ALKALINE WATER
Stefan Kuprowsky, M.A., N.D.

The virtues of an alkaline diet is in getting rid of acidic wastes in the body. Our bodies become acidic over time due to our dietary habits, lifestyle, stress and the incomplete digestion and metabolism of food. Acid wastes build up in the body in the form of cholesterol, gallstones, kidney stones, arterial plaque, urates, phosphates and sulfates. These acidic waste products are the direct cause of premature aging and the onset of chronic disease. In order to rid the body of these acidic wastes it is important to reduce the consumption of acidic foods such as coffee, alcohol, soft drinks, refined foods and sugar and increase the intake of alkaline foods such as fresh juices, green drinks, sprouts, fruits and vegetables. In this article, I will examine the health benefits of drinking water that has been purified, alkalized and ionized by device known as a water ionizer.

CHRONIC DEHYDRATION: AN UNSEEN EPIDEMIC

In my practice, when I test people’s internal chemistry using the Biological Terrain Analysis (BTA), it is surprising how many people show up not only extremely acidic but chronically dehydrated. When you look at people’s lifestyles, however, this is not so surprising. People have replaced the drinking of water in our society with drinks that are essentially dehydrating such as coffee, tea, soda pop and alcohol. Therefore, not only are they making their bodies more acidic, they are also causing long-term dehydration of their bodies. The human body is 70 % water and the blood is 90% water, so after oxygen, water is the most vital nutrient. Dr. Batmanghelidj, author of the book, “Your body’s many cries for water”, believes that chronic water dehydration is the root cause of many health conditions such as heartburn, arthritis, headaches and migraines, high blood pressure, angina, asthma, adult-onset diabetes and colitis. He also believes that most people have lost their natural thirst for water and have replaced it with eating and the drinking of fluids such as coffee, tea and artificial flavoured and sugared drinks.

Water is involved in virtually every single body process: digestion, detoxification, elimination, metabolism, circulation, temperature regulation, and joint lubrication. It is important to realize that our body does not need liquids, it needs water. You wouldn’t think of washing your clothes in beer, wine, pop, coffee or even fruit juice. For most of these beverages, it takes additional water to metabolize them.

How much water do we need to drink on a daily basis? It is recommended that you drink according to your weight: ½ ounce per pound or 55cc per kilogram.
This means that a person weighing 110 pounds or 50 kilos requires 2 liters per day. So on average, we require between 2 and 4 liters of water per day.
Now that we know how much water to drink, what type of water should we be drinking? My simplest answer is to drink the purest water that is available to you. For many people this would mean to drink filtered or bottled water. I have many patients who believe that distilled water is the purest and therefore the best water for them to drink. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Distilled water has had everything removed from it including the minerals. It therefore will draw minerals away from the body and leave it mineral deprived over time. It is also energetically “dead”. It has no vital force left in it. Researchers looking into the longevity factor of different groups around the world discovered that they all seem to drink highly energized and mineralized water that is coming off mountain streams.
If you don’t live high in the mountains with any access to so-called “Hunza Water”, what is the best water to drink ? After having thoroughly researched the subject, I believe that the best water is water that is alkaline, reduced and purified using a small device known as a water ionizer.

ALKALINE WATER

The Japanese began to experiment with Alkaline water over 30 years ago. The result of their research led to the development of a water-ionization technique that can be accomplished simply by using a counter-top device the size of a toaster, which is connected to the kitchen faucet. The process is called electrolysis and is accomplished by running tap water over positive and negative electrodes. This splits the water into two streams: one is alkaline ionized water and the other is acidic ionized water. The ionizer splits water. which is made of two atoms of hydrogen and one oxygen into an alkaline component called a hydroxyl ion and a hydrogen ion. To ionize means to gain or lose an electron. The alkaline water has gained electrons because it contains more hydroxyl ions( OH-) . Hydroxyl ions are molecules containing one oxygen and one hydrogen atoms with an extra electron. The acidic water contains more hydrogen ions, which are missing an electron- H+. The water ionizer is a device that simply splits water into two streams- one is Alkaline and the other is Acidic. Both water streams can be used, but for entirely different purposes. Alkaline water goes by many names including Microwater, Cluster water, Reduced water and Miracle water. All these names refer to the same process of making Alkaline water.

The Alkaline water component is the portion that is used for drinking and has many wonderful properties.

#1) First of all, it is alkaline, meaning that it has a ph in the range between 8 and 10 on the ph scale. Remember that tap water or distilled water has a ph of 7. By drinking Alkaline water, we are helping to neutralize the acidic wastes that have built up in the body. We are also restoring the body to its slightly alkaline state, which is the ideal condition to maintain optimal health and prevent disease onset. Cancer and other degenerative diseases develop in a body that has become overly acidic.

#2) The second and most amazing property of Alkaline water is its antioxidant properties. This means that the Alkaline water itself has the ability to neutralize free radicals. This is because the Alkaline water contains hydroxyl ions, which have an overabundance of electrons, which can be easily donated to neutralize free radicals. This is like taking antioxidant vitamins and minerals in the water you drink. One glass of Alkaline water has the same anti-oxidant activity of one glass of fresh juice. This is a powerful benefit of Alkaline water and worth the unit cost alone  because of this one feature.

#3) Another property that the ionizer imparts to the Alkaline water is smaller water clusters. Regular water consists of clusters of 10 to 13 water molecules that have an irregular shape. Alkaline water produced by an ionizer has clusters of 5 or 6 water molecules that are in a hexagonal shape. This smaller water cluster makes the water “wetter” and more easily absorbed and able to saturate body tissues. Alkaline water is six times more hydrating than regular water The smaller clusters also are able to scavenge free radicals with greater ease, increasing its antioxidant properties. Alkaline water also improves the detoxification qualities of water because of its improved hydration of body tissues. One of the interesting aspects of human aging is that our body cells become more dehydrated with age, even if a person is drinking adequate amounts of water. The smaller clusters of Alkaline water help to hydrate our body cells more efficiently.

#4) A fourth feature of Alkaline water is its increased oxygen content. This is because there are more hydroxyl ( OH- ) molecules in Alkaline water than regular water. You can see this in Alkaline water by a cloud of tiny bubbles immediately after it is made. This increased oxygen content helps to neutralize the effects of free radical oxygen molecules , which occur all the time. The free radical effects of unstable oxygen are known as oxidation or rust. Drinking oxygen-rich Alkaline water will help to increase oxygen levels in the blood. You will notice this when you start to drink Alkaline water by increased amounts of energy.

One of the most cost-effective things you can do for your overall health and well-being is to drink more water and to use a water ionizer to make Alkaline water. Although some of the effects can be duplicated using water additives and silica hydrides, I believe that it is less costly and more efficient to use water ionizer.

The best units come from Japan or Korea and cost $ 1,000 to $2,000. The better units also come with a filter providing ultra-filtration down to .01 microns removing all chlorine, chemicals, bacteria and viruses while leaving in the minerals. This is the beginning of 21 century medicine where true optimal health is achievable using simple but highly effective methods. Drink Alkaline water for your health longevity.


Dr. Stefan Kuprowsky is a Naturopathic Physician in practice at EcoMed, a health clinic and retreat on Vancouver Island. He can be reached through email at:  info@ecomedspa.com.