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Many Faces of Therapeutic Water

By Dr. James Lembeck

A great deal has been written about the subject of therapeutic water over the past twenty or so years. The reason for this is that the technology to treat, filter and produce drinkable water has changed considerably. The old theories regarding what is considered to be acceptable drinking water, no longer...hold water.

Much of what you will read about water on the web and in other places is marketing hype. In many cases this information is based on myths that are perpetuated by those who are either selling something and are uneducated, or have just not done their research. This is a problem and only confuses the public more than they already are. The bottom line is that water is probably the most therapeutic substance on the planet; you just have to be able to weed through all the hype to find out what has been proven.

What is the answer to this long standing problem regarding the dissemination of inaccurate information? First we have to define what is truly meant by the term `therapeutic water`. There really is no easy answer to this question because it is such a broad term. But suffice it to say that the water you drink from the tap is not therapeutic, but other forms to varying degrees are.

It would require an entirely different article to go into ALL the different `types` of water treatment products that are being offered on the market today, and how beneficial, or not beneficial they are. For example, there are products that make distilled water, reverse osmosis water, softened water, alkalized water, structured water and several others. All of these methods of treating water to alter it, and therefore affect the way the body assimilates and uses the water to varying degrees. Some are better than others, while those that are `no good`...are really NO GOOD.

One of the best ways (although there are several ways to accomplish this task) to treat and restructure water is via electrolysis. What is that and how does it work? Well, first we have to look at what water is (H2O), and then we can look at what the manipulation of water by electrolysis (making negative ions) can do, and how it can change your life.

Water is a very simple molecule; it is so simple that all of us take its presence in our lives for granted. What it all comes down to is that water is made up of charged particles of hydrogen and oxygen. This is a very basic substance, but when taken in and used in the appropriate manner, it can help us to maintain our health far beyond what is thought to be possible by main stream medicine today. We will not go into the finer details here as to the exact mechanism of action by which alkalized/ionized water is made using electrolysis. So if you want to get more detail regarding this process, please check out the Site Map on this web site for more information.

The manipulation of water (Ionized = increasing the negative ions/alkalized = making water more alkaline) can be done in a number of ways. It can be done chemically, electrically and by the use of earth based materials known as minerals.

NOTE: Please keep in mind that the bottled water that you buy at any store, is NOT therapeutic in any way shape or form (other than possibly providing some hydration). Bottled waters look and taste like water; however they can also be classified as `dead`...what does this mean? Well, to show how `active/therapeutic` water is (or alive it is) you would need an ORP (oxygen reduction potential) meter and a pH meter, both of which most people don`t typically carry around with them. But if they did have these tools, they would show them that `dead water` has a much higher positive charge (+200 to +300) than the highly negative (high ORP) therapeutically (-200 to -700) ionized water does. High ORP water contains a much higher free negative electrical charge than bottled, distilled or tap water. With the right equipment the high ORP water can also be manipulated to either decrease or increase its pH.

Some of the researched benefits of drinking ionized/alkalized water are:
1. It may help to normalize insulin and body weight
2. It may help to maintain proper cholesterol levels
3. It can help to normalize your blood pressure
4. It can help to reduce systemic acidity
5. It can help to maintain proper electrolyte activity
6. It may have anti-aging qualities
7. It helps to promote an increase in energy levels
8. It has been shown to increase bone density
9. It can help to regulate digestive health, and increase immune function
10. It can increase hydration levels
11. Some research has been done that shows it may have anti-carcinogenic qualities
12. Alkaline ionized water can be effective in reducing constipation and diarrhea, and can help to treat skin disorders

Regular `bottled water` in many cases has been found to contain water that is really no different than what you get from the TAP. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but for some reason (great marketing) the general public gets the impression that drinking bottled water is somehow better for you. There really isn`t enough room here to go into all the bad points regarding what can be found in `bottled water` (contaminants and other chemicals such as BPA, and estrogenic plastic polymers just to name a few). So how do you get around these issues? Do you have to spend thousands of dollars to buy a beautiful home based electrolysis unit? Thankfully this isn`t the case, and now you can get filtered high ORP and alkaline water that is fully portable and is also affordable. The best place that such a non-electric unit is available right now that has been tested is http://www.ionizers.org/countertop-filter.php. It is called the elita CT-700 Countertop. This is also a great travel friend for those who already have a water ionizer.

As stated, there isn`t enough space here in this article to cover all of the benefits and the mechanisms of action that electrically modified and alkalized water offers. And although some companies sell chemically alkalized water, it is not a recommended format because of the chemicals they use to accomplish this (alkalizing water is only half the equation). So we will concentrate on the mineral based modified water here in this article.

Mineral based modified water can be found in a product called the AOK. It contains minerals in it such as Tourmaline which is also known as `Electronic Stone`, and is mined in Israel, Brazil and China. The reason it is called the Electronic Stone is because when it is exposed to water it begins the process of electrolysis, and it generates negative ions. The production of negative ions `ionizes` waters molecular clusters and decreases their size. One of the reasons that water is so poorly utilized by the body is because of the fact that the molecules in water have a tendency to `cluster` or stick together; this is because of the fact that they carry positive and negative charges that attract each other. The ionization process reduces the size of the clusters, and makes water as a whole more bioavailable.

Another group of minerals in the elita ionizer are called Zeolites, which are a collection of minerals with a honeycomb (four-sided) structure, and have a negative magnetic charge. The benefit of having Zeolites in this product is that they, because of their structure and the magnetic charge draw heavy metals and toxins to them. Zeolite help to pull these toxins and other pollutants out of the water and encapsulates them, making the water you drink more toxin free. NOTE: It is important that only potable water which is approved for drinking be used with the elita CT-700 water ionizer, as this is what it was designed for.

The elita CT-700 also contains Maifanshi and Nano Silver powder. The Maifanshi has the appearance of a big brown ball of rice. Maifanshi absorbs water and many pollutants that water contains such as cadmium, mercury, phthalic acid esters, cyanide and chlorine. Nano-silver powder has been used for decades to help naturally inhibit the effect of dozens of pathogenic micro-organisms such as coliform bacteria, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, trachomatis and much more.

Alkalized and ionized water is one of the most therapeutic agents that you can consume. Water is the basis of all life; it is in many cases the deciding factor between a healthy life and one that is filled with illness and pain. The great part is, now you can take it with you where ever you go!

References:
1. `Science and Technology of Functional Water` (part) by Takashi Hayakawa, Haruffito Tsuge, edited by Water Science Institute, 1999, pp.109-116.

2. `Basics and Effective Use of Alkaline Ionized Water` by Takashi Hayakawa, Haruhito Tsuge, edited by Tetsuji Hc kudou, 25th General Assembly of Japan Medical Congress `Functional Water in Medical Treatment", Administration Offices, 1999, pp. 10- 11.

3. Ye J, Li Y, Hamasaki T, Nakamichi N, Komatsu T, Kashiwagi T, Teruya K, Nishikawa R, Kawahara T, Osada K, Toh K, Abe M, Tian H, Kabayama S, Otsubo K, Morisawa S, Katakura Y, Shirahata S. Inhibitory effect of electrolyzed reduced water on tumor angiogenesis, Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 2008 Jan; 31(1):19-26.

Dr. James Lembeck has been a consultant to the nutrition industry for over twenty five years; he owns a product development and design company (Colorado Therapeutic Enterprises LLC). He has authored well over seven hundred published articles during this time period, as well contributing material for books now in print. You can find a wealth of additional health, herbal and nutrition information on his web site: http://www.health-compendium.com.