What Exactly Are Free Radicals And What Does Ionized Water Have To Do With Them?

Free Radicals

Free radicals are everywhere. They are in the air, our bodies, water and all the material around us. They are what cause rust to eat away at your car, your apples or bananas to brown, paint to fade, etc. And even more importantly, they are what cause age-related illnesses, cancer, strokes, heart attacks and numerous other diseases.

So, simply speaking, what exactly is a “free radical”? Let's start with an atom.

At the center of an atom you have the nucleus, which is composed of protons and neutrons (except for hydrogen – hydrogen is the only element that doesn't have neutrons). Circling the nucleus you have layers, or shells, of electrons. The first layer has 2 electrons when full, the second shell, if it's complete will have 8, the third shell will have 18, and so on. Let's take the simplest of atoms, the hydrogen atom. It has in its nucleus 1 proton and circling it, it has 1 electron. Since there is one of each proton and electron, there is no electric charge in this atom.

Every element on the periodic table is neutral, meaning it has the same amount of electrons going around the same number of protons in the nucleus. Tracking so far?

Now let's say we take a sodium atom (abbreviated Na). It has in its first shell two electrons. In its second shell it has 8 electrons, which makes that shell complete. Now in its outermost shell it only has 1 electron. These atoms want to have paired up electrons and the sodium atom has an unpaired electron. What does that mean? Well, let's say we take a chlorine (Cl) atom. In chlorine's outermost shell it only has 7 electrons. It needs 8 in order to be complete and have all electrons paired. Ok, so let's say we put these two atoms in proximity, what will happen? The unpaired electron that the sodium atom has will give that extra electron away to the chlorine atom so that they are both even. Ta-Da!

But, wait. That means that now the sodium atom has one less electron than it does protons. That makes it positively charged. More protons = positively charged. More electrons = negatively charged. So the sodium atom is now a positive ion and the chlorine atom is a negative ion.

Hold on, What is an Ion?

An ion is an atom that has either gained or lost electrons, therefore becoming either positively or negatively charged. Simple.

Now what does this have to do with free radicals, you ask. Let us take a molecule, which is made up of multiple atoms. If there are unpaired electrons, it will actively search out electrons it can “steal” from other molecules. So, let's say there are free radicals in your body, which there always is, but let's say there is an excess of them. They will attack healthy tissue by “stealing” electrons from them in order to complete their outer shells. This then causes the molecules it “stole” from to become free radicals, too, which causes them to seek out electrons and thus turning other molecules into free radicals. This then can cause a chain reaction that can lead to the destruction of that healthy tissue. Bad news.

What is Ionized Water?

Ok, so the water molecules that have been processed through the electronic water ionizer have been split. Water, chemically speaking, is called H2O, right? So that means it has 2 hydrogen atoms bonded, or stuck to, 1 oxygen atom. Now, when the water is put through your water ionizer, the H2O molecule is split to leave the oxygen atom, which normally has 8 electrons and 8 protons, attached to one of the hydrogen atoms, which has 1 electron and 1 proton. But, it was split in such a way that the hydrogen atom it was split from didn't take it's electron with it. Therefore the lone hydrogen atom has just one proton, making it positively charged (remember more protons than electrons = positively charged). And the hydrogen and oxygen atoms that are stuck together have 10 electrons but only 9 protons, which means they are negatively charged (more electrons than protons = negatively charged).

Ionized Water and Free Radicals

Ok, so now we have these negatively ionized water molecules with an excess of electrons, right? And remember those pesky free radicals in search of an electron to “steal”? Welllll...... the ionized water can supply these free radicals with their needed electron so they don't leach it from your body! Pretty awesome, right? I think so, too!

This is why ionized water is so extremely important to your health and why I work tirelessly to educate everyone regarding it. Since I have started drinking ionized water over 20 years ago, the successes I have seen with it have been nothing short of miraculous! Really! Check out my successes here that customers over the years have sent me. And read my own personal testimonial here.

 Please feel free to browse my website, learn what you can about ionized water, watch my videos, and of course feel free to contact me with any questions or if you need help.