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Health & Wellness

2011-05-01 13:04:00

The importance of clean water

Answer: That is a great question, because most people will tell you that an effective weight loss program only involves cutting calories and increasing exercise. Until recently, I would have told you the same thing, because that’s what we were all taught, and that’s what we believed. We were wrong, but none of us knew any better. Most people still don’t. When it comes to drinking high pH ionized water, my research and personal experiences have opened my eyes to truths that I did not even know existed less than a year ago. Further down in this column, I will share my own weight loss experience drinking the water as well as the experiences of several close personal friends who have lost a lot of weight. But first, I want to give you an overview of how and why this works. How many times have you heard overweight people say they diet and diet, but they cannot lose weight? I normally assume they are simply cheating on their diet and consuming too many calories in spite of what they claim. However, I have learned that body chemistry can have a major impact on weight gain, and it can make weight loss more difficult. Our bodies are about 70% water, and our bodies rely on water for everything they do. Our brain, our lungs, our heart, our muscles, our digestive system, they all need water to work properly. If our body’s water content drops even a few percentage points, bad things start to happen. It’s called dehydration, and if taken far enough, will cause death. However, let’s assume you are just a little dehydrated, because most people are. Why are you dehydrated, and how can that relate to weight gain? In last month’s column, we discussed the importance of keeping your body in the slightly alkaline condition (pH 7.365) it requires. We also stated that most of what people eat and drink is acidic, which causes a problem for the body since acidic food and drink is the opposite pH of what the body needs for good health. As a result, the body must do all it can to dispose of these acidic materials to protect itself, and it all requires water. Needing water for bathroom functions is obvious, and much water leaves the body in that way. Some popular beverages are actually diuretics that cause the body to dispose of more water than it absorbs. Water is also lost through respiration (breathing) and perspiration (sweating). If you are not drinking more good quality easily-absorbed water than what your body is losing naturally, you have a net loss, and you become increasingly dehydrated. So how does dehydration contribute to weight gain? Your blood is over 80% water. Water absorbs oxygen in your lungs and nutrients in your digestive tract to nourish your cells. Water also carries toxic/acidic waste from your cells to be eliminated in the bathroom. If you are not properly hydrated, this toxic/acidic waste material builds up and is stored in your cells. This is a protective function that your body does naturally. However, the accumulation of toxic and acidic waste in your cells over time adds bulk, which translates into unwanted extra pounds that have nothing to do with calories. Now comes the good part. If lack of proper hydration contributes to weight gain, how does drinking high pH water from a home water ionizer help you lose weight? First, understand that the ionizer changes your water in several ways. One way is to raise the pH of your water so that it tends to neutralize acid build-up in your body. Another is that the ionizer breaks up the clusters of molecules commonly found in water and turns them into micro-clusters that are much smaller. As a result, water from a home water ionizer passes through cell walls much more easily than other water, and it is about 6 times more easily absorbed. Better absorption equals better hydration. Since drinking adequate amounts of ionized water enables your body to be properly hydrated, and since the micro-clusters enable the water to pass through cell walls much better than normal water, the ionized water gradually washes the accumulated toxic/acidic waste materials from your cells and carries it away. As you lose the waste, you lose the pounds. How much weight you will lose drinking water from a water ionizer depends on how much waste has been stored in your cells. Once the waste material is flushed away (literally), your weight will level out. To lose more weight from that point will require you to diet and exercise just as you would expect. Still, the amount of weight we are talking about losing by drinking ionized water can be substantial. However, everyone is different, so there is no way to accurately predict what any one person will lose. Below are a few real-world examples of people I know personally who have lost substantial weight just by drinking the water from a home water ionizer. All of them will tell you that they did it without changing their normal eating habits or their lifestyle. Also, all of them eventually reached a point where they stopped losing any more weight, but drinking the water has helped them maintain their new lower weight. The next step for all of them is diet and exercise if they want to take off more pounds. Bud is 49 and 6’-5” tall. He enjoys food, and he was drinking a 32 oz. cup of a popular cola every day. Over a period of a few months, Bud’s weight dropped from 300 lbs. to 265 just drinking water from an ionizer. As his body got healthier and his weight dropped, Bud also lost his taste for the cola and has stopped drinking it. He is now starting to exercise with the goal of losing even more. Wesley is 55 and 6’-3” tall. Wesley was 302 pounds and drinking a 6-pack of a popular diet-cola every day when he started drinking the ionized water. After about 6 months, his weight has leveled off in the 243-245 range, and he looks great. Wesley is now thinking about starting a diet to lose more. He says that with the water, he no longer craves the diet-cola, and he has stopped drinking it. Elizabeth is 37 and 5’-4” tall. She loves food, and her weight was 198 lbs when introduced to the ionized water. She has now leveled off at only 144 lbs and has lost several dress sizes. She is excited about wearing shorts this summer, and her husband enjoys showing off pictures of his “new wife.” Darren is 41 and 6’-4” tall. He weighed 335 when he started drinking the ionized water last Thanksgiving. After about 3 months, his weight leveled off at 300 lbs. This is my own testimony. I am 66 years old and 6 ft. tall. I weighed 215 on New Year’s Day when I made my resolution to get my own ionizer and start losing weight. I dropped 20 lbs in less than 2 months, without changing my lifestyle. Since then, maintaining my new weight has been easy. I just drink the water.