Kangen Water - Uses In Japan - Hospitals, Restaurants, Schools, Care Facilities, Hotels

Amazing video showing how Alkaline Ionized Water (Kangen water) is used in Japan.  One patient is able to save the majority of his leg due to soaking his foot in the acidic ionized water and drinking the alkaline ionized water.  Absolutely phenomenal!  The proof is in the pictures! 

The Gift of Ionized Water

The bodies of all living things are composed largely of water. About 70 to 90 percent of all organic matter is water.  All chemical reactions which support life in plants and animals occur in water.  Water is not only providing the mean by which these life sustaining reactions are made possible, but water itself is often a vital reactant or product of these reactions. In basic summary, the chemistry of life IS water.  Again we are reminded of how imperative it is that we consume ample amounts of water each and every day!  However; not all water is created equal.  As consumers we have been conditioned to believe that bottled or purified waters are the purest, and healthiest waters we can drink however, this could not be further from the truth. 

The bottled water industry didn't even exist half a century ago and now it is literally a multi-billion dollar industry!  In 2007, US consumers purchased more than 33 billion liters of bottled water alone!  That is approximately 30 gallons per person on average.  There are numerous bottled waters on the market being sold for a hundred times more than the very water that comes out of our kitchen faucets and are of no higher quality.

Let's talk a moment about the use of plastic to bottle these waters.  Did you know that bottling and shipping water is the least energy efficient method to supply water and that 90% of the cost for bottled waters comes from creating the bottle itself? Approximately 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce one billion plastic bottles.  No big deal because they can be recycled right?  Wrong!  Only about 20% of bottles used are actually recycled which leaves 80% of these bottles going to the dump where they will sit for hundreds of years literally (not at all conducive to a healthy environment).   Not only this but for every 1 kg of oil burned it creates about 3 kg of carbon dioxide. In other words: For each kg of plastic, about 6 kg of carbon dioxide is created during the production and incineration processes (ouch!).  The plastic bottles used are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which can leach harmful chemicals and hormone disruptor's into the water especially when exposed to heat (think about how many times you've left that bottle of water sitting in your hot car in the summer so you could run into the store).  Studies have found fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, disinfectants, and other chemicals in bottled waters as well.  Not to mention that the majority of, if not all, of these waters are acidic in nature and in no way helpful to our bodies.

Purified water is detrimental to anyone who consumes it.  This "dead water" is produced by deionizing (removing all vital minerals), distilling or reverse osmosis and should not be consumed.  If you’re drinking “dead water”, you’re simply not eliminating free radicals nor are you gaining any of the necessary minerals needed to secure a stable environment within your body.  On the contrary, purified water is very acidic and leaches minerals from our bodies doing more harm by increasing oxidation.

Every liquid has either an acid or alkaline pH (potential of hydrogen) and the pH of the liquids we consume have a direct effect on the health of the tissues within our bodies.  As mentioned previously, disease and ailments tend to thrive in acidic environments which means that we should strive to consume alkaline substances such as raw vegetables, fruits and Ionized Water to help fight free radical damage and bring our blood pH into balance.  In other countries around the world where preventative medicine is much more of a focus, one of the basic blood tests taken on an individual is the blood pH. A stable blood pH is absolutely vital in order to keep our bodies in balance (i.e. homeostasis).   

Let's move on to the 'star of the show' as it were.  I'm talking about pure, antioxidant rich, oxygenated, alkaline ionized water!  What is this water you might ask and how can it help me?  Oh boy I am happy you asked!  This is a subject I have recently become extremely passionate about!  This water is truly a gift and the closest thing we will ever find to the fountain of youth!!!  That's a pretty big claim I know but let me tell you why.  Alkaline Ionized Water is by far the most superior drinking water we can consume.  Countries such as Japan, Canada and Australia are already fully aware of the numerous health benefits of this amazing water and use it daily in their hospitals and homes to aid in disease prevention.  Ionized Water is water that is electrically separated using a mean known as electrolysis.  It is created by running our ordinary tap water over negative and positive electrodes which ionizes the minerals in the water.  What is truly amazing (some say where the magic comes in) is when the ionizer separates the positive hydrogen (hydrogen is a very oxidative substance) ions and negative hydroxyl ions to create alkaline and acidic waters.  The two waters are always created simultaneously in the water ionizer at a ratio of 70% Alkaline Ionized Water to 30% Acid Ionized Water (Acid Ionized Water has its very own health benefits which will be covered in a future post).  Through this electrolysis,  H2O clusters are reduced in size making the alkaline water more hydrating and more easily absorbed by our bodies.

Another amazing attribute of this water is its Oxidation Reduction Potential or ORP.  ORP is a measurement of a substance's ability to either encourage or reduce oxidation.  All liquids have an ORP.  We are all aware of how vital it is that we consume antioxidants and Alkaline Ionized Water is by far the most powerful liquid antioxidant known.  Just take a look at the following graph!  Seriously phenomenal! 

Any number above zero indicates that there is a potential for increased oxidation while all numbers below zero are considered antioxidants (our free radical killers).  ORP is honestly the single most important term to familiarize ourselves with.  Although extremely difficult to determine accurately, a person's ORP level would be an amazing way to reveal whether a person is in a state of homeostasis or disease.  When we begin to consistently drink Alkaline Ionized Water we are essentially bathing our tissues in this negatively charged liquid promoting rejuvenation on a cellular level.  Absolutely amazing!

Think about how much better you will be functioning just by consuming this amazing water!  As you can plainly see, consuming Alkaline Ionized Water offers huge benefits to our overall health..  The benefits of adding this superior water to your diet are countless and I haven't even begun to share all Alkaline Ionized Water can do for you and your family! 

If you have questions or would like to hear more about this amazing water, please contact any one of us here at Health-n-Hydration.

Until next time, you have been 'water blogged'...

The Dangers of those 'Other Drinks'

We have heard time and time again that soda and other sugared drinks aren't good for our bodies but in all honesty, I don't believe that many truly know just how dangerous soda in particular is to our overall health.  In upcoming posts we will introduce you more and more to the dangers behind 'acidic' substances and the importance of blood pH and we will introduce you to the many upon many major health benefits of ionized, alkaline water.  In this post however; I want to bring into light the dangers of consuming carbonated drinks.  Here are the top ten reasons why we should never (yes my friends, I said NEVER) consume carbonated drinks. 

1.  Soft drinks are a water thief.  They are a diuretic that steals more water than they provide to the body.  Processing high levels of sugar in soft drinks removes a very large amount of water from the body.  To replace the water stolen from the body by soft drinks, you would need to drink 8 - 12 glasses of water for every ONE glass of soft drinks you consume.

2.  Soft drinks never quench your thirst and certainly not your body's need for water.  Constantly denying your body adequate amounts of water leads to chronic cellular dehydration, a condition which weakens your overall health.  This, in turn, can lead to a weakened immune system and a host of many diseases.  Honestly, if you want to help your body, the most important thing you can do every single day is to GIVE IT WATER!

3.  The elevated levels of phosphates in soft drinks leach vital minerals from the body.  Soft drinks are made with purified water that also leaches vital minerals from the body.  Most vitamins cannot perform their function in the body without the presence of minerals.  The severe lack of minerals can lead to heart disease (lack of magnesium), osteoporosis (lack of calcium), psychiatric disorders (lack of phosphorous) and many other diseases.  Purified water is essentially water which has been physically processed to remove minerals, in turn making the water in consumable.  In other words it becomes "dead water"!  (Ever notice the vast difference in the energy you feel when standing by stagnant water as opposed to the rushing power of a waterfall this is because the water is alive and active and of course, filled with minerals!) When minerals have been removed from water, the water itself becomes hungry for what it is missing.  All things in nature have a natural incline to balance themselves.  When we consume any type of purified water, it immediately latches on to and absorbs the alkaline minerals within our bodies and carries them away with it as it leaves our body.

4.  Soft drinks can remove rust from a car bumper or other metal surfaces.  It's a known fact that pouring a can of Coke on a car battery will indeed eat the battery acid.  YIKES!  Can you even imagine what this stuff is doing to your digestive tract as well as the rest of your body?

5.  The high amounts of sugar in soft drinks causes the pancreas to produce an abundance of insulin, which leads to a "sugar crash".  Chronic elevation and depletion of sugar and insulin levels in the body can lead to diabetes and other hormonal imbalances.  This is particularly harmful and disruptive to growing children and can lead to a host of lifelong health problems.  Just take a look at the climbing obesity rate. 

6.  Soft drinks severely interfere with our digestion.  Caffeine and high amounts of sugar virtually shut down the digestive process.  This means that your body is essentially taking in NO nutrients from the food you consume.  (Starting to ask yourself why you even order that diet Coke with your lunch?)

7.  Many diet soft drinks contain Aspartame, which has been linked to depression, insomnia, neurological disease and a plethora of other illnesses.  The FDA has received thousands of consumer complaints about this sugar substitute.  These complaints account for approximately 80% of all complaints received regarding food additives.

8.  Soft drinks are extremely acidic, so much so that they can eat through the liner of an aluminum can and leach aluminum ions from the can if left sitting on the shelf too long.  Autopsies of Alzheimer patients have revealed high levels of aluminum and other heavy metals lodged within their brains.  Heavy metals in the brain can lead to numerous neurological and psychiatric diseases.  The human body is healthiest at a pH of about 7.0.  Soft drinks have a pH of approximately 2.5, which means you are putting something into your body that is essentially 50,000 times more acidic than your body ought to be.  All diseases, yes ALL, flourish in an acidic environment!

9.  Soft drinks contain large amounts of benzene, eight times that which is allowed in drinking water.  Benzene is a carcinogenic chemical that has been linked to leukemia.  The benzene results from decarboxylation of the preservative benzoic acid in the presence of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) especially under heat and light.

10.  Soft drinks are one of the worst substances you can possibly put in your body.  Don't even think of taking a sip of a soft drink when you are sick with a cold, flu or something worse.  It will only make it that much harder for your body to fight the illness.  This is because of the huge amount of sugar, chemicals and acid liquids you are consuming.  Disease loves it, but your body will not!  Yep, remember when your mom told you to drink that stuff when you were sick?  Not a good idea at all!  Water is the very best element we can offer our body in times of illness.
(These references can be found in Bob McCauley's book "The Miraculous Properties of Ionized Water".)

Until next time... You HAVE been water blogged!

Unhealthy Epidemic

As we all hopefully know by now, Americans are facing a health epidemic. According to a report released in June 2011 by the University of Washington, the United States was ranked #39 in terms of life expectancy (39!!!  38 other countries are leading healthier lifestyles than those of us living in America).  In order to determine how the American life spans stack up internationally, researchers from the United States and the United Kingdom compared life expectancies in the U.S. to a moving average of those in nations with the lowest death rates.  This group includes countries such as Switzerland, Australia, Japan, and Canada. Between the years 2000 and 2007, researchers discovered that more than 80% of U.S. counties fell below the life-expectancy bar set by this group of leading nations even though the United States spends more on health care per capita than any other nation in the world (paraphrased from a news report posted by CNN news on June 16,2011).  This is very alarming!  Although we are learning more and more each day regarding our own health (i.e. lifestyle, exercise, etc) we are missing the boat on one of the most important pieces and keys to longevity. 

By now (hopefully) we all know how important it is to avoid processed foods and include whole, organic foods in our daily food choices and to engage in some form of physical exercise each day (If not, that is an article for another day :).  However; we neglect to visit one of the most vital keys to good health, hydration.  The three main elements needed to sustain life are, oxygen, water and food.  Think about it, when it comes to health our main focus tends to be on diet and exercise.  I'm not saying that hydration isn't mentioned but, when it comes to hydration I don't think that many of us realize how truly important proper hydration is to our overall health!  While we as humans can go anywhere from 10 days to several weeks without food, (The duration of survival without food is greatly influenced by factors such as body weight, genetic variation, other health considerations and, most importantly, the presence or absence of dehydration) it is next to impossible to go more than a day or so without water (yes water and water alone, we'll talk more in a future post about the effects of other liquids on our health).  The person who is well hydrated is always healthier, less toxic, more energetic, retains less water in the extremities, is more mentally alert, is less prone to disease is better equipped to fight disease of every kind and, functions more efficiently overall!  You can never be truly healthy unless you are sufficiently hydrated! 

Water is one of the most important elements for the body.  Every single organ in the body relies heavily on water to function properly.  Think about it, the human body is made up of roughly 69% water. The brain itself is 85% water, the bones are 35% water, the blood is 83% water and the liver (get this) is 90% water.  WOW, that's a lot of aqua!  So when we become dehydrated we are placing our health in serious jeopardy!  According to the National Research Council guidelines we should drink 1 milliliter of water for every calorie of food consumed.  This is approximately half of our body weight in ounces.  The "drink eight, eight ounce glasses of water a day" is simply not true.  Digestion is a dehydrating process all on its own which requires a large amount of water from the body reserves.  The typical diet here in the U.S. consists of dry, cooked and processed foods which require more water.  Raw foods however contain a significant amount of water.  This does not mean that these wonderful raw foods contain enough water to properly hydrate the body because this is simply not true!  We still require a large amount of water to flush our digestive tracts between meals.  Water serves to energize every living cell and organ in the body and is absolutely crucial to healthy bodily functions.  When we become dehydrated the body begins to ration water to each organ.  As the brain is the most important organ it gets most of the water while the skin being least important, is given the least amount.  Chronically dry skin and/or dandruff signify advanced dehydration.  The body is amazing and will adapt to its circumstances and will supply the most important organs with water first.  The brain, heart, and liver will always win in the battle for water but this leaves other functions within the body to suffer.  Researchers have determined that a 1% dehydration causes a 5% drop in athletic performance.  As you can see, it is very difficult for the human body to function without adequate hydration and it is frankly quite impossible to get hydration from any source other than water itself!  Once you start making water, yes WATER the main focus of your daily lifestyle choices you will undoubtedly begin to notice a healthier you!

Thanks so much for visiting!  You have been 'Water blogged'!