Category: RO, Distilled, Other Filtered Water

In results published in the Jan 2007 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, Spanish researchers found that chlorinated water poses health risks by drinking it, swimming in or showering in it, or breathing in the fumes from hot showers, swimming pools, hot tubs and baths. Researchers studied a total of 1219 men and women with bladder cancer and had them fill out questionnaires about their exposure to chlorinated water from various sources. The results were compared to 1271 men and women as controls who did not have the disease. They also compared the average levels of chlorine and chlorine by-products in the water in the 123 areas where the studied individuals lived. Their findings were quite alarming: Drinking chlorinated water increased the risk of bladder cancer by 35%. Long baths and showers increased exposure to carcinogenic chlorine by-products like trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, raising cancer risks even further. Cancers of the kidney and stomach have been identified as resulting from exposure to these chlorine by-products in other studies. There are even genetic mutations found in relatively harmless bacteria endemic in water that have been exposed to these by-products. Lower mainland BC water is rainwater. It is collected in large reservoirs, waiting to be distributed by pipeline to homes all over the Greater Vancouver area. There are all kinds of creatures, big and small, swimming on and in these reservoirs. There are certain unmentionables along with decaying leaves and other vegetative matter floating in the water that must meet certain standards for human exposure. Chlorine seems to be the disinfectant of choice, but when decaying organic matter meets chlorine, dangerous by-products are formed. It also goes without saying that chlorine and chloramines are not additives that contribute to health, in and among themselves. Drinking rainwater is acidic and void of minerals that alkalize the water. It’s sort of like drinking acid rain, although Federal guidelines deem the water safe to drink. Yes, it is safe by certain standards which set safety limits for contents. But, over time, drinking acidic water, either out of the tap or a bottle, contributes to chronic and degenerative illness. No wonder it is endemic in North America. Studies out of Norway prove that if you drink water of 6.9 pH or lower, you have a fourfold chance of becoming diabetic. Look at the statistics. Look at how many people at or past middle age that have something wrong with them. It’s time to be proactive about your health. You certainly don’t have a chlorine deficiency and it is not healthy to have chlorine or chemicals like it in your body. To restore or maintain the health that you have, you should filter the chlorine out of your water, add essential minerals and oxygen and make the water easily absorbed by your body. That’s how water used to be before we put it in reservoirs and piped it long distances. We were more healthier back then. Tap water has lost its vitality to make and keep you healthy. Water in the olden days was like  alkaline, ionized water is today. Alkaline, ionized water comes out of a  Cerra Water pitcher.  It is full of oxygen, filtered of dangerous contaminants and actually acts like an antioxidant in the body, mopping up free radicals. The Cerra  filter breaks the weak bonds of the water molecules into smaller bundles so that it is more readily absorbed by the body, making it six times more hydrating than tap or bottled water.  As a clinician, I have seen fabulous results in my clinic for people with symptomatic disease. Many symptoms have disappeared entirely. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to protect your health by alkalizing and oxygenating your body with Cerra Water.  Illness and disease cannot live in an alkaline body.

Researchers reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine say that some people are sensitive to low barometric pressures while flying in commercial aircraft. Very low barometric pressures are uncommon in modern aircraft but sea-level air pressures are not the norm either. Some passengers flying on long commercial flights experience feeling of illness similar to mountain climbers who experience altitude sickness. Feelings of weakness, along with headaches, nausea, mental confusion, fuzzy thinking, leg cramps, swollen hands and feet, dry scratchy throat, and disturbances in sleep seem to be the cluster of symptoms experienced by those passengers flying about 6,500 feet. Even alarming symptoms like blood clots are being experienced more and more among long flight flyers. Aside from the low barometric pressure, some of the symptoms can also be attributed to prolonged sitting, foul cabin air, fatigue, dehydration and even jet lag. One of the strongest theories that is being researched is low oxygen levels in the blood, which would be indicative of low barometric cabin pressure. Low oxygen levels have been indicated in an alarming number of serious and chronic diseases. Otto Warburg in 1935 won the Nobel Prize for proving that cancer cells thrive in low oxygen environments. In addition, the cells that are directly adjacent to the capillaries, which are very tiny blood vessels that deliver fuel and oxygen to the cells, tissues and organs, rely totally on the available oxygen supply to function. In altitudes above 6000 feet, they become oxygen starved. One of the effects of oxygen deprivation is the disruption of the fluid balance inside and outside the cell. In this oxygen starved state, the cells begin to absorb fluid causing them to swell. This swelling squeezes the capillaries, which are about the diameter of a red blood cell, and causes the internal diameter to become smaller. The result is that less blood cells are able to squeeze through the capillaries to feed the cells fuel and oxygen. This dynamic causes symptoms which can become more pronounced on long flights. Not only that, circulation slows and becomes very inefficient with low oxygen levels. With very little body movement and low oxygen levels on long commercial flights, more and more people are experiencing deep vein thrombosis or blood clots in the deeper veins of the legs. The NEJM study took 500 volunteers and created a simulated 20 hour flight to check how each volunteer reacted at different altitudes. Any symptoms that were experienced were recorded along with the altitude where the symptom occurred. Volunteers travelling from ground level to 8000 feet in altitude were found to have a 4 percent decrease in blood oxygen. The severity of symptoms experienced could have had something to do with whether or not people were accustomed to flying at such a high altitude. Seven percent of volunteers experienced severe symptoms throughout the simulated flight. Other volunteers experienced symptoms after three hours and some others after approximately nine hours. People older than 60 years of age experienced far fewer symptoms than younger people or were less likely to report them. Men were also less likely to report symptoms than women. In-flight exercise that was introduced to see if it reduced symptoms, was ineffective in reducing discomfort. People taking long commercial flights need to develop pre and post-flight strategies that will reduce symptoms like swollen hands and feet, headaches, fatigue and so on, in addition to risk reduction of such things as difficulty breathing and deep vein thrombosis. By being pro-active, particularly for chronic flyers, good health can be maintained and the event of sudden dangerous symptoms can be reduced or eliminated.

As a child, I used to be upset sitting in my classroom at school in a half empty room when my classmates were laying at home in front of the TV, not having to do the school thing. Why did I have to be so darn healthy while all my friends were sick? It didn’t seem fair that when flu season hit, I didn’t get it. Didn’t I deserve to watch reruns on TV too? When flu season hit, the school almost looked like a ghost town with easily one third of the students off with the latest bug. The other two-thirds of us would survive the coughing, spewing and sneezing, facing the flying snot of the lunch hour. We even drank out of the school water fountain and survived. If I slander good ole Abe Lincoln a little- You can infect some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot infect all of the people all of the time. One of the most horrible plagues was the bubonic plague. Called the Black Death, it killed 30 million people in Europe and 45 million in Asia, that is better than 1 in 4 Europeans in the 14th century, yet. Of course, 3 out of 4 lived, but it was still pretty awful. They didn’t have antibiotics or vaccines back then and most of them lived. In our modern day, we are made to feel that we cannot survive without a vaccine, particularly with H1N1 active in our communities. How did they all survive back in the dark ages? If you look at smallpox, that horrible viral disease that is all but vanished, those that contacted it when it was raging through populations, survived. The big question is, did smallpox disappear because of our natural immunity or because of the vaccines? It is almost impossible to tell which one won over. Even if the argument was for the vaccine’s efficiency, it is impossible to vaccinate everyone so it seems that immunity wins. There is a large segment of the population that would refuse the vaccine on a number of grounds. Statistics show that there have been a number of plague cases diagnosed in the southwestern US in recent years, but it didn’t spread even though there were no vaccination programs in place. This brings us to the H1N1 pandemic that is currently running its course throughout the world. There will never be enough vaccines for everyone so what is a body to do? There are a number of things you can do to prevent the flu aside from frequent hand washing and sneezing into your sleeve. 

Treat Chronic Illnesses With Alklaine Water

So now you aren’t feeling well and you wonder how you got to be in this mess. How did you get sick and how are you going to get well again? To understand how to reverse illness, it is necessary to understand how you got there in the first place. There are five stages that lead to a disease state. The first stage starts when the foods we eat and the drinks we consume create an acidic state in our body. As a result, a lot of nutrients, especially minerals are being used up to try to buffer the acidic body state. Antioxidants are being used at an alarming rate to try to relieve the free radical damage. The body is using everything it has to try to bring the body back to balance. In this state we do not see any nutrients being excreted because the body is using all of them. We start to see dehydration at this point, even though a lot of fluids may be consumed. The acidic state upsets the water balance within and outside the cells, so now the water starts to stagnate and become more acidic. The second stage is where the body is beginning to show signs of nutritional deficiencies. The body starts to show fatigue, digestive problems and other signs that it is struggling. The process is subtle but the signs are there. The body chemistry of the body starts to slow down and certain enzymes and neurotransmitters become scarce. The enzymes that are produced from nutrients that are lacking will not be able to regulate body functions efficiently as the acidic state deepens. Dehydration is now markedly increased and the body cannot get rid of the toxic, acidic waste. Things like constipation and digestive issues begin to appear more regularly. In addition, body fat begins to increase as the body pulls toxins and acids away from vital organs to protect us. It manufactures fat to store the toxic load. There are no extra nutrients to excrete as the body needs everything it can absorb. The third stage is when dehydration and acidosis have become chronic in the body. There are symptoms now such as depression or irritability. There may also be brain fog, lack of motivation, restlessness and sleep problems. These symptoms usually lead to other symptoms like fatigue, lack of energy and frequent colds and flu. More weight gain happens here and the body tries to rescue itself from the deepening dehydration and acidosis. Digestive problems and joint issues become more the norm. The fourth stage is when the deepening dehydration and acidosis have escalated to the point where the body is so uncomfortable that one usually consults a doctor or other medical professional. Worsening symptoms lead to tests which bring back abnormal results. A diagnosis is made as the body now has a disease. It is severely dehydrated and acidic and struggling to maintain whatever health it has. The fifth stage is where the body tries to manage the medications that are being used to control the symptoms. If surgery results, the body weakens further as parts of itself become diseased or non- functioning and must be removed. The medications further acidify the body to the point where the aging process accelerates and people really look and feel unwell. As the disease advances, there does not seem to be enough energy to diligently look after one’s nutritional needs as the body struggles on. Many of you that are reading this article are in this place. You feel unwell and you don’t know how to reverse this process and restore your health. As a clinician in a holistic health clinic, I have found that by drinking alkaline, ionized water, the body starts to right itself. It is subtle at first, but the alkaline, ionized water starts to get the swamp draining. All of that stagnant and toxic water in the body starts to move and be eliminated by the kidneys. Life begins to look a little brighter. The more alkaline, ionized water a person drinks over time, the more this clearing takes place. Over the days and weeks, life begins to feel better. There is a growing desire to move a bit more, perhaps take a short walk and to eat better. There is a growing interest and curiosity of what the doctor will find has improved, on the next visit. There may be weight loss or clearer vision. That annoying ringing in the ears may have disappeared. High blood pressure and cholesterol may drop. All kinds of things may shift and change. Eventually there may even be a conversation about reducing or changing medications because the symptoms have lessened or disappeared. Alkaline, ionized water could put you back on the road to health. If you would like to try it, I invite you to experience our free 7 day water challenge. It costs you nothing but your time and effort.

Believe it or not, the skin is the largest organ in the body and makes up about 15 percent of the body’s weight. The average adult has from 12 to 20 square feet of skin surface. If we took apart the skin, we would find that it is 70 percent water, 25 percent protein and 2 percent fats. The remaining bits would include trace minerals, nucleic acids and other chemical constituents. The skin is made up of layers which have different functions. The epidermis is the part of the skin that we see when we look at ourselves. This layer is our first line of defense against bacteria and substances that may be harmful to us, and contains an oily film called the acid mantle. For most people this acid mantle has a pH of between 4.5 to 5.5. Neutralizing these harmful contaminants is part of the body’s defense system. When the acid mantle in the outer layer of the epidermis breaks down, it can lead to acne, infection, irritation and skin conditions like eczema. Most of us use soap and water on our skin, without realizing that this may not be beneficial to us. Soapy water is highly alkaline with a pH of about 12 and neutralizes the acid mantle on our skin, much the same way an antacid relieves heartburn. Thus the defense capabilities of the skin are compromised. Another function of the acid mantle is to keep more of the available water in the skin. When the acid mantle is compromised. The skin loses more of its cellular water and the body enacts its water regulator, histamine, but only because the rest of the body is chronically dehydrated as well. Histamine is a neurotransmitter produced by the body in response to inner drought. The body requires clean, healthy water to maintain peak bodily functioning. Most people think histamine causes allergies and eczema is thought to be an allergic response but it is really a histamine response. Histamine is the boss, directing water where it is needed most and retracting it where it can be spared. Processes that are vital to survival get available water first and the body decides that it is not the skin. There are several reasons why the body may be dehydrated including poor circulation to a localized area, flues, viruses and other infections, fevers, vomiting, not enough water intake, excessive consumption of dehydrating foods and drinks including coffee and salty snacks, even medications and diet can be dehydrating. The skin can also become dehydrated from external substances applied to the skin. Most of the water in the epidermis is located in the third or lowest layer. The cells in this layer are immature skin cells and as they mature they lose water, flatten out and start moving up to the outer layer. But if they have not had enough water to grow properly and the histamine response has been activated, eczema can result. In middle age and older people, wrinkles can result. There is a fancy word called lichenification, which is a roughening of the skin surface where the skin becomes itchy. The histamine response creates that itching that can be quite persistent and bothersome. Cerra alkaline, ionized water is produced by  pitcher with a specialty filers that transforms  the water into hexagonal, micro-clustered water that is much easier  to absorb thus  making it  3-6  times more hydrating than any other water. Recent research is showing that by changing the dehydrated, acidic inner terrain to alkaline by drinking alkaline, micro-clustered,anti-oxidant water the histamine response drops quickly and the skin begins to heal. Drinking at least half the body weight in ounces is a good start to rehydrating a chronically dehydrated state. By using Cerra   anti-oxidant micro-clustered water  one can quickly restore the body’s equilibrium reducing the histamine response and repairing the “allergic” reaction. What a relief!

The digestive tract is central to health, particularly the intestines. If they are not in top form, lots of things happen in the body that lead to illness and disease. Besides the blood and the lymph, the digestive tract uses a large amount of water. You need approximately two quarts of water just to digest a meal. Water is also lost from the body through urination, defecation, perspiration and respiration. The body will pull water from wherever it can, but if there is not enough, certain troubling symptoms start to appear. According to Dr. Kenneth Seaton and the book Prostate Health in 90 Days by Larry Clapp, Ph.D. J.D., allergies are not caused by allergens such as pollens, house mites, dust or other such substances. While it is true that these types of things trigger allergic symptoms, the underlying cause is a malfunctioning immune system; “Immunity gone wrong”. And, it is all triggered by a water shortage in the body. When there is an inner drought, the body actives a neurotransmitter called histamine. Histamine has two functions, one is to manage the immune system and the other is to manage the available water supply. Histamine protects vital organs and body processes by practicing drought management. Histamine activates and we appear to have an allergic response. But what is more subtle, is when our intestines are affected. When there is an intestinal water shortage we become more sensitive to triggers called allergens. We appear to have sensitivities to certain substances which create symptoms in our bodies that make us feel unwell. The allergen simply triggers an incorrect immune system response. In a sense, the immune system identifies the harmless allergen and tries to kill it. The allergic symptoms many of us are so familiar with, runny noses, watery eyes, itching, etc., are direct signs of our immune systems trying to kill these harmless substances. This type of immunological mayhem cannot be separated from the stress put on our immune systems from infections (in many cases sub-clinical infections). Many auto-immune diseases can be viewed as a severe form of allergy where the immune system attacks its owner. Psoriasis is one of them. Let me explain. Between eighty and ninety percent of your immune system is in your gut. In simplistic terms, you have an outer mucous layer, a under layer containing zonulin protein and some patches called Payer’s Patches. This area of the intestines must be fully hydrated to function well. The mucous layer allows the food to slide along the gut and protect the zonulin protein and the Payers Patches. In a dehydration response, the mucous layer partially dries up. When you eat scratchy food or strongly harsh foods, you can also damage the mucous layer. What happens then is the first stage of allergic response. I use the analogy of a tile floor. When the floor is new and shiny, the grouting is all in place, there is no way that the subfloor can get dirty. When the floor is abused, the tiles crack and the grouting starts to fall out, especially when it is dehydrated. The subfloor starts to collect dirt and debris. What happens in the gut is that the subfloor, too gets dirty. This is called leaky gut syndrome and is when allergies and auto-immune problems start. Leaky gut syndrome is when partially digested food leaks into the cellular lining of the intestinal walls. Histamine activates its drought management policy because there is a water shortage and. in addition  activates the immune system to kill the invading forces, in this case partially digested food. In cases of serious allergic reactions, the leaky gut syndrome starts affecting the Payer’s Patches. This is where your immune system starts. These Patches produce B-lymphocytes, one of the first steps in immune response. Through a process of chemical and hormonal signaling these produce monocytes, dendrites then signal the thymus to form T-cells. The T-cells that have the biggest effect on immune disorders are the Natural Killer T-Cells or NKT’s. When the signal goes awry, B-lymphocytes are cranked out of the Payer’s Patches in great numbers which, at the end of the hormonal signaling chain, also crank out NKT’s. Unfortunately, this malfunction creates a situation where the NKT’s seem to ‘think’ that they have to respond to the histamine that has gathered as a result of dehydration.  This creates a response that they need to ‘eat’ whatever has caused the histamine response. They begin eating whatever they are close to, in this case, the skin, resulting in psoriasis and other skin disorders. When the skin is dehydrated, it causes histamine to gather in the spots where dehydration is the worst. The dehydration also activates the immune system which eats away at the layers of skin causing reddening and scaling. The skin attempts to repair itself by speeding up the cycle of cell replacement and the scaling deepens. The itching and scaling breaks down the acid mantle on the skin, which further compromises the immune system. This auto-immune disease started with dehydration and cascaded into skin inflammation. The dehydration response in the body can simply be relieved with clean, healthy water. The healthiest water for the body is alkaline, ionized water. It is split into two streams by an electrolysis unit – one  alkaline and the other acidic. The alkaline water relieves the dehydration because it is broken up into little bunches of water molecules. These smaller bunches can enter the cells more efficiently. It is like me saying to you, “Put this apple in your mouth.” You can’t do it, it doesn’t fit. If you cut the apple up into small pieces, they easily fit into your mouth. Your cells are no different. The body becomes acidic from dehydration, so when you drink lots (at least half your body weigh in ounces)   of alkaline ionized water, the cells become hydrated, the cell function is restored and the histamine response diminishes because it is no longer needed. As the skin’s pH is restored and is rehydrated from within, the skin starts growing “normal” cells again and the “eating” frenzy stops.  After a while, the skin looks normal again as long as you keep drinking lots of  Cerra alkaline, anti-oxidant  water.  Drink your way to healthy  skin with Hydra  Water.

Did you know that the sun’s rays are actually healthy and good for you under certain conditions? The good news is that the sun’s rays are actually alkalizing to the body. The problem arises when the dietary and metabolic acids emerge on the skin and “interrupt” the sun’s rays causing skin damage. Researchers at Manchester and Newcastle Universities in the United Kingdom found that eating alkalizing foods made with tomato sauce helped protect against both sunburn and premature aging. Researchers studied the skin of twenty people. Ten of them were given five tablespoons of tomato paste to eat(the equivalent of five or six cooked tomatoes) with olive oil and the other ten were given just olive oil. At the end of the twelve week study, the group that had eaten the tomatoes had a protective boost to the skin of 33 percent. In addition, the tomato group also had an increase in pro-collagen levels, a molecule that helps keep skin firm and looking youthful. Collagen is healthiest in a slightly alkaline body condition. There are fifteen different types of collagen in the body so any way to keep them healthy is an anti-aging benefit. The helpful ingredient in tomatoes is actually an antioxidant called lycopene which neutralizes the harmful skin-damaging free radicals created from what you eat and how your body processes your food, especially when combined with sun exposure. Although lycopene is found in many fruits and vegetables, it is most abundant in tomatoes when it is released during the cooking process. Spaghetti sauces, antipasto, salsa, tomato juice, tomato sauces and pastes all contain generous amounts of lycopene. 

You don’t have to eat an excessive amount of cooked tomato to benefit from its effects. If you put tomato sauce on your vegetables, drink tomato juice, eat it on spaghetti squash, or eat it as salsa with veggie sticks, you are getting plenty of lycopene in your diet suggests Newcastle University dermatology scientist Mark Birch-Machin. Eating tomatoes is going to give you the protective benefit but it is still important to build up your sun exposure tolerance slowly and to use sunscreens, shade or long sleeve clothing and hats during peak ultraviolet times. Your skin is your first line of defense against any damage so it needs to be tough but still look delicate. By neutralizing metabolic acids with Hydra alkaline, ionized water you will maximize lycopene’s effect on your skin. After all, beauty comes from the inside out.

Collagen is the fibrous, structural protein that makes up the white fibers, the collagenous fibers, that make up skin, tendons, bones, cartilage and all of the connective tissues in the body. It is also found dispersed in the gels of the body, to provide stiffening. A good example of that is the vitreous humour of the eye. Collagen is the natural protein that constitutes most of the body’s structural support providing a framework on which to hang itself. It is the primary structure of what we know as connective tissue. It is the fibrous connective tissue that holds our body together and gives it shape. Collagen gives the different organs their strength and along with elastin, their elastic properties. Twenty-five percent of the dry protein weight of the body is collagen. Seventy-five percent of our skin is made of it and thirty percent of our entire body is collagen. It is part of the natural make-up of our tendons, hair, skin, joints, ligaments and vital organs. When the body’s collagen supply is reduced, the body is profoundly affected. It can become weak and achy, movement can become painful and overall performance is weakened and fatigue sets in. These symptoms can be profoundly increased as we age as we lose some of our water content and our bodies become more acidic. Besides its many structural properties, collagen serves as a major catalyst for growth and repair throughout the body. Nearly all body tissues contain one or more of the fifteen different types of collagen in the body. Many different aging-related diseases are related to lack of these collagen proteins. Unhealthy aging due to acidic and acid forming food and beverage choices, also creates problems with the collagen itself. As the body ages, the production of collagen slows. It starts slowing in the twenties and by the time we are sixty, we tend to have collagen issues that can be quite profound. Lack of collagen or the body’s improper use of it is how the body stiffens as we age. With continued aging, our connective and muscle tissues begin to break down until we notice that we are not as strong as we used to be. Bending and lifting become more difficult. Even opening that jar takes on a whole new strategy that we didn’t have to deal with when we were younger. Outside the body, the skin begins to show the signs of collagen breakdown. The skin starts to wrinkle and lose its healthy glow. We begin to develop ridges and furrows, red marks, brown spots and scaly patches. The skin dries out in spots as its ability to hold moisture in the collagen diminishes. Healthy collagen is nearly neutral in pH. To keep it healthy and flexible, we must keep it alkaline and full of water. The moistness is important to allow the fibers to slip over one another, allowing for fluid movement and retained strength. When the collagen is healthy and hydrated, everything takes on a new fullness and elasticity that is reminiscent of youth. Not only does the skin soften and smoothen, bones take on a new density and muscles, tendons and ligaments take on a new strength and flexibility of formerly youthful days. The solution to healthy collagen lies in the water that you drink. Since most of the weight of collagen is in the water it contains, it is imperative to keep hydrated. Drink lots of water and since the body is supposed to be a nearly neutral 7.4 pH, drinking alkaline, ionized water makes so much sense. The reason your collagen got into such rough shape to begin with is because it became acidic because of your diet. To correct the acidic state, drink Cerra alkaline, ionized water to bring the body back to neutral. Now you can be strong and have beautiful skin all at the same time by starting to drink again, only this time it is Hydra Water.

For years women have been very particular about their looks, dying their hair and rubbing the latest anti-aging potion all over their skin, getting nips here and tucks there, in an attempt to turn back the clock. In recent years, men are starting to get into the act. What most people need to know is that there are some key foods that will ultimately determine how fast you will age and how young you will look. We know that skin care products can make you skin look and feel softer and smoother, although they are only a temporary fix. The golden key to reducing fine lines and wrinkles and improving your complexion is to reduce free radical damage by slowing down the aging process as much as possible. The foods that do that are antioxidant-rich and full of anti-inflammatory properties. By filling our diets with these types of foods, we are promoting a more youthful body and softer, smoother, more radiant skin. One of the best super foods in this regard is blueberries. Information from the US Department of Agriculture shows that blueberries are important for improving eyesight and circulation. Their high antioxidant levels of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants found in fruits with blue and purple pigments, provide restorative properties to all kinds of health conditions. One of the attributes of anthocyanins is that they repair fine lines and wrinkles in the skin, stimulate collagen production and restore the skin’s elasticity. Omega-3 fats are another aspect of food that helps provide great looking skin. The foods containing the most omega-3 fats for the number of calories they contain are, in descending order, flax seed, omega 3 eggs, walnuts, Chinook salmon, cooked soybeans, bakes or broiled halibut, steamed shrimp, raw tofu, baked or broiled snapper, baked or broiled scallops and baked winter squash. Omega-3 fats improve rough, dry skin, restoring the lipid balance. There are natural fats in the skin that must be replenished to keep the satin look to the skin. Tomatoes, another skin enriching food, contains lycopene, a powerful nutrient that has been shown in studies to reduce skin cell damage and redness, particularly to sun exposure. In order to absorb lycopene, the body needs an accompanying healthy fat, like avocado oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Eating lycopene rich tomatoes and tomato products supports healthy glowing skin, particularly when the tomato is cooked. Sunflower seeds with their excellent source of Vitamin E is great for preventing and repairing free radical damage in the skin. Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin which applied to the topically, can provide powerful restorative qualities to the skin, gently providing the building blocks for nourishing and repairing the skin. One of the most important things for health, believe it or not is water. The amount of water you drink every day, is important in determining the quality and texture of your skin. By drinking half your body weight in ounces of clean, healthy Cerra water every day and minimizing dehydrating drinks like coffee, alcohol and other caffeine containing beverages, you will see wonderful changes in your skin that will improve the look and feel of it. The Cerra Water is 3 times more hydrating than bottled or tap water because it  it comes in smaller clusters- micro-clusters and is more ready absorbed by your skin. Nourishing your skin from the inside out is so important to keeping your youthful appearance. Not only will your skin improve, you will feel more energy and vitality to accomplish more, besides feeling great and looking great. Keep them guessing about how young you really are.

Eating the right foods, especially towards the end of your day at your evening meal can help you sleep more soundly and restfully. If you eat a well balanced diet containing sleep inducing ingredients, you will have a greater chance for a more restful sleep. Two specific nutrients are responsible for promoting better sleep. Magnesium is found mainly in meats, fish, seafood, dairy products and green vegetables. B-vitamins are found mainly in potatoes, beans, whole grains, broccoli, meats and bananas. By eating complex carbohydrate-rich foods at the evening meal, such as whole grains and complex starches, you encourage the production of serotonin which has a calming effect on the brain, reduces depression and is important in regulating the brain’s wake/sleep cycle. Carbohydrate rich foods you can include in your evening meal include potatoes, whole grain bread, whole wheat past and brown rice. Folic Acid, thiamine and Vitamin B6 are B vitamins that help to improve the quality of your sleep. They regulate certain amino acids, particularly tryptophan which is necessary in serotonin production. You can add tryptophan-rich foods along with foods rich in B vitamins to further improve your sleep. Foods rich in Vitamin B include whole grains, lean red meat and beans. Foods rich in tryptophan include turkey, eggs, fruit, chicken, brown rice, fish, nuts, veggies, beef, chicken, milk and cheese. Choosing herbal teas such as chamomile, valerian, rosemary or passionflower in the evening can soothe and relax you so you are ready to sleep when it is bedtime. Calcium, magnesium and zinc are the foundation minerals for awesome sleep. They affect how nerves in the body respond in addition to how muscles relax and contract. Tense muscles don’t lend themselves to relaxation prior to sleep so making sure you have adequate amounts of minerals in your diet is important. Zinc and magnesium may help to reduce night-time leg cramps and even restless leg syndrome which makes it difficult to get comfortable and settle in for sleep. A deficiency of magnesium can cause anxiety which can further contribute to poor sleep, which adds to magnesium depletion. Mineral rich foods include canned salmon with the bones, green leafy vegetables, dried beans, peas, sardines and nuts. There are foods that can help you sleep and there are foods that will disrupt your sleep. Anything containing caffeine, like coffee, cola beverages, certain teas and chocolate can help keep you awake. Spicy and hotly flavored foods can perk you up and keep you awake. Large heavy meals late in the evening are not good for you or your sleep patterns. Alcohol can also stimulate your wake cycles making it difficult to sleep. Another group of foods to avoid later in the day are fatty and fried foods. They can all increase your wakefulness, making it harder to relax and quiet down. By letting food take you to that sleepy place, you have a better chance of improving your sleep by being aware of what to eat and what to avoid. Encouraging relaxation inducing foods improves your rest and helps you function better during the day. Eat right to improve your chances of sleeping tight.

It’s ironic that most people don’t associate any kind of religion or spirituality with the effects they both have on their health. Even fewer people seem to know anything about alkaline food and alkaline diet and even less about alkaline, ionized water, especially how they affect their health. One of the most profound effects on health comes from your thoughts. Your state of mind has a tremendous influence on your personal health and vitality. How good you feel depend a great deal on what you are thinking. What you thought about yesterday is manifesting today. Looking at the beautiful photographs of the water crystals of Dr. Masura Emoto one can see how water can store thoughts and thought energy. If that is indeed possible as Dr. Emoto has indicated, imagine what is possible with the 70 percent water that your body contains. Imagine if you poured positive, healthy, energizing thoughts to the water inside you. You know what would happen, don’t you? Now, imagine if you changed your inner terrain from its probable acidic state, loaded with toxins, to a more neutral state, full of oxygen, water that is fresh and alive. The kind and quality of food we eat, affects the water within us and with it our blood, our overall health and our alkalinity. Our thoughts as we are eating that food, also affects everything. Acid thoughts create acid bodies. Negative thoughts create low energy, foggy thinking and ill health. Thoughts can keep us stuck in our old patterns of the past, distracting us from the new possibilities right under our noses. This is where we can lose our sense of well-being and be swept into the undercurrents of doubt and fear. It is said that Spirit resides in each of us. It rides on the river of life, the water within us. The ancient texts tell us that the element of water is ever powerful in directing our spiritual journey, just as food with nourish or shrivel our Spirit, the quality and quantity of water points the way. If you look at the photos of Dr. Emoto, you will see all kinds of water pictures from polluted water, chlorinated water, lake water, river water, blessed water, alkaline, ionized water, all manner of waters. Some of the crystals are distorted and stunted, others are beautiful. Which would you prefer inside you? If you believe in God, if you value your connection to God and the Spirit within, you will realize that the water you contain must be of the highest and purest state. By guarding your thoughts, by treating your body with the tenderness and the love, it deserves, you will only put into it sustenance of the highest quality and vibration. Alkalizing as it is known as today, has a deep Spiritual root in the ancient past. Those deeply committed to their connection with Spirit, only put into themselves alkaline foods and water that was energized and alive. Today, we have a greater scientific understanding of what that means, but our increased population and environmental contamination has not allowed us to eat and drink as we would like. Now we have organic foods available to us on a greater scale than ever before. We even have Hydra alkaline, ionized water to keep that water inside you of the highest and purest quality. Innovative Ionizing Technologies Inc  Scientists have created a pitcher with a specialty filter will help keep your inner terrain alkaline. If you know of chakras and the colors denoted to them, you will see the same colors on a pH chart. By drinking alkaline, ionized water, your vibration is kept in the higher frequencies. Negative, limiting thoughts cannot exist in an alkaline body. There is too much pull into uplifting, positive thoughts. The Hydra Water is further enhanced by infusing it with a full  range of healing frequencies called BFIT.  Biometric Frequency Infusion Technology is an an frequency package which contains thousands of frequencies that parts of the body naturally resonate at when in a healthy state. These frequencies are the purest form of energy that will pull up specific lower frequencies in a particular organ, tissue or body part so that it resonates at its perfectly harmonious place in the microcosm of the body. You in turn will resonate at the highest possible frequency at your harmonious place in the macrocosm of Infinity.  Drink Hydra  alkaline, BFIT  infused  water and your Spirit will soar. You will become unstoppable.

Water is unmistakably required for life. Eastern medical practice is based on the understanding that Chi is just as essential to life as water. Essentially water and Chi are both “fluids of life”, one visible and the other invisible. To mimic nature and our understanding of what we see as visible, the water, has a direct correlation to the invisible, the Chi. Chi has both energy and information like properties. A holographic theory of imprinting water by Dr. Emoto also shows that water unifies with thought and intention. It is entirely possible that water might include Chi, because both can be used as the carrier for imprinting information. Because they both are so interconnected and similar, they both need to be flowing and “alive”. The Chinese have historically educated people about “invisible” Chi. Many times they used water as a physical analogy for describing Chi. Water was traditionally used as a symbol for life in the Eastern temples and their fountains and baths. Life is about movement and both Chi and water must be flowing to be healthful. “Good water” is circulating, alkaline and fresh, where as “bad water” is stagnant, acidic and stale. Water is really more than an analogy for Chi. The spectrum of matter ranging from dense earth, through fluid water and air, and finally into light and Chi is a transition of solidness to fluidity, and also from the visible into the invisible. It is the Eastern understanding that “good water” and “fresh air” both actually contain Chi. Scientists also know that oxygen content in air and dissolved in water are also important to the “freshness” of air and water. Oxygen content alone should not negate the Chi properties because oxygen and Chi are interconnected. Because chi, water and oxygen provide “freshness”, this shows us that they are essential to life, but not just any life – life that is exciting, vital, joyous and healthy. So what has happened to us in the West? We eat acid-forming foods. We drink acidic water from a bottle or from the tap. Over time, and sometimes a very short time, our bodies have become acidic. As we age, we put on weight, we get stiff and sore and sometimes we even acquire symptoms. The acidic water or “bad water” becomes stale and stagnates. Some of it just sits in the body. The acids are solidified by the body into the joints, blood vessels, brain, organs and body fat. When the water stagnates, the Chi stagnates and we become tired and weak. Since “bad water”, stagnant Chi and poor oxygenation have direct correlation to each other, they are simple to fix. The body’s nature state is alkaline. The logical way to return the body to its natural state is to alkalize it. The simplest way is to drink alkaline, ionized water, which returns the body to an alkaline state, restores the “good water”, the vital Chi and oxygenates every cell of the body.

Imagine trillions of little engines, one or more in each of the cells in your body, each one alight with the fire of energy production and cell maintenance. As each little engine uses the fuel provided by our digestive and enzymatic process and combines with oxygen, it draws fuel into itself and gives off metabolic exhaust. This metabolic exhaust is the free radicals that run amuck in our body. They become a grave problem because unless they are neutralized by anti-oxidant activity or anti-oxidant enzymes, they ricochet around our body, burning holes in our tissues by snatching oxygen molecules and regenerating. The process cycles continuously unless the free radicals are neutralized. This tissue destruction is called oxidative stress. As we get older, the tissues become inflamed by this oxidative attack and the signs of aging begin to appear. Even as children, oxidative stress and its accompanying silent inflammation can be the result of a poor diet, dirty air and acidic water full of free radicals. When we eat less anti-oxidants in the form of fresh organic fruits and vegetables and high antioxidant water, we cannot keep up to the free radical production as metabolic exhaust. Pesticide and herbicide residues and environment pollutants must be metabolized in the body and released along with the metabolic exhaust. When there is more of what are called free radical promoters like processed foods, than there are anti-oxidants to neutralize them, the body becomes acidic, toxic and overloaded. This is what scientists call acidosis.  This is where the silent inflammation begins it’s rise, up onto the radar screen to eventually become pain or illness. Anywhere you have a cell, you can have free radical damage; in the brain causing dementia and Alzheimers, in the joints causing arthritis, in the blood vessels causing heart disease, in the nerves causing MS, Myasthenia Gravis and ALS, and in the gut causing colitis, IBS and Crohn’s. Lupus and Fibromyalgia are serious forms of inflammation caused by free radical damage. Where free radicals are formed and released as metabolic exhaust, damage begins and the healthy tissue surrounding the damage will release growth hormone-like factors that minimize the damage and promote healing. Unless the anti-oxidant level is high enough to counter the free radicals, the damage site will continue to release more and more hormone in an effort to repair the damage. Scar tissue may form as the damage attempts to heal and may even build up over time causing joints to stiffen, blood vessels to narrow, thinking to get fuzzy, and muscles to tighten. This is where you can get soft tissue damage in organs, and skeletal soft tissues. If the damage becomes great enough, the immune system in the gut will be triggered and an allergy or an auto-immune disease may form. What can we do? First of all, watch what you are putting in your mouth. Research what foods are acid or alkaline. Know that alcohol and smoking cause increased oxidative stress in the liver, blood vessels, lungs and heart. Smoking reduces the oxygen uptake capacity of the cells, further increasing acidity and oxidative stress. Do what you can to minimize their use. Remove heavy metals from your body. Do not cook with aluminum cookware, even if it is anodized. As the coating wears, the under layer of aluminum becomes exposed to the food that you are cooking. Deodorants containing aluminum should also be avoided.  Be aware of products containing lead or mercury, even the fillings in your teeth. Beware of copper or iron in your drinking water. Be sure to use a good water filtration system if you live in the country on well water. Have the acidity of your water checked. You should be drinking alkaline, ionized water to repair free radical damage in your body. Know that acidic water also tends to be full of free radicals which can compound the damage already occurring in your body. Electrical contamination from high tension wires, computers, electrical outlets and electrical equipment push the body into stress, which is a strong free radical promoter. It is also a really good idea to change your shopping habits. Try to buy as close to fresh organic as possible. Remember the advice from nutritionists a few years back. Only buy foods from the perimeter of the store and stay away from canned and refined, processed foods in the other aisles. All the chemicals found in the foods and on the labels impose a huge toll on our oxidative energy cycle. If you can consume more antioxidants than you produce metabolic exhaust, you are ahead of the game. If you can juice some of your fruits and veggies, you increase the antioxidant value and the natural pectin will help chelate heavy metals from your body. Most people only consume between 1200 and 1700 oxidative units per day in the foods they consume. It is not enough to tip the balance and reduce your exposure If you want a phenomenal source of antioxidants, it is suggested that you supplement your diet with a A high antioxidant, alkaline ionized water. You can tip the scale and give your body the repair capacity it needs to clean up years of damage. The 300 billion cells that you renew every day have a chance to be free of damage and oxidative stress. You will have more energy to get through your day and you could feel just great!

Remember, Oscar, he was that green furry thing on Sesame Street that lived in a garbage can. He was always grumpy, no matter what. What Oscar didn’t realize is that he could change. There are just as many ways to be happy as there are to be unhappy. While in some cases, it is not necessarily a matter of choice, the fact that happiness feels better makes it more enticing. If you are down in the dumps, how do you pick yourself up and be happier? First of all, be grateful for what you do have. Even though it may not be very much, it is yours and it serves a purpose in your life. We all have something to be grateful for. It might be as simple as a nice hot bath or walking by a beautiful display of flowers in the park. If you are blessed with a nice house with lots of things in it, then you have lots to be grateful for. There are lots of big and millions of small things to be grateful for. Take notice and appreciate how your life has progressed. Start a gratitude journal and every evening, write three things that you are grateful for today. Write something new each time, without duplicating any of your entries. Enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Notice how blue the sky is or how the sun shines through the trees. There is nothing more uplifting than beauty to make your heart sing. Relish the taste of your favorite foods, really notice them. Make a point of wearing your favorite color and notice how it accents your eyes or your skin tone. Make it an important event every day to bring pleasure to yourself and really savor how delightful it feels to be aware of all the wonderful things that surround you. Be happy with what you have, not what you don’t. Sooner or later you will realize that retail therapy will not make you any happier than you are right now. Buying stuff now will not make up for the credit card bill doldrums at the end of the month.  We live in a consumer driven society where everything we purchase is meant to be used for a short time before it breaks down and is thrown away. We are conditioned to buy, buy, buy, not fix or reuse. If you look in your closet, you will find that you only wear about 20 to 30 percent of what is in there. Maybe you should try to wear something you haven’t worn for a while or put a different accessory with it to give it a new look. Give your kitchen a good scrub so that it sparkles and shines. Have your car detailed so it looks new again. Find ways to make do and be happy with your accomplishments. Enjoy your passions as fully as you can. Just because you may not have that stellar job that has you bounding out of bed in the morning, doesn’t mean you have to live in a passionless desert. There is always time, even if it is a few minutes here and there to have a quick roller blade around the block or put the finishing touches on that cabinet you just finished building. By living what you are passionate about, you enhance your own happiness and sense of well-being. It’s just fine to be creative in how you weave your passions into your day. After all, bringing meaning and pleasure into your life is what life is all about in the first place. Try writing that poem or knitting the sleeve of that sweater in your coffee or  lunch break. The transit commute to and from work offers possibilities as well. Eat good mood foods. Eating foods that are high in potassium, magnesium, tryptophan and B vitamins help to smooth out your mood and knock off the jagged edges. Besides eating a nutritionally dense diet where every calorie counts for awesome nutrition, you can add mood boosting foods that tip you into the happiness scale. The Hydra Water is also called  “happy water”since it helps to stabilize moods while balancing the pH. An acidic body creates an acid mind and chaotic thinking while  a balanced alkaline  body means your mind is  tranquil. When you have things that you look forward to doing because they make you feel good, you will feel happier and more content within yourself. If you don’t seem to be able to find your passion, try listening to music or look up short videos on YouTube. Things that uplift you and make you feel good are important to find. Step outside your comfort zone and go walk dogs at your local animal shelter or join a local square dance club. Hey, if you don’t like it, go try something else. There are millions of things you can do that will turn your green fur yellow, get you out of the garbage can and even put a smile on your face. It’s worth a try, don’t you think?

Surprises aren’t always nice. A recent survey showed that a little more than half of all the adults in the US are overweight. Statistics show a surprising 64.2 percent of the population is overweight or obese. Determination of whether someone is overweight id determined by finding a person’s Body Mass Index or BMI. BMI is a formula that takes a person’s body weight and height and calculates whether they are underweight, a healthy weight or overweight. A lot of people have no “education” in regards to diet and what is healthy to eat. I know the egg and milk lobbies bombard us with why these products are good for us. But that is just conditioning to sell you products. Is this stuff really good for you? Do they make you fat? What is fat and how does it work in the body? What happens inside us that makes us fat? Fat is found in several places in the body. It is found in tissue under the skin and on top of each of your kidney. Fat is also stored in the liver and even small amounts are found in muscle. Depending on whether you are a man or a woman will determine where they will store their fat. Adult men tend to carry extra body fat in their chest, abdomen and buttocks, giving them an apple shape. Women tend to carry extra fat in their breasts, hips, waist and buttocks, giving them more of a pear shape. In the human body there is white fat and brown fat. Babies have a predominance of brown fat that they burn as fuel to keep warm. Adults have mostly white fat so that is the type of fat I’ll be addressing in this article. Fat tissue is made up of fat cells, which are not like other cells of the body. Only about 15 percent of the cell volume is made up of cytoplasm and a small nucleus. The cell is rather large with a large fat droplet that makes up approximately 85 percent of the volume. When you eat food that contains fat, consisting mostly of triglycerides, it goes through the stomach processing and enters the small intestine. In the small intestine, large droplets of fat get mixed with bile salts from the gall bladder which processes and emulsifies the fat. This emulsification process breaks down the droplets of fat into very small droplets called micelles. This increases the surface area of the fat for the next part of the process. The pancreas secretes enzymes called lipases that coat the surface of each micelle and break the fats down into glycerol and fatty acids. The fatty components then get absorbed into the cells lining the small intestine. In these specific intestinal cells, the fatty parts are reassembled into new packages of fat molecules. This time a protein coating called chylomicrons is added that makes the fat dissolve more easily in water. The chylomicrons are released into the lymphatic system because they cannot go directly into the blood stream. They are too big to pass through the walls of the capillaries. The lymphatic system eventually merges with the veins where these fat packages pass into the blood stream. These fat packages get broken down and rebuilt because they are too big to pass through cell membranes. But when these water soluable fat packages are being transported in the lymph or blood the larger fat molecules do not attract as many water molecules as smaller ones would. Chylomicrons are short lived in the bloodstream. They only last about 8 minutes because enzymes break down the fats into fatty acids. When the pancreas is secreting lipase it is also getting ready to secrete insulin. The body uses insulin to push fuel and water into the cells. The cells have gateways with osmotic pumps that allow insulin to push water and fuel into the cells. Insulin also tells the cells to begin certain metabolic functions. The digestive tract is central to health, particularly the intestines. If they are not in top form, lots of things happen in the body that lead to illness and disease. Besides the blood and the lymph, the digestive tract uses a large amount of water. You need approximately two quarts of water just to digest a meal. Water is also lost from the body through urination, defecation, perspiration and respiration. The body will pull water from wherever it can, but if there is not enough, certain troubling symptoms start to appear. When there is an inner drought, the body actives a neurotransmitter called histamine. Histamine has two functions, one is to manage the immune system and the other is to manage the available water supply. When there is a water shortage in the body and there is not enough to manage cell metabolism, histamine signals the pancreas to slow insulin production. Thus you have Syndrome X and an insulin resistant body. The ability of lipoprotein lipases to do their job depends on the level of insulin in the body. If there is a water shortage and the insulin level is low the lipases become inactive. Conversely, if there is a daily intake of 3 or more quarts of water, lipase activity will be high. With adequate water levels the fatty acids are then absorbed from the blood stream into the muscle cells and liver cells. Any excess is absorbed into the fat cells for “temporary” storage. With the proper portion control and balanced diet, the body burns as fuel all that it is fed, providing there is a purpose to do so…ie: exercise and activity. Water intake keeps the histamine response low so that insulin has free rein to push the fuel into the cells. Insulin also converts and stores fatty acids as fat droplets in the fat cells. It is also possible during inner drought for the fat cells to take up glucose and amino acids from the bloodstream and convert these into fat molecules. To convert carbohydrates and proteins into fats is 10 times less efficient than simply storing fat in a fat cell. But if there is not enough water to work the osmotic pumps efficiently the body will store the fuel because it cannot get into the cells. Let’s imagine a person that is a little rounder than they used to be. This person may be told that they just eat too much. But some people don’t. They probably don’t eat enough or they could modify what they eat. One thing is for certain, they are dehydrated. A dehydrated body is also acidic. If you spit into a spoon and test your saliva with pH test paper you would find you are well below 7.0 which is neutral pH. You should actually be around 7.4 pH for optimum health. If your saliva is 6.4 you are 10 times more acidic than neutral. If this person were to add much more water to their day, certain hormones such as glucagon from the pancreas, human growth hormone from the pituitary gland, ACTH from the pituitary gland, epinephrine from the adrenal gland and thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland, would have the opposite effect as insulin, acting on liver, muscle and fat tissue cells. But your body needs adequate water store to do this. Your body needs energy 24/7. When you are not eating, digesting and absorbing food, your body still needs to maintain your energy levels. The first thing it does is to break down carbohydrates or glycogen, stored in the liver into simple glucose molecules. Then the body breaks down fats into glycerol and fatty acids. These fatty acids can be broken down directly to produce energy or they can be converted to glucose. Your brain runs entirely on glucose. When the body breaks down fat, the number of fat cells remain the same, they just get smaller. If the energy you require to maintain your daily activity is greater than the fuel that you take in, the body will have to activate and use fat stores to give you more energy. When that happens you need to drink more water because the toxins that have been stored there will be released into your blood and lymph to be eliminated. You cannot release toxins effectively if you are dehydrated. The dehydration response in the body can simply be relieved with clean, healthy water. The healthiest water for the body is alkaline, ionized water. It is split into two streams by an electrolysis unit – one alkaline and the other acidic. The alkaline water relieves the dehydration because it is broken up into little bunches of water molecules. These smaller bunches can enter the cells more efficiently. It is like me saying to you, “Put this apple in your mouth.” You can’t do it, it doesn’t fit. If you cut the apple up into small pieces, they easily fit into your mouth. Your cells are no different. The body becomes acidic from dehydration, so when you drink lots (at least half your body weigh in ounces) of Cerra  alkaline ionized water, the cells become hydrated, the cell function is restored and the histamine response diminishes because it is no longer needed, the body is able to release toxins and fat more easily and a new slimmer you emerges.

Of all the health risks, one of the most serious is obesity. Doctors are now associating obesity with higher rates of chronic medical problems and a much poorer quality of life than is seen with alcohol abuse, smoking and even poverty. In the June 2001 issue of Public Health, an article states that the risk of heart disease, osteoarthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain types of cancer rises with increasing weight gain. We all know that it is possible to put on weight because we take in more fuel in the form of calories than we need, so the body starts storing it. But there is another type of weight gain caused by toxins present in the body. Toxins are stored in fat cells as a mean of protecting vital organs. The body protects itself from being poisoned by encapsulating fat away from the parts of the body that keep us alive. There are approximately 100,000 known toxins that we can breathe into our bodies, eat in our food, absorb through our skin, or drink or smoke. A man I heard about recently, measures air quality with certain devices. I heard that if you can imagine a dice, one that you roll in different games and see the size and shape of the dice. There are 3500 particles of contaminants in the space of that imaginary dice that we breathe into our bodies. How many “dice” do you breathe into your body every day? The body has to put those contaminants somewhere so it stores them in fat cells. If these chemical contaminants come in contact with the cells or the replicating part of the cell called the DNA it can cause damage to the genetic makeup of the cell. This can cause cell mutations such as cancers. As there is more and more exposure to pollutants, more and more storage space is needed, thus more fat cells. This is a condition called toxic obesity. You can really see the toxicity in cases where people have liposuction done. The fat that is removed is dark brown and sometimes almost black. So the body is very efficient in trying to protect itself from serious damage. Another way that the body becomes toxic is through cosmetics, makeup, skin, hair and nail products. According to The Telegraph.co.uk a woman’s body can absorb up to 5 pounds of chemicals in to her body every year through the make-up and cleaning products that she uses. As more and more men are looking for than youthful look, they too will start absorbing more and more toxins. The body is supposed to be about 70 percent water but most of us are quite dehydrated, some of us extremely so. But, nonetheless, the water that we do have in our body becomes just as toxic as the rest of us. The damage and the irritation caused by this toxic fluid, causes the body to try to dilute it further, so it “pulls” water from wherever it can so the result is fluid weight gain. When individuals try to lose weight by cutting calories, exercising, or other means, the body starts to release toxins from the fluids and fat cells into the circulation as the body adjusts to the new regimen. This reaction causes feelings of discomfort as the body “detoxes.” Symptoms can range from fuzzy thinking, brain fog, low energy, joint aches and pains, digestive upsets, skin rashes, loose stools and a whole range of other symptoms. As the discomfort increases, people very often stop dieting because they don’t feel well. They start into their old food habits again because it feels familiar. As the detox slows and stops they feel better. This can bring about emotional responses to their failure to lose weight again because they don’t understand that they are detoxing. In a sense, the body is alarmed by the release of toxins within itself and wants to survive. Understanding what detoxing is and how to manage it effectively is the key to effective and sustained weight loss. For the obese person, losing weight can be very dangerous, if their weight loss program does not include a detoxifying component. There are some simple ways to effectively manage the release of toxins from the body. Let’s look at how it can be done. Your body need half your body weight in ounces every day in good quality, clean, pure water. This supports the proper digestion, absorption and circulation of nutrients and the elimination of digestive by-products, toxins, food additives and contaminants from the body. Most of our diets are acid forming in the body and certainly a lot of the water sources are acidic either because of the water source or what the water contains. The public works department will assure you that the water is “safe” to drink because it meets federal standards. This may or may not be true, especially if you read any of the Center For Disease Control, Environmental Protection Agency, and other watch dog agency reports. Most of the tap water contains chlorine and chlorine by-products and is can be somewhat acidic to slightly alkaline. Cerra alkaline, ionized  water is the healthiest water in the world to drink. It will support health in every system of your body. As your body alkalizes, it no longer needs the fat to store the metabolic and environmental acids you have accumulated. Suddenly, skinny looks much easier than you thought. Isn’t it time you found out more about it?

According to scientific studies in recent years, having belly fat and fat around your middle brings about a predisposition to heart and circulatory disease in addition to diabetes and other chronic illnesses. That muffin waist or that ski jump is dangerous to your health. What I am going to tell you now, may surprise you. Fat gain seems to be triggered by dehydration. When the trigger happens, the body cannot differentiate between thirst and hunger. Tests show that in random  groups who appeared to be hungry, a glass or two of water, when consumed, dissipated hunger pangs in all but one person. When the body is dehydrated, even a two percent water loss, scientists are saying that it creates fuzzy thinking, short term memory loss, fatigue, lethargy, aches and pains, acidic body terrain, false feelings of hunger, blood sugar issues, blood pressure issues and many other symptoms. The biggest problem with dehydration is the rising acidity that happens to the body terrain. Your blood is very sensitive to pH and the body will do everything it can to maintain the blood at 7.365. If it starts to drift below that, the mineral stores in the bones, organs and teeth are pulled to buffer the rising acidity. Over time, this causes osteopenia and osteoporosis. The other body fluids become more acidic along with the blood. The body acidity actually consists of dietary and metabolic acids from eating too much of certain types of foods, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, chemicals and toxins in the water, using cosmetics and hair dyes, drinking carbonated and alcoholic beverages, environmental pollutants, household cleaners, and a whole litany of other contaminants. Yes, I know that’s Life, but there is something you can do about it, something very simple. Actually there are somethings you can do. We’ll get to them in a moment. First you have to understand how the body gets fat. This body acidity is dangerous to your internal organs which must work in order for you to be healthy. The body develops a strategy to protect them from the acidity which irritates, inflames and scars them. Fat cells are used to store toxins and acids from metabolic processes that are trapped in the body by lack of water. The toxins are illustrated by looking at the dark brown/black fat that comes out of people during liposuction. The body stores what could be dangerous to itself by storing it in fat cells. Now, the question is how do you get rid of it? The simplest answer is to rehydrate the body, but we have to be careful how we do it. Remember all that acidic waste that is stored in your fat cells. We don’t want it flooding into your body fluids from your fat . It’s too acidic and could cause you to feel unwell and go into what is called a detox reaction. You will remember from your high school chemistry, that acid is neutralized by alkaline or base. You will need to address your fat on several fronts. First you need to put more water into your body, gradually building up to one more glass each day until you are drinking half your body weight in ounces every day. You also need to get more alkaline into your system. One way to do it is to eat more green vegetables or take a greens powder.  The easiest way is to drink  Cerra alkaline, ionized water. Now that you have some strategies to start the alkalizing your body, you may begin to notice that weight just starts to drop without you doing much of anything else. I encourage you to try to make better food choices by cutting out as many processed foods and sugars as possible. Just go at it gradually and do the best you can. Now we need to talk about the dreaded E-word, exercise. If you have mobility problems or trouble with walking, I encourage you to sit a chair in the middle of the room, sit in it and move your arms and legs around for 5 minutes, twice a day. Think of all the ways you can move your arms and legs. For example, straighten your right leg and lift it as high as you can. Do it five times if you can. Now do the other leg. Pick another movement with each leg and each arm. If you are mobile, then I would like you to challenge yourself to walk to the other end of the block and back. Walk every day until you get a bit stronger, then walk a bit further until you can walk around the block, then two. Movement gets your lymph system moving so that all those acids and toxin can be moved to the chutes and plumbing to be eliminated. To monitor your progress, get some pH strips from a health food store to monitor your urine pH. Wave a strip of pH paper through your urine stream first thing in the morning and two hours after each meal. Your goal is to get your urine pH to 6.9. A pH of 5.9 is ten times more acidic that 6.9 which is a lot. By making changes in your lifestyle you can lose the ski jump and the muffin waist. Otherwise the alternatives are all downhill. You deserve better and that includes vibrant health. Let’s change your lifestyle a bit and see how you feel. Let’s get moving!

Cancer tumors cannot live in alkaline water. All cancer patients should be on alkaline water, and you and I should be drinking alkalized water so our bodies won’t provide an environment for cancer tumors to live. Alkaline water is fantastic for insomnia and colic. The brain is 90% water and when it can’t maintain that percentage it will pull water from all other parts of the body. Salt, caffeine, nicotine,valium, alcohol and sugar put your body out of balance. If we don’t keep our blood pH at 7.3 or above, death will occur. In fact, death will occur if the blood pH goes below 7. The hydrogen ion is positively charged….[An ionizer]…changes the hydrogen ion into a negative charge. The liver loves negative hydrogen ions. That is why kidney and liver problems can be helped with alkaline ionized water. Urine that has a strong odor indicates an unhealthy body. If the body is balanced there is no ammonia and protein in the urine. An over acid body causes kidney stones and gall stones. Cysts are the beginning of tumors, which lead to cancer because minerals are deficient from that part of the body. Cancer is a long period of mineral deficiency caused by an over acid condition of the body. The kidney, heart, lungs, brain, intestines, mucous and skin are [electrolytic] membranes and need electrolyzed water. Ionized water is great for Attention Deficit Disorder as this condition is [caused by] too much rhodium and iridium in the brain. Ionized water calms these types of children. Alkaline ionized water allows greater penetration than any other water and thus reduces wrinkles  because the skin is getting the water in needs. When alkaline ionized water was used with Alzheimer’s patients, just by drinking a gallon a day, their senility problem subsided. Alkaline ionized water is the frequency of the pineal gland and thus affects all other glands below the pineal gland. That is why the water can lower blood pressure and blood sugar, shrink an enlarged prostrate, stimulate sex drive, improve vision, improve MS and Parkinson’s Disease, just to name a few. Reverse osmosis water units remove too many minerals from the water that our body needs and is too acid for the body to help the over acid condition. Distilled water is neutral, dead water, and has no minerals or charge. Alkaline ionized water ties up free radicals from attacking healthy cells. Also we are aging too fast because we are acidic and dehydrated! Alkaline ionized water is the most powerful liquid antioxidant that can rebuild the immune system and is revolutionizing the health industry. Most of our health problems today are caused by an over-acid condition of the body. “”Your Body’s Many Cries for Water””  by Dr. Batmanghelidj  Dr. Batmanghelidj has written a remarkable book called “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” in which he describes many cures for many illnesses by drinking at least eight glasses (250ml each) of water per day. He advocates for every quart (liter) of water one should take a quarter teaspoon of sea salt. Just like many nutritionist who believe that most people are walking around with a mild form of scurvy through lack of vitamin C, Dr. Batmanghelidj really believes that most people are suffering from dehydration or a deficiency of water. If the sensation of “dry mouth” is not present, it does not indicate that the body has sufficient water, and when “dry mouth” is present it is far too late.  Pains such as headaches, asthma, peptic pain, hypertension, angina, joint pains and many others, could well be one of one your body’s many cries for water. The body has a rationing system with the brain having priority. If the brain begins to be short of water, water is taken from another part of the body to the detriment of that part, which eventually will malfunction and cause disease. This makes sense as the only way cells can rejuvenate themselves and get rid of waste is through ample water, and very few people drink eight glasses of water per day. It’s hard to believe we can be foolish enough to put our health on the line over a few glasses of water.  The medical establishment is ignoring Dr. Batmanghelidj in spite of the mountain of evidence he has put forward in many well-theorized papers. In many cases doctors are treating dehydration with diuretic drugs. Oh well, there’s no money in water! Anyway, after selling more than 400,000 books, Dr. Batman is receiving such an avalanche of thanks and testimonies (including doctors) that he must be helping many people, and their wallets. So keep your water levels topped up!  

And I did it! Drug companies manufacture a class of chemicals that are strong antihistamines. Histamine is a brain chemical whose action the drug industry is determined to block when there is pain. Most strong pain medications are antihistamines. There are many kinds produced by different companies. One variety is called Tagamet. It is now a non-prescription drug that you can buy off the shelf. I set out to research why histamine is the target when pain medications are used. I discovered that histamine is a vital chemical messenger in the brain. Histamine has a most important function not written about in medical textbooks. It is in charge of water intake and drought management in the body. It is less active when the body is fully hydrated, and becomes increasingly active when the body becomes dehydrated. This was the connection I was looking for. In short, histamine produces pain when an area in the body is suffering from drought! I had to search through numerous scientific journals to collect this information. It took several months to put this information together. I made several copies of a thick scientific volume, and had each volume bound -- in April 1985, 13 years ago! A copy was sent to each of the professors who were present at the meeting in Professor Spiro’s office. I presented at various conferences the discovery that the human body produces pain and develops various diseases when it is suffering from drought. One such conference was the 3rd Interscience World Conference on Inflammation, held in Monte Carlo in 1989. Deception and Human Suffering! Here is the story that should dispel any myths about drug companies being on the side of consumers! In the autumn of 1988 I was invited to speak at the Gastroenterology Society meeting held at the Armed Forces Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- a hospital and a country that lack nothing money can buy. I was introduced to the local representative of a major drug company that manufactures one of these special pain medications. He did not know me or the topic of my presentation. He was curious. Here I was in Saudi Arabia, from America, addressing a medical gathering. He asked me, "Do you use our product?" I answered, "No, I do not." He asked, "Are you using the product of our competitor?" I said, "No, I do not use the product of your competitor either." With much surprise he asked, "Then, what do you use to treat your patients?" I told him, "I use water." In amazement, he said, "What, water alone?" "Yes," I said, "Water alone." Then I asked him the two questions that had bothered me for some time. "As a researcher into the effect of histamine functions on the body physiology, your company must be aware of the primary role of histamine in water regulation and drought management of the body. Firstly, why do you insist that its actions should be blocked? And, secondly, why do you not explain this water-regulatory role of histamine in the body to the clinicians who are being asked to block its action by the use of your product?" What do you think was his answer? In an irritated tone of voice, he replied, "We are not here to educate the doctors. They should discover that for themselves! We are a manufacturing company interested in selling a product!" Exactly what I expected! Fortunately, I am now able to reveal what drug companies have been for years concealing from the doctors and their patients. This new knowledge will make the practice of medicine much simpler -- and friendlier to you, your health, and your financial resources. What is more, medical jargon will no longer get in your way of understanding your own body and its ways of talking to you. And, of course, the profession of medicine will once again become an honorable calling and not just a way to get rich quickly. Pain No More: A Much Longer Healthier Life Too Was The Message How and where do you think I made my discovery? Secrets of "water cure" were revealed to me in the unlikeliest place you could imagine. In a Middle Eastern political prison. It was 1979 when all hell broke loose and I was caught in the inferno. After graduating from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School of London University and having the honor of being selected as the resident doctor in my own medical school, I returned to Iran, where I was born, to set up medical centers and clinics for those in need. I became very successful in this endeavor. Then the political volcano erupted. You saw it on the television screens. Angry masses engaged in the violent overthrow of the Shah and the Iranian government. There was a tragic side to this historic event. Almost all professional and creative people who had stayed in the country were rounded up and taken to prison to be investigated, tried, and "dealt with" as quickly as possible. Some people were shot on the first day or two. Their "revolutionary" trials consisted of establishment of identity, pronouncement of guilt, followed by the sentence. The trial would last no more than ten minutes. Other people were given a little more time before being "processed." I was lucky to be among the latter group. I suppose my skills as a doctor were useful to prison authorities, hence the delay in my being "processed." Evin Prison where I was held was built for 600 persons. At one point, it was "sardine-packed" with 8,000 to 9,000 prisoners. At the height of their revolutionary fervor, when segregating different political factions, prison authorities used some cells built for six to eight people to isolate up to 90 persons. One third would lie down, one third would squat, and one third would have to stand. Every few hours, prisoners would rotate position. The nightmare of life and death in that hell-hole haunted everyone and tested the mettle of both the strong and the weak. This is when the human body revealed to me some of its greatest secrets, secrets never understood by the medical profession. For most of the prisoners, who ranged in age from 14 to 80, pressures of the exceptionally harsh life caused much stress and ill health. Destiny must have chosen me to be there to help some of these desperate people. One late night, about two months into my imprisonment (I had begun with six weeks in solitary confinement), my destiny revealed itself. It spoke to me in the loudest of words and forever changed my life. It was past 11:00 p.m. I was awakened to see an inmate in excruciating stomach pain. He could not walk by himself. Two others were helping him stay upright. He was suffering from peptic ulcer disease and wanted some ulcer pain medication. His face dropped when I told him I had not been allowed to bring medical supplies with me to prison. Then the revolutionary breakthrough occurred! I gave him two glasses of water. His pain disappeared in minutes and he could begin to stand up by himself. He beamed from ear to ear. You cannot imagine the joy of relief he experienced, even in those harsh surroundings. "What happens if the pain comes back?" he asked. "Drink two glasses of water every three hours," I told him. He became pain-free and remained disease-free for the rest of his time in prison. His "water cure" in that harsh environment totally amazed me as a doctor. I knew I had witnessed a healing power to water that I had not been taught in medical school. I am sure no other such observation has ever been made in medical research. If water could cure a painful disease condition in that stressful environment, surely it needed further research! The penny dropped there and then. I realized that my destiny as a healer had brought me to this "human stress laboratory" to teach me a new approach to medicine and to reveal many other hidden secrets about the human body. I opened my eyes. Instinctively, I realized why I had come to prison! I stopped thinking about myself and started to think about doing medical research in the prison. I began to identify the health problems that "blossomed" due to the stress of prison. By far the largest number involved ulcer pains. I treated those who came to me with what proved to be the best "natural elixir" -- water. I found water could treat and cure more diseases than any medication I knew about. It Could Even Cure Someone Who Was Literally Dying of Pain It was again past 11:00 p.m. I was on my way to a sick inmate when I heard a piercing groan from one of the cells at the end of the corridor. I followed the sound and found a young man curled up on the floor of his cell. He seemed to be totally detached, giving out deep, piercing groans. "What is wrong?" I asked. He did not react. I had to shake him several times before he could reply. "My... ulcer... is killing me." "What have you done for the pain?" I asked. He told me: "Since one o'clock... when it started... I have taken three Tagamets... and one full bottle of antacid. But... not only has the pain not stopped... it has got worse since then." (At that time, prisoners were able to get medications from the prison hospital.) By now, I had a much clearer understanding of peptic ulcer pain. What I did not realize until then was the severity it could reach when not even strong medications could stop it. After examining his abdomen for possible complications, I gave him two glasses of tap water. Just over one pint. I left him to visit another sick inmate. Ten minutes later I returned. Groans of pain no longer filled the corridor. "How do you feel?" I asked. "Much better," he replied. "But I still have some pain." I gave him a third glass of water. And his pain stopped completely within four minutes. This man had been semi-conscious, on the verge of death. He had taken a huge amount of ulcer medication -- with no result. And now, after drinking only 3 glasses of tap water, he became pain-free, sitting up and socializing with his friends. What a humbling discovery! And I thought I had received the best medical education in the world! During the years of my captivity, I cured over 3,000 ulcer cases with only water in the Evin Prison -- "my God-given stress laboratory." All thanks to water. Plain, simple, cost-free medicine for everyone. Water that we all take for granted! Water that the medical profession has dismissed as unworthy of research! Since my eyes were opened to water as a natural medication, I have seen it heal and alleviate hundreds of traditionally incurable sicknesses and chronic pains. I have seen water completely reverse conditions such as: Asthma. Angina. Hypertension. Migraine headaches. Arthritis pain. Back pain. Colitis pain and chronic constipation. Heartburn and hiatal hernia. Depression. Chronic fatigue syndrome. High cholesterol. Morning sickness. Overweight problems. Even heart problems needing bypass surgery. All these disease conditions responded simply and permanently to water. Ordinary water. Any water you feel comfortable to drink. Clean tap water is as good as any. Day After Day ... Patient After Patient ... The Results Prove the Healing Power of Water I have used water to cure people who were suffering from "incurable" diseases. I have cured people who suffered for 10 years, 20 years, even 30 years from painful conditions produced by dehydration. The Mayo Clinic had pronounced Lloyd Palmer, of Minnesota, as incurable. Since 1965 he had suffered from excruciatingly painful arthritis of his spinal column -- ankylosing spondylitis. His spine twisted and lost movement until, he says, he became a "walking comma." He suffered pain for 31 years, until he started to drink water and take salt. He writes: "I continue to be pain-free with my ankylosis spondylitis one year after starting the water/salt regime. My blood pressure is normal as well. I thank God every day for allowing me to finally be pain-free." Lloyd Palmer's story is so incredible that Paul Harvey reported it on his ABC News program. He also wrote a syndicated column, printed in a few hundred newspapers. In a recent news broadcast on ABC television, Peter Jennings announced that 110 million Americans suffer from chronic pains. The breakthrough medical information these people need to regain their health is now in your hands. Empower yourself -- increase your knowledge of persistent dehydration and its "calling cards," now that you have the opportunity. Learn the secrets to a much longer pain-free life. Attention! It is easy to understand what water does in your body, but bear in mind there is more to it than just simply drinking water. You must learn to rehydrate your body gradually and carefully. You need to recognize your own particular early indicators of thirst. Not everyone is the same. You must learn what can happen to your own body when it becomes dehydrated. Not every body registers drought in the same way. Depending on where the drought has settled, the initial indicators are different in different people. Q. Is there more to the cure program than just water? A. Yes, there is much more. In the same way you need a road map to drive through a new country, you need more information to understand, prevent, even reverse complications of dehydration. The detailed information in My Natural Miracle Cure Program is vital for your initiation into the new art of self-healing. My information is exclusive and you will not find it elsewhere. WARNING! You must learn how to start drinking water in a way that you do not collect water in your lungs-- particularly if you have been dehydrated for some time, or if you are on medications-- and eventually wish to get off medications. In My Natural Miracle Cure Program I will show you how to: Cure virtually all pains at no cost -- forever -- without drugs, surgery, acupuncture, herbal prescriptions, manipulation, homeopathy, meditation, bio-feedback, hypnosis, or other commercial ways used for relief of pain.  Reduce your blood pressure naturally, without any harmful medication -- such as diuretics that further dehydrate the body. When blood pressure is raised, the body is operating a water-rationing program -- it has to raise the pressure to inject filtered water into vital cells. This is why diuretics are slow poisons that surely and prematurely kill. Wise up to this discovery if you or someone you know is suffering from high blood pressure! I am not selling water. I am sharing this information with you free of charge. But you need to know more.  Lower your blood cholesterol without medication.  Add many healthy pain-free years to your life.  Lose unwanted pounds of excess weight. Look and feel years younger. Donna Gutkowski's letter on page 111 of Your Body’s Many Cries for Water tells her story of how she lost 40 pounds of unsightly weight before she got married. "I can walk down the aisle looking better than I have looked in 15 years."  Regain your youthful skin. Get rid of "crow's feet" on your face.  Increase your mental power and alertness.  Become stress-free. Don't forget, the stress-relieving and disease-curing miracles of water were first discovered in a harsh political prison.  Prevent and cure migraine headaches. (Read Mavis Butler's astonishing letter on page 52 of the Cries for Water book, and discover how water changed her life. At times she did not wish to live because of long-lasting headaches that kept her in bed for days on end -- in pain!)  Prevent Alzheimer's disease. Regain your memory, even in old age. THINK! The brain is 85 percent water. When water in the brain becomes insufficient, the brain shrinks. The plum-like cells become prune-like. Only in their natural fully hydrated state are brain cells able to connect and "talk" to one another, and we are able to remember things. This is why my research indicates that Alzheimer’s disease is caused by chronic dehydration of the brain cells. When dehydrated, many brain cells die. Unlike other cells in the body, new brain cells are not produced to replace the dying ones. Learn to prevent brain cells’ early death. Learn to even partially reverse some of the damages of dehydration of your brain.  Prevent heart disease. Cure angina pain. Read the letters on pages 92 and 93 from Sam Liguori and 90-year-old Loretta Johnson, long-time angina sufferers whose conditions were cured completely.  Regain the sexual powers of your earlier years.  Learn to give your body what it needs. Avoid giving it substances that cause further problems. Most medications are nothing less than slow poisons with dangerous side effects. They do not correct the on-going problem of dehydration.  Cure asthma in a few days - forever. In chapter 9 of my book, you will read how asthma and allergies occur. You will read testimonials from several asthma sufferers who describe how water and salt saved them from constant shortness of breath, and possible suffocation and death from a more severe attack of asthma. They are just a few of the 14 million asthmatics in this country -- 12 million of them children. Several thousand die every year from suffocation. Dehydration that manifests itself in the form of asthma in still-developing children will undoubtedly produce some genetic damage -- because of altered DNA environment in dehydrated cells. Please join me in my crusade to end asthma in five years. We can do it. All you need to do is to understand how it occurs. You can then advise others who suffer from asthma. The simplicity and effectiveness of the cure is a miracle. You cannot stand on the sidelines of this human suffering! Side note on asthma - to make your blood boil a little more. If you take a look at two feature articles on asthma, one in Life Magazine of May 1997 and the other in Newsweek of May 20, 1997, you will weep for the asthmatic children who are forced to live on constant medication of some sort or another lest they suffocate to death. Naturally, there are quite a number of full page ads for the same recommended drugs in each magazine. Newsweek magazine’s science editor has for some time been aware of my discovery that asthma denotes a "state of dehydration," yet there is no mention of my natural and free asthma cure in the article. I can only assume that advertising dollars are more important to the magazine than the simple cure that is now available for asthmatics! Relieve, Even Cure, Multiple Sclerosis On page 70 of my book, you will read the testimony of a person with MS who was cured with water. In tape #4 of the audio program -- Water: Rx For A Healthier Pain-Free Life that accompanies the book, you will listen to the letter of another person whose one eye, blinded by MS, regained its sight. Both these and other MS patients recovered after they followed the recommendations in My Natural Miracle Cure Program (CDs) . In My Natural Miracle Cure Program (CDs) you will discover: Why many drinks actually make you more dehydrated, and increase your urgent need for water. Why diet sodas can actually make you gain weight! Learn the basic cause of overeating. Learn why 30 percent of Americans are grossly overweight. Discover the only permanent way of losing weight, without the yo-yo effect of other diet programs. The dangers of artificial sweeteners. Discover why the caffeine and false sweeteners in sodas are more harmful together.  Why blood tests do not show dehydration. Because, in dehydration, 66 percent of the water loss is from inside of the cells in a drought-stricken area. 26 percent of the water loss is from the fluid environment of the cells in the area, and only 8 percent of the water loss is from inside the blood vessels of the area. The blood vessels close up and don’t show they have lost 8 percent of the total loss. This is why blood tests are useless in the diagnosis of symptom-producing drought in the body. You need to understand the other signs and symptoms of dehydration that I have identified during my 18 years of research.  Why your body's thirst is not signaled by a "dry mouth." In fact, there are many indicators of thirst before you develop a dry mouth. Why diseases occur at a level of dehydration that does not cause a dry mouth.  Why doctors are wrong in their instructions to cut out salt from your daily diet. Learn why this "forbidden" substance is vital to your body. Learn how salt can be used as pain medication in arthritis; as a cure-producing medicine in asthma and allergy treatment. Even in hypertension, it does more good than harm. Learn how water and salt together can CURE many diseases. Learn how to use salt as an effective sleeping "pill!"  Why even orange juice is only good for you in small amounts. Too much can cause health complications people are not aware of. Imagine, at the very end of the 20th Century, my colleagues in medical practice do not yet understand the consequences of persistent dehydration, and yet they take charge of the sick in the "sick-care" system! We have until now relied on the drug industry’s research to show us new treatment modalities, and the medical schools have towed the line! This is why I am fighting the system by talking directly to you, and millions like you, by sending you this medical report! From here on, the ball is in your court. Play it well, and free yourself from the self-serving ways of commercial medicine. It angers me when people -- who only need water to be cured of their health problems -- are talked into long-term use of expensive medications (up to $10-$15 a pill) and unnecessary treatment procedures such as: Acupuncture! Manipulations! Surgery! Fad diets! High doses of vitamins! Psychotherapy! Hypnosis! Massage! My mission today is to help as many people as humanly possible alleviate their pain and disease. To accomplish this, I have distilled my 18 years of research into the most comprehensive book on water available anywhere. Additionally, I’ve just completed a 10-hour audio series that picks up where the book ends. If you or a loved one suffer disease or pain, or are simply fed up with fancy double talk from those within the medical establishment, I urge you to order your own copy of My Natural Miracle Cure Program. Included in the program is: 1- The book, Your Body's Many Cries for Water -- second edition -- hard cover, exclusive to this program. Since its debut, the book has been printed 21 times. It has been translated into a number of languages. Here is what some eminent professionals are saying about it: "Dr. Batman’s books are full of common sense and truthful medical advice. His suggested treatment of disease goes to the roots, the cause of it, and anyone who is fortunate enough to read them won’t be disappointed with their purchase." --Dr. Laurence A. Malone Dean for Academic Affairs Learning Center For College Sciences, Ohio "I was particularly stunned by Dr. Batmanghelidj’s lucid description of how lack of water is the primary cause of hypertension." --Julian Whitaker, M.D. Health and Healing Newsletter "Dr. B's book hits the nail on the head. Period." --Dr. Arthur Moll. "Thanks to Dr. Batmanghelidj. I put your book next to the Bible and read them both." --Dick Gregory. "One man's solution to rising health costs." --Paul Harvey ABC Radio News and national syndicated columnist "As an Internist/Cardiologist, I find Dr. Batman’s research incisive, trenchant and fundamental. This work is a Godsend for all." --Dan C. Roehm, M.D., F.A.C.P. "I consider your insights some of the most amazing I have encountered in medicine." --L.B. Works, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. 2- Audiotape seminar: Water: Rx for a Healthier Pain-Free Life. The information in this 10-hour course is unique, and newly presented. Although it complements the book, the course is not a tape of the book. My message in these products is: "You are not sick. You are thirsty. Don’t treat thirst with medications." Read how water has helped these people: Physician Cures Her Child! "...My 8-year-old has suffered with severe allergy symptoms related to allergic rhinitis and asthma... Within 2-3 days he showed dramatic improvement... he is more alert, and his school grades have improved... I want to emphasize how effective this treatment has been." --Cheryl Brown-Christopher, M.D., Maryland Multiple Sclerosis Under Control! "I am a person with MS... I have been using your program for four weeks. I can confidently say I am thrilled with the results. Truly your discovery has given me back a portion of my life." --John Kuna, Pennsylvania Eyesight Restored! "About a month ago my boyfriend lost his sight because he has MS... He has gained his sight back (20/40) by using your suggestion of water, carrot juice, vitamin E and vitamin B. The doctor at the NE Eye Institute could not believe his eyesight came back." --Karen Simone, Pennsylvania No More Drugs! No more heartburn, back feels great, fantastic. No more drugs." Harry Finn, North Carolina Multiple Benefits of Water! "The benefits I have received are beyond words... Shoulder, back and neck pain that my doctors said I would suffer the rest of my life are completely gone. I have lost weight. My skin has a rich glow and is extremely toned." --Rosetta Fluke, Washington Lose Weight Without Trying! "I easily took off 15 pounds without trying. I eat whatever I want... I can honestly say that you have made losing weight an easy thing to do. I know of two brothers, one lost over 100 pounds and the other lost 30." --Bob Butts, Pennsylvania Medical Doctor Cures His Own Asthma! "Due to the information you have provided I have been able to ameliorate and cure my own asthma... Also, I have been able to advise other patients with respiratory and allergen problems. Thank you for giving me and others the breath of life through something so simple..." --Jose A. Rivera, M.D., Pennsylvania Pain and Disease Gone! "No more indigestion, colon problems, food allergies, chronic and acute back problems, emotional or mental confusion. At the age of 51 I had all of the above, and now at the age of 52, I am in excellent health!" --Bill Gray, Virginia Sexual Prowess Regained! "I have noticed at least one change in my physiology. My ability to get and hold an erection has vastly improved. I am 57." --Name Withheld, Kansas MI Do not be surprised by the number of conditions water can prevent, treat and cure. Rise above the basic medical ignorance that has classified so many "states of dehydration" as different diseases. You must give your body what it needs: not what makes you sicker than before. My Natural Miracle Cure Program will empower you to respond to your body's different "cries" the right way. You will: Learn why high cholesterol is linked to dehydration, and is not directly connected to the amount of fat you eat. Learn how to lower cholesterol naturally -- without strict diets or chemical treatments that don't work.  Discover why migraine headaches occur, and how to prevent them. Learn why a certain way you sleep can cause head pain. Learn why pain medications stop being effective -- forcing you to change them and often increase their strength.  Discover the hazards of one of the most-used groups of over-the-counter and prescription medication. Some so-called "safe medications" -- regularly advertised on television -- have been implicated in Alzheimer's disease. One of the ingredients of these medications is found heavily deposited in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease -- irreversibly damaging the brain.  Learn why colitis, hiatus hernia, and bulimia indicate the body has been calling for water.  Discover how non-prescription pain-killers can damage your health. Many thousands die every year from over-the-counter pain medication. Say no to the use of these chemicals when your body only needs water. All you need to learn is why, when, and how to use water as a medicine.  Discover how to stop childhood allergies once and for all. Stop treating your child's dehydration with drugs before you cause permanent and irreversible damage. One such permanent damage is diabetes. It can quickly follow other calls of the body for water. If you do not want a diabetic child in your family -- needing to inject insulin every day -- read about the link between dehydration and diabetes -- in both the young and the old.  Discover why a common discomfort of pregnancy is actually the fetus's way of showing it needs water. Discover how sufficient water intake during pregnancy can positively influence the normal growth of the fetus. Remember, the woman's uterus is a physiological school for the fetus. What the fetus learns from the mother's chemistry will program its subsequent life.  Discover why water is the best weight-reducing substance. I know a man who weighed 480 pounds. He lost 290 pounds in one year by drinking water whenever he felt hungry. He had to have two operations to remove the loose skin. Another man lost 156 pounds in a year and a half. He reduced 14 pant sizes. A 15- to 45-pound weight loss with water is possible with minimal effort.  Discover why water is the best natural diuretic -- and antihistamine. It's also the choice treatment for arthritis, heartburn/hiatus hernia, asthma, allergy, depression, stress, angina pain, hypertension, back pain, heart disease, skin problems, prevention of cancer. And many more. You Are in Possession of Exclusive Life-Saving Information What you have read so far is exclusive information. The Natural Miracle Cure Program (CDs) you are being offered as the next step in the process of your empowerment is the most important health package you could ever find. It is what all sick people have been praying for. One simple element -- water -- can make so much difference in the life of a person -- one member of our society. Multiply this outcome by the number of people in this country and you will see how easily we can reverse the health care crisis of America. We can reduce the annual health care costs by no less than 60 percent, and have a truly healthy society. As I said, it has taken me 18 years of full-time research -- on top of my medical education and many years of clinical experience -- to make the curing miracles of water available to people. I have left no stone unturned to develop my research - even when it meant I had to stay in prison longer than officially sentenced. When I was finally declared innocent of the charges that had been leveled at me -- and offered earlier release from Evin Prison -- I asked to remain incarcerated for a while longer to complete my research -- it actually took me 4 months longer! I was in the middle of serious research that I needed to complete at any cost. Evin was the greatest "human stress laboratory" any serious research scientist could find. Life in prison was still very risky. There was no law or order. Any guard could do what he wanted, even cause someone to be shot on whim. But I had to stay longer and complete my research. The prison officials could not believe their ears, but they agreed. By then the whole prison community was confounded by my work. The officials began to acclaim the work as theirs, and praised prison as an environment for "scientific research." By the time I left prison -- after 2 years and 7 months -- I had gathered enough clinical data to begin changing the way medicine is practiced -- to make it into a truly science-based, people-friendly healing art. My message was simple. "It Is Chronic Dehydration That Painfully and Prematurely Kills." I left all my possessions and my country in the middle of the night in the fall of 1982. I escaped over its borders into Turkey. In November 1982, I reached America, and continued the scientific aspects of my research. I was eager to share my findings with medical researchers here. I naively thought that what I had discovered would be considered important by leaders of medical research in America. Alas, neither the American Medical Association, nor the National Institutes of Health would have anything to do with this medical breakthrough! Even though I have presented my clinical findings and their scientific explanations at international and world conferences, and published them in serious medical journals, these institutions have refused to acknowledge them. They refuse to study the medicinal effects of water in place of the drugs they routinely push their members or followers to use. They cannot admit to the American people they have made a bad mistake and that drugs are not the best treatment or cure for many diseases. They cannot admit that this blunder has cost society trillions of dollars. They cannot face the public and say: "Sorry, we have now discovered that, in most health problems, you are not sick -- you are only thirsty for water!" I now see that my mission can not be completed until I find a way to reach individuals in our society directly-- hence this medical report being sent to you today. By now you must be aware that this unique medical breakthrough can alter your life forever. If you value your health the way you should, you need more information than I have been able to give here. Should you wish to know more than I can cover in this report, I recommend that you get my health education program that has been specially prepared for the lay public. Learn more about the health benefits of water. Take advantage of this offer. I have packaged my information in a way most people can understand and use. All it takes is the will to learn the way your body talks to you -- an entirely new language. Understanding how your body makes its needs for water known is vitally important to your health and well-being. You Are in Possession of Exclusive Life-Saving Information What you have read so far is exclusive information. The Natural Miracle Cure Program (CDs) you are being offered as the next step in the process of your empowerment is the most important health package you could ever find. It is what all sick people have been praying for. One simple element -- water -- can make so much difference in the life of a person -- one member of our society. Multiply this outcome by the number of people in this country and you will see how easily we can reverse the health care crisis of America. We can reduce the annual health care costs by no less than 60 percent, and have a truly healthy society. As I said, it has taken me 18 years of full-time research -- on top of my medical education and many years of clinical experience -- to make the curing miracles of water available to people. I have left no stone unturned to develop my research - even when it meant I had to stay in prison longer than officially sentenced. When I was finally declared innocent of the charges that had been leveled at me -- and offered earlier release from Evin Prison -- I asked to remain incarcerated for a while longer to complete my research -- it actually took me 4 months longer! I was in the middle of serious research that I needed to complete at any cost. Evin was the greatest "human stress laboratory" any serious research scientist could find. Life in prison was still very risky. There was no law or order. Any guard could do what he wanted, even cause someone to be shot on whim. But I had to stay longer and complete my research. The prison officials could not believe their ears, but they agreed. By then the whole prison community was confounded by my work. The officials began to acclaim the work as theirs, and praised prison as an environment for "scientific research." By the time I left prison -- after 2 years and 7 months -- I had gathered enough clinical data to begin changing the way medicine is practiced -- to make it into a truly science-based, people-friendly healing art. My message was simple. "It Is Chronic Dehydration That Painfully and Prematurely Kills." I left all my possessions and my country in the middle of the night in the fall of 1982. I escaped over its borders into Turkey. In November 1982, I reached America, and continued the scientific aspects of my research. I was eager to share my findings with medical researchers here. I naively thought that what I had discovered would be considered important by leaders of medical research in America. Alas, neither the American Medical Association, nor the National Institutes of Health would have anything to do with this medical breakthrough! Even though I have presented my clinical findings and their scientific explanations at international and world conferences, and published them in serious medical journals, these institutions have refused to acknowledge them. They refuse to study the medicinal effects of water in place of the drugs they routinely push their members or followers to use. They cannot admit to the American people they have made a bad mistake and that drugs are not the best treatment or cure for many diseases. They cannot admit that this blunder has cost society trillions of dollars. They cannot face the public and say: "Sorry, we have now discovered that, in most health problems, you are not sick -- you are only thirsty for water!" I now see that my mission can not be completed until I find a way to reach individuals in our society directly-- hence this medical report being sent to you today. By now you must be aware that this unique medical breakthrough can alter your life forever. If you value your health the way you should, you need more information than I have been able to give here. Should you wish to know more than I can cover in this report, I recommend that you get my health education program that has been specially prepared for the lay public. Learn more about the health benefits of water. Take advantage of this offer. I have packaged my information in a way most people can understand and use. All it takes is the will to learn the way your body talks to you -- an entirely new language. Understanding how your body makes its needs for water known is vitally important to your health and well-being. 

The chemical reactions in all plants and animals that support life take place in a water medium. Water not only provides the medium to make these life sustaining reactions possible, but water Itself is often an important reactant or product of these reactions. In short, the chemistry of life is water chemistry.  Water, The Universal Solvent Water is a universal solvent due to the marked molecule and its tendency to form hydrogen bonds with other molecules. One water molecule, expressed with the chemical symbol H20, consists of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom.  Standing alone, the hydrogen atom contains one positive proton at its core with one negative electron revolving around it in a three dimensional shell. Oxygen, on the other hand, contains 8 protons in its nucleus with 8 electrons revolving around it. This is often shown in chemical notation as the letter "0" surrounded by eight dots representing 4 sets of paired electrons.  The single hydrogen electron and the 8 electrons of oxygen are the key to the chemistry of life because this is where hydrogen and oxygen atoms combine to form a water molecule, or split to form ions.  Polar attraction between water molecules Hydrogen tends to ionize by losing Its electron and form single H+ ions which are simply isolated protons since the hydrogen atom contains no neutrons. A hydrogen bond occurs when the electron of a single hydrogen atom is shared with another electronegative atom such as oxygen that lacks an electron.  In a water molecule, two hydrogen atoms are covalently bonded to the oxygen atom. But because the oxygen atom is larger than the hydrogen's, its attraction for the hydrogen's electrons is correspondingly greater so the electrons are drawn closer into the shell of the larger oxygen atom and away from the hydrogen shells. This means that although the water molecule as a whole Is stable, the greater mass of the oxygen nucleus tends to draw in all the electrons in the molecule including the shared hydrogen electrons giving the oxygen portions of the molecule a slight electronegative charge.  The shells of the hydrogen atoms, because their electrons are closer to the oxygen, take on a small electropositive charge. This means water molecules have a tendency to form weak bonds with other water molecules because the oxygen end of the molecule is negative and the hydrogen ends are positive.  A hydrogen atom, while remaining covalently bonded to the oxygen of its own molecule, can form a weak bond with the oxygen of another molecule. Similarly, the oxygen end of a molecule can form a weak attachment with the hydrogen ends of other molecules. Because water molecules have this polarity, water is a continuous chemical entity. These weak bonds play a crucial role in stabilizing the shape of many of the large molecules found in living matter. Because these bonds are weak, they are readily broken and reformed during normal physiological reactions. The disassembly and rearrangement of such weak bonds is in essence the chemistry of life.  To illustrate water's ability to break down other substances, consider the simple example of putting a small amount of salt in a glass of tap water. With dry salt (NaCI) the attraction between the electropositive sodium (Na+) and electronegative chlorine (Cl- ) atoms of salt is very strong until it is placed in water. After salt is placed in water, the attraction of the electronegative oxygen of the water molecule for the positively charged chloride Ions, and the similar attraction of the electropositive hydrogen ends of the water molecule for the negatively charged chloride ions, are greater than the mutual attraction between the outnumbered NA+ and CL ions. In water the ionic bonds of the sodium chloride molecule are broken easily because of the competitive action of the numerous water molecules.  As we can see from this simple example, even the delicate configuration of individual water molecules enables them to break relatively stronger bonds by conveying on them. This is why we call water the universal solvent. It is a natural solution that breaks down the bonds of larger, more complex molecules. This is the chemistry of life on earth in water and on land.  Oxidation - reduction reactions Basically, reduction means the addition of an electron (e-), and its converse, oxidation means the removal of an electron. The addition of an electron, reduction, stores energy in the reduced compound. The removal of an electron, oxidation, liberates energy form the oxidized compound. Whenever one substance is reduced, another is oxidized. To clarify these terms, consider any two molecules, A and B, for example:  Ae-  Electron Donor + B Electron Receptor  - A Oxidized Reduced (lost an electron) + Be- Reduced(Gained an electron)  When molecules A and B come into contact, here is what happens:  * B grabs an electron from molecule A.  * Molecule A has been oxidized because it has lost an electron.  * The net charge of 8 has been reduced because it has gained a negative electron (e-).  In biological systems, removal or addition of an electron constitutes the most frequent mechanism of oxidation-reduction reactions. These oxidation-reduction reactions are frequently called redox reactions.  Acid and Bases  An acid is a substance that increases the concentration of hydrogen ions(H+) in water. A base is a substance that decreases the concentration of hydrogen ions, in other words, increasing the concentration of hydroxide ions OH- . The degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution is measured in terms of a value known as pH, which is the negative logarithm of the concentration of hydrogen ions:  pH=1/log[H+] =-Iog[H+]  What is pH? On the pH scale, which ranges from 0 on the acidic end to 14 on the alkaline end, a solution is neutral if its pH is 7. At pH 7, water donations equal concentrations of H+ and OH- ions. Substances with a pH less than 7 are acidic because they contain a higher concentration of H+ ions. Substances with a pH higher than 7 are alkaline because they contain a higher concentration of OH- that H+. The pH scale is a log scale so a change of one pH unit means a tenfold change in the concentration of hydrogen ions.  Importance of balancing pH Living things are extremely sensitive to pH and function best (with certain exceptions, such as certain portions of the digestive tract) when solutions are nearly neutral. Most interior living matter (excluding the cell nucleus) has a pH of about 6.8. Blood plasma and other fluids that surround the cells in the body have a pH of 7.2 to 7.3. Numerous special mechanisms aid in stabilizing these fluids so that cells will not be subject to appreciable fluctuations in pH. Substances which serve as mechanisms to stabilize pH are called buffers. Buffers have the capacity to bond ions and remove them from solution whenever their concentration begins to rise. Conversely, buffers can release ions whenever their concentration begins to fall. Buffers thus help to minimize the fluctuations in pH. This is an important function because many biochemical reactions normally occurring in living organisms either release or use up ions.  MICROWATER THEORY  Why we get sick? - Oxygen: Too much of a good thing? Oxygen is essential to survival. It is relatively stable in the air, but when too much is absorbed into the body R can become active and unstable and has a tendency to attach itself to any biological molecule, including molecules of healthy cells. The chemical activity of these free radicals is due to one or more pairs of unpaired electrons. About 2% of oxygen we normally breathe becomes active oxygen, and this amount increases to approximately 20% with aerobic exercise.  Superoxide an ion radical Such free radicals with unpaired electrons are unstable and have a high oxidation potential, which means they are capable of stealing electrons from other cells. This chemical mechanism is very useful in disinfectants such as hydrogen peroxide and ozone which can be used to sterilize wounds or medical instruments. Inside the body these free radicals are of great benefit due to their ability to attack and eliminate bacteria, virus and other waste products.  Active oxygen in the body Problems arise, however, when too many of these free radicals are turned loose in the body where they can also damage normal tissue. Putrefaction sets in when microbes in the air invade the proteins,peptide, and amino acids of eggs, fish and meat. The result is an array of unpleasant substances such as:  Hydrogen sulfide Ammonia Histamines Indoles Phenols Scatoles These substances are also produced naturally in the digestive tract when we digest food, resulting in the unpleasant odor evidenced in feces. Putrefaction of spoiled food is caused by microbes in the air, this natural process is duplicated in the digestive tract by intestinal microbes. All these waste products of digestion are pathogenic, that is, they can cause disease in the body.  Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are tissues toxins that can damage the liver. Histamines, contribute to allergic disorders such as a topic dermatitis, urticaria (hives) and asthma. Indoles and phenols are considered carcinogenic.  Because waste products such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia,histamines, phenols and indoles are toxic, the body's defense mechanisms try to eliminate them by releasing neutrophils a (type ofleukocyte, or white corpuscle). These neutrophils produce active oxygen, oddball oxygen molecules that are capable of scavenging out and disintegrating tissues by gathering electrons from the molecules of toxic cells.  Problems arise, however, when too many of these active oxygen molecules, or free radicals, are produced in the body. They are extremely reactive and can also attach themselves to normal, healthy cells and damage them genetically. These active oxygen radicals steal electron from normal, health biological molecules. This electron theft by active oxygen oxidizes tissue and can cause disease.  Effects of Oxidation on Vital Organs  Oxidized Tissue Leads to:  Liver Hepatitis, cirrhosis, cancer  Pancreas Pancreatitis, diabetes, cancer  Kidney Nephritis, nephrosis, cancer  Because active oxygen can damage normal tissue, it is essential to scavenge this active oxygen from the body before it can cause disintegration of healthy tissue. If we can find an effective method to block the oxidation of healthy tissue by active oxygen, then we can attempt to prevent disease.  Hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, histamines, indoles, phenols, and scatoles present in the digestive tract of the human body.  In order to protect the body from damage by hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, histamines, indoles, phenols and scatoles, neutrophils (leukocytes) produce active oxygen to oxidize these waste products.  Excess production of active oxygen occurs.  Excess active oxygen can damage normal, healthy biological cell molecules and alter their genetic codes.  Antioxidants block dangerous oxidation  One way to protect healthy tissue from the ravages of oxidation caused by active oxygen is to provide free electrons to active oxygen radicals,thus neutralizing their high oxidation potential and preventing them from reacting with healthy tissue.  Research on the link between diet and cancer is far from complete, but some evidence indicates that what we eat may affect our susceptibility to cancer. Some foods seem to help defend against cancer, others appear to promote it.  Much of the damage caused by carcinogenic substances in food may come about because of an oxidation reaction in the cell. In this process,an oddball oxygen molecule may damage the cell's genetic code. Some researchers believe that substances that prevent oxidation - called ANTIOXIDANTS - can block the damage. This leads naturally to the theory that the intake of natural antioxidants could be an important aspect of the body's defense against cancer. Substances that some believe inhibit cancer include vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium, and glutathione (an amino acid). These substances are reducing agents. They supply electrons to fee radicals and block the interaction of free radical with normal tissue.  How we can avoid illness  As we mentioned earlier, the presence of toxic waste products such as hydrogen sulfide. ammonia, histamines, indoles, phenols and scatoles impart an offensive odor to human feces. In the medical profession, it is well known that patients suffering from hepatitis and cirrhosis pass particularly odoriferous stools.  Excessively offensive stools caused by the presence of toxins are indicators of certain diseases, and the body responds to the presence of these toxins by producing neutrophil Ieukocytes to release active oxygen in an attempt to neutralize the damage to organs that can be caused by such waste products. But when an excess amount of such active oxygen is produced, it can damage healthy cells as well as neutralize toxins. This leads us to the conclusion that we can minimize the harmful effect of these active oxygen radicals by reducing them with an ample supply of electrons.  Water - the natural solution  There is no substitute for a healthy balanced diet, especially rich in antioxidant materials such as vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and other foods that are good for us. However, these substances are not the best source of free electrons that can block the oxidation of healthy tissue by active oxygen.  Water treated by electrolysis to increase its reduction potential is the best solution to the problem of providing a safe source of free electrons to block the oxidation of normal tissue by free oxygen radicals. We believe that reduced water, water with an excess of free electrons to donate to active oxygen, is the best solution because:  * The reduction potential of water can be dramatically increased over other antioxidants in food or vitamin supplements.  * The molecule weight of reduced water is low, making it fast acting and able to reach all tissues of the body in a very short time.  Microwater is the product of mild electrolysis which takes place in the Microwater unit. The production of Microwater, its properties, and how it works in the human body are described in the next section. Microwater is treated tap water that has not only been filtered, but has also been reformed in that it provides reduced water with a large mass of electrons that can be donated to active oxygen in the body to block the oxidation of normal cells.  THE MICRO WATER UNIT  Tap water - What it is and isn't Normal tap water, for example, with a pH of 7 is approximately neutral on the pH scale of 0 to 14. When measured with an ORP (oxidation potential) meter its redox potential is approximately +400 to +500 mV. Because it has a positive redox potential, it is apt to acquire electrons and oxidize other molecules. Reduced microwater, on the other hand,has a negative redox potential of approximately -250 to -350 mV. This means it has a large mass of electrons ready to donate to electron thieving active oxygen.  Before discussing the properties of microwater further, let's take a look at what happens inside the Microwater unit.  How the Microwater Units Works The Microwater unit, slightly taller and thicker than a large dictionary on end, is an electrical appliance connected to your kitchen water supply to perform electrolysis on tap water before you drink it or use it in the kitchen for cooking or cleaning.  A special attachment redirects tap water out of the faucet through a plastic hose into the Microwater unit. Inside the Microwater unit, the water is first filtered through activated charcoal. Next, the filtered water passes into an electrolysis chamber equipped with a platinum-coated titanium electrode where electrolysis takes place.  Cations, positive ions, gather at the negative electrodes to create cathodic water (reduced water). Anions, negatively charged ions gather at the positive electrode to make anodic water (oxidized water).  Through electrolysis, reduced water not only gains an excess amount of electrons (e-), but the cluster of H20 seem to be reduced in size form about 10 to 13 molecules per cluster to 5 to 6 molecules per cluster.  The reduced water comes out of the faucet, and the oxidized water comes out of a separate hose leading into the sink. You can use the reduced water for drinking or cooking. The oxidation potential of the oxidized water makes it a good sterilizing agent, ideal for washing hands, cleaning food or kitchen utensils, and treating minor wounds.  What the Microwater Unit Produces - Redox potential comparison After electrolysis of the water inside the Microwater unit, reduced water comes out of the cathodic side and oxidized water comes out of the anodic side. Compare these measurements of these three types of water tap water before electrolysis, the reduced water, and the oxidized water.  Reduction-oxidation (redox) potential  Water Type Redox Potential pH What it Means  Tap Water +400 to +500 mV 7 Slight oxidation potential  Reduced Water -250 to -350 mV 8 Strong reduction potential, contains a mass of electrons that can be donated to free radicals.  Oxidized Water +700 to +800 mV 4 Strong oxidation potential, a shortage of electrons giving it the ability to oxidize and sterilize  Redox potential, not pH, is the crucial factor  Traditionally we have judged the properties of water from the standpoint of pH, in other words whether water is acidic or alkaline. According to Dr.Yoshiaki Matsuo Ph.D., the inventor of the Microwater unit, "in my opinion, redox potential is more important than pH. The importance of pH is over emphasized. For example, the average pH of blood is 7.4 and acidosis or alkalosis are defined according to deviation within the range of 7.4 + -0.05. But nothing has been discussed about ORP, or oxidation-reduction potential."  The pH of tap water is about pH 7 or neutral. When tap water is electrolyzed into microwater, its reduced water has a pH of about 9 and the oxidized water a pH of about 4. Even if you make alkaline water of pH 9 by adding sodium hydroxide or make acidic water of pH 3 by adding hydrogen chloride, you will find very little change in the ORP values of the two waters. On the other hand, when you divide tap water with electrolysis you can see the ORP fluctuate by as much as + -1,000mV. By electrolysis we can obtain reduced water with negative potential that is good for the body.  USING MICROWATER -  What Microwater Does The microwater unit produces two kinds of water with different redox potentials, one with a high reduction potential and the other with a high oxidation potential.  Reduced water When taken internally, the reduced microwater with its redox potential of-250 to -350 mV readily donates its electrons to oddball oxygen radicals and blocks the interaction of the active oxygen with normal molecules.  A biological molecule (BM) remains intact and undamaged.  BM-e || MW-e + AO -> MW + AO-e  Undamaged biological molecules are less susceptible to infection and disease. The microwater gives up an extra electron and reduces the active oxygen (AO), thus rendering it harmless. The AO is reduced without damaging surrounding biological molecules. Substances which have the ability to counteract active oxygen by supplying electrons are called scavengers. Reduced water, therefore, can be called scavenging water.  When taken internally, the effects of reduced water are immediate. Microwater inhibits excessive fermentation in the digestive tract by reducing indirectly metabolites such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia,histamines, indoles, phenols and scatoles, resulting in a cleaner stool within days after reduced water is taken on a regular basis. In 1965 the Ministry of Welfare of Japan announced that reduced water obtained from electrolysis can prevent abnormal fermentation of intestinal microbes.  Oxidized water with its redox potential of + 700 to + 800 mV is an oxidizing agent that can withdraw electrons from bacteria and kill them. The oxidized water from the Microwater unit can be used to clean hands,kitchen utensils, fresh vegetables and fruits, and to sterilize cutting boards and minor wounds. Tests have shown that oxidized water can be used effectively to treat athlete's foot, minor burns, insect bites,scratches, and so on.  Dr. Yoshiaki Matsuo, Vice Director of the Water Institute of Japan, has developed another apparatus capable of producing hyper-oxidized water with a redox potential of +1,050 mV or more and of pH lower than 2.7. Tests have shown that this hyper-oxidized water can quickly destroy MRSA (Methecillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).  Although hyper-oxidized water is a powerful sterilizing agent, it won't harm the skin. In fact, it can be used to heal. Hyper-oxidized water has proven effective in Japanese hospitals in the treatment of bedsores and operative wounds with complicated infections.  But perhaps the most exciting future application of hyper-oxidized water is in the field of agriculture where it is has been used effectively on plants to kill fungi and other plant diseases. Hyper-oxidized water is non-toxic, so agricultural workers can apply it without wearing special protective equipment because there is no danger of skin or respiratory damage. An added benefit of using hyper-oxidized water to spray plants is that there is no danger to the environment caused by the accumulation of toxic chemicals in the ground.  Microwater superior to antioxidant diet Today we read much about correct dieting principles and paying attention to what we eat in order to stay healthy. This is a sensible practice, but it is surprising that many of us don't realize that the bulk of what we eat is composed of water. Vegetables and fruits are 90% water; fish and meat are about 70% water as well.  Even advocates of the importance of vitamin C in diet staples have to admit that its potency, namely, the redox potential of this important vitamin, rapidly diminishes with age and preparation for the dining table. Carbohydrates, the main consistent of vegetables and fruit, has molecular weight of 180 whereas water has a much lower molecular weight of 18.  Molecular Weight Compared  Substances Molecular Weight  Microwater 18 Beta-carotene 150 Vitamin E 153 Vitamin C 176 Microwater, with its low molecular weight and high reduction potential,makes it a superior scavenging agent of active oxygen. But electrolysis inside the Microwater unit not only charges the reduced water with electrons, it also reduces the size of reduced water molecule clusters.  NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) analysis reveals that tap water and well water consists of clusters of 10 to 13 H20 molecules. Electrolysis of water in the Microwater unit reduces these clusters to about half their normal size - 5 to 6 water molecules per cluster.  The NMR signal that measures cluster size by line width at half-amplitude shows 65 Hz for reduced water and 133 Hz for tap water, revealing that the reduced water clusters are approximately half the size of tap water clusters.  This is why microwater is more readily absorbed by the body than untreated tap water. Microwater quickly permeates the body and blocks the oxidation of biological molecules by donating its abundant electrons to active oxygen, enabling biological molecules to replace themselves naturally without damage caused by oxidation that can cause diseases.  Summary and Conclusions  Upstream and downstream theory - Prevent disease at the source  According to Dr. Hidemitsu Hayashi, Director of the water Institute of Japan , "To eliminate the pollutants in a large stream that is contaminated as its source, we must work on the problem upstream at the headwaters - the source of the pollution - not downstream where we can only try to treat the evidence of damage caused by the pollution. Microwater's contribution to preventative medicine is essentially upstream treatment."  We consider the digestive tract upstream where we intake water and food. Although many people today in developed countries are growing more skeptical about what they eat, they tend to concentrate more on what the food contains rather than the metabolized products of foods in the digestive tract.  Reduced water Indirectly reduces hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, histamines, indoles,phenols, and scatoles and changes them into harmless substances.  Defecation of cleaner stools.  For example, consider the typical balanced diet of meat and vegetables. Meat protein is metabolized into amines while nitrates form fertilizers used to grow vegetables metabolize into nitrites in the digestive tract. These amines and nitrites combine to form nitrosamine, a recognized carcinogen.  Vegetables Meat  Nitrates Protein  Nitrites Amines  Nitrosamine (carcinogen)  We've already discussed that odoriferous feces are evidence of excessive fermentation in the digestive tract, so reduced water performs a very important function upstream in the digestive tract by reducing this excessive fermentation as evidence by cleaner stools within days of starting a steady regimen of reduced water.  Reduced water supplies electrons to excess, active oxygen free radicals produced as a result of aerobic metabolism and reduces them,rendering them harmless.  The oxidation of normal, healthy cell molecules by active oxygen is blocked. The biological molecules remain intact.  Diseases linked to excessive oxidation of normal biological molecules are prevented.  Downstream from the digestive tract, starting at the liver, reduced water quickly enters the liver and other organs due to, first, its lower molecular weight, and, secondly, the size of its clusters. At tissue sites throughout the body, reduced water with its safe, yet potent reduction potential readily donates its passenger electrons freely to active oxygen and neutralizes them so they cannot damage the molecules of healthy cells. Normal cells are protected from the electron thievery of active oxygen and allowed to grow, mature, function and regenerate without interference from rogue, oddball oxygen radicals which tend to steal the electrons from he molecules of normal, healthy biological molecules.  The water boom  We are now in the midst of a water boom. In Japan and other countries consumers are buying various kinds of bottled and canned water even though water is one of our most abundant vital resources. Research data reveals that mineral waters have an CRP of +200 mV, slightly lower than the +400 mV measured for ordinary tap water. We can say that at least mineral water is marginally better than tap water from the viewpoint of ORP. Compared to any processed water for sale, however, microwater with its reduction potential of -250 to -300 mV is beyond comparison due to its ability to scavenge active oxygen radicals. 

 Research Open Access Published: 02 October 2012 Consumption of water containing a high concentration of molecular hydrogen reduces oxidative stress and disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: an open-label pilot study  Toru Ishibashi, Bunpei Sato, Mariko Rikitake, Tomoki Seo, Ryosuke Kurokawa, Yuichi Hara, Yuji Naritomi, Hiroshi Hara & Tetsuhiko Nagao  Medical Gas Research volume 2, Article number: 27 (2012) Cite this article  20k Accesses 78 Citations 116 Altmetric Metrics details Abstract Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the destruction of bone and cartilage. Although its etiology is unknown, the hydroxyl radical has been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of RA. Recently, molecular hydrogen (H2) was demonstrated to be a selective scavenger for the hydroxyl radical. Also, the method to prepare water containing extremely high concentration of H2 has been developed. We hypothesized that H2 in the water could complement conventional therapy by reducing the oxidative stress in RA.  Methods Twenty patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drank 530 ml of water containing 4 to 5 ppm molecular hydrogen (high H2 water) every day for 4 weeks. After a 4-week wash-out period, the patients drank the high H2 water for another 4 weeks. Urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanine (8-OHdG) and disease activity (DAS28, using C-reactive protein [CRP] levels) was estimated at the end of each 4-week period.  Results Drinking high H2 water seems to raise the concentration of H2 more than the H2 saturated (1.6 ppm) water in vivo. Urinary 8-OHdG was significantly reduced by 14.3% (p < 0.01) on average. DAS28 also decreased from 3.83 to 3.02 (p < 0.01) during the same period. After the wash-out period, both the urinary 8-OHdG and the mean DAS28 decreased, compared to the end of the drinking period. During the second drinking period, the mean DAS28 was reduced from 2.83 to 2.26 (p < 0.01). Urinary 8-OHdG was not further reduced but remained below the baseline value. All the 5 patients with early RA (duration < 12 months) who did not show antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptides (ACPAs) achieved remission, and 4 of them became symptom-free at the end of the study.  Conclusions The results suggest that the hydroxyl radical scavenger H2 effectively reduces oxidative stress in patients with this condition. The symptoms of RA were significantly improved with high H2 water. Introduction Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects approximately 1% of the population. It is characterized by irreversible joint disorder accompanied by destruction of bone and cartilage. In addition, the chronic inflammation associated with RA often damages the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and the lungs and cardiovascular system, including the pleura, pericardium, thereby diminishing the quality of life and survival time [1]. Although the etiology is unknown, RA is certainly associated with autoimmune disorders, and its pathogenesis has been well investigated [2]. Auto-reactive T cells that infiltrate the synovial tissue promote the immune response and lead to overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL6. Thus, early therapy was based on aggressive biologic modification of the disease by controlling the synovial T cells and/or suppressing the levels of the cytokines implicated in the disease.  Apart from the present immunogenic targets, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are of considerable interest. ROS is spontaneously produced as by-product during electron transfer in oxidative phosphorylation [3, 4]. They are also actively produced by NADPH oxidase, which play important roles in the immune system [5, 6]. ROS include superoxide, peroxide, hydroxyl radicals and reactive nitrogen species. They oxidize various cellular and extracellular components, including nucleotides, DNA, proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids, by the unpaired free radicals. The numerous products that appear to be generated by ROS have been identified in clinical samples including peripheral blood and fluid from the joints in patients with RA [7–9]. Among them, 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHdG), which is produced by the oxidation of guanine bases in DNA and also in the nucleotide pools, is important [10–12]. 8-OHdG is a standard biomarker for oxidative stress. Numerous studies have reported that 8-OHdG accumulates in diseases related to oxidative stress, such as cancer, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension, chronic renal disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and autoimmune disease [13–18]. Elevated levels of 8-OHdG have been reported in RA [16].  Hydroxyl radical is the most toxic ROS due to the detrimental effects of its rapid and indiscriminate reactivity. Is has been shown that molecular hydrogen (H2) eliminates the hydroxyl radical in cultured cells and living organisms [19, 20]. H2 does not have any influence on the other ROS, including superoxide, peroxide, and nitric oxide; these ROS play important roles in the defence system or in signal transduction [19]. In humans, the safety of H2 has been tested, especially in the field of deep diving; in contrast to general drugs, which usually have some harmful effects, no cytotoxicity was found even at high concentrations of H2[21, 22]. H2 is an inert gas present within the human body and is not classified as a medicine, but it has been shown to have therapeutic potential for acute or chronic inflammatory diseases related to ROS [20, 23]. H2 dissolved in water has already been used in the clinical treatment of type II diabetes mellitus [24] and metabolic syndrome [25].  At present, there is no evidence that H2 provides benefits for patients with RA. We might expect H2 to complement or provide a substitute for conventional therapy by reducing oxidative stress in RA, especially where existing drugs are insufficient in efficacy or are discontinued due to harmful side effects or due to financial considerations. H2 may also be useful for patients with early RA, in whom antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptides (ACPAs) are below standard values. ACPAs are positive in about two-thirds of patients with RA and are associated with rapid joint destruction and a poor prognosis [26, 27]. Patients at high risk are targeted for early aggressive immunosuppressive therapy. We therefore expected that the introduction of H2 into ACPA-negative patients with recent-onset RA may help rule out transient or non-aggressive RA.  In the present study, we tested the effects of drinking water containing a high concentration of hydrogen (high H2 water) as an anti-oxidant supplement against the hydroxyl radical, among patients with RA. Methods Patients Twenty-two patients who fulfilled the 1987 and 2010 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA were enrolled. All patients gave their informed consent to enroll in the study, and this study was approved by the Haradoi Hospital Ethics Committee. Two of the patients left the study during the first period. One patient did not continue drinking the water daily during winter, and the other declined to provide a blood sample every 4 weeks. The remaining 20 patients completed the study and the data are summarized in Table 1.  Table 1 Clinical effects of high H 2 water and patient characteristics at baseline, and 4, 8, and 12 weeks Full size table Five patients with early RA (disease duration < 12 months) who were diagnosed at our hospital were included in the study; four of them had not received any medication before the study. Patients with disease duration > 12 months had been administered disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and/or biological drugs. Twelve patients had been treated with methotrexate (MTX), two with abatacept (500 mg/4 w), and 1 patient with both drugs. One patient did not receive DMARDs, because she had swelling in only 1 joint for more than 2 years and occasional swelling in another joint. Two patients had discontinued therapy with MTX or biological drugs because of harmful side effects. None of the 20 patients had been treated with steroid hormones. In addition to MTX and abatacept, patients continued any other regular medication that they were on during the study.  Clinical response was measured by changes in the disease activity score in 28 joints, using C-reactive protein levels (DAS28). Remission (DAS28 < 2.3) and the decrease in the DAS28 was evaluated as good, moderate, or a non-response according to the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria. The DAS28 was evaluated at baseline, after 4 weeks of drinking high H2 water, at 8 weeks after the wash-out period, and at 12 weeks after another 4 weeks of drinking the water.  Study design The study began in August in 2011, lasted 12 weeks and included a wash-out period. The patients drank water containing a high concentration of hydrogen (4 to 5 ppm H2 water) daily for 4 weeks, followed by a wash-out period of 4 weeks. They then drank the high H2 water again for another 4 weeks. They consumed 530 ml of the water within 1 h every day during the 4-week drinking period. The patients themselves dissolved the H2 in 530 ml of water each day just before drinking. They were asked to drink it as soon as possible, within a maximum of 1 h of opening the bottle. During the wash-out period, the patients did not consume any water without H2.  Preparation of the high H2water Hydrogen gas was produced in an acrylic resin tube in a PET bottle to provide a carbonated drink containing 530 ml water. The amount of 530 ml fills the entire PET bottle with no space for air, which allows the highest concentration of H2 to be present. The material for producing molecular hydrogen was prepared by mixing 75% weight of metal aluminum grains and 25% weight of calcium hydroxide; 0.5 g of the material was enclosed and heat-sealed within a non-woven fabric. After insertion into an acrylic resin tube and the addition of 0.5 ml of water, a cap with a check valve was tightly closed. This was to prevent the drinking water from entering the tube while allowing the gas to permeate it. In about 5 min at room temperature, the material starts a reaction in the wet fabric. The reaction is as follows:  2Al+Ca(OH)2+2𝐻2𝑂→Ca(AlO2)2+3𝐻2 2 Al + Ca OH 2 + 2 H 2 O → Ca AlO 2 2 + 3 H 2 (1) The H2 gas produced is emitted into the water in the PET bottle through the check valve attached to the acrylic resin tube. During the procedures therefore, the chemical compound as well as the water for the reaction does not come into contact with the drinking water. During the reaction, the hydrogen gas lowers the surface of the water in the standing bottle, which is gradually hardened by the increasing pressure within it. After the reaction is terminated, the hydrogen gas is dissolved by shaking the bottle by decantation for about 30 s. The concentration of hydrogen gas in the water was measured according to a previously reported method [28] and verified by the apparatus, model DHD1-1 (DKK-TOA Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). The H2 saturated (approximately 1.6 ppm) water was produced using AQUELA BLUE instrument electrolysis (MiZ Company and ecomo International Co., Ltd) [29]. H2 exhaled in the breath of three independent volunteers was measured using BAS200 (Mitleben R&D Associates).  Measurements of urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanine (8-OHdG) and serum ACPA The defined marker for oxidative stress, urinary 8-OHdG, which reflects 8-hydroxyguanine in DNA, was measured according to the procedure based on the ELISA method [30]. The assay was performed at Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), using the test kit New 8-OHdG Check ELISA (manufactured by the Japan Institute for the Control of Aging Inc., Shizuoka, Japan). ACPAs in the serum samples were assayed at SRL Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) using the ELISA kit (MESACUP-2 test CCP; MBL Inc., Tokyo, Japan).  Statistical analysis One-way repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify significant differences. In repeated measures ANOVA, the sphericity assumption was always violated. In order to account for this violation, the degrees of freedom were adjusted using the Greenhouse-Geisser correction. Bonferroni’s multiple comparison was used as the post-hoc test. All data analyses were performed using SPSS Statistics 20. Results As shown in Figure 1a, the concentration of H2 in the drinking water exceeded 5 ppm (5.40 ± 0.12 mg/L) and remained above 4 ppm (4.22 ± 0.15 mg/L) 1 h after the cap was opened. Accordingly, the amount of hydrogen in the bottle was between 2.1 mg to 2.7 mg. As shown in Figure 1b, the concentration of H2 exhaled in the breath before drinking the H2 saturated water and the high H2 water were 15.7 ± 2.5 ppm and 14.0 ± 4.0 ppm, respectively. These concentrations in the baseline are close to the data previously reported [31]. In 5 minutes the peak concentration was 102.7 ± 34.0 ppm and 278.3 ± 37.5 ppm, respectively. It gradually decreased in 60 minutes and returned to near baseline level, 14.0 ± 1.0 ppm and 15.3 ± 2.1 ppm, respectively. Drinking high H2 water raises the concentration of H2 more than the conventional H2 saturated water in vivo.  Figure 1 figure 1 a Concentration of H 2 in the water at each time point.The concentrations were measured immediately after preparation, and at 1 and 2 h after preparation. The error bars represent the mean and standard deviation (SD) for 5 independent measurements. b Concentration of H2 in the water with 1.6 ppm H2 (circle) or with 5 ppm H2 (square) at each time point. The concentrations were measured before drinking and every 5 minutes after drinking. The error bars represent the mean and standard deviation (SD) for 3 independent measurements. Full size image During the drinking period, patients usually passed urine 1 or 2 times more than usual, as they drank the extra water. No other adverse effects were observed.  Urinary 8-OHdG was analyzed in 18 patients (Table 1). During the first 4 weeks, 8-OHdG decreased in 17 of these patients after drinking the high H2 water. As shown in Figure 2, the mean decrease in 8-OHdG among the 18 patients was 14.3% (9.99 to 8.56 ng/mg Cr, p < 0.01). Drinking the high H2 water for 4 weeks affected the urinary 8-OHdG for 4 weeks after the wash-out period, with urinary 8-OHdG remaining below the baseline level at the end of the break (mean, 8.31 ng/mg Cr). The patients did not drink extra water during this period and the frequency of urination did not increase. At 12 weeks, urinary 8-OHdG had decreased by 15.1% (9.99 to 8.48 ng/mg Cr, p < 0.01). Nine of the eighteen patients had decreased urinary 8-OHdG in both drinking periods. There was no increase in urinary 8-OHdG in either drinking period.  Figure 2 figure 2 Urinary 8-OHdG in 18 patients measured at baseline and at 4, 8 and 12 weeks.Error bars represent the mean and standard deviation (SD) for measurements in 18 patients. Full size image The DAS28 results are shown in Table 1. The scores decreased in 18 of the 20 patients during the first drinking period, with a decrease more than 0.6 points in 12 of the patients, indicating a significant improvement in the symptoms of RA. Moderate improvement (0.6 < DAS28 ≤ 1.2) was observed in 6 patients and good improvement (DAS28 >1.2) in 6 other patients. After the wash-out period, the DAS28 remained better than that at the baseline in all 20 patients. In 14 of the 20 patients, the scores remained below the level immediately after the first drinking period. At the end of the study, 16 patients showed significant improvement in the DAS28. Two of these had a moderate response and fourteen had a good response. Nine patients achieved remission (DAS28 < 2.3), except for one patient who had been in remission at the baseline assessment. Although all 20 patients had decreased disease activity at the end of the study, 4 patients did not experience improvement in symptoms (DAS28 ≤ 0.6). On average, the score decreased from 3.83 to 3.02 (p < 0.01) in the first drinking period and from 2.83 to 2.26 (p < 0.01) in the second drinking period (Figure 3). During the wash-out period, the DAS28 remained below the baseline, and decreased from 3.02 to 2.83.  Figure 3 figure 3 DAS28 scores at baseline, and 4, 8 and 12 weeks.Error bars represent the mean and standard deviation (SD) for measurements in 20 patients. Full size image Five patients (numbers 16 to 20 in Table 1) had been classified as having early RA (duration < 12 months) and were ACPA-negative. Four of them had not taken any medications for RA before the study. The patients’ symptoms improved by more than 0.6 points in the first drinking period. At the end of the study, their DAS28 scores were all below 2.3, indicating that remission was achieved. Four of the patients did not report any swollen or painful joints and were symptom-free.  Seven of the 20 patients were ACPA-positive (above 4.9 U/ml) at each time point (Table 1). The ACPA levels were below 100 U/ml in 4 patients at baseline and did not decrease during the study; the levels showed slight increase in three patients. The disease activity, however, improved in the 4 patients. Three of them showed a good response and one of them a moderate response. On the other hand, in three patients with ACPA above 300 U/ml, there was a mean decrease from 441 U/ml to 235 U/ml. The response was diverse among the patients, with a good response observed in 2 patients and no response in another. Although the direct effect of high H2 on ACPA is unclear at present, 5 of the 7 ACPA-positive patients showed a good response to high H2 water, as assessed by improvement in the DAS28. Discussion Many studies have demonstrated that ROS play some noteworthy roles in the pathogenesis of RA, and consequently, they have become therapeutic targets in this condition. The ROS scavenger superoxide dismutase (SOD) was expected to have clinical efficacy, and initially, bovine SOD was injected into the joints of patients with RA [32]. However, in relation to the exogenous SOD protein, results from clinical trials have not been reproduced. Simulators of SOD, which have been shown to have considerable anti-inflammatory effects in animal models of arthritis, are still being investigated [33, 34]. Edaravone, which is approved for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, is another ROS scavenger [35]. A clinical report describes treatment of a patient with RA and ischemic stroke with edaravone, and raises the possibility of further clinical trials [36], but the results do not establish whether ROS scavengers are efficient in reducing the disease activity in patients with RA. Direct evidence is also lacking about whether ROS prime the autoimmune response or reduce chronic inflammation in RA.  Molecular hydrogen stands out as an antioxidant due to its selectivity for the hydroxyl radical and its permeability [19]. Its physical properties allow it to diffuse through the cellular membranes and rapidly leave the body. Due to these properties of H2 we expected reduction in ROS in RA patients with a better efficacy. In our study, patients who drank the high H2 water had marked reduction in disease activity, and a significant decrease in urinary 8-OHdG.  It has been demonstrated that molecular hydrogen ameliorates inflammation by down-regulating TNF-α [20, 37]. It is known that ROS including hydroxyl radicals function as second messengers for the production of TNF-α [38, 39]. There is a possibility that the anti-inflammatory properties by H2 may be through inhibition of the TNF-α pathway. It has been reported that hydrogen-rich saline prevented neointima formation by suppressing the NF-kB and TNF-α cascade which is involved in the redox-sensitive mechanisms in immune system [40]. The reduction of 8-OHdG and the disease activity in RA patients presented here could be the results of downregulation of TNF-α pathway through scavenging hydroxyl radicals which occur upstream of the inflammatory cascade.  It should be noted that the influence of H2 on the disease activities and oxidative stress was sustained even during the wash-out period. These continuous anti-inflammatory effects of H2 are observed with both the ACPA-negative and the ACPA-positive patients who were treated with immunosuppressive medications. The marker for oxidative stress, 8-hydroxyguanine is highly mutagenic because it pairs with adenine as well as cytosine. These properties cause partial phenotypic suppression during transcription as well as transversion mutations during DNA replication [41]. It is likely that the error proteins, produced as a result of the altered genetic information, therefore, are identified as foreign molecules and play a role as neo-epitopes [42, 43]. They would then continue to activate the immune system. The sustained effects of H2 during the wash out period may reflect the decrease of such neo-epitope. On the other hand, there was no significant decrease of DAS28 during the washout period. It may indicate that the pathogenesis of RA did not disappear completely at the end of the first drinking period. It is necessary to investigate the transition of pro-inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, both during the drinking period and wash out period for further studies.  The prognosis of RA has improved during this decade, and a so-called paradigm shift has been achieved using early aggressive therapy to biologically modify the disease [44, 45]. Remission is not difficult to achieve; however, it is difficult to determine the role of drugs in remission [2]. It is difficult to determine at which stage patients will be able to discontinue medication without recurrence of inflammation, and sustained medication is often necessary. Most of these problems are attributed to the intense immunosuppressive procedures, and the epitopes involved are still unknown. Patients with RA are classified according to their prognosis, as having progressive RA, which requires early aggressive disease-modifying biologic therapy, or as having transient RA, which may show spontaneous remission. It is difficult to distinguish transient from progressive RA in the early stages [46].  Although ACPAs have been useful for diagnosing RA, they are less sensitive (48%) in early RA [26]. In the present study, the 5 patients with early onset and ACPA-negative RA all achieved remission after drinking the high H2 water; possibly, some of them had transient RA.  In total 47.4% of patients (9/19) achieved the remission, except for one patient who had been in remission at the baseline assessment. Although the efficacy of H2 presented here is not inferior to those in recently reported studies on tocilizumab [47], adalimumab plus MTX [48] or MTX monotherapy [49] , the study here is non-controlled, on a smaller scale and also, the patient background and the period of medication varied. Estimation of the efficacy of high H2 water in RA patients should be done carefully in a further placebo-controlled study. The high H2 water was produced in a bottle by using a novel high-pressure method. Since molecular hydrogen is a very small molecule and is easily lost even through the wall of PET bottles with the passage of time, the patients had to prepare it themselves every day. Also, H2 is an inert gas having no taste or smell. It was difficult to set up placebo controls using another inert gas and a similar preparation. However, it is important to include placebo controls in future studies. Conclusion We suggest that high H2 water may be useful to complement conventional RA therapy by reducing oxidative stress, especially in early stage and ACPA-negative RA, to assist diagnosis and treatment decisions. Further study is required to confirm this theory. However, high H2 water is freely available, and its benefits could also be demonstrated spontaneously by observing the disease rates in people who regularly drink it.