Justitia
Sun, October 15th, 2006, 11:56 AM
Alkalizing Your Body with Water and other things for good health...
As some people know, I have a fetish for good tasting water, kind of like people with wines.. but as I rarely drink alcohol any more, my tastes have moved onto water.
I used to recommend Trinity water but they have gone out of business. I have replaced it with Essentia, which is more expensive but I actually like the taste better.
I happen to come across this (http://www.dibdabdoo.com/health/alkalzebetterhealth.htm) that mentions in a discussion of alkinizing your body, the goo properties of water. I have no idea who this guy is, but what he writes seems pretty well thought out.
One point I don't agree with (which I know Guava will concur) is his conclusion of keeping fruit to a minimum. He does this on the basis that fruit juices are highly acidic. But juices are not the same as eating whole fruit. I have heard for most of my dieting life that drinking the juice is not as good as eating the whole fruit. Usually the argument was in terms of calories, but there are a ton of other reasons to eat the whole fruit. I pretty much only drink juices when I am sick or when I have an absolute craving for them -- OJ and Grapefruit Juice.
Anyway, I thought people might find this interesting.
How do you know if your body is too acid? The safest assumption is just to assume that it is. If you get some yellow litmus paper (just search the internet), you can take a small strip and put it under your tongue. If it's a light shade of yellow, guess what, you're acidic. If it turns blue, most likely you are alkaline.
First of all you need to understand the pH (potential for hydrogen) scale. It is a logarithmic scale from 1-14 that measures the acidity or alkalinity of a chemical (hint: your body is a chemical factory). A pH of 7 is neutral (the normal pH of pure water).
The fact that it is a logarithmic scale is important. For example, a pH of 6 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 7. But a pH of 5 is a 100 times more acidic.
The human blood has a natural pH of about 7.4. The human body cannot survive if the pH of their human blood drops to 7 or rises to 7.8! So the body has natural buffers it uses to keep the blood within these narrow limits. Hint: your bones (including your teeth) are mostly calcium--an alkaline substance. So if your body gets too acidic, it leaches the calcium from your bones creating tooth decay and bone loss. Increased storage of fat and water retention is also a way your body protects itself. To get to your ideal weight--alkalize.
Now the real trick is how do you change your body from acid to slightly alkaline and keep it there. It is a fact of chemistry that it takes a lot of alkalinity to neutralize even a little bit of acid. For example, to change a gallon of water with a pH of 5 to 7 would take 20 gallons of water with a pH of 7.5!
Here's some simple math: your body is 80% water. Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. To find out about how many gallons of water are in your body at any one time, multiply your body weight by 80% and divide by 8.34. Let's say you weigh about 170 lbs. 170 x 80%=136 lbs. 136/8.34 is about 16 gallons of water.
Obviously, the human body is much more complicated than this. But what this indicates is just how diligent we need to be to alkalize our body.
I believe that the trick is to drink alkaline drinks and eliminate acidic drinks. From what I've studied, the closer your drinks are to a pH of about 9 the better.
One of the most shocking things I learned at Tony's seminar is that fresh orange juice and carrot juice are actually acidic, and so can cause the body to become too acid if taken to excess. Same with eating too much fruit. That was a significant shift from his earlier program. Note: I still like fruit and think it can be beneficial, but only in moderation.
The foods that really shine are the live, leafy greens--what a surprise! He showed some photos that showed the amount of energy in the food (I forget the name of the process) and it was amazing the amount of energy radiating from fresh wheat grass--like a lightening storm!
I think that eating the leafy greens and drinking their fresh juices is one way to increase your alkalinity, but I've come across some other products that work well for me (no, I'm not promoting some MLM--most of these can be purchased over the internet or at your local health food store). In order to test the alkalinity of some products, I'm relying on the litmus paper I mentioned earlier.
So here are some of my findings based on my simple testing:
Soda--very acidic! Put the litmus paper in it and it turns bright yellow. I have read that soda has a pH of 3! Do the math and that is about 10,000 times more acidic than plain water! Not figuratively, but literally (10 to the 4th power)!
The enzyme products by Infinity2 (http://www.infinity2.com/). These all tested alkaline. The paper turned bright blue! Note: this is an MLM and their products, while excellent are expensive. I'm not signing anyone up, so let's not even go there. What I am telling you is that their products appear to be outstanding and based on before and after blood tests (which you can see on their site), they help the body stay alkaline.
Coral Calcium. It depends on the formula. I tested a formula purchased at the health food store and it didn't appear to change the litmus strip. I tried Coral Calcium Supreme marketed by Bob Barefoot and Ken Trudeau and the strip turned blue.
Regular bottled water. No change in the color of the strip.
Evian Water. The strip turned to medium shade of blue--slightly alkaline.
Essentia Water. The strip turned to a very light shade of blue--Evian was darker; however, they guarantee a pH of around 9.5! This may be the fastest way to alkalize your body! And the easiest way to stay in balance. They state on their website that it is the nature of this type of water that you can only accurately test the pH with scientific equipment rather than litmus paper. The water is reasonably priced and probably available in most health food stores. I highly recommend that you include their water in your diet. You can read more about them at their website at http://www.essentiawater.com/.
Atkins Advantage shake mix. Generally, I'm not fond of diet drinks, but I thought I'd test it to see what it looked like. To my surprise, it tested alkaline! I don't know about the other health qualities, but it seems to pass the alkaline test.
Slimfast Optima drinks. Similar to the Atkins powder above, but a little less.
EAS Myoplex bars. This was another surprise. I tried one of their cookies and cream bars and took a litmus test right after--dark blue. So again, it passes an initial test for being alkaline.
So what conclusions have I reached:
To be healthy, I have to concentrate on foods that are live and alkaline.
Adequate water is critical to good health. But, all waters are not the same. While any bottled water is better than no water, whenever available, Essentia and Evian are the best I've tested (see the important note below about Penta Water added after I originally wrote this article! ).
Live enzymes are critical to maintaining sound health. Most of the foods we eat, even live foods like salads, don't have as many enzymes as we really need. A supplement is likely necessary.
Some brands of Coral Calcium can be very effective in staying alkaline.
In a pinch, there are some mass market convenience foods that can satisfy your hunger, that are reasonably priced, and alkaline. Again, not my first choice, but certainly better than reaching for that soda or candy bar!
Live in outstanding health!
Important Note: I wrote this article before testing Penta Water. I'm adding this extra bonus material because I think it will help you. I'm glad that the internet allows me to edit articles I've already written as I learn new things.
New Bottled Water Recommendation
Earlier this month in my article about alkalizing and energizing your body for better health, I wrote about Essentia Water. I want to let everyone know about another product that I have recently tried that I think is superb: Penta Water. I will warn you in advance that this bottled water is very expensive related to other waters. In California, it sells for $1.65 for a half-liter. But I will also tell you that after drinking it consistently for about a week, it is probably far and away the best water I have ever had.
While it tested neutral for alkalinity, based on the research I found at the Penta website (http://www.pentawater.com/), the special qualities of the water actually create a very high alkalizing effect on the body. Without going into all of the details, not only do they purify the water to a high degree, they also use physics to change the structure of the water so that it creates smaller water clusters at the molecular level. There are other things they do (without adding anything to the water) that appear to have a very beneficial effect. I suggest that you visit their website and read the research for yourself. While it is a bit on the glitzy side, based on my personal experience, I don't think they are overselling their product.
The real proof to me was after I tested my own alkalinity after a few days on the product. Without making any other changes to my diet, the litmus strip came out a very dark blue. It seems clear to me that this is primarily due to drinking a large amount of Penta (about 3 liters or more per day).
The bottom line: if you can afford to drink it regularly (start using those affirmations so you can!), I recommend Penta over any other bottled water currently on the market.
As some people know, I have a fetish for good tasting water, kind of like people with wines.. but as I rarely drink alcohol any more, my tastes have moved onto water.
I used to recommend Trinity water but they have gone out of business. I have replaced it with Essentia, which is more expensive but I actually like the taste better.
I happen to come across this (http://www.dibdabdoo.com/health/alkalzebetterhealth.htm) that mentions in a discussion of alkinizing your body, the goo properties of water. I have no idea who this guy is, but what he writes seems pretty well thought out.
One point I don't agree with (which I know Guava will concur) is his conclusion of keeping fruit to a minimum. He does this on the basis that fruit juices are highly acidic. But juices are not the same as eating whole fruit. I have heard for most of my dieting life that drinking the juice is not as good as eating the whole fruit. Usually the argument was in terms of calories, but there are a ton of other reasons to eat the whole fruit. I pretty much only drink juices when I am sick or when I have an absolute craving for them -- OJ and Grapefruit Juice.
Anyway, I thought people might find this interesting.
How do you know if your body is too acid? The safest assumption is just to assume that it is. If you get some yellow litmus paper (just search the internet), you can take a small strip and put it under your tongue. If it's a light shade of yellow, guess what, you're acidic. If it turns blue, most likely you are alkaline.
First of all you need to understand the pH (potential for hydrogen) scale. It is a logarithmic scale from 1-14 that measures the acidity or alkalinity of a chemical (hint: your body is a chemical factory). A pH of 7 is neutral (the normal pH of pure water).
The fact that it is a logarithmic scale is important. For example, a pH of 6 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 7. But a pH of 5 is a 100 times more acidic.
The human blood has a natural pH of about 7.4. The human body cannot survive if the pH of their human blood drops to 7 or rises to 7.8! So the body has natural buffers it uses to keep the blood within these narrow limits. Hint: your bones (including your teeth) are mostly calcium--an alkaline substance. So if your body gets too acidic, it leaches the calcium from your bones creating tooth decay and bone loss. Increased storage of fat and water retention is also a way your body protects itself. To get to your ideal weight--alkalize.
Now the real trick is how do you change your body from acid to slightly alkaline and keep it there. It is a fact of chemistry that it takes a lot of alkalinity to neutralize even a little bit of acid. For example, to change a gallon of water with a pH of 5 to 7 would take 20 gallons of water with a pH of 7.5!
Here's some simple math: your body is 80% water. Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. To find out about how many gallons of water are in your body at any one time, multiply your body weight by 80% and divide by 8.34. Let's say you weigh about 170 lbs. 170 x 80%=136 lbs. 136/8.34 is about 16 gallons of water.
Obviously, the human body is much more complicated than this. But what this indicates is just how diligent we need to be to alkalize our body.
I believe that the trick is to drink alkaline drinks and eliminate acidic drinks. From what I've studied, the closer your drinks are to a pH of about 9 the better.
One of the most shocking things I learned at Tony's seminar is that fresh orange juice and carrot juice are actually acidic, and so can cause the body to become too acid if taken to excess. Same with eating too much fruit. That was a significant shift from his earlier program. Note: I still like fruit and think it can be beneficial, but only in moderation.
The foods that really shine are the live, leafy greens--what a surprise! He showed some photos that showed the amount of energy in the food (I forget the name of the process) and it was amazing the amount of energy radiating from fresh wheat grass--like a lightening storm!
I think that eating the leafy greens and drinking their fresh juices is one way to increase your alkalinity, but I've come across some other products that work well for me (no, I'm not promoting some MLM--most of these can be purchased over the internet or at your local health food store). In order to test the alkalinity of some products, I'm relying on the litmus paper I mentioned earlier.
So here are some of my findings based on my simple testing:
Soda--very acidic! Put the litmus paper in it and it turns bright yellow. I have read that soda has a pH of 3! Do the math and that is about 10,000 times more acidic than plain water! Not figuratively, but literally (10 to the 4th power)!
The enzyme products by Infinity2 (http://www.infinity2.com/). These all tested alkaline. The paper turned bright blue! Note: this is an MLM and their products, while excellent are expensive. I'm not signing anyone up, so let's not even go there. What I am telling you is that their products appear to be outstanding and based on before and after blood tests (which you can see on their site), they help the body stay alkaline.
Coral Calcium. It depends on the formula. I tested a formula purchased at the health food store and it didn't appear to change the litmus strip. I tried Coral Calcium Supreme marketed by Bob Barefoot and Ken Trudeau and the strip turned blue.
Regular bottled water. No change in the color of the strip.
Evian Water. The strip turned to medium shade of blue--slightly alkaline.
Essentia Water. The strip turned to a very light shade of blue--Evian was darker; however, they guarantee a pH of around 9.5! This may be the fastest way to alkalize your body! And the easiest way to stay in balance. They state on their website that it is the nature of this type of water that you can only accurately test the pH with scientific equipment rather than litmus paper. The water is reasonably priced and probably available in most health food stores. I highly recommend that you include their water in your diet. You can read more about them at their website at http://www.essentiawater.com/.
Atkins Advantage shake mix. Generally, I'm not fond of diet drinks, but I thought I'd test it to see what it looked like. To my surprise, it tested alkaline! I don't know about the other health qualities, but it seems to pass the alkaline test.
Slimfast Optima drinks. Similar to the Atkins powder above, but a little less.
EAS Myoplex bars. This was another surprise. I tried one of their cookies and cream bars and took a litmus test right after--dark blue. So again, it passes an initial test for being alkaline.
So what conclusions have I reached:
To be healthy, I have to concentrate on foods that are live and alkaline.
Adequate water is critical to good health. But, all waters are not the same. While any bottled water is better than no water, whenever available, Essentia and Evian are the best I've tested (see the important note below about Penta Water added after I originally wrote this article! ).
Live enzymes are critical to maintaining sound health. Most of the foods we eat, even live foods like salads, don't have as many enzymes as we really need. A supplement is likely necessary.
Some brands of Coral Calcium can be very effective in staying alkaline.
In a pinch, there are some mass market convenience foods that can satisfy your hunger, that are reasonably priced, and alkaline. Again, not my first choice, but certainly better than reaching for that soda or candy bar!
Live in outstanding health!
Important Note: I wrote this article before testing Penta Water. I'm adding this extra bonus material because I think it will help you. I'm glad that the internet allows me to edit articles I've already written as I learn new things.
New Bottled Water Recommendation
Earlier this month in my article about alkalizing and energizing your body for better health, I wrote about Essentia Water. I want to let everyone know about another product that I have recently tried that I think is superb: Penta Water. I will warn you in advance that this bottled water is very expensive related to other waters. In California, it sells for $1.65 for a half-liter. But I will also tell you that after drinking it consistently for about a week, it is probably far and away the best water I have ever had.
While it tested neutral for alkalinity, based on the research I found at the Penta website (http://www.pentawater.com/), the special qualities of the water actually create a very high alkalizing effect on the body. Without going into all of the details, not only do they purify the water to a high degree, they also use physics to change the structure of the water so that it creates smaller water clusters at the molecular level. There are other things they do (without adding anything to the water) that appear to have a very beneficial effect. I suggest that you visit their website and read the research for yourself. While it is a bit on the glitzy side, based on my personal experience, I don't think they are overselling their product.
The real proof to me was after I tested my own alkalinity after a few days on the product. Without making any other changes to my diet, the litmus strip came out a very dark blue. It seems clear to me that this is primarily due to drinking a large amount of Penta (about 3 liters or more per day).
The bottom line: if you can afford to drink it regularly (start using those affirmations so you can!), I recommend Penta over any other bottled water currently on the market.