Thirst for the Worst

As a culture, we tend to have “dormant thirst” sensations. We think we are hungry, or restless, or sleepy when really we are thirsty. We confuse our thirst for something it is not; we would prefer to NOT be thirsty. We admit to each other: “I know I don’t drink enough water”. “I hate getting up at night to go to the bathroom” and, “I don’t really like the taste of water.”

We wait until our need for hydration is so strong that our desire turns into an “ice cold drink”. The most common thirst quenchers are an iced coffee, a cold refreshing beer or an ice cold soda. All of these are extremely dehydrating and acidic. Much of the following information will apply to all three of these choices, but since sodas are the most acidic and dehydrating, this article focus on the pitfalls of drinking soda pop.

I first learned about the pitfalls of sodas 20 years ago when I saw a video explaining how the ingredients of sodas leech out calcium from our bones and teeth along with other vital minerals. At that time, I didn’t completely understand why it did that, but being one who experienced menopause 10 years earlier than is the norm, I didn’t want to set myself up for osteoporosis. So I cut down on my soda intake by 90% at that time, but not completely understanding it yet, I didn’t cut it out entirely until 2008.

I had been making an effort to drink less cola, but not necessarily other clear soft drinks. After all, mom gave us 7Up and Sprite when we were sick in bed as kids, didn’t she? I was giving in to craving sodas periodically, and I certainly wasn’t someone who drank more than 4-6 glasses of water per day. To be honest, the water felt harsh to me, and I never felt that satisfied.

I found it to be a challenge to toggle between drinking water and soda. Water is so boring when compared with the effervescent, icy magic, and sweet taste of a soft drink (or even a beer).

If I had a soda, I would often lose interest in drinking water. So I tried to drink water whenever it was offered at a restaurant and in a meeting. If I put lemon in the water to alkalize it, it definitely made the water softer and more appealing. I still wanted it with ice, although I saw my friends and family passing on the ice and couldn’t imagine why? Sodas (and alcoholic drinks) help us temporarily forget our thirst cravings by numbing our senses with icy coldness.

The ice we put into our drinks is also another enemy in the battle to keep your body pH within a certain numerical range. Your body has two things to do once you add the challenge of ice. It needs to bring its pH back to a 6.5 to 7.5 pH balance from the soda, and the ice requires lots of body heat to neutralize its coldness…heat reduces the alkalinity and drives the pH down. When you introduce any soda (yes, even Mom’s 7Up) you are creating a sudden drop in pH to 2.5. The pH scale is 1 to14 with 7 being the neutral zone. The reason that calcium leeches out of your bones is because it is pulled automatically from your body to quickly neutralize your blood when there is a sudden attack of 2.5 acidity from a soda. That calcium is borrowed from your bones and your teeth. The lower the pH, the higher the amount of calcium that is “borrowed”. If your calcium levels are low, this form of highway robbery can be extremely debilitating to your health.

When we consume high amounts of low pH items (anything below 7.0), we our kicking ourselves back down before we can get up. Our bodies perform best when our blood pH is slightly over 7.0 (7.3 to 7.6 is optimal). During the day, our stomach and blood compensate for the pH fluctuations that occur as we eat and drink. And given normal circumstances, we are able to come back to a (plus or minus) 7.0 range easily.

A pH of 2.5 isn’t even halfway to where we want our blood to be. By comparison, vinegar is at 3.0, and coffee and beer are generally found between 4.5 and 4.8. Food, drinks, stress, and other external conditions, all play havoc with our pH levels, which either help us maintain our good health or put us at risk for illness and disease. Our amazingly resilient bodies bring our blood levels back to balance over and over. But when we consume high amounts of sodas, it’s as if we were holding someone’s face down under water too long and never giving them a chance to catch their breath; eventually, we become tired and weakened. When we force our pH levels down so often, our body eventually reaches a point where it can’t fight back and succumbs to illness or disease. Also, as we age (I like to call it “evolve”) and start to see our 45th birthday, our chemical responses begin to change, and the resources that we previously used to reclaim our pH equilibrium become less effective or non-existent.

A low pH blood level becomes a basis for problems. Acidic blood is a haven for tumors and other chemical imbalances. I water my plants with acid water and they thrive. How many of us have diseases growing in our body because we are too acidic - too often?

Sodas dry you out (dehydrating you like alcohol does). Instead of hydrating your organs, skin, and tissues, sodas are aggressively dehydrating and severely acidifying your blood. The Oxidative Reduction Potential (or ORP) of sodas is somewhere between -350 and -400. The goal is to have a positive ORP number, NOT a negative one. A negative ORP value adds to your aging process. A low ORP makes you “rusty” inside. Think of a cut pear, apple, or avocado that turns brown upon exposure to air. That’s what sodas do to your internal organs and tissues.

When I first learned about this, I thought I would just make sure to drink more alkaline water to counteract my occasional sodas. But then I saw in a demo that it takes 32 sips of high pH water to neutralize ONE sip of soda! A 32:1 ratio is some very daunting math when you consider the amount of nutrients that will be borrowed from your bones and teeth!

Interestingly, reverse osmosis (RO) water isn’t strong in either pH or in ORP. I’ve just spent the last 20 years drinking RO water because of a book that I read by Paul Bragg, a famous health advocate. He was against mineral water, spring water and tap water because he felt the minerals might clog your arteries as you aged. Distilled water and reverse osmosis water are devoid of electrons and minerals. The Japanese call it “dead water”. Bio-electrically, we need the minerals to conduct energy and transport intercellular communication. Minerals are needed for nourishment of your cells. Just like fish can’t thrive in distilled or reverse osmosis water, neither can your cells. A decision we all have to make is what do we believe is right for us? After becoming more involved in acupuncture and meridian health, I believe we need the minerals in water in order to thrive. There will always be many opinions and philosophies around to challenge our thinking. What do you believe?

For me, seeing is believing! If you would like to see some very interesting pH and ORP demonstrations, I have added a Kangen Water DVD in our Products Section on my RX-Free Zone website.

On the DVD, there is a pH demo of 7-8 waters and popular drinks, and then in the Special Features section, there is an ORP demo of 16-20 different clear drinks, including vodka!

Additionally, there is a fascinating article by Dr. Howard Hay (with a feisty rebuttal from Dr. Andrew Weil) in the Article section (below). This is a “must read” for understanding all the sides of this topic.

For even more information about the hazards of drinking coke, read this blog: What Happens To Your Body Within An Hour Of Drinking A Coke. You will be amazed!

Articles:
Can Alkaline Diet and Alkaline Water Help You Lose Weight and Improve General Health? by James Khan

The pH Balance of Water Versus Blood by Dr. Janet Starr Hull

More articles from Timi:
Be sure to read “Your Brain: Your Body’s Drought Manager” and “Three Ways to Know You Are Experiencing Dehydration” from my article collection in order to fully understand why not being adequately hydrated causes diseases to crop up.

Books (that will give you more background about this article):
The Miraculous Properties of Ionized Water by Bob McCauley
If you are interested in how using a water ionizer/electrolysis alkaline water machine works, or want to know more about the practice of using various pH (acidic and alkaline) waters for increasing your health, this book has many specific stories, testimonials, and research examples.

The Water Prescription by Christopher Vasey, N.D.
This book is chock full of information and explains the physiology of how water is absorbed and more about chronic intercellular dehydration. It includes discussions on the values of various liquids and includes a comprehensive list of mineral and spring water sources in the world. There is a reason that Lourdes is a healing site!

The story behind the photos

Quote of the Year:
"Though water doesn't spoil, it may eventually acquire a peculiar taste from its container, though it's still 'very drinkable.'"

- Ray Crockett, Coca Cola Spokesman, on the 'packaged water' donated to Katrina Relief Efforts.

Your Body Is Like a Goldfish Tank; Your Cells Are Like Fish

In many respects the steps to assuring a healthy fish tank mirrors the same issues (which we often overlook) in management of human health. If our bodies are like the delicate eco-system of a fish tank, then our tender cells and tissues are very sensitive to imbalances. Are we killing ourselves off slowly?

When we look at our bodies in this way, then what comes to mind that we might have overlooked or taken for granted in regards to taking care of ourselves? As I read about the importance of chemical balance within a goldfish tank, there are several issues that are common to both humans and fish:

Ammonia build up: fish excrete ammonia-rich waste which can poison their water. As humans we transform the ammonia we produce through our liver into urea which is held and then excreted through our urine. We both need our waste to be diluted and water saturated. We both need beneficial bacteria to help neutralize the acidity of our “tanks”. If the chemistry around us becomes too acidic, we will slowly weaken and die. Likewise, if our cellular environment becomes too alkaline, we become vulnerable to disease and death.

Fish are sensitive to chlorine in their water, as are humans. Just as we carefully remove chlorine from the water of a fish tank, we should filter out the chlorine in our drinking water before we put it into our bodies. Carbon filters work for both fish and humans. A by-product of chlorine called chloramines can be eliminated by aeration of the water. Water ionizing machines also oxygenate water but they do it by electric current (via electrolysis).

Aeration is a way of increasing the oxygen that your fish AND your cells will receive. This process allows the oxygen to diffuse into the water and helps waste gases, such as ammonia, to diffuse out. Aeration also keeps the water agitated and helps keep it from going stale. Ionization does the same thing for human cells. Ionization creates “living water”.

Tank pH:
1) pH that is too low results in acidic conditions. This can be caused from too much fish waste in the water or not enough hydration of a human body. The cells of both species begin to weaken. Routine water changes in tanks help fish, and routine drinking of water to hydrate your cells and blood, helps humans.

• Symptoms in goldfish: anorexia, excess slime, isolation, fish resting on the bottom of tank, and then finally blood streaking in the fins, and death. (known as Acidosis)
  
  
• Symptoms of acidic conditions in humans: dry skin, tumors, mental health related issues, all types of disease, and complications of infections.

2) pH too high results in alkaline conditions. Ammonia is more likely to be toxic when the pH levels are high.

• Symptoms for fish: Fish will produce excess slime, and gasp at the surface. Losses can be severe. Once this takes place (alkalosis) it is hard to reverse.
  
  
• Symptoms for human beings: Stiff joints, muscle cramps, digestive disorders, susceptibility to yeast and fungus infections, insulin stress, and weight gain.

Just as for fish, there are products available to increase your pH levels, as wells as to lower them. There are also pH tests and buffers for improving your pH balance. Like humans, goldfish thrive at a pH balance that is slightly over neutral (7.0). In humans, ideal blood pH is 7.3-7.5. For fish, it is 7.2-7.4 pH.

That doesn’t mean that we must constantly maintain that same pH level, but like a goldfish, we will become ill if we move out of our safe pH range for any length of time. We want our gastric juices to be slightly acidic in order to break down foods. But generally our blood should remain in the proper range if we want to stay healthy. Just like fish, our waste must move through us and perspire from our skin in order to remain at the proper pH.

Salt Density is largely a fish tank term and it refers to the amount of salt in the tank water. Fresh water fish will not survive in salt water for any length of time. However, adding a small amount of salt to the tank will not kill a goldfish! It can actually perk up the fish’s immune system and will kill any parasites. It is important to realize that the more water a human consumes, the more critical salt becomes to replenishing salts and minerals that are needed for interacting with brain chemistry and energy.

You may be a person who has been told not to consume salt. Although consuming salt may be a problem if your fluid levels are out of balance, is it the salt or is it your body’s deep tissue dehydration that is at the bottom of your illness? If you drink more water, dilute the bit of salt you take, could you potentially reduce your blood pressure naturally?

Often we are not attacking the root cause of a problem, like high blood pressure, when we don’t fully hydrate (fill our fish tank) first. How can your heart and blood (fish tank pumps and filters) work efficiently if there isn’t enough water? There will be more about this in a future article. In the meantime:

1. Are you monitoring your blood pressure?
2. Do you consume enough water to fully hydrate your body, blood, and organs?
3. Are you passing your body waste on a normal basis and is it clear and healthy (or dark, heavy and odorous)?
4. Do you know your blood pH? It is somewhere between 7.3 and 7.5?
5. Do you monitor your diet, drinks and stress levels to know that your pH fluctuations are not stressing your “tank” eco-system needlessly?
6. Are you relatively disease and illness free most of the time?
7. If you aren’t answering “yes” to these questions, then are you being fully accountable for your good health?
   

Resources:

• This article by Janet Hull gives more detail and some great ideas for improving your “tank”.
  
  
• I have recommended these articles previously from detoxifynow.com, they are comprehensive, controversial, and will provide the detail that I omit.

Self-Correct & Become Healthy Again

Correcting a dehydration problem can be an amazing experience. How long it’s going to take depends on how ready your body is to resolve the problem. My experience (so far) is that many people’s bodies have a “Do It!” response. When you finally give your body what it’s missing, you will make improvements pretty quickly.

I once gave some water to a guy friend who had a terribly painful and bloody skin problem. I asked him to drink two gallons of alkaline water in six days. He drank half the amount in 14 days. I never really understood what happened, but he had already reversed his illness 99% of the way in twice the time and half the dose. All that remained was some faint dry skin where the bloody scabs had been. He was kind of annoyed with me. Could this be so simple? What kind of trickery was this water? My article: Thirst for the Worst addresses why alkaline water is not trickery.

I’ve given water to people with cancer: lung and liver cancer to be exact. In 2-6 weeks, when they went for pre-op exams, the tumors could not be found. Their test scores were normal. To understand more fully how this could happen, you’ll need to read the article titled: My Plants & Your Cancer Love Acidic Drinks.

But here’s the bottom line. If dehydration is truly at the root cause of your illness or disease, hydrating yourself should be your first action. You need hydration that is alkaline, preferably ionized, and preferably micro-clustered so absorption is easy.

The issues that could delay instant results are:

• Tissue regeneration (if you have certain auto-immune diseases, and they can be reversed…some can’t…it may take some time to rebuild tissue health)
• Dormant healing responses that may take time to “awaken” again
  Time for all tissues of a tumor to shrink away
• Not consuming enough alkaline water and food to balance out the acidic foods and drinks you intake
• Continuing to drink soft drinks (which require more than 32 times the high alkaline water to neutralize the acidity of one ounce of soda)
• Losing weight might kick in slowly if your whole body needs to become fully hydrated first
• After your blood sugar levels out, you might still have more layers of diabetes damage to heal.

But you should see a glow in your face and your skin right away, and you will probably feel notably more patient and relaxed immediately. Deep-tissue hydration is the chance of a lifetime to feel and look younger, and to transform your health for the rest of your life. Offer it to your body and you may experience dramatic recovery and a second chance for a healthful life.

Timi Gleason is a leadership coach specializing in a step-by-step focus on reaching long-term goals. She has this "thing" about not having to take prescription drugs either "at all" or "not for long". Visit her site at www.rx-freezone.com!

Three Ways to Know You Are Experiencing Dehydration

We often equate dehydration with some poor soul stumbling across a sandy desert under the hot sun, unable to find some clean, clear water. But you don’t have to be devoid of any water, or in a hot climate to be chronically dehydrated. Not drinking enough water; and not drinking the right kind of water can make us sick. Many of us have been unknowingly adjusting for most of our lives to deep-cell thirst and fluid acidity.

Our resilient, magnificent bodies cover for our ignorance. Many people with chronic health problems have become sick, adjusted, been well for awhile (or may have never gotten well) have become sick again, and adjusted again, until here they are…in reality, chronically dehydrated…but according to the U.S. medical model they are a person who has a heart problem, has cancer, or is a diabetic; or is quite simply suffering from psoriasis; or is a person with one or more auto-immune disorders. Once you have one, you are susceptible to them all, and on and on.

Is it possible that at the root of most of these illnesses are some very thirsty cells in your blood, in your organs, and in your muscles? Does this explain why it is frequent to see “miracle recoveries” from any one of these diseases almost overnight when the right kind of water or hydrating liquid is introduced…including some of these miracle juices?

Stage 1 Dehydration - Impatience and Irritability (or How to Avoid Anger Management classes)

Your brain needs water (with minerals)…in order to conduct electrical impulses. These bio-electric commands automatically regulate body temperature, process information, help us move muscles, automatically breathe, help us eat and digest, and cause us “to feel” both physically and emotionally. When there isn’t enough water available to your brain, your brain basically shuts down to conserve energy. Stage 1 Dehydration mostly occurs at a FEELING level. Thus, you get impatient responses like: “I don’t have time for this!” “I don’t know!” “Who cares!?” Other symptoms include anxiety, depression, feeling flushed, disturbed sleep, and the craving of sodas or alcohol.

Stages 2 and 3 Dehydration – The next level of symptoms begins where our most common and most creative television commercials and memorable jingles end. Phase 2 and 3 problems are summed up by a “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!” approach. Early in our lives we learn to accept that many “normal” illnesses, such as being born a sick child, or experiencing disruptive chemical imbalances, or natural aging, must be treated with chemicals (prescription and over the counter –OTC- drugs). Everyday examples are indigestion, acid reflux, asthma, allergies, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, constipation, diarrhea, migraine headaches, colitis pain, debilitating pain from fibromyalgia, auto-immune disease and then ultimately, all types of cancer, heart attack, and even bulimia and morning sickness from pregnancy. Do you suffer from any of these?

Over a 110 million Americans rely on pain medications in order to get through a normal day. If you think about it, where does pain come from when it’s not caused by an infection or an injury? Inflammation and pain have at their root (their core) a lack of enough, and the right kind, of water.

We have learned to take these inconveniences in our stride. Mild pain, shortness of breath (without a heart problem), allergic reasons, post nasal drip, indigestion, obesity and even the onset of blood sugar problems just seem “par for the course” when everybody else has them too. We gladly purchase OTC drugs because they are available and affordable. We’re happy when it’s not a prescription drug. But at some point, that becomes unavoidable, as you slip into a black hole of “dis-ease” and desperation. The U.S. model tells us that some things can’t be avoided. Genetic and inherited disease is considered “fate” in the medical model that we use in this country. There’s nothing you can do about them. But have you ever thought about why OTC drugs may work? They require you to “drink a glass of water” with them. We drink it because we don’t want to burn our tender throats with potent drugs, so we wash the pills down. But what else happens? We hydrate too. This is not to say that the pills don’t do their magic, but it does suggest that water plays a different role than you might have previously considered.

Many of these illnesses started when you were a kid. Maybe you missed sports because you were always ill or allergic or short of breath. I’ve had autoimmune disease (visibly) since I was eight years old. That means I’ve been dehydrated for decades and decades. How about you?

Read the article: Self-Correct & Become Healthy Again

Alka Seltzer Commercial: http://www.videosift.com/video/Plop-plop-fizz-fizz-oh-what-a-relief-it-is-Alka-Seltzer

Celebrex Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GvYI4VdVEI&feature=related
Pay attention to the announcer droning on and on about all the health disclaimers! Yikes!

Drought Management Books by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.:

• You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty( a must read)


• The ABC of Asthma, Allergies and Lupus


• Your Body's Many Cries for Water


• How to Deal With Back Pain and Rheumatoid Joint Pain

Other Authors:

• What's the Big Deal About Water?
  by Tonita d’Raye


• The Water Prescription
  by Christopher Vasey, N.D.
  

Timi Gleason is a leadership coach specializing in a step-by-step focus on reaching long-term goals. She has this "thing" about not having to take prescription drugs either "at all" or "not for long". Visit her site at www.rx-freezone.com!

Your Brain: YOUR Body's Drought Manager

The medical model in the United States doesn’t teach us that our body is an eco-system, but it is. Like the moon creates tides, our body fluids ebb and flow under the control of our brain. Since the brain is 70% water and HAS to intake enough fluids (water) to function properly, it borrows water from anywhere in your body that it wants. If it deprives an organ or muscle or tissue of its hydration, it tends to create inflammation and pain where ever it has stolen the water. And do you know what else? It repositions the water randomly, so sometimes you’ll experience pain in your joints, in your ankles, and other times in your muscles or through dryness on your skin.

The interesting thing about brain drought management is that there are at least three different symptom levels that indicate drought problems in our bodies. The first indication of a shortage of water is IRRITIBILITY. Whoops! Who hasn’t wondered why they were having a bad day? Ever have a day when you are snapping at your loved ones? Or you “can’t think”? Next time, try drinking some good water to escape that rut.

See the article: Three Ways to Know You Are Experiencing Dehydration for more information about symptoms of thirst and deep-cell dehydration.

Drought Management Books by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.:

• You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty( a must read)


• The ABC of Asthma, Allergies and Lupus


• Your Body's Many Cries for Water


• How to Deal With Back Pain and Rheumatoid Joint Pain
  

Websites:

• About RX-Free Zone: http://www.rx-freezone.com/


• About your brain: http://www.howstuffworks.com/brain.htm


• Cultural beliefs about water intake:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283


• Fun Water Facts: http://www.purecyclewater.com/WaterFacts.aspx

Timi Gleason is a leadership coach specializing in a step-by-step focus on reaching long-term goals. She has this "thing" about not having to take prescription drugs either "at all" or "not for long". Visit her site at www.rx-freezone.com!