Drinking the right water
Improve your quality of life
Water is the basis of our existence, and drinking the right water may improve the quality and quantity of your life.
When we are born, our bodies are 90 per cent water. We are about 50 per cent water when we die. So, the ageing process is largely one of dehydration. Considering how crucial water is to our existence, it is important to properly hydrate the body with alkaline water. This will help eliminate the negative effects that acidic toxins have. These toxins occur in the body because of the foods we eat, and are the byproducts of our metabolic processes.
One of the body’s main functions is to rid itself of harmful acidic waste. However, this is becoming harder to do with the accumulation of more and more polluted air, water and food, combined with the natural toxins the body produces.
Health starts with the correct acid-alkaline balance in the body. Just as the body regulates its temperature within a very small range, so to does it try to preserve a very narrow pH balance, especially in the blood. All the different parts of your body have a different need for acidity and alkalinity, but our vital life fluid – the blood – must remain slightly alkaline. Dr. Robert Young, a researcher who has spent 30 years studying the impact of the foods we eat and the liquids we drink on the delicate pH balance of the body, explains that the pH balance of the fluids of the body is ideally 7.365 on a scale of zero to 14.
When the body’s pH balance is out of whack, we are left sick, tired and thirsty for good, ionised water. Alkaline – or ionised – water helps to neutralise stored acids and toxins. “That delicate pH balance is so critical that any movement – if it goes too high or too low – impacts our energy levels. The body does everything it can to maintain that delicate balance,” Dr. Young says.
“Hyper alkalising the blood and the tissues helps to release the acids from what we ingest as well as from our metabolic process, which I believe are the single cause of all sickness and disease.”
An alkaline environment is one in which oxygen can be very rich. Red blood cells become negatively charged, bouncing off each other rather than sticking together and flowing freely through the body so its cells get all the oxygen they need to thrive.
Maintaining a good acid-alkaline balance begins with proper diet and nutrition, which includes alkaline foods and super hydration from alkaline water that is filled with antioxidants. “Our body is only as healthy as the water it’s bathed in,” says Dr. Young. The quality of the water you drink is just as important as the quantity, and most tap and bottled water is on the acid scale. According to Dr. Young, water with a pH of between nine and 11 is most ideal. It should be electron rich and structured for optimal hydration.
“One of the most important things that one can do to begin the process of neutralising is start changing the water we’re drinking,” says Dr. Young. “That water has to be in an alkaline state, it has to be energised, it has to contain the hydroxyl ions and be saturated by electrons and it has to be purified, void of elements that are going to be acidifying and contribute to more congestion and breakdown of the body. We need to break down the clustering effect too, so that the water is ‘wetter’. It’s then more bio-available and able to permeate the cell membranes.”
So where do we get such water? Here are a few simple sources of alkaline water.
LEMON WATER
This mildly alkalising drink flushes the system, cleanses the liver and kidneys and gets the metabolism going first thing in the morning. Lemon water is as simple as a third to half a lemon squeezed into a big glass of warm water. The reason for the water being warm is so that it can be easily assimilated once inside the body.
Despite the fact that lemons contain citric acid, they have an alkalising effect on the body thanks to their alkaline minerals and the fruit’s low sugar content.
PRO: Inexpensive
CON: Not alkalising enough
to be your sole source of
alkaline water
PH DROPS
pH drops are concentrated alkaline minerals that instantly lift the pH of the water they are added to. They are best used in filtered water. Every brand is different but the effect is similar – a couple of drops can raise neutral to slightly acidic water to around 8–8.5pH.
These drops are handy for a supply of alkaline water when on the go and work well to make any water, filtered or unfiltered, more alkaline.
PRO: Increase the pH of
any water
CON: High ongoing expense
WATER IONISER
Alkaline water ionisers are the most efficient way to make alkaline water, delivering four key benefits:
1) a high pH that you can set yourself
2) antioxidant richness thanks to the ionisation process and the separation of H+ and OH- ions,
3) super hydration due to the cluster size of the water being smaller and more able to permeate your cells
4) it is filtered.
The micro-clustering of the water means that any additional nutrients you ingest, such as green drinks, are well assimilated in the body.
Ionisers work by separating water into acid (positive) and alkaline (negative) streams and it is this electrolysis process that is responsible for the high antioxidant content of alkaline water.
The acid water can be used externally on the skin for healing and disinfecting.
PRO: Delivers the most alkaline water possible
CON: Expensive