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Health & Wellness

2011-10-25 10:08:47

Fighting the symptoms of aging

Q: As I grow older, I want to continue to look young, feel young and stay healthy. Can drinking high pH ionized water help me fight the symptoms of aging?

A: That’s a great question, and the short answer is “Yes”. However, the subject is so broad that I won’t have room to give you a complete answer in just one issue of the Q&A Times. I’ll provide as much information as space allows now, and I will finish my answer in next month’s issue. Good health begins with water. Since the body is made mostly of water (about 70%), all bodily functions are dependent on water. Most nutrients, with the exception of fats, are dissolved in water, transported in the water-based blood system and used by water-filled cells. And, since the cells are filled with water, the water lubricates them. This is especially important in muscle and cartilage cells. Water also keeps cell walls pliable and receptive to the inflow of nutrients and the outflow of waste. These facts point to the crucial nature of proper hydration for a healthy body at any age. Every organ in the body depends on water to function properly and efficiently. When we are not hydrated properly, or when we are even just a little bit dehydrated, our bodily functions become labored. Over time, maintaining our health can become increasingly challenging. The problems develop gradually, and they may be very subtle at first, but then the symptoms begin to appear. The U.S. National Research Council guidelines suggest that we require one milliliter of water for every calorie we consume. This translates into drinking a number of ounces or water daily that is equal to approximately one half your body weight in pounds. (A 150 pound person should drink 75 ounces of water every day). Some scientists and medical community advisors claim that amount is too conservative, and we should drink more. They say this is particularly true for people who are very overweight or suffering from a chronic disease. There are four obvious ways the body loses water: perspiration, respiration, urination and defecation. Expelling more than you absorb from what you consume leads to dehydration. In addition, the body’s digestive processes use a large amount of water which can further contribute to dehydration if the body does not have sufficient water reserves. Efficient digestion requires that you drink sufficient water between meals to flush the digestive tract, remove waste and facilitate bodily functions. While it’s obvious that the quantity of water we consume every day is very important, the quality of that water is equally critical if we are to stay healthy or to regain our health. Most people think that simply means drinking clean water. What they don’t know is that in order to be healthy throughout their life, their body needs to maintain a proper pH level. Our blood absolutely needs to stay between 7.35 pH and 7.45 pH, or health deteriorates and death follows. Most of the foods we Americans eat and the liquids we drink are acidic and they form acidic waste in our bodies. Since the body must protect itself from acidic buildup and maintain its proper pH, it will either isolate, neutralize or eliminate the acidic waste. If the body does not have enough water for proper elimination, its other protective processes result in weaker bones or weight gain, or both. For maximum results, the fluids in our bodies need to be reinforced by drinking high pH alkaline ionized water every day. Another component of good health that is crucial to all of us is negative ions. Alkaline ionized water is full of these negatively charged particles which our bodies crave. Without negative ions, our health is gradually eroded, our bodies age, and our organs slowly lose their ability to function efficiently. It seems that much of the body’s struggle to maintain good health is actually a struggle to rid itself of positive ions acquired through today’s diet and to consume enough of the negative ions it requires. Our ancient ancestors ate a diet of predominantly raw food supplemented with water from creeks and rivers that flowed over rocks and waterfalls, thus becoming negatively charged and highly oxygenated. Contrast that with much of America’s diet today, which has been reduced to pulling up to the local drive-thru for food and soft drinks. For many people, if they are not eating fast food, they are eating convenience food or processed food of some kind. These habits have created a society of overweight acidic bodies full of positive ions and poor health. Fortunately, the process is simple to reverse, and drinking high pH alkaline ionized water is a big part of it. Even if your health is good now, you should do what you can to remain healthy throughout your life. Simply healthy foods and drink alkaline ionized water. Let it be your “life insurance”. In the early 20th century, the Russians discovered that negative ions were very good for human health. They postulated that if they could create negative ions in water, it would create an easier avenue to better health. Through experimentation, the first water ionizers were created. Even today, a challenge for making and maintaining ionized water involves the fact that the bond between water molecules is weak. Water molecules normally join together forming clusters of 12 to 14 molecules. Ionizers break up the large clusters into much smaller micro-clusters that are about six times more absorbable by the body. However, the water’s transformation into micro-clusters is not permanent. Depending somewhat on temperature and how the ionized water is stored, the weak bonds between the molecules will cause the micro-clusters to break down. The water will then reform into the larger molecular clusters as before. This causes the water to lose its ionized quality. Because of its lack of long-term stability, we must consider how to use and store the alkaline ionized water so that we always gain the benefits of drinking it. The simple solution is to fill your glass directly from the ionizer when the water is made, and drink it immediately. If the water is stored in a container that is kept at moderate temperature without being in direct sunlight, it will retain its health benefits for a day or two. What Sue and I do at our house is keep a pitcher of the ionized water in our refrigerator. Then we pour it out for drinking, cooking, making coffee, etc. as needed. By keeping the water refrigerated, it will maintain its properties for a week or more. Plus, we like drinking chilled water, so this works great for us. Alkaline ionized water is very common and even prescribed as a medical treatment in Japan and other Eastern countries. Now it is becoming a household word in our country as more and more people are realizing its health benefits. To be continued next month.