My good friend, Hana Dolgin, is a water expert.
She is guest blogging for me this week and has amazing information about how to stay well hydrated and why it’s so important.
What Kind of Drinking Water Best Contributes to Our Health?
By Hana Dolgin, Hydration Consultant
www.watersofhealth.com
You probably know the food you eat has a big impact on your health, but did you realize solid food only makes up a quarter of your body? The other three quarters are water! Especially in our hot climate, drinking ample amounts of pure water is essential to your health. Just going about your daily activities, you lose significant amounts of water through exhalation, sweating and going to the bathroom. Even being just slightly dehydrated affects your energy levels and ability to concentrate..
Can other liquids such as sodas, sports drinks, tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages replace drinking water? The answer is a resounding NO. Just as you cannot wash your clothes in fruit juice or do the dishes with coffee, your body needs water to function properly.
Nowadays, we are surrounded by a multitude of brands of bottled water in stores, with the words “pure”, “natural”, “spring”, “artesian” or “smart” printed on their labels. What are we to drink?
Did you know that, by the time you buy a bottle of water, the water has been in the bottle on average for six months to a year? No matter what its original source was, by the time you drink it, it is stagnant water and may contain bacteria and contaminants. In addition, approximately 45% of bottled water is really tap water (“water from public sources” like Dasani or Aquafina state on their labels) which may have been filtered or processed in some way. You may be paying an exorbitant price for filtered (hopefully) tap water in a bottle! Many labels on bottles don’t even state their water source, how the water has been treated, or if it has been tested. One cannot assume that bottled water is pure and safe just because it has a picture of a snow-capped mountain on it. http://www.ewg.org/research/ewgs-water-week/toxic-tuesday-purity-not-guaranteed
On top of that, plastic bottles, which are made from petroleum, contain many chemicals that leach into the water. Currently, the most notorious one is Bisphenol-A (BPA), which has been found to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical in low doses. http://bangordailynews.com/2011/03/23/opinion/bpa-is-modern-day-lead/?ref=search
It interferes with normal hormonal balance, especially in developing fetuses and infants. It affects the receptors involved in metabolism, obesity and brain signaling. Some studies have linked BPA to breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, obesity, learning disabilities and reproductive health problems. Plastic bottles get heated up while stored in warehouses, transported in trucks, or sitting on the shelf in your grocery store, and the BPA gets into the water you end up drinking.
Considering that water makes up more than 90% of your blood, and more than 80% of your brain, do you really want to drink water mixed with toxic chemicals?
So What About Tap Water?
Tap water is regulated according to the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency for certain contaminants and pollutants. However, in a series of articles which appeared in the NY Times in 2009, it was revealed that thousands of chemicals known to be harmful are not currently regulated. In addition, chlorine is added to the water to kill bacteria, but has detrimental effects on human health. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/us/17water.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
A series of articles published by the Associated Press revealed that many pharmaceuticals have been found in small quantities in public water sources. There is no current requirement to test for these drugs, such as contraceptives, anti-depressants and antibiotics that are finding their way into our public drinking water sources. http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/pharmawater_site/
So what should you drink? What are the properties that you should look for to assure yourself the maximal health benefits that water can provide?
Alkaline pH
Our body functions best when we have a slightly alkaline pH. As a result of food and drink choices, environmental pollutants and stress, our pH tends to become more acidic. Excess acidity has been linked to a breakdown of many systems in the body http://www.drlam.com/articles/acidosis.asp. Drinking water with an alkaline pH, which is found in nature in certain springs and glaciers, is beneficial to keep our body functioning optimally, and reduce the accumulation of acid waste in our cells. However, most of us aren’t fortunate enough to live near a natural source of alkaline water.
Anti-Oxidant Properties
The cells of our body are subject to oxidation. Just as a metal nail that gets wet will rust, or an apple that is cut and left outside will turn brown, so do the cells of your body oxidize. The process of oxidation has to do with a loss of electrons in molecules or atoms. Anti-oxidant foods, like natural fruits and vegetables, green tea and vitamin C, are rich in electrons, which counteract the process of oxidation. Water can also be charged with free electrons which make it a true anti-oxidant that reduces inflammation, and prevents the “rusting” of our cells and genetic material. Excessive oxidation has been linked to premature aging and degenerative disease.
Micro-Clustering
Many people feel bloated after drinking a few cups of water and have a hard time drinking enough water daily to be properly hydrated. This has to do with the fact that water molecules clump together in clusters. When the clusters are large, as they tend to be in tap, filtered and bottled water (10 – 18 molecules per cluster), the water is unable to penetrate our cells efficiently, and much of it ends up going through our bodies without truly hydrating us. Water that has hexagonal clusters (like you see in photos of beautiful six-sided snowflakes) is able to truly hydrate us, efficiently transporting nutrients into our cells and removing waste.
The Solution: Drink Kangen® Water
Kangen® water is produced by a small device that attaches to a faucet and electrical outlet. It first filters tap water without removing the essential minerals. This filtered water then goes through an additional process that creates alkaline drinking water that is rich in oxygen, which provides increased energy, and is strongly antioxidant, thus protecting our cells from damage by free radicals. Kangen® water has a smooth texture and does not cause bloating like other waters. The American Anti-Cancer Institute recommends drinking Kangen® water to prevent and treat cancer. This is due to a discovery by Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr. Otto Warburg that cancer thrives in acidic pH, low oxygen environments and cannot survive in an alkaline, high-oxygen environment. Kangen® water machines also produce several additional waters with many uses for skin care, cleaning and disinfecting, as well as for removing pesticides from produce, so you can truly enjoy a green and healthy life.
To learn more about Kangen water, please contact Hana at www.watersofhealth.com
