Water – The Elixir Of Life!

Water is the elixir of life!

Water is a key ingredient for our health and well-being because our bodies are 66–72% water.

Blood uses water to transport oxygen, nutrients, and antibodies to all parts of the body. In this article I’m going t expand on the best waters for your health, as well as details to help you make better water choices for you and your family.

Many illnesses are actually a result of dehydration, so it is important to maintain an adequate intake of water throughout the day. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, MD,  treated and cured approximately 3,000 prisoners suffering from what he called chronic intracellular dehydration.

The “water cure” he prescribes is:

Sufficient water. Drink an ounce of water for every two pounds of body weight daily.

Sea salt. Put 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt on the tongue with every 16 ounces of water.

Be mindful of the source of the water you drink, bathe, and swim in. Almost all public water supplies have chemicals added, including chlorine and sodium fluoride—both of which are poisons.

Chlorine was the first poison developed for warfare. It destroys Vitamin E in the body and the good probiotics in the intestines. “Industrial chemist J.P. Bercz, PhD, showed in 1992 that chlorinated water alters and destroys unsaturated essential fatty acids (EFAs), the building blocks of people’s brains and central nervous systems.”(1) Our skin is our largest organ. While showering or swimming in chlorinated water, chlorine is absorbed directly into the skin and enters the bloodstream in the same way we absorb medication delivered by a skin patch. Research linking swimming in chlorinated pools to medical conditions continues to make headlines. Studies indicate, among other things, that swimming in chlorinated water may increase the risk of developing cancer and may damage the lungs.(2)

Sodium fluoride is a byproduct of the manufacture of aluminum and fertilizers, and can be contaminated with lead and arsenic. It is commonly added by governments to our municipal water supply on the pretext that it is good for our teeth and health, but the dental studies upon which this practice is based were done using calcium fluoride, not sodium fluoride.

Fluoride has been used in Chinese medicine as a tranquilizer, and also in many places as a rat poison. The chemically derived fluorides added to our water are completely different from naturally occurring fluoride.

Recently, a study has shown that dangers associated with fluoride have been hidden from the public, and that fluoride causes neurological damage.

According to Dr. Paul Connett, PhD:

“Fluoride is a cumulative poison. On average, only 50 percent of the fluoride we ingest each day is excreted through the kidneys. The remainder accumulates in our bones, pineal gland, and other tissues. If the kidney is damaged, fluoride accumulation will increase, and with it, the likelihood of harm.”(3)

Fluoride affects the thyroid gland and all of our enzymatic systems. Side effects from fluoride ingestion include weight problems, damage to the immune system, and other serious disorders. Fluoride affects people of different ages differently. According to Dr. Connett:

“The level of fluoride put into water (1 ppm) is up to 200 times higher than normally found in mothers’ milk (0.005–0.01 ppm) (Ekstrand, 1981; Institute of Medicine, 1997). There are no benefits, only risks, for infants ingesting this heightened level of fluoride at such an early age. (This is an age where susceptibility to environmental toxins is particularly high.)”(4)

I learned recently about a study from 2001 on fluoride and osteosarcoma, which was a critical study in the form of Dr. Elise Bassin’s PhD dissertation at Harvard University. It found a strong, statistically significant relationship between “fluoride exposure during the sixth through eighth years of life (the ‘mid-childhood growth spurt’) and the later development of osteosarcoma among young males.”(5)

Dr. Bassin’s thesis was extremely well-researched and detailed, with accurate assessments of her subjects and the content of their drinking water. Her work detected a direct association with fluoride and osteosarcoma. Her work and her findings show:

“Bone is the principal site for fluoride accumulation within the body, and the rate of accumulation is elevated during the periods of bone development. Thus, the cells in the bone, particularly during the growth spurts, may be exposed to some of the highest fluoride concentrations in the body.”(6)

Her study shows that fluoride is toxic and carcinogenic. Osteosarcoma, a rare form of cancer, appears in young men in their late teens and early twenties. Her research and her findings have never been disproven.

I then looked back at where fluoride was first introduced as the way to prevent tooth decay, and at the study used to promote it. It was a study done in the cities of Newburgh and Kingston, NY, which are 40 miles apart. However, a 1995 review of tooth decay in these communities found:

“After 10 years of the trial (which was methodologically flawed), it looked as if there was a large decrease in dental cavities in the fluoridated community, compared to the non-fluoridated community. However, when children were re-examined in these two cities in 1995 (50 years after the trial began), there was practically no difference in the dental decay in the two communities. If anything, the teeth in the non-fluoridated Kingston were slightly better.”(7)

It looks like to me like there was a study, with no long-term effect yet in place, promoting the use of fluoride in our water to provide better dental health. Yet as long-term studies were done, they found that was actually not the case. It did not help with dental health, and, in fact, adding this toxic chemical to the water supply was found to cause many other health problems.

It was added in a way that was not regulated in dosage or concentration, thus causing a cumulative effect in people’s bodies.

Then, consider the numerous studies done by leading dental researchers showing results that the mechanisms of fluoride’s benefits were mainly “topical not systemic,” meaning that fluoride worked some when they put it on teeth topically. It didn’t work when ingested.(8)

Studies show that dental decay has been declining in every country at about the same rate, even since before fluoride was introduced. Decay rates are still declining, whether the countries have fluoride or not.(9,10) Is it because the toothbrush was introduced? Maybe our hygiene has just improved over the last decade.

What I realize from my research is that ingested fluoride can cause severe health problems, including and not limited to thyroid health problems,(11,12,13) brittle bones,14 and cancer.(15,16) Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Norway, and France do not put fluoride in their water. Some of these countries have made it illegal to add it to the water supply.

Huge numbers of Safe Drinking Water Act violations are reported each year by water treatment facilities. Many areas have old, dirty water pipes, and some even have really old lead pipes. New Scientist reported that a comprehensive survey of US drinking water showed it contained an array of hormonally active chemicals like MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether)—a chemical found in fuel, and a potential human carcinogen in high doses—and atrazine, a US pesticide that was banned in the European Union. Atrazine has been linked to reproductive problems in lab animals and is also linked to both breast cancer and prostate cancer.

In 2010, National Geographic reported that drinking water in schools in 27 states was contaminated with toxic substances, including lead.(17) In 2009, the Associated Press analyzed data from the EPA and found the public water for approximately 100 school districts contained lead, pesticides, and other toxins.(18) If they are being pumped into schools, then they are probably being pumped into homes and businesses as well.

So, what do we do? We need to drink water.

What is the best choice?

Reverse osmosis is a very good method for filtering water.

Natural spring water, well water, or fresh water sources contain minerals and nutrients, so they are good options. When drinking purified bottled water, you can add some minerals, like a pinch of sea salt. When you do this, your body won’t need to pull minerals from itself to process the water.

Bottled water is what most people choose a good deal of the time, but is that a great choice?

Here are eight things you should know about bottled water.

1. The EPA standards of the Clean Water Act do not apply to bottled water. There is very little regulation on bottled water, which is why I recommend having your own filter. The labels on bottled water often show springs with clear fresh water. But 25–45% of the bottled water is actually just TAP WATER! Not only that, but tap water is at least regulated and tested hundreds of times a month. The bottled water is only required to be tested once a week.

Some independent tests by the EWG of 10 major brands of bottle water have shown 38 pollutants, including disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue, and pain medication.(19 )“Two of the 10 brands tested, Walmart’s and Giant’s store brands, bore the chemical signature of standard municipal water treatment—a cocktail of chlorine disinfection byproducts, and for Giant water, even fluoride. In other words, this bottled water was chemically indistinguishable from tap water.”(20)

2. Bottled water is environmentally harmful from a community standpoint and a landfill standpoint. I’m from Texas, and Ozarka is draining many of the underground aquifers that the communities and farmers depend on for their water. Another major brand, FIJI Water, is draining the Fiji islands’ aquifer. Today they suffer from drought, crumbling pipes, and antiquated water treatment plants, but access to what should really be their water is denied them.  In fact, “53 percent of the people who live in Fiji don’t have access to clean, safe water.” (21) Ironically, tests conducted by the Cleveland water department on FIJI water found that it contained much more arsenic and other contaminants than Cleveland tap water.(22)

3. Store water in glass containers, not plastic. The potentially hazardous chemical BPA is found in many plastic containers. BPA is a hormone disrupter. Studies have concluded that hormone-altering chemicals are damaging, even in very small doses. Scientific studies have linked BPA to asthma, cancer, infertility, low sperm count, heart disease, liver problems, early-onset diabetes, early puberty, and ADHD.(23)

It can leach into water for various reasons, including when a water-filled plastic container heats up— especially if it is left sitting in a hot car. Some would say to only use plastic containers marked with #2, #4, or #5 on the bottom, because they are supposedly safer. But really, thousands of chemical additives are added to plastics. Additives called “plasticizers” are used to soften plastic. PVC, one of the “plasticizers,” contains phthalates, which are known to disrupt the endocrine system.(24) Phthalate chemicals have also been found to be carcinogenic.(25)

Studies have found that when plastics are heated, by leaving them in a hot car or washing them in a dishwasher, this increases the leaching of chemicals. Bottled water often travels many miles and through many climates, so the chance of it getting heated up at some point in its journey is very real.

4. Plastic pollution is a worldwide crisis. It’s a problem worldwide, but the plastic pollution in oceans is massive. I previously served as secretary of the Earth Society affiliated with the UN. I currently volunteer with a non-profit organization trying to restore life and natural balance to the sea grasses and sea life off the Texas coast. What I’ve learned is really shocking. New research published in PLOS One estimates “more than five trillion pieces of plastic, collectively weighing nearly 269,000 tonnes, are floating in the world’s oceans, causing damage throughout the food chain”.(26) There is an island of plastic in the Pacific Ocean that is as large as the state of Texas.(27) Water bottles are a large part of the plastic pollution. The US alone will discard, on average, 38 billion water bottles a year.

5. More than a million marine species are killed every year due to plastic pollution. Getting caught in plastic litter is a major cause of death of seabirds, sea turtles, seals and other marine mammals. Plastic ingested by sea life cause excruciating deaths. We all suffer as a result of this. And if you eat fish because you think it will be good for your health, remember you are ingesting whatever the fish have ingested as well.

6. Plastic manufacturing, which uses petroleum or natural gas, requires a huge amount of energy and resources. It’s estimated that over 17 million barrels of oil are required to produce the water bottles in the US alone.

7. Manufacturing water bottles causes air pollution. Phthalates, the chemicals used to make some plastics soft, are toxic and are constantly releasing these toxins into our air and environment, wherever they are.

8. About 80% of water bottles are not recycled. Most of them end up on beaches and roadways, and in streams.

If you want to continue to drink water, but you don’t want to use plastic water bottles, what do you do? You can’t drink the tap water. We’ve already become aware of the pollutants in that. So, I recommend using a water filter in your home, and filling your own glass or steel water bottle. This will cut down on the plastic-infused water and the huge amount of pollution the plastic water bottles cause.

There are many options for home water filters, ranging from carbon to reverse osmosis to home distillers. People ask me about the less expensive pitchers with the carbon filters. Many don’t remove enough of the contaminants, and most are unable to remove fluoride. Reverse osmosis systems produce extremely pure water, and they can be an excellent solution. But, they have always needed to be installed under the sink, and they can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars depending on the size you want.  Then, buying new filters for them can be a major cost each year as well.

I’ve been researching water filtration systems for the home for over 30 years. But recently, I learned about a brand new countertop reverse osmosis unit that is very affordable, requires no installation fees, and has minimal maintenance costs.  This unit is called the AquaTru. It is a high-quality, affordable filter that can be a fantastic solution for someone who wants safe, delicious, environmentally conscious water for their family.

The AquaTru is a countertop unit that takes only a few minutes to set up. It’s easily movable, and it doesn’t require any plumbing. It utilizes a patented four-stage process that removes chlorine, salt and metal ions (including fluorides), VOC gasses, and many other contaminants. In fact, tests showed the AquaTru removed 128 contaminants.

The best part of all is probably the price. A quality reverse osmosis system can easily cost $650 or more, plus installation, and hundreds of dollars per year in maintenance costs. But this one sells for $349.

Click here to get yours today for your home and your family.

The shower filter  for removing chlorine and fluoride that my family uses is the Ava shower filter.
Click here. to see it on Amazon.

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