5 Crazy Facts About Water That are Actually True

Water is an amazing substance on Earth. Did you know that water should be a gas at room temperature, but, as you will find out later in this post, it's a liquid. And, you'll be surprised to find out just how little water is available for drinking.

Read on for 5 amazing facts about water that really are true!

1. Ice actually weighs less than water. 

I know, I know. That's kind of weird. You would think it would be heavier, but ice floats on water, meaning it's lighter than water, otherwise it would sink. 

The molecules in liquid water are more densely packed than when frozen. When the water freezes, they freeze in a hexagonal crystal form and even though they are bonded together, they are actually spread farther apart and so aren't packed as densely as when they are in a liquid state. 

2. Our drinking water comes from 1/10,000 of a percent of all Earth's water. 

I can barely fathom this! So, in other words, only a millionth of the world's water is used for drinking water. 

Most of the fresh water we drink comes from rivers, which accounts for the 1/10,000 of a percent. 96% of the water on Earth is saltwater, which we don't drink. And most of the freshwater is frozen in glaciers and ice caps. In fact, there is more fresh water under the Earth's surface than there is on the surface of our great planet. 

And, in addition to that, most of the 1/1,000,000 of water we are able to use for drinking water is polluted with man-made chemicals. All the more reason to invest in a water ionizer. 

3. Water should be a gas at room temperature.

Water molecules are sticky, they stick to everything, including themselves. Other molecules that are similar to water, such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, are gasses. But water’s unique stickiness holds water molecules together enough for water to remain a liquid at room temperature. Water’s stickiness can cause problems: It can make it hard to do your laundry, and it can make it hard for your body to absorb.

The stickiness of water molecules is affected by substances dissolved in it. Some substances. such as the mineral bicarbonates in tap water, make water act stickier. That’s why you have to use more soap when doing laundry with hard water. Water ionizers convert those hard-to-absorb mineral carbonates into mineral hydroxides. Those mineral hydroxides actually reduce water’s stickiness, which makes it easier to absorb. That’s why alkaline water hydrates you better and faster than plain water.

4. There are only 7 springs in the world where you can find naturally occurring alkaline ionized water.

You read that right - there are only seven (7) springs on Earth where you can find natural ionized alkaline water! They are highly cherished for the health restoring properties they possess. People spend large amounts of money on the water from these springs that you can have right in your own home! 

Three of these renowned springs are in Nordenau, Germany; Zam Zam Saudi Arabia and Hita Tenryosui in Japan.

5. There is a reason why your fingers and toes get wrinkly when they're in water for any extended period of time.

After you’ve soaked in the tub for a while, your fingers and toes get wrinkly, but the rest of your skin remains smooth. The reason? The epidermis – outermost layer of skin – is thickest on the bottom of your feet and hands. As you soak, the epidermis absorbs water, which causes it to expand. The skin underneath is already wet, so it doesn’t absorb much, if any water, so it doesn’t expand with the epidermis. To compensate for its expanded surface area, the epidermis wrinkles. The epidermis on other parts of your body is simply too thin to get that wrinkling effect.

You also absorb any chemicals that happen to be present in that water into your skin, especially chlorine. This is why at a minimum, you should install a shower filter on your shower. Even better is whole home filtration, because that keeps the chemicals out of your home’s water supply.

And there you have it - 5 crazy, amazing facts you may or may not have known about water. Which ones did you know? Which ones did you learn something from? Share below in the comments! 

How to Tell if You’re Dehydrated

We all reach for something to drink when we are feeling thirsty, but did you know that by the time you’re thirsty you are already dehydrated? I will go over with you today how you can tell if you’re dehydrated and how you can remedy the situation most effectively.

Signs of Dehydration

Here are some common signs of being mildly dehydrated:

      1.      Dry, sticky mouth 

      2.      Dry skin

      3.      Headache

      4.      Constipation

      5.      Thirst

      6.      Decreased urine output

      7.      Tiredness

      8.      Dizziness/lightheaded

Here are some more serious signs of being dehydrated:

      1.      Extreme thirst

      2.      Excessively dry mouth and mucus membranes

      3.      Fever

      4.      Rapid breathing

      5.      Low blood pressure

      6.      Sunken eyes

      7.      Little to no urine output. Urine that is passed is very dark.

      8.      Delirium and unconsciousness

Children, the elderly, very active individuals and those who live in high altitudes are more susceptible to suffering from dehydration.

Did you know you can go 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water? That’s true! Water is essential to all life. Reaching for coffee, tea, soda or fruit juice is no replacement for water. In fact, coffee, tea (with caffeine) and soda actually cause dehydration. The caffeine is a natural diuretic and pulls water out of your cells. And most fruit juices contain very little fruit and excess amounts of sugars. These, too, can contribute to dehydration.

Avoid the Effects of Dehydration

By drinking plenty of water you will replenish the water that you expel from your body by sweating, urinating and breathing. You also lose large amounts of water when vomiting, suffering from diarrhea, excessive sweating and when you have a fever.  

One good sign that you are getting enough water is the color of your urine. If your urine is dark in color or bright yellow, drink more water. If it is pale yellow or nearly clear, you are probably getting enough water.

Drinking alkaline ionized water is the best way to stay hydrated. When your water comes out of the tap it comes out in clusters of 11-16 H2O molecules. When the water is put through your water ionizer it comes out in clusters of 5-8 water molecules. This makes it easier for your cells to absorb the water leading to better hydration. Read more about that in my article about ionized water. 

In another article I wrote about the importance of water, I pointed out that water makes up most of the organs and fluids of the body. Here are the percentages of water make-up in each area:

Bones 22%

Muscles 75%

Tissues 75%

Blood 92%

Brain 75%

The kind of water and the quality of that water affects your entire body and how it operates. If you are depleted of the amount of water each system needs in order to do its job properly, you will deal with a myriad of negative results, such as the ones listed above.

I cannot stress how important it is to drink plenty of alkaline ionized water. Most people don’t even realize they are dehydrated and, according to doctors, 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. With the popularity of cokes and coffees skyrocketing, not nearly enough of us are getting an adequate supply of water.

I urge you to visit my website, Alkaline Water Plus, and further educate yourself on the power of water and especially the power of alkaline ionized water. I have spent years compiling information, writing articles, doing research and comparisons to help enlighten others on this subject. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions, either below, via phone or email. 

Spider Veins, Varicose Veins and Alkaline Ionized Water

The season of shorts, summer dresses and swimming suits is upon us and I would like to help you manage this bothersome ailment, if not help you get rid of it completely.

If you suffer from spider veins you know how unsightly they can be. And if you suffer from varicose veins you know they are not only unsightly, but can be painful. Today I’m going to cover how drinking alkaline ionized water has not only helped my spider veins, but also how it has helped many others and why.

What are spider veins and varicose veins?

Spider veins are dilated veins close to the skin’s surface. They are usually red or blue and look like a spider’s web or tree branches. They are normally found on the legs and/or face.

Varicose veins are red or blue swollen veins where blood has pooled and caused the distention of the vein due to poor circulation. The valves in the veins which are supposed to prevent blood from flowing in the wrong direction are malfunctioning and so the blood starts flowing back down, away from the heart, and so blood pools in the affected veins. They are usually found on the legs and are most common in women above the age of 50. However, anyone can suffer from them and they can be hereditary.

Both problems stem from the same issue, malfunctioning valves in the veins, however, varicose veins are a more extreme case of malfunction.

How Does Alkaline Water Help?

As I have previously written in a  former blog post and in my own testimonial page , I have noticed that drinking alkaline ionized water with higher than -400 ORP levels has helped get rid of my spider veins! The rest of this article is devoted to explaining why this is, and giving you tips to help you replicate what I did, i.e., rid yourself of spider veins.

There are two reasons why I believe drinking of alkaline water helps spider veins. 

1. The abundant antioxidants in alkaline ionized water help to fight free-radicals which are constantly bombarding the circulatory system, at their starting point. When we breathe in, we take in Oxygen, O2 +. The majority of this Oxygen is in the form of free-radicals, because each Oxygen pair is missing one electron in its outer ring. It will seek out and steal that electron from surrounding molecules, tissue and cell walls. The first place Oxygen goes is into the circulatory system, where it robs the walls of the veins of its needed electron. Read more about the free-radical theory of aging. Alkaline ionized water has an abundance of anti-oxidants, negatively-charged spare electrons, to donate to the active Oxygen molecules, causing them to neutralize instantly and become more bio-friendly.
2. It is a well-known fact that when the body rids itself of acidic wastes it rejuvenates the circulatory system of the body. This is otherwise called "cleansing". Alkaline ionized water helps to cleans the body of toxins. When you cleanse the body, and keep the vessels of circulation clean, it makes sense that you will improve the health and strength of those vessels. Read more about the benefits of ionized water.

Drink enough alkaline ionized water to make a difference.

I personally recommend drinking at least 1 gallon of water per day when you’re trying to rid your body of a specific ailment or malady. The suggested formula to determine your minimum daily requirement of water is: Take half your weight in ounces of water every day. So if you’re, say, 200 lbs, that would mean drinking 100 ounces of water per day, or roughly 12.5 cups of water.

I would love to hear any feedback or see before and after pictures, so feel free to email me pictures. Or if you have any questions, feel free to email those to me. 

And please keep in mind that this does not supplant medical advice from a licensed physician. I am solely sharing my observations as well as other people's own observations. 

  

Are You Dehydrated?

We all are probably guilty of thinking we are drinking enough water, only to come to find out we really aren't. Especially with all the soda and coffee we seem to drink, which further dehydrates us, we are probably getting less water than we think we are. 

Dehydration

Today we will go over some ways you can tell if you're dehydrated and need more water:

1. One way you can check immediately if you're in need of more water is by gently pinching the skin on the back of your hand, between your wrist and your knuckles. If the skin snaps back quickly that is a good sign, but if the skin is slow to go back it's safe to assume you should increase your water consumption.

2. Check the color of your urine. If you're drinking enough water it will be a very light yellow color.

3. Is your skin dry? Instead of coating your skin with perfumed lotions filled with chemicals, drink more water and increase your Omega-3 fatty acids.

4. Do you have bad breath? Saliva has antibacterial qualities so if you don't have enough of it you can develop bad breath. When you're dehydrated your body can't produce enough saliva to keep your mouth as clean as it should be.

5. Did you know that a sweet tooth can be a sign of dehydration? It can! Certain organs like your liver need plenty of water to release components of your stores of energy. So if you aren't hydrated well and you need energy, instead of your body being able to use some of its own stored energy you get a craving for sugar, sweets or some other form of simple carbohydrates. The next time you want to reach for the afternoon Snickers, grab instead a bowl of fruit, such as watermelon or pineapple that has a high water content. This will both satisfy your sweet tooth and help hydrate you.

6. Do you get charlie horses or other muscle cramping? That, too, can be a sign you need to reach for that glass of water.

7. Headaches. Your brain sits in a sac of fluid that keeps it from bumping into the skull. If it is depleted of water, it can knock into the skull leading to headaches.

8. Are you constipated? Water helps move waste through your colon. Again, without enough water, your body can't efficiently move the waste through your body.

What to Do if You Have Any of These Symptoms

I highly recommend getting an electric water ionizer to ensure total hydration. Like we have talked about here and here, the micro-clustered molecules of the ionized water is better able to be absorbed by the body's cells.

Check out our wide selection of ionizers here and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Is Fluoride Really That Bad?

Is Fluoride Really That Bad?

First, let's start off with clearing up what fluoride really is. There is actually a vast number of fluorides. Fluorides are made by bonding the element fluorine with some other substance. Now the fluoride in our tap water has a big fancy name: Fluorosilicic acid (or hydrofluorosilicic acid once the fluorosilicic acid has been diluted).

Fluorosilicic acid is a toxic byproduct of the phosphate fertilizer industry. While manufacturing the commercial fertilizer there are toxic gases emitted. Currently this gas is, for the most part, kept from getting into the atmosphere and is collected in special apparatuses. And these collected emissions are bottled up and sent all over the country to be added to the different municipalities' tap water. Keep in mind that fluorosilicic acid is considered a hazardous waste and is handled accordingly. Before being added to our drinking water, it undergoes NO refinement or purification and has elevated levels of arsenic in it. It is, in fact, so toxic that in the 1950s and '60s livestock and crops were disastrously damaged by the toxic emissions of these phosphate fertilizer plants. The livestock's bones were destroyed to the point where the cattle couldn't stand to graze. They were made infertile and couldn't produce offspring, and if they did miraculously become impregnated the calf was either born with horrendous deformities or was stillborn. Orchards were destroyed as well as crops. Here's what the CBC reported from a town in Ontario:

“Farmers noticed it first… Something mysterious burned the peppers, burned the fruit, dwarfed and shriveled the grains, damaged everything that grew. Something in the air destroyed the crops. Anyone could see it… They noticed it first in 1961. Again in ’62. Worse each year. Plants that didn’t burn, were dwarfed. Grain yields cut in half…Finally, a greater disaster revealed the source of the trouble. A plume from a silver stack, once the symbol of Dunville’s progress, spreading for miles around poison – fluorine. It was identified by veterinarians. There was no doubt. What happened to the cattle was unmistakable, and it broke the farmer’s hearts. Fluorosis – swollen joints, falling teeth, pain until cattle lie down and die. Hundreds of them. The cause – fluorine poisoning from the air.”

Fast Forward to Our Present Day

Fluoride is added to 70% of this country's tap water. It is promoted as helping prevent tooth decay in the population. However, world-wide studies have shown that the rate of tooth decay is no worse in countries that do not fluoridate their drinking water. And dentists have concluded that ingesting fluoride does very little in the way of preventing caries (cavities) and that it needs to be applied topically to the surface of the teeth to be even remotely effective.

Fluoride is a toxic substance and prolonged exposure to high levels of this substance can cause a very painful bone disease called skeletal fluorosis, dental fluorosis (discoloration of the teeth) and has been linked to arthritis, bone fragility, glucose intolerance, learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease and thyroid disease.

Studies have shown that fluoridation has been linked to an increase in hypothyroidism, or an under-active thyroid. This in turn causes fatigue, depression and obesity. All of which are pretty common ailments among us Americans.

Even the CDC admits that 41% of teenagers have some degree of dental fluorosis, meaning they are over fluoridated. Yet they are continuing their promotion of fluoride and are wanting to increase the intake of fluoride.

What Can You Do About All of This?

Here is more data on fluoride and why it is so hard to filter from our drinking water. 

https://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/water-ionizers-remove-fluoride/
https://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/water-ionizer-handle-fluoride-whats-wrong-fluoride/
https://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/fluoride-chloramine-whyhow-get-water/

In order to truly eliminate the fluoride from your water I highly recommend getting a fluoride filter and a water ionizer. Both of these will help to remove fluoride from your drinking water. See more articles and filters related to fluoride.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I am more than happy to help you and your family achieve an even more healthy and happy lifestyle! 

Alkaline Ionized Water and Children

Alkaline Ionized Water and Children

As an adult it's easy to see where I went wrong as a teenager and young adult. If only I could go back and re-live my teens and 20's! The one thing I would want to change the most is eating healthier and thinking more about my future health and well-being. Maybe if I had I wouldn't have had to struggle so much when I was in my 40's to regain my health, be slimmer, lower my blood pressure, etc.

So this leads me to the thought “Hey, I have a chance now to pass on all I know to my kids and grand-kids!” Back in our day, parents didn't have the gold mine of information that is the internet. Mom couldn't just Google whatever it is she needed to know, from alternative cold remedies, to vaccines, to what exactly is in these chicken nuggets.

I have learned so much over the years about healthy eating, the pH of our bodies, how disease cannot sustain itself in an alkaline body, the ill effects of soda and sports drinks, how sugar affects little ones and so on. Therefore, I am passing this on to my children. And one of the first steps is providing alkaline ionized water for them. Plenty of it. I urge every one of you to get rid of the soda, Gatorade, sweet tea, juices (all of which RAISE the acidity that gets trapped in bodies) and make sure you have pure alkaline ionized water for your children to drink.

How alkaline should alkaline ionized water be for children?

I suggest that you don't make the alkaline water too strong for children. It is a good rule of thumb to give infants and toddlers purified [filtered] water. On every water ionizer there is a setting for this. Then 2 to 4 year-olds should drink about 8 pH level [which is equivalent to the lowest alkaline setting on your water ionizer]. Four to seven-year-olds should drink at about level 2, or 8.5 pH. After age seven a child should drink at the same alkaline water pH-level as an adult.

You may be thinking to yourself, “Why not just drink tap water or bottled water?” Well, I'll tell you. First of all there is a list of about 100 contaminants that must be removed from tap water, as mandated by the Safe Water Drinking Act. But over 60,000 chemicals are used in the US daily that get into our water supply that have not been tested for toxic effects on our environment or bodies. And what's even more horrifying, pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, anti-psychotics, sex hormones, mood stabilizers, etc, have been found in the drinking water of over 41,000,000 Americans. In large metropolitan areas from California to New Jersey these drugs have been found in the tap water. Most treatments in the water plants do not eliminate all drug residues from the drinking water. There hasn't been enough time to see exactly what long-term effects this will have, but I can tell you that I am not going to wait around and see.

The standard drinking water is also not the best to provide sufficient hydration due to the chemical compounds found in it that actually works against hydrating the body.

So, how does alkaline ionized water fit in to the picture? First, a water ionizer filters out up to 99.99% of all contaminants from the tap water [depending on the water ionizer and filter combination]. The chemicals, the drug residues, heavy metals. Second, ionized water is “microclustered”, meaning the water molecules are smaller and far easier for the cells of the body to absorb, leading to enhanced hydration. And third, the water has an antioxidant property. Having an excess of electrons, it seeks out and eliminates free radicals in the body. These free radicals are what can cause disease, usually later on in life.

Therefore I have been increasing my childrens' and grand-children's consumption of alkaline water and I encourage you to do the same.  If you are skeptical or curious, do your research. Ask questions. Email me. It really is interesting what you'll find. 

Why Should you Find out if Your Water has Fluoride in it?

I'm sure that many of you have heard of the cautions and dangers against fluoride.  Before we started adding fluoride to our water, fluoride was used as an insecticide and a rate poison.  It is poisonous.  It's a byproduct of aluminum and other manufacturing.

Fluoride does occur in nature as it is a mineral, and can be found in ground water.  But, it has been found that communities with fluoridated water have no direct correlation between the fluoride and improved dental health.

What are the dangers of fluoride?  Fluoride is apparently found in the brains of most Alzheimer's patients.  Fluoride has also been linked to osteoporosis, damage to the nervous system, and even cancer.

So, it would be beneficial to get rid of fluoride in your water supply.  There are many ways to do this. There are specific filters that you can get that have activated alumina in them which will filter fluoride.  You can use reverse osmosis.  Last but not least, you can use a water ionizer.

Electric water ionizers split up your water into acidic and alkaline streams.  Fluoride is an acidic mineral, so the fluoride will go to the acidic stream.  You filter out about 85% of the fluoride in the water in this way.  There are also some water ionizers that go the extra mile and have the option of  fluoride filters for the machine.  With this added fluoride filtration, water ionizers can get up to 99.99% of the fluoride out of your water.  Take a look at our water ionizer comparison chart to see which ionizers filter fluoride and which don't www.alkalinewaterplus.com/water-ionizer-comparison-chart.

Don't forget the added bonus of a water ionizer, alkaline water.  This is very important in keeping your body healthy-it's pH level.  It has been found that an acidic environment breeds disease and cancer, so keeping your body's pH level alkaline is key to your health!

What is in Your Tap Water?

Today I want to talk about water quality.  There are many different contaminants in tap water which affect the water quality.  Most people think that water filtration is complicated and hard to understand, but it really is very simple.

Water is a very interesting compound.  It has a property that it will pick up bits of minerals and even chemicals if it is exposed to them.  This is why some areas have hard water and some have soft water.  This is directly related to the mineral content of the soil in the area.  Water will run over and through the ground and pick up anything that is in it.  So, if the soil contains harmful pesticides, this will be assimilated into the water as well as minerals.

Our water treatment here in the US is pretty established and would probably take quite a while to change.  So what are you to do to get better water then?  Well, the answer is to filter it yourself.  There are many different chemical such as chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, pesticides etc. in the water supply.  There are even byproducts that happen when you disinfect the water with chlorine or the like, which contaminate the water even further.  If you use municipal water, these chemicals cannot be avoided.  

One simple way to find out what kind of filtration you need is to get your water tested, or find out what is in your water from your municipality.  We offer a free water quality report here: https://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/get-free-water-quality-report/.  Once you find out what is in your water, then you can filter out exactly what you need to. 

Very often a simple carbon filter will be able to filter out a good deal of chemicals that are in your water.  Visit our water filter page to find out more about filtration and the many filters we have to offer: https://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/water-filtration-basics/.

There Are So Many Choices--Why Choose Alkaline Ionized Water?

There are so many places you could get your water from and ways you can filter it, so why do you need alkaline water?  Why not tap water, bottled water, or even reverse osmosis?  Water is know to be healing in many parts of the world.  Some people have even referred to it as magic.  I want to go over some various means to get your water and what this really entails for you as a consumer.

First, let's check out tap water.  Here in the United States we have drinkable water.  Generally speaking it does not have bacteria or viruses in it.  A lot of third world countries are not so fortunate.  So, why not drink this water?  The truth is that there are a lot of different chemicals that are put into our water supplies.  Some of them including fluoride, chloramine (a mixture of chlorine and ammonia), etc.  These chemicals are harmful to the human body, not to mention the long list of pharmaceuticals and other toxic substances.

So, then the next choice after tap water would be bottled water right?  Well there has been many tests and studies done on bottled water.  Some bottled water companies take tap water and lightly filter it and then turn around and sell it!  Not only do you not know the quality of filtration of bottled water, but there is also copious amounts of plastic waste that is not being properly recycled from these bottles.

What about reverse osmosis?  Well, there is a time and a place for reverse osmosis to be used.  With reverse osmosis all of the minerals out of the water.  This makes the water acidic actually.   When you do use reverse osmosis, I would suggest at least remineralizing it.  If you drink water that is void of minerals, the water will pull minerals from your body.

Last but not least, there is alkaline ionized water.  This is probably the best choice of all where water is concerned.  First of all, it is alkaline.  The body needs to be slightly alkaline to be heathy, and alkaline water helps to restore the pH balance in the body.  It also helps to rid the body of its acidic wastes.  Not only is alkaline ionized water high in pH, but it also has antioxidants.  Antioxidants help to fight against free radicals in the body that would harm your cells.  Also, buying an alkaline water ionizer is actually less expensive in the long run than continually buying bottled water.

To find out more about alkaline ionized water and its benefits visit www.alkalinewaterplus.com.