Sam Carpenter’s Travel Plan goes seriously wrong.
Sam Carpenter wrote a book on business organisation that really impressed me, and he travels the world helping small businesses like ours to become better operators.
But on a recent trip to Romania, Sam, the master planner, upset his plans with one small mistake.
“On my trip to Romania I drank from a public drinking fountain. I was told I shouldn’t have, and sure enough, over the months since I got back I’ve been feeling more and more horrible every week until it got to the point that it came time for me to go back to work. I was finding myselof feeling exhausted by 11am.
I went to a doctor I realised I had something serious going on, and found that I had parasites and bacteria!
I got these powerful antibiotics to kill the parasites and another one to kill the bacteria.”
Now.. Sam, much as I respect your organisational ability.. look what that slipup cost you! Weeks of discomfort, exhaustion, business disruption, and not one but TWO rounds of the dreaded antibiotics, laying waste to your internal flora!
And Sam, all you needed to do was take an AlkaWay Fill2Pure portable water bottle with you. It has the best filtration in the world for portable bottles. I NEVER travel without it!
Lead in your Drinking Water?
The recent SBS news article on lead in our water exposed a potentially serious problem for all Australians.
It comes in a wave of exposes worldwide that focus on high lead levels in drinking water.
So here’s the ‘lowdown’ on getting rid of lead in your drinking water.
(And please note: we’re not trying to panic you. It’s a simple fact that if you have a faucet you installed before 1990, there’s a good chance it’s leaking lead.)
Here’s the actual study results.
We are actually talking about lead and copper.
“My results show that there is quite a significant concentration of lead and copper in the drinking water that is coming out of people’s kitchen taps into their morning cup of tea, or baby formula,” says lead author of the study, PhD researcher Paul Harvey.
The team tested 212 such ‘first draw’ samples, and found copper in nearly all of them, while lead was present in 56 per cent of the households tested. According to guidelines, drinking water should contain no more than 10 micrograms of lead per litre – but 8% of the lead samples contained higher levels that that.
“The highest concentration sample that I collected in this study was 89 micrograms [of lead] per litre,” says Harvey. “The results of this study demonstrate that along with other potential sources of contamination in households, plumbing products that contain up to 2.84 per cent of detectable lead are contributing to contamination of household drinking water.”
There isn’t a simple test and you’d need to send a sample to a water test lab, but let’s assume for the moment that you do have a problem.
The problem can emanate from your faucet or from your plumbing, particularly if it is the old style copper pipe installation. The heavy metals are coming from the brazed joints in the piping.
You can relatively easily replace your faucet.. but replacing copper piping that may even be embedded in your slab is a much bigger problem.
So what can you do?
A good water filter is already worth its salt in any home, but if it will remove heavy metals – and the vendor can show you the test results over the life of the filter – it’s worth its weight in gold.
When we invented the UltraStream we went to America, the home of the best water filtration technologies in the world. We asked our engineers there to give us the best, and the safest, most long lasting media possible. When they produced the prototype some people thought it was ‘overkill’ – too much filtration – but today his – and our – choice has been vindicated.
The expensive filtration media, all of it certified and some of it patented, now offers people with lead and copper and life-of-filter solution.
Now.. I must stress. You won’t get this with an off-the-shelf carbon filter. They may say ‘up to 98%’ lead removal, but that only means that on the day they tested a brand new filter, it got UP TO 98% removal. One health food store brand I checked recently claimed ‘up to’ 98% fluoride removal, but when I checked they were just quoting WikiPedia – word for word! They had never tested their filter!
And that’s exactly why we spent the money to have the UltraStream tested for it whole effective life, plus submitting it to the EU for its stringent safety certification.
You can install it on your benchtop or undersink. We have installation videos and because WE invented it, wrote the manuals. So we can say you can have it up and running in under ten minutes, savouring the best water you’ll ever drink.
We wanted to feel good about recommending it to our customers. Take a look yourself here.
Why All Australians need to look at a water filter
This report comes from Water technologist Neil Sweeney. He is passionate about clean water. Here’s his facebook page.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN AUSTRALIA WITH WATER INFRASTRUCTURE?
If we are to go by the latest media reports, current water guidelines and the current state of disrepair of the mains pipe delivery system in our country then the health report card presented doesn’t look good for the country over the next decade; considering the size of our current deficit and what is put aside for water infrastructure and repair in the Budget.
Guys, Australia is in a WATER HEALTH CRISIS SITUATION which I would categorize as DEFCON 4.
In 2015 the Australian government released the Australian Infrastructure Audit-Executive Summary.
They only committed one page to discussing the water crisis in the nation but their conclusions were clear and damning.
“The water sector needs reforms to address quality, reliability and supply issues.”
The latest Water Health Guidelines provided by the NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council) which details the state of our current water system and how to treat it is now a huge volume to try and digest. The book is 1178 pages and the latest update in February 2016 discussed:
“Interim guideline values for chemicals that have “now” been detected in drinking water.” (extra chemicals since the last update)
Clarification of approval process for “new” drinking water chemicals, and modifications to inconsistencies to section 8.5 to 8.8.’ (recommendations were not sufficient to deal with contaminants)
Water infrastructure costs for each state are now beyond state government guidelines for expenditure and so they work on media campaigns to assure the Australian public that everything is ok and employ an “it’s broken, let’s repair that section” mentality.
To undertake major repair work on the thousands of kilometers of water pipes and upgrade the water treatment facilities in this country would be in the tens, if not hundreds of billions in capital expenditure.
Australia has let it go and simply can’t afford the repair bill, so they engage technology companies who can only monitor 1% of our underground water pipes.
Ian: Here’s the links if you are into a bit of masochism…
http://
“The failure of a major pipeline or reservoir could have far-reaching consequences. Not only could such an event have immediate catastrophic impacts to the surrounding area, there would also be long-term economic impacts on water, and possibly power, supplies to cities and towns. Repair and rebuilding costs would also be high.
As most pipelines are buried “out of sight and mind,” the water industry has had a reactive approach to maintenance whereby the pipes are run to failure, with individual pipe failures repaired until the failure rate reaches a predetermined level, at which point the entire section of pipeline is replaced. For smaller pipes, this is still considered “best practice” for the industry, but for larger critical pipelines a more proactive approach is being adopted.
“Replacing or repairing asbestos-laced cement pipes in the water network could cost about $8 billion over the next decade, an urban water sector industry group has estimated, adding to concerns about the cost of upgrades to Australia’s aging infrastructure.
The ABC yesterday reported that many water pipes were manufactured by James Hardie and that there were concerns that the government’s Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency was being “stifled”.
They said work from bodies including the National Health and Medical Research Council ‘showed there was not a health risk to drinking water that was carried through the pipes’.
“The issue is not from drinking it,” Mr Lovell said, noting that work had to be done on ageing pipes as part of renewal programs. “The real issue here is around worker safety, community safety. That’s the key issue.”
The big delay in Australia to repair these broken Asbestos pipes is the fear of worker contamination. So repairs are often delayed; which affects water quality to your home tap.
Ian: More to come as Neil reports.
Want to learn more about how to protect your family? Go here or here.
3 Teaspoons of Rio water is the reason an athlete can fail.
This report on water quality in Rio is damning. It’s saying that an athlete needs only drink 3 teaspoons of local water for disaster to strike.
Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions, but tests indicate that tourists also face potentially serious health risks on the golden beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana.
The first results of the study published over a year ago showed viral levels at up to 1.7 million times what would be considered worrisome in the United States or Europe.
Callum Bridgeford and Paulo Fernandes talk about the UltraStream
Callum is our man on the ground in the UK, and Paulo is a fulltime athlete and live blood microscopist. Paulo sourced his UltraStream from Callum.
Here’s what he had to say.
Perfluorinated Chemicals In Your Water?
Last Updated:August 1st 2016
“I’m very angry. They’ve known about this for how long, and they’re just telling us? I drank water throughout my pregnancy. What is that going to do?”
–Carmen Soto, a resident of Fountain, Colorado, after learning that her community’s drinking water supply is contaminated with unsafe levels of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs).Fountain is located near five U.S. military installations, and could be one of an estimated 2,000 sites across the country where drinking water has been polluted by PFCs contained in a firefighting substance used by the military. (The New York Times)
So sad, when all you need do is have a water filter like our Ultrastream. Here is the link to the fact sheet from the NSF.
Wow, Is it time yet to buy a water filter…..? Especially if you live in Florida!
Last Updated:August 1st 2016
Florida commission about to rule on drinking water chemical allowance increases.
The Environmental Regulatory Commission of Florida will vote this month to increase the number of regulated chemicals in Florida drinking water.
Now, you lucky Floriorians, you can have 92 chemicals in your water instead of just 54.
The good news is that the panel will reduce the allowable limits on 13 regulated chemicals, including cyanide and beryllium.
The bad news is that it will raise the allowable limit on more than 24 other acknowledged carcinogenic chemicals “from levels that are from 20 percent to 1,100 percent higher than the current standards.”
Its the Act’s first update since 1992. One would have thought that things would be getting better with updates.. not worse.
Newsflash! The new UltraStream is effectively doubling its already vast proven filtration ability with the additional of Ultra-D technology. If you are ready to save your own life, so are we. Go to any Alkaway website to learn how.
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Roundup (in) Your Water?
Water technology Online is one of our favourite water websites and this article is derived from their excellent summation of Glyphosate in water
What is ‘Roundup’? (Glyphosate)
It is…
- a broad spectrum herbicide, introduced by Monsanto Corporation over 40 years ago.
- A post-emergent systemic herbicide. It kills almost all plant types ~ weeds, grasses, shrubs, trees.
- Its chemical formula is C3H8NO5P.
- It is probably the most widely used agricultural herbicide for residential lawns.
- Production is more than 720,000 metric tons per year.
- Biodegradable by soil microbes.
- Detected in 36 percent of stream samples, in nine Midwestern US states. nO large scale testing has been performed in Australia.
- Commonly found in some retail cereals, fruit and vegetables.A potent herbicide. You need only 3 to 4 pounds per hectare.
- The reason for genetically modified, glyphosate-resistant transgenic corn; cotton; canola; and soybean varieties are widely planted, allowing farmers to continue use of Glyphosate.
What is it doing to us?
Previously, multiple reviews of the toxicology of glyphosate conclude that it has low toxicity with no cancer risk. However, a recent review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (using the same data) concluded that it is probably carcinogenic to humans. A further small number of studies provided mixed results in highest exposure groups. Conclusions were a ‘non-statistically significant’ result for lymphocytic leukemia or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Another recent study conducted by researchers from Argentina found that glyphosate altered cellular proliferation — or cell growth — and incited structural changes to uterine cells in animal models. While animal testing is not something that should be condoned, their research nonetheless showcased that exposure to glyphosate resulted in catastrophic changes to uterine development in newborn, female rats.
The World Health Organization has already reported on glyphosate’s potential to cause cancer — a fact that the EPA was aware of nearly thirty years ago. Sustainable Pulse reports that an EPA panel classified glyphosate as a Class C carcinogen in 1985, meaning that there is “suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential.” Of course, all things are subject to change — and this classification was changed in 1991 to a Class E, indicating no evidence of carcinogenicity.
Glyphosate alters human DNA
(28 July 2016) A new review of scientific literature has linked glyphosate, the active chemical in Monsanto’s number one selling herbicide, Round Up, to a range of different diseases through a new mechanism that modifies DNA functioning. The authors of the study found that, “Glyphosate acts as a glycine analogue that incorporates into peptides during protein synthesis. In this process, it alters a number of proteins that depend on conserved glycine for proper function. According to the authors, glyphosate substitution for glycine correlates with several diseases, including diabetes, obesity, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Parkinson’s disease, among others.” If this isn’t enough to prove that the ‘probably carcinogenic’ chemical should be actively avoided in our diet then we wonder what is?
A whopping 93 percent of Americans were found to have Glyphosate in their urine samples during a testing project that began in 2015.
Water treatment
First what is done at your local treatment works. Some, all or none of these processes may be carried out at your local water works. Processes include Chlorination, ozonation, advanced oxidation processes, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.
Second, what you can do if you lack faith in your local works or you have ascertained that their treatment doesn’t do enough. A good water filter using activated carbon will filter Roundup, and if it’s really, really good it will also filter carcinogenic chlorine and chloramines, plus the very nasty trihalomethanes common in any water where organics and chlorine occur.
Hard water or Soft water. The Untold Truth – and what you can do about it.
It’s almost a tie. Around half of our populated regions on planet earth have hard water, the other half, soft water.
‘Hard water’ is water with calcium and (perhaps) magnesium dissolved in it. The term refers to water from your tap.
‘Soft water’ is the opposite. It has little or no dissolved minerals.
Both have their problems, so let’s discuss them first.
Hard Water
Because it carries alkaline minerals, hard water is also capable of depositing these minerals when you use it. Typical problems are calcium encrustation on kettles, glasses, hot water system elements, dishwashers. Even the kitchen tap can block up with calcium!
Also, because hard water is high in calcium, drinking it increases the amount of calcium we get internally. This sounds good.. but without the right calcium management strategy, it can be quite dangerous, with possible CVD, and no advantage to your skeleton.
Soft Water
The WHO has made very clear that demineralised or mineral free water is NOT healthy. The recent scientific study of Israeli deaths attributed to reverse osmosis water demonstrates the problem.
We have a need for set ratios of electrolytes (charged minerals) in our body and lack of them does have a resulting longterm health effect.
People do get confused about what should stay in your water and what should leave, but the above dire result demonstrates that we do need some minerals in our water.
Our water filtration decision, therefore, comes down to:
-
Maximum contaminant reduction.
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Minimum dissolved mineral removal.
Your two choices are reverse osmosis and non-reverse osmosis..
Reverse Osmosis
..has been sold as the ultimate filter. While reverse osmosis is effective for removing a variety of contaminants in water, the reverse osmosis membrane alone does NOT remove volatile organic chemical (VOCs), chlorine and chloramines, pharmaceuticals, and a host of other synthetic chemicals found in municipal water. However, some newer, more expensive R.O. systems now have multi-stage filtration media (in addition to the R.O. membrane), such as activated carbon, which does remove chlorine and certain pesticides.
It is seen as the best all round contaminant filter system but as we have seen here it’s now clear that drinking ’empty’ water is a real health risk. (lack of electrolytes)
Vendors offer remineralising cartridges but frankly, most are of very poor quality, do not give a regulated dosage over the life of the filter, and are usually sourced from China.
Reverse osmosis is also a hard install job, the most difficult of all filters to keep replenished with replacement filters, and the hardest to repair. If you buy a quality RO you will most probably be also buying an ongoing contract for filter replacement by a professional who has to come to your home.
Non-Reverse Osmosis
.. is your alternative. I’ll keep to the basic points of comparison here because this is a BIG subject.
The standard carbon filter you can buy off the shelf at a big box store is a basic filter and doesn’t come anywhere near an RO for contaminant removal.
It’s usually GAC (Granular Activated Carbon) the cheapest and least effective form of the most common filter material, carbon. Carbon works for chlorine, taste odor and smell, some pesticides and lead, but only for a short time. This is why these filters never show you a life-of-filter test result. Their first day of use is their best and it’s all downhill after that!
More advanced filters may include technologies like activated catalytic carbon, fluoride reduction media, heavy metal reduction media and electro-adsorptive technology to remove viruses, bacteria and cysts.
These cost more, naturally (you really do get what you pay for in filtration!) but give filtration efficiency even better than RO in some areas, without the complexity of installation, support and maintenance. The most important comparison point to RO is that they allow dissolved minerals through, but also remove the nasty ones (heavy metals).
Effects Of Hard Water
The ‘mechanism’ of hard water effects is:
1. Water with dissolved calcium enters a water filter.
2. Calcium comes out of solution and accretes on internal surfaces.
This may be caused by heat, passing through filter media, or a change in pH.
Metabolic Acidosis: Latest news
Metabolic Acidosis: The Modern Scourge Escalating Digestive Disorders
Digestive disorders are now considered rampant and new evidence is pointing to the rise in metabolic acidosis, the new ‘disease of civilisation’, as the cause.
by Toni Crisp (Nut Med) B Arts (Journalism)
Metabolic acidosis is a condition in which the body produces too much acid or when the kidneys cannot remove or neutralise acids in the body.
Scientists have found that low grade chronic metabolic acidosis is common but often goes undetected because it most often occurs despite normal blood pH and bicarbonate levels.
All of us will experience some level of metabolic acidosis at some time however there remains a surprising key nutrient intervention that may resolve this disease: pancreatin.
Authors of a 2014 review article published in Journal of the Pancreas suggest our modern lifestyle contains many factors that are shifting the body’s internal environment from slightly alkaline to acidic, causing metabolic acidosis. We are eating more processed foods that are devoid of enzymes, bicarbonate, vitamins and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium and zinc; more acidic foods such as red meat, sugars, and white flours and rice; and we are over-consuming acid-producing alcohol, chemicals and medications.
The two organs affected by this lowered pH are the liver and pancreas which produce alkaline bile and pancreatic juice respectively. Normal exocrine pancreatic function in particular is considered the core of proper digestion.
The pancreas takes bicarbonate ions from the blood to produce pancreatic juice which is then released into the duodenum. The alkalinity of pancreatic juice, when released into the duodenum, takes the pH up to a level where the digestive enzymes are most active. An acidic duodenum inactivates pancreatic enzymes, and in fact, pancreatic lipase stops working altogether at a duodenal pH of less than 4.5. Digestion then becomes compromised.
The result for clients is that improperly digested foods will accumulate in the small intestine where they are fermented by bacteria and yeast, causing gas and bloating. The undigested food has only two ways to go. Moving up can cause fullness, heartburn, nausea, gas, bloating and cramps. Moving down causes flatulence, diarrhoea, constipation and lower abdominal pain.
A decreased pH also reduces the antibacterial activity of pancreatic juice, which in turn, can be the cause of small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). SIBO is responsible for many symptoms including indigestion and abdominal pain.
Other research has found a link between coeliac disease and impaired pancreatic function that occurs in a vicious cycle. Deficiencies of amino acids occur as a result of altered small intestinal amino acid uptake, leading to reduced precursors for pancreatic enzyme synthesis. Reduced numbers of pancreatic enzymes lead to compromised protein digestion and absorption.
Ian: A good summary of the increase of acidosis in everyone.
If you’d like to investigate your own condition, a pH test kit may be a good idea.
Just WHAT is Ketosis and why is it important?
ketone
ˈkiːtəʊn/
nounChemistry
noun: ketone; plural noun: ketones
An organic compound containing a carbonyl group =C=O bonded to two hydrocarbon groups, made by oxidizing secondary alcohols.
The simplest such compound is acetone.
In a very small nutshell, ketosis is a state of metabolism where the body has switched over from running on glucose to running on stored fat. It’s the way our body worked in our paleolithic state – which really hasn’t changed in 100,000 years. I asked Erica, our inhouse naturopath for some deeper detail.
Erica, is a woman who doesn’t waste words, so her notes below are er.. concise.
Ketogenesis: The making of ketone bodies to be used as energy
What happens when we go into ketosis?
- glucose levels plummet (due to low carbohydrate consumption)
- our body needs another fuel source: you can no longer use sugar or glucose.
- fat is released from stores (once in the bloodstream it is called fatty acids)
- fat travels to liver
- liver mitochondria convert fatty acids to Acetyl co A
- Acetyl co A is released for use in Krebs cycle to produce energy (see diagram below)
If too much Acetyl Co A is produced and it can’t all be used immediately in Krebs cycle due to insufficient levels of oxaloacetate, ketone bodies are formed (Acetylacetate, Beta hydroxybutyrate, acetone) by the breakdown of fats and ketogenic amino acids.
- Acetyl Co A is converted to Acetylacetate
- exported to peripheral tissues for use as an energy source
- Conversion of Acetyl Co A to Acetylacatate uses up NAD stores
- Acetylacetate is converted to beta hydroxybutyrate
- exported to peripheral tissues for use as an energy source
- exported to peripheral tissues for use as an energy source
When the ketone bodies get to the cell they are destined to supply energy to, they are converted back into Acetyl Co A which goes directly into the Krebs cycle.
So…. Ketogenesis = The creation of 3 ketone bodies – Acetylacetate, Beta hydroxybutyrate, acetone – by the breakdown of fats and ketogenic amino acids
These 3 Ketone Bodies (above) are produced mainly by the mitochondria of liver cells.
Now.. if you haven’t dozed off.. you may be asking why I asked Erica this. Well, Ketosis is the result of high saturated fat, low carb dieting. I have achieved Ketosis, and have benefited from this totally different way of metabolism.
But it’s a big ‘ask’ for a vegan or a vegetarian, especially given the best form of fat is animal fat. Yes, you can eat avocados but our Northern Hemisphere friends may not find this so easy.
The real ‘trigger’ though, is to reduce sugar intake sufficiently to get the body to revert to ketosis. In this sense, our alkaliene diet foods are great. They aren’t sweet, they have less sugar and only small amounts of complex carbs.
Is Reverse Osmosis Filtered Water Healthy – or not?
We are a vendor of non- reverse osmosis water filters.
So we understand you’d be a little cynical of us saying ‘RO” is not healthy.
We’re going to be very, very careful in our claim that reverse osmosis may be so unhealthy that it may even kill you.
In a previous post we introduced the Israeli scientific study directly linking RO water to hundreds of CVD deaths every year. The report is the only one we’ve seen, and so one can be forgiven for being cynical. But.. let’s score ourselves on this. If we can show you five good reasons you absolutely should NOT drink ‘pure’ RO water.. then we assume you have accepted what we said, and we will be happy to help you make the change to healthy water. Our water.
Let’s look at the next study we’ve been privy to. This is from the World Health Organisation. (download it here).
In our last report we said that humans have never had pure water. Let’s see what the WHO says:
“The composition of water varies widely with local geological conditions.
Neither groundwater nor surface water has ever been chemically pure H2O, since water contains small amounts of gases, minerals and organic matter of natural origin. The total concentrations of substances dissolved in fresh water considered to be of good quality can be hundreds of mg/L.”
and…
“It was clear from the very beginning that desalinated or demineralized water without further enrichment with some minerals might not be fully appropriate for consumption.”
Let’s be clear about this. We are saying that it is NOT natural to drink pure water.
We understand that your RO salesman has already heard this complaint and has an answer ready for you. He will try to sell you a ‘remineralising’ cartridge’ to add the minerals you just paid to have removed, back in. Our report on remineralisers follows, and we’ll help you steer clear of the majority of duds sold to people like you.
But let’s try for another ‘brownie point’ in your decision. Just WHY isn’t pure water good for you?
We all agree that we require an adequate supply of electrolytes.
So.. what is an electrolyte?
Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals in your body.
They are in your blood, urine and body fluids. Maintaining the right balance of electrolytes helps your body’s blood chemistry, muscle action and other processes.
Sodium, calcium, potassium, chlorine, phosphate and magnesium are all electrolytes.
They are there because we need them and we need them because we have evolved over many thousands of years to utilise their health benefits. Our ‘Paleo’ metabolism is the same as it was thousands of years ago, our ‘paleo’ food needs are same,and our ‘paleo’ water needs are the same.
Dr Lynda Frassetto (UC) has published some excellent work showing how our paleo metabolic template still operates – and she highlights the problems we have when we try to go against its needs.
Demineralised water, then, is just not natural.
Because it’s not natural, like anything unnatural, there are consequences from drinking it.
The Health Risks of Drinking ‘Pure’ Water.
Demineralized or pure water commonly tastes bad to most people. This may be why people consume less and whether they are hydrated or not.The same WHO report conclusively showed that pure water has a negative effect on functions in the body that control water and mineral metabolism.
This imbalance increases urine output. (and thus the additional loss of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and chloride ions) It changes the minerals/water inside and outside cell membranes, and it affects the hormones that are key to the managing of body water balance.
It’s a kind of downward health spiral. Drinking ‘pure water’ causes us to lose even more minerals!
More Health Risks of Drinking Pure Water.
The German Society for Nutrition came to the same conclusions in 1994, warning the public against drinking pure water.
The society explained that water in the body needs specific ratios of electrolytes.
When we drink pure water our intestines call for electrolytes, demanding them from our body’s mineral buffers. When we have a limited supply (because we have been drinking RO Water) this causes a dilution of essential electrolytes plus insufficient water redistribution.. which may compromise the function of vital organs.
Early stages may include fatigue, headaches, weakness, muscle cramps and even heart rate abnormalities.
There’s an insidious aspect to this. Don’t expect that you are going to die tomorrow from drinking pure water. Depriving your body of electrolytes and alkaline minerals won’t manifest problems overnight. It will take time.
But time, when we don’t have it, is enormously precious!
We mentioned in our previous post that filtration technology has advanced in quantum leaps in the last decade. Twenty years ago there was little choice other than RO to get the water you were told was the safest because it was the purest.
Today one small benchtop filter delivers filtration efficiencies so similar to RO but does NOT remove essential electrolytes. Not only that, it adds magnesium, the mineral whose loss caused the Israeli problems, and it adds molecular hydrogen to the water, now the subject of over 700 scientific studies into its health benefits.
Unlike a reverse osmosis system, it can be installed in minutes, it doesn’t need six filters, it wastes no water, and it doesn’t need a special visiting expert to change filters.
What you can do NOW
Obviously the sooner you stop drinking RO water the better. This includes bottled water. Within bottled water you’ll see which are ‘pure’ and which are ‘steam distilled’. Both are bad.
We’d also suggest a checkup with your doctor.
And of course, a change of water filetrs. Ot at the very least, a GOOD remineraliser added to your RO.
The UltraStream is our invention, conceived in Australia, made in the USA, home of the finest filtration technology in the world.
Learn more here.
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Pasta to lose weight?
Eating pasta is not fattening and actually decreases the chances of becoming obese, a new Italian study has found.
For centuries Mediterranean diets have enjoyed a healthy reputation, but in recent years more and more people have been shunning pasta, believing it to be fattening.
A new survey of more than 23,000 people, however, has linked pasta consumption to both lower body mass and waist-to-hip ratio.
It’s in the paper so it must be true, right?
Meet another AlkaWay Team Member
John Beithan is our US operations manager. He’s been with us long enough now to become one of the team, even though we only meet on Skype. The last time we had ‘quality time’ together was when we shared our exhibit of the UltraStream at ExpoWest,. the largest natural products expo in the world.
I asked John to tell me his experience with his conversion to ‘the Alka-Way’.
“About three years ago I started working with a nutritionist because I was having some health problems. He suggested I was probably dehydrated and wanted to sell me a $4,000 electronic ionizer. I always wanted one but I just wasn’t going to spend that kind of money. It didn’t make sense. A few months later he called to let me know he’d been testing and loved his new non-electronic UltraStream natural ionizer that was priced under $700 – designed by an Australian company who had sold $4,000 ionizers, but developed the UltraStream for obvious reasons. He suggested I get one and I did.
A week and half after using the UltraStream leg cramps I had were gone. From that point forward things just got better. Over a period a few months my blood pressure dropped 30 points and today, I feel better and better every single day. It’s been 3-years now without a flu, cold or allergy problem since using the UltraStream. I’m convinced it’s the combination of good clean hydration and hydrogen rich water. Beyond that, it’s the education Alkaway provides.
I’m proud to be benefiting and working with Alkaway in Australia, a small company that continues to walk the talk of the alkaline lifestyle after sixteen years. You CAN feel better every single day. I help people with that. That’s what I do and who I am.
Brian Eating Amoebas strike again.
This time it’s not Australia, where one-year-old Cash died in April this year from what’s being called a “brain-eating parasite” that was thriving in the water at Jodi and Laine Keough’s cattle station, near Townsville, Australia This time it was in USA where a young athlete succumbed on a church trip. Lauren Seitz of Westerville, Ohio, died from a suspected case of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), and officials are investigating whether she contracted the infection while whitewater rafting in Charlotte during a church trip, the Charlotte Observer reported.
Before that, in August last year it was another young man in Texas.
Michael Riley fought Primary Amoeba Meningoencephalitis, a disease that before that claimed the life of a 4-year-old boy in Houston.
It’s certainly not going away, and thrives in drought conditions where water may warm up, creating the perfect breeding ground.
The amoeba enters the body via the nose, and it points to the need for home filtration systems that are PROVEN to remove or reduce the possibility of entry to the body by stopping in before it gets into the home’s water pipes. This new form of water filtration technology certainly has the capability to remove it without (as was the case prior to this technology) loss in flow.
The Importance of Minerals in our water.
Reverse Osmosis water killing people? Yes.
There’s a whole industry profiting from our concept of ‘pure’ water.
And yet, we’ve never had ‘pure water’ in our whole history except, perhaps when we opened our mouths in a rain storm.
Pure water is NOT natural, and this report really shows its effect.
A new Israeli report states reverse osmosis desalinated water lacking magnesium is dangerous for heart patients and may have led to the deaths of hundreds of citizens last year. Magnesium is a critical element in more than 300 metabolic functions, but is lost through the desalination process. This is particularly problematic for Israel, as nearly 75 percent of its tap water is desalinated, more than any other country. So far the nation’s Finance Ministry and Water Authority have opposed plans to replace the pivotal mineral in drinking water, citing cost concerns.
~The Jerusalem Post
The authors noted that Israel began producing desalinated sea water in 1978 but the level has increased steeply over just the past decade. Fresh water from the Israeli National Water Carrier accumulated in underground aquifers or the Kinneret naturally have significant amounts of magnesium and calcium, they wrote, but when salt and other minerals together with it are removed from the Mediterranean’s sea water, little or none of the minerals remain.
If you don’t believe us, here’s another study where scientists changed the water fed to rabbits to reduced minerals. They changed nothing else, but the result was clear.Increased cardiovascular risk.
Reverse osmosis desalination strips all minerals from our water.
And yes, that’s why we use magnesium as our alkalizing mineral in our ultra filtration UltraStream.
We encourage you to investigate it as a real alternative to reverse osmosis. It’s our own design, made in the US and is the most tested domestic water system available.
In fact we’ll make a bold claim. It is extremely close to RO in filtration using new technology only available in the Ultrastream
Incredibly efficient filtration over a vast spectrum of contaminants, both organic and inorganic.
One filter cartridge instead of up to seven.
Simple 5 m filter change. No need to call in an expert.
Simple installation.
Adds magnesium
Adds molecular hydrogen.
Learn more here if you in the US, here for Canada, here for UK/EU, here for Australia
Toxic Blue Green Algae
“A State of Emergency” — Toxic Algal Blooms in Florida and Around the Globe Choke Waterways
Waterways in Florida — and in many parts of the world — are under siege from toxic algae blooms that are killing fish, choking cities’ fresh water supplies, harming ecosystems, and cutting into recreation and tourism revenue.
Two weeks ago, fresh water estuaries near Orlando were transformed from a calm blue into a toxic, fluorescent green matt of algae, while dangerous blooms across China and India have put already stressed water supplies at risk. In Florida last week, Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in four counties and pleaded with the Obama administration to declare the region a national emergency.
We remember the blue green algae outbreak in Australia that had us importing water filters by the jumbo-load. Just one more reason to have a GOOD water filter system on hand. Like…
Healthy Food: What is it? Really?
‘Experts’ and the public do share some opinions, but it seems to me that there are some gaping holes.
Look at this survey conducted by the New York Times.
The term was last updated in 1994, so frankly, an update is long overdue. At the same time, defining “healthy” has never been more complicated.
Countless new exotic foods have arrived on our tables over the past two decades and, (thanks to the Internet and social media), we’re now bombarded with more conflicting messages than ever about what’s ‘healthy’ and what’s not.
The New York Times chose a good time to conduct an interesting survey comparing the opinions of American citizens and hundreds of professional nutritionists on approximately 50 common foods. And of course, opinions vary greatly.
Foods that nutritionists consider much healthier than the general population does.
These include (of course!) tofu (89% of nutritionists vs. 58% of Americans), quinoa (89% vs. 58%), and hummus (90% vs. 66%).
Why such differing opinions? The NYT suggests it may be because these foods are relatively new to the mainstream American diet. Perhaps people have yet to accept them in their minds.
Foods that the American population thinks are much healthier than the experts do.
The widest gap occurred with granola bars, with 71% of the public saying they’re healthy, but only 28% of nutritionists agreeing. Similar differences exist with granola (47% of nutritionists vs. 80% of public), coconut oil (37% vs. 72%), and frozen yogurt (47% vs. 80%). Many of these foods contain added sugars, of which nutritionists may be aware, while the general population is not.
The Times reports that this will hopefully change soon:
“In May, the Food and Drug Administration announced a new template for nutrition labels, and one priority was to clearly distinguish between sugars that naturally occur in food and sugars that are added later to heighten flavors.”
Other foods about which both experts and the public disagree.
These include popcorn and a number of high-fat foods, such as steak, pork chops, whole milk, and Cheddar cheese. The split in opinions hovers between 50-60% for each group, which isn’t surprising.
“Years ago, the nutritional consensus was that fat, and particularly the saturated fat found in dairy and red meat, was bad for your heart. Newer studies are less clear, and many of the fights among nutritionists tend to be about the right amount of protein and fat in a healthy diet. The uncertainty about these foods, as expressed both by experts and ordinary Americans, reflects the haziness of the nutritional evidence about them.”
Until time and further studies reveal more information, it may be helpful to know what the nutritionists said when asked how they eat on a daily basis. When given a list of dietary descriptions, such as Atkins, Paleolithic, Organic, Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, and Mediterranean, the majority (57%) said they follow “no special rules or restrictions.”
Rather than singling out and labeling certain foods as “good” or “bad,” it’s probably best to focus on eating healthily overall (and not feeling guilty for the occasional less-than-healthy treat).
Ian: What is ‘healthy’ food to you? And.. when will someone decide on what is ‘healthy’ water?
Weight Loss: The Cheapest, Cleanest Method available.
For people who want to control their weight or reduce their intakes of sugar, sodium and saturated fat, there’s something in your kitchen sink.
It seems that tap water may be what the doctor ordered.
A new study that examined the dietary habits of more than 18,300 U.S. adults found the majority of people who increased their consumption of plain water — tap water or from a cooler, drinking fountain or bottle — by 1 percent reduced their total daily calorie intake as well as their consumption of saturated fat, sugar, sodium and cholesterol.
People who increased their consumption of water by one, two or three cups daily decreased their total energy intake by 68 to 205 calories daily and their sodium intake by 78 to 235 milligrams, according to a paper by University of Illinois community health professor Ruopeng An. They also consumed 5 grams to nearly 18 grams less sugar and decreased their cholesterol consumption by 7 to 21 milligrams daily.
Here’s what he said: (and here is the report)
“The impact of plain water intake on diet was similar across race/ethnicity, education and income levels and body weight status. This finding indicates that it might be sufficient to design and deliver universal nutrition interventions and education campaigns that promote plain water consumption in replacement of beverages with calories in diverse population subgroups without profound concerns about message and strategy customization.”
In plain words?
Drink water. Lose weight.
Ian: Of course the study didn’t take into account water quality which has reared its head recently with the discovery of a vast avoidance of water quality testing in hundreds of locations across the US. here in Australia my friend and water technologist Neil Sweeney has this to say:
“I would encourage all families to get the news out about the dangers lurking in our drinking water. Encourage them to join here or read up as much as they can about the hidden risks in the water supply. Connect my page to any groups you are in if you feel I am right after reading and considering this.
For the past 2 years I have been writing articles about the dangers of Bioaccumulation in the body from Heavy Metals, Chemicals and Pharma in our Potable (Tap) Water.
If you have been following the news you will have seen, finally, this year, Sydney Water and the NSW govt are now coming clean about the dilapadated state of our ageing water pipe system and the impossible and restrictive costs placed on replacing the thousands of kilometres of 60 to 100 year old pipes in this country. The costs runs into the billions PLUS we just dont have the manpower to replace it quickly.
Have you noticed the increase in water main bursts?
So why are we JUST being told now?
The growing presence of Endocrine Disruptors in our reservoirs, the increased concentrations of pharmaceuticals, in particular; antibiotics, the development of organic super bugs and the ever-growing concentration of heavy metals from mining are polluting our catchment and dam systems in this country like never before.
This means that every time we have a heavy downpour of rain the concentration levels of bio-toxins and metals increase exponentially in the reservoirs creating new mutations at the molecular level of harmful chemicals, larger concentrations of soft and heavy metals and more virulent and resistant super bugs and microbial infestations which effect our G.I. tract, Neurological and Endocrine systems.”
Ian: We are about to field test our new UltraStream UltraH2+. It’s still in prototype but the BIG news is that we’ve been able to enhance the already excellent filtration of the present UltraStreams. It will increase its ability to filter out:
>99.9 % of viruses, (polio, rotovirus, norovirus)
>99.99% of bacteria (e-coli, legionella, pseudomonas, etc)
>99.95% cysts( giardia, cryptosporidium)
>95% Lead
>80% Ferrous Iron
>95% Arsenic V
>95% Cadmium
>85% Chromium
>75% Selenium
>60% Mercury
Plus…
Chlorine
Bromine
Iodine
VOC’s
PCB’s and BPA
Residual Pharmaceuticals
Biofouling precursors
This takes the UltraStream, already an unchallenged leader in water filter and ionizer filtration, to a level unparallelled anywhere in the industry, yet still at a price ordinary people can manage.
You don’t even have to wait for the ‘new improved model’ with an UltraStream. If you order our present model, you’ll get the new model when you order a new replacement filter. That’s the joy of the UltraStream. It never gets obselete!
Acid Base Balance and my skeleton
Dr Lynda Frassetto has been in alkaline diet and water pages all over the web for years, based on one important study she completed years ago.
Today I discovered a newly uploaded version that reiterates her basic theory; that modern man has lost the ability to maintain a healthy acid-base metabolism.
Heres the link, and here’s the most relevant excerpts from her abstract. It’s a pretty clear endorsement of the alkaline diet!
‘We propose that reducing the net acid load from the diet is not sufficient to reverse age related osteoporosis because it fails to supply base needed to restore the large amount of base in bone that had been lost by reacting with the net acid load of the diet that had been consumed for years or decades. Reducing the net acid load from the diet might be expected to have little ameliorative effect or merely slow the progression of the disorder. We hypothesize that both to restore osteoporotic bone to, or nearly to, its pre-disease state, as well as to eliminate the risk of fragility fractures, requires consuming diets that produce net amounts of base to restore the base lost from years to decades of consuming diets that produce net amounts of acid. We hypothesize also that the excess base and attendant subclinical metabolic alkalosis will both stimulate the cellular process of bone formation and suppress the cellular process of bone resorption, and thereby implement the restorative process.’
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