WATER
FOR HEALTH AND LONGEVITY
by Dr. Lawrence Wilson
December 2020, LD Wilson Consultants, Inc.
All information in
this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure
of any disease or health condition.
WARNING: We do not recommend Deer Park Spring Water at this
time. It may be contaminated.
Table Of Contents
Recommendations
Drinking Water
Principles
Shower and Bath
Filters
II.
DETAILS – WHICH WATER TO DRINK
Municipal tap water
Well water
Spring water
Distilled water
Reverse osmosis
water
Carbon filtration
Other types of
filtration (including alkaline water, open water and others)
Summary
Water is not only
the most essential substance next to oxygen for human life. It is also complex, often containing
hundreds of dissolved minerals and chemicals. It is indeed a marvelous substance.
Water for drinking
is a whole
food. For this reason, we
find that altering it usually damages it, like refining food. The exceptions are just filtering the water
through carbon, a carbon block or a sand filter. Ozonation of water is also okay.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The reasons for these
recommendations are given later in this article.
1. Adults needs to
drink about 3 quarts or 3 liters (about 96 ounces) of water daily. If you weigh over about 250 pounds,
have a very physical job, do a lot of physical exercise daily, or perhaps if
you live in a very hot and dry climate, you may need a little more.
Drinking more than
this, by the way, is not as good.
If you need to drink more than about 3 quarts or 3 liters of water
daily, and yet you feel dehydrated or thirsty, or if you have pain in your
kidneys or leg cramps, most likely you are drinking the wrong kind of water.
Here is what to do:
- Avoid reverse osmosis water
- If you are drinking spring water, try a
different brand. Alternatively,
drink carbon-only filtered tap water if it is safe to drink. Most tap water hydrates the body.
2. Do not count other
beverages as part of your water intake, except mild, non-caffeinated teas. Coffee, caffeinated teas, coconut
water, juices, or other beverages do not hydrate the body nearly as well as
water.
3. The best kinds of water to drink are either spring water
(this is usually best) or in America one can drink tap water filtered with only
either carbon or a sand filter.
4. Drink a variety of spring waters. If you drink spring water, alternate the brand you drink, if at
all possible.
Recomended Brands are:
European: Evian, Icelandic Glacial, Icelandic Spring, Aqua Panna, Volvic, Evamor and Voss (but not most other European brands).
American: Simple Truth Artesian Water, Simply Sedona, Walmart,
Whole Foods (365), Ozarka, Resource, Trader Joes,
Sprouts, and Alpine Pure.
Canadian: Artesian Spring, Mt. Doug Spring, Canadian Springs, Salt Spring Island Water, (B.C). You may have a tablespoon of Ice Age Premium
Glacial Water per cup of spring or other water, but not. The reason is it is very low in
minerals.
Asian/Pacific: Hawaiian Springs, Waikea, Ka-Vita, Eternal (from New Zealand).
5. Do not drink much with meals. Drink only a small cup of water with meals to take your
nutritional supplements, and not more.
More than this dilutes your stomach acid and harms digestion quite a
lot, in some cases.
6.
An excellent idea is to drink about a quart or a liter of water upon arising
and at least half an hour before breakfast. This will
usually provoke a bowel movement and gets the day off to a good start. When you wake up, just relax and
drink.
You may feel a little like you
are floating away, and you will urinate more than usual until the water has
passed from your system, but it is often the best way to make sure you drink
enough water.
It
is also often necessary to drink water at night if you wake up. Formerly, this article recommended against drinking water at
night, but we find it necessary, at least for some people. Otherwise they get leg cramps, pain in
the back (kidney pain) or other symptoms when they wake up or even during the
night.
A nice idea, but not
necessary, is that if you buy spring water in plastic bottles and if you have
time, empty it into a glass bottle when you arrive home. It stays a little purer and more potent
this way.
WATERS TO AVOID
Please avoid:
1.
Trinity Water, as it is much too high in fluoride.
2. Deer Park spring water.
3. Many European brands. These include Perrier, and others.
4. All brands that are labeled, drinking water or purified
water. This includes Aqua Fina, Dasani, Bal, electrolyte waters, and many others.
Do not be fooled by fancy sounding
names or fancy bottling. These
bottled waters are just tap water, often produced by reverse osmosis, which
damages the water.
Adding minerals to the water does
not fix the serious problems of few minerals in the water and their inability
to hydrate the body properly.
5. Alkaline waters of all
kinds.
6. Distilled water, except
perhaps for a few days during a healing reaction.
Distilled water and reverse osmosis water will demineralize
the body. Read labels because some
distilled water says in fine print made with reverse osmosis. Stay away in this case.
Adding
minerals to distilled water damages the hydrating ability of the water.
7.
Water from water machines found at supermarkets, for example. These are made by reverse osmosis.
8.
Water from water stores. This is usually made with reverse
osmosis, in our experience.
9. Well water, in many cases. Some well water is fine, but it is very variable due to
agricultural and industrial contamination, and other factors.
10. Tap
water, except in America or other nations where you can safely drink it if it is
filtered with carbon or sand only. Tap water is not
ideal because it usually has added aluminum and chlorine, and perhaps other
chemicals. However, it often hydrates the body
well. If this is all you can find
or afford, then filter it with simple carbon or a sand filter.
In America, tap water is carefully
regulated and is usually safe to drink.
However, at least use a Britta or other simple carbon filter to remove
chlorine, and change the filter about once a month. In other nations, the safety of tap water varies. In many nations, it is not used for
drinking.
11. Multiple stage filters, in most cases.
We do not recommend any multi-stage water filters. They all tend to damage the water.
Some of them use reverse osmosis, which
removes beneficial minerals and damages the water so that it does not hydrate
the body as well.
Others use various chemicals such as zinc or copper that
also damage the water. We would
avoid them all. Carbon and carbon
block filters are safe, however, provided you change the filters regularly.
12. Other designer waters. These include Penta Water, Vitamin Water,
Smart Water, and others. We
suggest avoiding all of these. They often begin with reverse osmosis water and
this is damaged water.
Alkaline
water is popular because it will make you feel better for a while. However, it is always damaged water
that may not hydrate the body as well, and is much more yin, which is a
damaging quality in all cases.
13. Structured water.
This can mean various things and usually involves multi-stage filters
that we find damage the water.
Other
cautions about water:
1.
Always read labels carefully to see if bottled water is actually spring water,
or just filtered tap water. Unless it says spring water, it is not spring water.
2. We do not suggest water
that has been altered by adding minerals, prayers or by other processes.
Many of these are available today.
They often do not hydrate the body well. Also, most of them begin with tap water and use reverse
osmosis to filter the water. This
is not good.
Plastic bottles. In our experience,
spring water that comes in plastic bottles is perfectly safe.
However, to get rid
of a little plastic residue, you can pour the water from the plastic bottles
into glass bottles. Discard a tiny
amount in the bottom of the plastic bottle, which will contain a lot of the
plastic residue.
If you dont want to
buy plastic bottles, you may be able to have water delivered in recycled
plastic bottles, or you may find a local spring by visiting http://www.findaspring.com.
3. The second best type of drinking water is usually carbon-only
filtered tap water if it is safe in your nation. You can also use a Berkey sand
filter. Use the following cautions
with tap water:
A. Do not drink softened water, whether it is
softened by salt tablets or potassium tablets.
B. Be careful with well water. Most of it is not that good in the United States, and
elsewhere.
C. Use only a carbon filter or other natural filter. Do not use a multi-stage filter to
remove fluoride, lead, etc. These
usually damage the water in some subtle way, in our experience.
D. If your tap water contains toxic metals or toxic chemicals, the
following may help: 1) let it sit
for a day to let the minerals settle to the bottom. Then pour off and drink the water without the minerals. OR
2) boil the water. Then let it sit
for a day, and then pour off and drink the water after the minerals have
settled on the bottom of the pot.
4. To be well-hydrated, stay away from
all substances that tend to dehydrate the body. These are 1) caffeine in
any form, 2) sugars
and sweets of all types, and 3) alcohol in any form and amount.
Sugars includes
fruits, juices, fructose, rice milk, almond milk, soy milk, rice syrup, honey,
agave nectar, other sweeteners, coconut milk, coconut water, coconut crme and
all other sweet foods and beverages of any type.
The only juice we
suggest is 10-12 ounces of preferably fresh or store-bought carrot juice or 1-2
ounces of wheat grass juice daily.
For the fastest development, do not drink other juices.
7. Water for cooking. If you plan to
drink the cooking water, as occurs with pressure-cooking, or in soups, then
the best would be spring water or carbon-only filtered tap water if it is safe
to drink.
For steaming or
boiling red meat, any type of water will do.
We do not recommend
watery soups. Too much water with
food dilutes the digestive juices.
If you want to have soup, it should be thick and not watery, or have
only a small cup of soup as an appetizer.
DRINKING WATER PRINCIPLES
This
is an important part of this article.
Otherwise, the recommendations above may not make sense.
1. The type and amount of water one drinks is an essential aspect
of health and healing. Every week, we
encounter a person who is not progressing on a development program due to
drinking an improper type or not enough drinking water. If this continues for several years, it
can ruin ones health.
2. Using any amount of CAFFEINE, SUGARS (INCLUDING FRUIT AND
JUICES), or ALCOHOL tends to dehydrate the body by causing water loss.
3. The material in this article is based wholly on clinical
experience. Theories abound
regarding which water to drink and how much. We dont consider them too much because ultimately, what is
important is what works in the body to promote health.
4. Water is more than a beverage. It is a particular type of energy that we need in a
certain amount on a daily basis.
If we do not obtain it, health is negatively impacted.
5. Pure water processed only by nature is a type of whole
food. It not only flushes toxins
from the body and supplies many needed minerals, but
impacts the body in many other subtle ways. Like other whole foods, when it is tampered with, water loses
most of its precious healing properties.
6. Water processing. It
is okay if spring water is filtered with carbon, carbon block, or a sand
filter. Also okay is ozonating water or passing water by an ultraviolet light.
Sparkling water. Sparkling water
(water with bubbles) is fine.
Adding simple (non-sugar) flavoring found in some sparkling water is
also okay, though not ideal.
Other processing is not good. This includes multi-stage filters,
alkalinizing water, adding minerals, adding sodium bicarbonate, or other
additives.
Copper pipes. Running spring water
through copper or steel pipes also does not ruin it, as some health authorities
contend.
7. Most people do not drink enough pure water. Adults need about 3 quarts or 3 liters
daily, and perhaps a little more if you weigh over 250 pounds or 110 kilograms,
do physical labor or vigorous exercise daily, and perhaps more if one lives in
a very dry or hot climate.
8. Desirable drinking water qualities, in their order of
importance, are:
a) Ability to
hydrate the body. This is the
most underrated quality of drinking water. Some types of water, such as reverse
osmosis and even distilled water, do not hydrate the body as well as
others.
This means that for
some reason the body cannot use the water very well. One could say it is biologically unavailable to the body
cells. This is a complex
phenomenon, but it is true.
b) Purity. This means the
water does not contain too many toxic metals, toxic chemicals, radiation, other
harmful energies, or biological toxins such as bacteria, fungi, parasites or
viruses.
c) More yang. Yang is a physics
quality that means warm, compact and with downwardly and inwardly moving
energy. This quality of water
depends mainly on its mineral content and its acidity.
The best water from
this perspective contains the alkaline reserve minerals, some trace and
ultra-trace minerals, and has a fairly neutral pH or acidity level.
d) The correct minerals.
This is very important, as well.
SHOWER AND BATH WATER FILTERS
This article is about drinking
water. For showers and baths, any
filter is okay. A number of
companies sell filters that remove some chlorine, and perhaps fluoride or other
elements from shower or bath water.
These are fine to use, as is a
whole house reverse osmosis system, as long as you dont drink the water. Most of the shower filters I have seen
use KDF or other types of filters.
This is fine for showers and baths.
II. DETAILS – WHICH WATER TO DRINK
Finding
pure water to drink has been a problem for humanity for ages. Water for drinking either comes from surface water
sources such as rivers and lakes, or from underground wells, springs or deep
aquifers.
Water is often classified as hard or soft. Hard water just means it contains more
calcium or lime. Soft water means
it contains less dissolved calcium and often other
minerals. Surface water tends to
be softer water, while ground water tends to be hard in many cases. Popular types of water I will discuss
are:
1. Tap water
2. Well water
3. Spring water
4. Distilled water
5. Reverse osmosis water
6. Carbon filtration
7. Other types of filters and treatments. These include water softeners,
electrical processes and others.
Let us examine each method in more detail.
1. MUNICIPAL TAP WATER
Tap water in most locations
comes from either large wells, or from lakes, rivers or reservoirs constructed
specially for the purpose of supplying drinking water. Building and maintaining the water
supply is often the most costly public service provided by cities and
towns. Most cities are proud of
their water system and do not hesitate to recommend it for drinking. In the United States, in particular, public drinking water is heavily regulated by the Environmental
Protection Agency or EPA.
Advantages
of tap water. Most important, tap water seems to
hydrate the body well, in most cases.
It also contains a wide variety of minerals that provide vital trace
minerals for the body, in most instances.
It is also inexpensive and convenient. In the United States, but not in most nations, tap water is
not contaminated with bacteria, viruses and parasites. However, in other nations tap water may
need to be boiled to kill pathogenic micro-organisms.
Disadvantages
of tap water. These include contamination with
metals and toxic chemicals, and the addition of more toxic chemicals used to
sanitize the water. Among the
contaminants are small quantities of toxic metals and hundreds of toxic
chemicals depending on the location.
Another important contaminant is the residue from dozens of medical
pharmaceutical drugs. These are
explained in the sections below:
Excessive toxic metals. Many city water supplies, especially wells, contain some
excessive amounts toxic metals or toxic amounts or forms of other minerals. Common toxic metals include arsenic and
lead, which are found in many pesticides and herbicides and find their way into
the wells and other water supplies.
At times, these are difficult to remove from large amounts of water, so
they are just left there even if the water violates environmental standards,
especially in poorer nations.
Other minerals that often
contaminate drinking water include too much iron, manganese, boron and copper
depending on the location.
One way to remove some of these
easily is to let a pitcher or pot full of tap water sit for a day and some of
the metals will settle to the bottom of the pot. You can then pour off the water, leaving most of the
minerals in the bottom of the pot.
You may lose some beneficial minerals this way, but it is one way to
remove some toxic metals, as well.
Medical drugs in the tap water. Today, most city water also contains residues of many
medical drugs that do not break down fast enough and are recycled in the water
supply. This is a complete horror
that has not received nearly the publicity it deserves. Most medical drugs including many
antibiotics, heart medicines, birth control pills, and hundreds of others pass
right through the body unaltered.
They do not biodegrade quickly, and are literally recycled in many
communities and go back into the drinking water.
Chemicals
used to sanitize water – chlorine, aluminum, copper and fluoride. Cities and towns often add
aluminum compounds to water to make solid matter clump and fall to the bottom
of holding tanks used at most water treatment plants. While it removes solid matter, aluminum finds it way into
the drinking water. Excessive
aluminum is found in most people's tissue mineral tests. High levels are associated with memory
impairment and dementia.
Copper
or bromine. City water
companies may also add copper and other chemical compounds to reduce the growth
of certain harmful algae and molds in reservoirs. While copper is a nutrient mineral, most people have too
much of it in their bodies. Vegetarian
diets are high in copper. Weak
adrenal glands cause copper accumulation.
Birth control pills raise copper and copper intra-uterine devices can
drastically raise one's copper level.
Copper toxicity is
extremely common and can cause depression, anxiety, mood swings, panic attacks,
fatigue, headaches, skin rashes and even cancer. Over half the mineral analyses I see reveal elevated levels
of tissue copper. For more on
copper, read Copper Toxicity Syndrome.
The
fluoride abomination.
Although laws in America such as the Clean Water Act of 1974 prohibits
adding any substance to drinking water except to make it safe, many communities
in the USA and Great Britain, in particular, have been convinced by ignorant
and corrupt health authorities to add fluorides to their drinking water. These chemicals are poisons, and are
sold as rat poison, in fact.
Fluoride does not reduce tooth decay in most studies of it. Any health
authority who reviews the data in an unbiased way
would never recommend adding fluorides to drinking water. In fact, some medical studies show more
tooth decay in fluoridated areas.
All nations except the United States and some parts of Great Britain and
Australia have given up the practice based on the research and on the principle
of people's right to choose whether or not to have their water medicated .
Adding fluoride has nothing to do with the safety of the water, and in
fact makes it much more toxic.
Fluorides
are very toxic chemicals, considered as toxic as mercury or lead. Also, the compound often used, hydrofluosilicic acid, is not pure fluoride but rather a
smokestack waste product from fertilizer factories that is about 30%
fluoride. It contains heavy
metals, kerosene, benzene, radioactive substances and other toxins.
Adding smokestack
waste to drinking water is, in the author's opinion, criminally insane. Anyone who drinks it is foolish and
insane. The facts are available to
anyone who cares to learn about them.
Naturally occurring fluorides are almost as bad and should be avoided at
all cost. For more on
fluoridation, read Water Fluoridation on this
website.
Chlorination of tap
water. To remove bacteria,
viruses and other microorganisms, almost all city water companies add chlorine
to the drinking water in America.
This works, but chlorination is highly toxic to human beings and
animals.
Some researchers
assert that a major reason for the drastic rise in heart disease in the early
20th century in Europe and America was the addition of chlorine to
the drinking water. Chlorination
of drinking water probably also contributes to cancer and other illnesses, as
chlorine is so toxic.
Ozone
as an alternative. A few
American cities including Los Angeles, and some parts of Europe, use ozone to
purify their water supply. Ozone
is O3, an unstable form of oxygen that is known to kill almost all pathogenic
organisms. Its only drawback is it
does not stay in the water as long as chlorine does.
Ozonation is much safer,
cheaper and more healthful than chlorination. It will come into wider use as scientists realize the damage
chlorine does to humans, animals and plant life.
Summary. Tap water, if unfiltered, often has too many toxic metals
and chemicals in it to be good for drinking. This is variable depending on location. If tap water is filtered with carbon only
(see below), then it will hydrate the body and can be used for drinking, but is
not usually as good as a high quality spring
water. Note that carbon can remove
some chlorine, but not fluorides.
2. WELL WATER
Well water can be fine, but
often it is contaminated today.
This is especially the case if one lives in a location that either is or
was used for industry or for agriculture.
Sadly, this includes most of the Eastern USA and the Midwest USA, and
many parts of other nations as well.
Even
if your location is pristine, wells can easily become contaminated, especially
with minerals such as iron, manganese, and occasionally others, too.
State
testing laboratories cannot or will not test for hundreds of toxic chemicals
and they often dont even test for contaminants such as high levels of
manganese. I know this to be a
problem in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in the United States, for example,
based on many hair mineral test results.
If
you have a well, try to check carefully before using it for drinking
purposes. Most of the time, I find
I have to tell people with wells not to drink their well water, unfortunately.
3. SPRING WATER
That
which is called spring water can be from various sources:
-Some is melted glacial
ice. This water usually has a low
level of total dissolved solids and minerals. An example is Ice Age Glacial water, Icelandic spring water and
Whistler Glacial water.
- Some is from reservoirs.
- Some is from aquifers, which
are large underground lakes, essentially.
- Some is from streams that flow
through the earth and bubble up to the surface in certain places.
It is good to drink a mix of
these waters, as they are all somewhat different.
Most spring water has been
evaporated from the earth and in this way distilled. Then it has fallen to the earth and been mineralized and
filtered by passing through layers of rock and soil.
Regulation. In most nations, spring water is highly regulated by the
government for purity and mineral content.
Warning: Some Arrowhead spring or
drinking water may contain added lithium.
This is not healthful, and not easy to identify. For this reason, I would avoid all
Arrowhead spring or drinking water.
Advantages
of spring water and deep artesian well water. The main advantages appear to be that
it often hydrates the body well and, if it is a quality
water, it is low in toxic metals, toxic chemicals and pathogens such as bacteria,
viruses, parasites and other micro-organisms. It has been filtered by the earth in ways we do not
understand well, but which can work very effectively and often better than any
human-invented means of filtering and purifying water. Another advantage is that it usually
contains a wide variety of trace minerals that the human body needs desperately
today since the food supply is generally depleted of minerals today.
Disadvantages
to spring water. These include its cost, having
to buy it in plastic bottles, inconvenience of having to carry it home, perhaps
questions about its purity and safety in some cases, and variability from
spring to spring.
Government
regulation. The television news often tells us that
spring water is unregulated in many nations including the United States. This is not the truth in the United
States, or in many other nations.
Spring water must meet certain strict government criteria to be allowed
to be sold and to be labeled as spring water.
Summary. I have found pure spring water to be the best type of
drinking water in many cases because it hydrates the body well, and it supplies
many needed minerals. Overall, it
is clean and healthful when approved by the government, and it has other
invigorating properties due to the natural processing it has been through.
4. STEAM DISTILLED WATER
Distillation consists of boiling and evaporating water and then recondensing the vapor or steam back into liquid
water. This is a very natural
process, and is exactly what occurs when water evaporates into the air and then
falls to the ground as rain.
When water is
distilled in nature through evaporation, all solid matter is left behind and
only pure H20 rises into the air to form clouds that eventually drop their
moisture as rain. This is natures
premier water filtration system, in fact.
When water is distilled by mankind, by boiling it and recondensing it, all solid matter is left behind except
chemicals that volatilize at a lower temperature than the water. Most industrial distillers have methods
to capture these substances to prevent them from remaining in the water.
For this reason, I
find that industrially distilled water is the very best, not home distillers of any kind. I
do not recommend buying a home distiller for this reason.
Advantages of
distilled water. Distillation does
not significantly damage the subtle properties of water such as its spin,
moment, specific gravity and other subtle qualities of the water. In fact, distilling is the best and
really the only way to remove the memory of damage to water that is known to
occur when water is contaminated in any way.
Good quality
distilled water is free of most chemicals and all toxic metals. It is also free of pathogens such as
bacteria and viruses.
Problems with distilled water. These are many and include:
1. Distilled water acts as a chelator in
the body. This is a very
serious problem, in our experience.
Distillation (as with reverse osmosis) creates a
"hungry" water.
This means it is devoid of minerals and, as a result, distilled water tends
to attract to itself whatever minerals it touches.
When one drinks
distilled water, as soon as it enters the body it begins to grab onto and hold onto minerals. This process is called chelation.
When the distilled water passes out of the body through the kidneys,
some of these minerals are lost to the body. Since it is a mild form of chelation,
if one drinks distilled water for more than a few weeks or months, over time it
will remove some vital minerals from the body. This is extremely harmful today because most of us are low
in vital minerals to begin with.
2. Distilled water lacks nutrient minerals. Almost everyone is already low in
nutrient or vital minerals, and we need to obtain more of them any way we can. One can absorb some minerals from
drinking water. In fact, good
water can supply 30 or 40 trace minerals that the body needs in small
quantities. Unlike spring water or
even tap water, distilled water is lacking minerals, so it is less desirable
for that reason.
3. Distillation produces a slightly
acidic water. Some people do not
like this fact. However, it is not
quite the truth. Used for short
periods of time such as a few days during an intense detoxification reaction,
it may remove toxic chemicals and metals from the body so that the overall
effect is alkalinizing, even though the water itself may be slightly acidic in
its pH.
However, if
distilled water is continued for more than a few days, it begins to leach out
some vital alkaline reserve minerals that are the ones responsible for making
the body more alkaline. Therefore,
long-term use of distilled water can cause the body to become more acidic.
4. Metal contamination. A
minor problem with distillation is that metallic distillers, even stainless
steel ones, can possibly give up some chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and iron
into the water. It is not a lot,
however, as most is bound up in the stainless steel. An all-glass distiller would be superior, if such a machine
were available. I have not heard
of such machines, however.
Adding minerals to distilled water. Some doctors and some designer waters
begin with distilled water and add minerals to it to offset the problems of
drinking pure distilled water.
However, mineral science is very complex and there are over 40 trace
minerals that our bodies need in minute quantities in many cases. No one, in my view, is very good at
figuring out 1) which minerals to add, 2) how much of each, and 3) in what form
to add them.
Also, as explained above,
water is type of energy and a type of whole food. Any time you alter it, some of its properties may be damaged
or destroyed. I have reviewed
dozens of water products on the internet and
elsewhere. None are very good, in
my view, or worth the money. For
this reason, I do not advocate adding minerals, sea salt or anything else to
any drinking water.
Summary: Most people should
avoid distilled water for the reasons listed above. I rarely suggest it for a short time only to help with a
healing reaction. Drinking
distilled water for longer than this, however, always results in vital mineral
deficiencies.
5. REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER
Reverse
osmosis or RO is by far the most common manmade method of purifying water on
earth. It involves passing water
at high pressure through a plastic membrane with tiny holes in it. Most minerals and chemicals are too
large to pass through the membrane and remain behind, resulting in the
formation of a largely mineral-free, chemical-free and
pathogen-free water.
The design of most
RO units includes a way of back flushing the membrane constantly to hopefully
prevent excessive buildup of solid matter on the plastic membrane. This is important or the membrane would
be destroyed quickly. The membrane
usually lasts about a year, at which time the water quality deteriorates and
the membrane must be replaced.
Gases, such as
chlorine, can pass through the membrane.
For this reason, most reverse osmosis units also usually contain pre-
and post-filters. The pre-filter
extends the life of the membrane by removing larger particles and certain
chemicals. The carbon post-filter
further purifies the water, removing chlorine and other gases that may pass
through the filter.
RO
is the most commonly used methods of producing pure water on planet earth. It is used in almost all home and
commercial "drinking water" machines such as those in water stores,
supermarkets and health food stores.
It is also used industrially in bottling plants for soda pop, soups,
juices, beer and many other drinks.
It is also used on all ships, some aircraft, and in many other
applications. It is much cheaper
than distillation.
Advantages of reverse osmosis water. These include its low level of toxic
metals, toxic chemicals and pathogens, and its low cost.
Disadvantages of reverse osmosis water. Unfortunately, RO water has many
disadvantages:
1. RO water, in general, does not hydrate the body well. This is its worst aspect. It is unfortunate, but we see it over
and over again. The plastic
membrane must damage the water in some subtle way that we do not understand.
2. A residue from the plastic membrane seems to find its way into
the water, and then into the body.
This is a consistent finding in everyone who drinks RO water. So it adds a new toxin to the body, even though
the water is quite pure in other ways.
3. The water is extremely yin in Chinese medical terms. This may be because it lacks
minerals and because it is contaminated with plastic from the RO membrane. The yin quality is harmful and best
avoided.
4. Reverse osmosis water is severely mineral deficient and has an
acidic pH. As with distilled
water, it does not supply the body with needed trace minerals, and it may have
a mild chelating effect. This means
that it may remove some vital minerals from the body.
The acidic pH is
also a slight problem.
Summary. Water filtered by
reverse osmosis or RO is not good drinking water, in our experience. It does not matter if someone has added
minerals back to the RO water, boiled it, or done other things to it like
praying over it or energizing it in any way that I have seen, so far.
These methods do not
seems to undo the damage to the water that occurs due to passing it through the
plastic RO membrane. Please avoid
all water made this way for best hydration.
Bypassing the RO membrane on a home water filtering system. Many people have an RO filter on their
home or just their sink. If you
wish to use this system for carbon filtration, it is fairly easy to bypass the
RO part of your filtering system, in most cases. This will allow you to keep using the carbon filtration part
of the system, which is fine.
The procedure is to
open up the cylinder or container on your filtration system that contains the
RO membrane. Then remove the RO
membrane, and close up the container tightly. In most cases, this is all you need to do.
An alternative
method is to remove the small tubes or pipes going to the RO membrane container
and simply bypassing the RO part by re-connecting the tubes in a different
way. Either of these methods
should work okay.
DO NOT ADD MINERALS TO REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER (OR TO ANY DRINKING
WATER). The reasons for this
are:
Very few people know which minerals they need to add. Commercial preparations such as
electrolyte solutions often do not contain optimal mineral levels for each
person.
Adding salt or sea salt to water may detoxify the body a little,
but is a dangerous practice, long term, because the high sodium content can unbalance
the minerals in the body by competing with other mineral absorption.
Most
mineral preparations are not pure enough and many, such as coral calcium, can
contain some toxic minerals as well.
I find it best to
obtain minerals primarily from cooked, not raw vegetables. Other mineral supplements that we use
are kelp, 10-12 ounces of carrot juice, a quality sea salt in your food, but
not in your water, mineral chelates and dried
vegetable capsules.
6. CARBON FILTERS
Carbon, also called
activated charcoal, is an excellent filtering material. It is basically charred wood or
some other natural substance. The
shape of the carbon molecule causes it to attract a few lighter minerals and
most toxic chemicals. At the same
time, it seems to be quite harmless and does not add many toxins to the water
it touches.
For best results,
the carbon must touch the water for a prolonged period of time. This means that the larger the carbon
filter, and the slower the water flows through it, the
better.
Types of carbon
filters. Carbon filters comes in two main types. The less costly type is
simply powdered charcoal or carbon.
A better type is called a carbon block filter. The carbon has been compressed to form a more
dense block. The compressed
carbon removes more impurities.
Advantages of carbon
filtration of water. Carbon is fairly non-toxic, inexpensive and will
remove quite a few toxic chemicals and chlorine gas and other gases to some
degree. Also, and most important,
carbon will not damage the water at all.
It is a very natural type of water filtration system.
Disadvantages of
carbon filtration.
1. Carbon will not filter out fluoride or most toxic metals. It will also not filter out certain
small organic and other chemical contaminants.
2. All carbon filters clog up and stop working, in time. There is no reliable way to tell when
to change the filter. A dirty carbon filter is worse than no filter at all.
3. Carbon readily supports bacterial and fungal growth. It can begin to occur within days of
placing the filter in use. Some
fungi are extremely toxic, though they are tasteless and odorless. One cannot
tell without expensive testing whether ones carbon filter is contaminated and
when to change it. Manufacturer's
recommendations are not necessarily useful. It depends on the water source and other conditions.
Some manufacturers state that their carbon filter must be used
with chlorinated water to help reduce bacterial and fungal growth. If yours says this, be sure to observe
this caution.
4. In order for carbon to work well, water must pass slowly over
the carbon. If it passes
quickly, toxins will not be absorbed nearly as well by the carbon. In most carbon filtering systems, the
water passes through the carbon too rapidly to be really effective.
Carbon block filters. A
related type of filter is called a carbon block. It consists of activated charcoal
that has been compressed at high pressure. It is much more dense than simple carbon.
The advantages of
the carbon block are the water is exposed to more carbon. Also, the tightly compressed carbon can
trap larger particles, including some heavy metals. As a filtering material, it is far superior to simple
carbon.
Problems
with the carbon block, however, are similar to those of regular carbon filters.
It can become easily contaminated with fungi and bacteria. There is no simple test to tell if your
filter has become contaminated or how efficiently it is filtering the water.
Summary. Carbon filters definitely
can help clean up tap water and other types of water. They must be changed regularly and frequently, and one must
understand that they cannot remove most toxic metals and some toxic chemicals. One must also beware of bacterial
growth on carbon.
7. OTHER TYPES OF FILTRATION AND WATER TREATMENTS
Berkey sand filters. These are okay. They work something like carbon
filters.
Multi-stage home
filtering units. These are heavily
advertised today as being superior to carbon filtration. It is true that these units will remove
some fluoride, more toxic chemicals and some toxic metals as well. Popular brands include Multi-pure, Zero
Water and many others.
These units all
contain several types of filters to remove different contaminants. Many contain KDF, along with
plasticized beads and other methods, and carbon, to remove fluoride and toxic
metals.
Unfortunately, all
the multi-stage filters that I have seen damage the water and make it less
usable by the body. As a result,
it does not hydrate the body well.
I am not sure which filter medium is causing the problem at this
time. Stay away from these more
costly and heavily advertised units at this time.
Alkaline water. I know of three types of alkaline water systems. All of them have problems and, for this reason, should definitely be avoided. To alkalinize the body properly, eat loads of cooked vegetables along with kelp capsules. These contain the alkaline reserve minerals. As these accumulate in the body, the body becomes more alkaline naturally. Also, one must avoid all sugars, all alcohol, and all wheat products and most grains for a while. Alkaline water machines are totally unnatural and have a stimulatory type effect that is not the same as truly alkalinizing the body with the proper diet, lifestyle and mineral replacement therapy.
The most popular alkaline water machines are the platinum-titanium type. They include the Jupiter, I-Water, Kaagen, and many others. They use tap water, which passes through a carbon filter. Then the water passes over electrified platinum-covered titanium plates to alkalinize it. Then some machines may add a calcium solution or powder to the water to further enhance its alkalinity. Serious problems with these machines, that are heavily and falsely advertised in my opinion, include:
Yin. Drinking any water that is highly
alkaline makes the body more yin. Yin means sick, cold and expanded in
Chinese medical terms. It is vry harmful, even if ones symptoms improve, at first.
Cleanliness. Tap water is not a very good base water. It is quite variable, and most tap water in America and
elsewhere is not of excellent quality.
It contains some chlorine compounds, fluorides, medical drug residues,
hundreds of toxic chemicals, toxic metals and more.
Carbon filters cannot remove most toxic metals
and many toxic chemicals, no matter what the manufacturers claim. When water passes quickly over carbon,
not that much is removed. Also, as
the carbon filter becomes dirty, it stops working well.
Platinum is too toxic for any human
exposure. While the amount of
exposure is small, we have noted that after using the machine for 6 months or
so, some who use it begin to develop a little platinum toxicity. While this may be okay for most people,
some with delicate kidneys or liver problems will be affected. The amount of platinum absorbed will
depend upon ones tap water and ones body chemistry. The more poorly nourished one is, the more platinum one is
likely to absorb. Other factors
such as ones age, vitality, etc. also have an effect.
White powders added to the water. One must find out exactly what it is. Most is not that pure. Avoid coral calcium powder, for example, or some other contaminated product that adds more toxic metals.
The advertising for these machines with claims
that most Japanese hospitals, and most Japanese people use them is not true, as
far as I know.
Water store alkaline water. A few health food stores and water stores are selling even more dangerous alkaline water. They begin with reverse osmosis water. Then they add a calcium solution or powder, often coral calcium, to alkalinize it. Problems with this methodology are:
Yin.
Once again, any alkaline water seems to have a negative yin effect.
Reverse osmosis does not hydrate the body well
at all and should never be used for daily drinking water by most people.
The calcium solution or powder, especially if it
is made from coral calcium, may contain toxic metals.
Very toxic, possibly. When toxic metals are added to reverse osmosis
water, the hungry water seems to take up the metals easily and drive them
deep into the body cells and the kidneys.
The Alkastream alkaline water units. This type of alkaline water machine is a non-electric, counter-top or under-the-sink unit that adds a magnesium compound to tap water to alkalinize it. It avoids the costly and dangerous platinum plates, but it still makes the body too yin, uses tap water which is of poor quality, and possibly ruins the water and causes toxicity from the magnesium compounds used to make the water alkaline. Avoid this system as well. For more on alkaline waters, read Alkaline Waters on this website.
Designer waters
such as I-water, Pentawater, SmartWater
and others. These are often
made from reverse osmosis water, which does not hydrate the body well. It does not seem to matter what they do
to the RO water. It still does not
hydrate well.
Most of these waters
have added minerals. Not only does
this not correct the problems of reverse osmosis, but
the minerals will often unbalance the body, if they are even absorbed. These waters are overpriced, and
probably do not hydrate the body well.
So far, none of them will hydrate the body as well as a good quality
spring water or most carbon-only filtered tap water.
Open water. This is a very interesting type of
water. One just adds a few drops
of it to drinking water. For more
on this topic, read the article entitled Open Water
on this website.
Minerals
to add to drinking water.
This is a popular idea, but not usually helpful and, in fact, adding
salt can be dangerous. Adding salt
to water may remove a few molecules of toxic metals, but can unbalance the
minerals in the body. Sailors know
that drinking salty water is harmful in all cases.
Other problems with
added minerals are that one simply does not know which minerals are best. Some are harmful as they contain toxic
metals. Especially avoid minerals
that are added to drinking water that come from the sea, and those that come
from land-based mineral deposits or earth mineral deposits. In my experience, these all contain
some toxic metals and the sea-based ones contain salts that can leach vital
minerals from the body.
Adding ozone to your drinking water. Adding ozone to your water will help
kill some bacteria and other micro-organisms in the
water. You will also absorb some
ozone or extra oxygen from the ozonated water. To do this, one buys an ozone generator
and places the ozone tube in a glass or pitcher of water for about 20 minutes,
and this will saturate the water with ozone.
Another, and better
way to avail yourself of ozone is with an ozonator/ionizer
air purifier in your bedroom at night.
To read about this, click here.
Water
softeners. Some people who have
hard water (water with a high calcium content) have a tank in the basement or
garage, and they add either salt pellets or potassium pellets periodically to
soften the water. The water passes
over the pellets and picks up some sodium and potassium, which tends to
dissociate or break up the hard calcium compounds in the water.
The result is a water that does not leave deposits on faucets, toilets and
counter tops. The water also
causes soap and shampoo to lather up somewhat easier, and it may preserve the
pipes in the house by getting rid of calcium deposits.
Water
softeners do not purify water. If ones water is
too hard, adding salt may help.
However, it also contaminates the water. Drinking softened water has been shown to increase heart
disease. Adding potassium may be
even worse because the form of potassium used in softeners is somewhat
toxic.
An alternative to
deal with hard water is to place either fixed magnets or electromagnets on the
pipe leading into the home, and this will have a similar effect to some degree
on the water.
HOW TO DRINK
How much. Adults need about 96
ounces of water daily or about 3 liters or three quarts daily. Other beverages are not as good as pure
water, and are not a substitute.
One cup of coffee or tea daily is okay, but not more. Some mild herbal tea is usually okay,
but dont overdo. Dont drink
green tea, which is very high in caffeine.
Drink when you arise in the morning. An excellent way to begin your day
is to drink several large glasses of warm water, up to a quart, upon arising in
the morning, up to about a liter or a quart. This will supply you for several hours. Drinking a number of glasses of heated
water will often help with constipation, as well. In addition, drink about four glasses of water between
meals.
Drink away from meals.
Drink water either up to 20 minutes before a meal or at least one hour
after a meal. This is to avoid
diluting the digestive juices. A
little bit of water to take supplements is okay.
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