Company and its water ionizers. For twelve years I carried five gallon jugs of water that had gone through a reverse osmosis system from the water store and thought I had healthy water. I had clean tasting water, but it wasn't as healthy as it could have been. Most of the time naturally mineralized water such as well water is alkaline. When water is treated chemically, and/or filtered by reverse osmosis, many of the minerals that help alkalize you are removed.

We need water but we need to drink ionized, restructured alkaline water. Most bottled waters that say "drinking water" are filtered by reverse osmosis, which removes the minerals. As a guide, you should try to consume ½ your body weight in ounces. If you are ill, take medication, work outside in the heat, do physical labor, or exercise you may need more water. If you drink soda, beer, or alcohol and smoke you should consume increased amounts of water. Don't wait until you are thirsty to have water, drink every half-hour. When you drink water take gulps not sips. You are trying to hydrate your whole body not just wet your lips. Check your urine to see if it is very dark or cloudy, which might mean you are dehydrated. Many of my patients tell me that they do drink plenty of water. Even though you think you drink enough water it may not be getting deeper through to your cells because of its large water molecules.

Drinking adequate amounts of ionized, alkaline water may be one of the most important steps you can do to balance your pH to attain health. In Reverse Aging, by author and chemist Sang Whang, he explains how drinking alkaline water can reverse the aging process by helping to remove the buildup of acid waste in the body.

Learn More About Ionized, Alkaline Water

Water Ionizers

You may be asking yourself, "What is a water ionizer?" It is a machine, about the size of a coffee maker that hooks up to your faucet and dispenses ionized, alkaline water directly from your tap. Good alkaline drinking water has a high pH of 8.5 to 9.5. The pH of most bottled or tap water is between 3.4 and 8.0. Remember, pH is based on a mathematical formula where a liquid going from a 7 to 8 on the pH scale is ten times more alkaline, and liquid going from a 7 to 9 means the liquid is 100 times more alkaline. When your body is more alkaline (around 7.2 to 7.5) circulation of blood and detoxification of acidic waste improves.

Another important aspect of a water ionizer is its ability to make water with a negative Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP). The ORP is a positive charge (creates free radicals) or negative charge (limits free radicals) that is expressed in millivolts (mv). The ORP of most tap and bottled water will be between +350 to over +500 mv, meaning it will make more free radicals in your body. After your tap water has been passed through an ionizer it will show an ORP from -150 to -800 mv, which adds electrons to the water reducing the cascade of free radicals in the body. The ORP of vitamin C is -50, vitamin E is -80.

The ORP measurement depends on the amount of soluble minerals that are in the tap water. Reverse osmosis or distilled water cannot be used with an ionizer because they lack minerals. When you drink R.O. or distilled water, more free radicals are created and the acidic water can leach minerals from your skin, bones or organs weakening them.

Ionized, Alkaline Water Reduces Free Radicals and Aging

Let's take a quick look at how structures in the body form. The basic building block of anything in your body is an atom. Atoms combine to form molecules; molecules combine to form cells and cells group together to form your skin, muscles, bones, organs, nerves and central nervous system. In order for an atom to become stable it needs to have a paired electron. A free radical is an atom that is missing an electron. This makes it unstable, prompting it to steal the necessary electrons from the nearest stable atom in order to gain its stability. When the once stable atom loses its electron it becomes a free radical, beginning a chain reaction that will start a dangerous cascade of atoms stealing electrons, creating other free radicals and cellular damage.

Cell damage caused by free radicals is called oxidative stress. Oxidation is a serious problem for cells. It is the process by which our body breaks down, decomposes or ages. Oxidation from free radicals has been linked to a range of disorders including diabetes, arthritis, cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease. Free radicals play an important role in aging, inflammation, apoptosis (cell suicide or the body's way of controlling cell death) and necrosis (localized death of living tissue, mainly due to lack of circulation).
You can see examples of oxidation from free radicals all around you in your daily life, (iron rusting, a slice of apple or potato turning brown, meat turning rancid). When oxidation occurs it involves an exchange of electrons between two atoms. If you consume more antioxidants which are vitamins, minerals and enzymes you can counteract the damaging effects of oxidation from free radicals.

Scientific research has established that the root cause of more than 70 chronic degenerative diseases is due to oxidative stress, or cell damage by free radicals.
(Calvin Davies, : Oxidative stress: The paradox of aerobic life," Biochem Soc Symp, 61 (1995), 1-31).
How Water Ionizers Work

Most good ionizers will have an activated carbon and mechanical filter to remove contaminants like lead, chlorine, odor, sediment, rust and other debris, but leaves important minerals The water is then passed through a chamber that contains platinum coated titanium plates that have a low voltage electric current passing through them. This electric current (electrolysis) causes the minerals in your tap water to be drawn to either a positive or a negative 'pole'. As the tap water moves over these plates, the water splits into alkaline and acid streams.

Positively charged ions gather at the negative plate collecting available alkaline minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium from the tap water. Negatively charged ions gather at the positive plate collecting available acid minerals such as nitrates, sulfides, chlorides, and fluorides from the source water. This means the ionized, alkaline water becomes a powerful antioxidant that can reduce the cascade of free radicals, slowing the aging process. Ionized water may be one of the best ways to help you balance your pH.

The Power of Microclustered Water

Water molecules typically clump together in large groups of 10-20 molecules. As water passes through the ionization chamber it changes the way the molecules group together. Restructured, ionized, alkaline water has much smaller groups of approximately 5-6 molecules that allow water molecules to be more easily absorbed by your cells.

According to Dr. Hayashi, of the Japanese Water Institute, ionized water gains the ability to penetrate tissue and cell walls far more easily. This is why many people experience a detox reaction in the first few weeks of drinking ionized, restructured, alkaline water, as it infiltrates areas that have not been reachable with ordinary H2O. Many people state that restructured, alkaline, ionized water is easier to drink because of its taste. They also remark on how the water makes them feel better hydrated.

Dr. Susan Lark, author of The Chemistry of Success writes that ionized water is more readily absorbed by the body, "thereby increasing the water's hydrating ability and its ability to carry its negative ions and alkalizing effect to all the cells and tissues of the body. If you are overly acidic, an ionizer that produces restructured, alkaline water can provide a safe, gentle, and effective way of helping to restore the pH of the cells in your body as well as providing excess free electrons to act as super antioxidants."

Now you know that restructured, ionized water has the ability to deeply hydrate your tissues and help to neutralize acid waste. Ionized water helps to naturally detox acid waste and toxins from your body and is a powerful antioxidant because its negative charge provides electrons that will stabilize free radicals. Ionized water was first introduced to the Japanese public over 50 years ago. In Japan and Korea it has become the standard water treatment in approximately 1 out of 7 households. In the near future, a water ionizer will become a common kitchen appliance.

Often in learning about ionized water you will hear the term Kangen Water ®. This is water that is produced by a water ionizer specifically made by the Enagic Corporation. In Japanese the word "Kangen" is translated into English as "return to origin" which implies returning the water to a natural healthy state. It also implies that it will help return your body to more natural alkaline condition.

In 2003 I realized that moving to a more alkaline pH can dramatically change your health by improving lymph flow in the body. Three years later, in 2006, I published An Undetected Acid-Alkaline Imbalance and had never heard of how drinking restructured, ionized alkaline water can help balance your pH. A more alkaline pH can improve many of your health problems by improving your cellular environment. This is a relatively new concept in the USA and Europe, but decades old in Japan. After my book was published in 2006, people began contacting me about water ionizers.

It wasn't until 2011, five years later, that I realized the importance of drinking ionized water and finally purchased a water ionizer. Just as with the supplements I mention in my book, I have researched, used, and benefitted from ionized water prior to suggesting that people use one to help improve their health. From the first day of drinking restructured, ionized alkaline water my family and I have felt less aches and pains and felt better hydrated. We now drink more water because it tastes better than most water. We should all be using a water ionizer to bring our body back to balance and health. Drinking healthy rejuvenating water is a major piece to balancing your pH and improving your health. Find a water ionizer that fits your lifestyle.

Surprising Facts About Water

pH ORP
Perrier 3.4 +457
Penta 4.2 +613
Dasani 4.9 +521
Aquafina 5.2 +542
Reverse Osmosis 6.5 +586
Tap Water 7.0 +370
Smart Water (Glaceau) 7.8 +385
Evian 8.0 +404
Kangen Water* 9.5 -300 to -800
Depending on water source*