zazen blog

Prevention of Disease, Greater Vitality and Anti-Aging

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:33:00 GMT

I was struck by these 10 words in a recent discussion with a friend and then to top it off over the weekend, I was also talking with the parents of a friend, who are both in their seventies.

They enjoy great health, have excellent energy and are vital and her mother looks like someone in their late fifties early sixties.

We were discussing a close friend of theirs who has been diagnosed with cancer and how they might help in some way – and they wanted to gift the friend a zazen Alkaline Water system – which they also use and loved.

I pondered the many others they knew in their age group who suffered from other chronic illnesses and I thought to myself “What is it that they do well that many others have not or do not at their age?"

Well I can tell you firstly they take total responsibility for their wellbeing and health. They have regular blood tests and a yearly medical; they consult a naturopath every 3 months and have done for 18 years! (Wow, how many of us can claim that!). They take high quality supplements and watch what they eat and also drink. They understand the importance of hydration first and foremost as well as “they are what they eat!” They understand that the body needs to be alkaline and it is important to keep balance as well as keeping a healthy happy attitude.

So there you are – summarized in a few short paragraphs BUT what was so sobering was the final comment from them, which was one of bewilderment and sadness.

Most People Don’t Know How to Create a Healthy Vital Body

They said to me… “Janet, you know they (our friends) just don’t know the basics, they really do not know about drinking good quality water. He has cancer and is drinking tap water; they don’t understand what an alkaline body means and the types of food choices they should be making!”

And finally my friends parents bookshelves have business reports and novels but also a full library of natural remedies, herbs and fundamentals to health and wellbeing and personal growth. That was the difference… Simple.

Ageing Elegantly

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:29:00 GMT

I was talking with a close friend the other day and she was telling me about some of the emerging health (& fitness) challenges she was starting to experience in the last few years, having recently celebrated her 55th birthday.

Apart from finally starting the gym and making some lifestyle changes including a decision to put herself first (finally) – she had realised that many of the food choices she had made for many years, did not support her body in ways that gave her the 3 key things she was now seeking.

What three things I asked?

"Prevention of Disease; Greater Energy & Vitality and Anti-Aging" she replied.

Wow, I thought that sums it up really doesn’t it. Isn’t that really what we all want ideally!

She went on to tell me about what she was doing in a little more detail and finally finished by telling me about the arthritis she had in her foot, which was close to crippling at times. I asked her how much water she was drinking and her reply was “Oh yes, I know I need to drink more – just some days fly by and before I realise it I have not drunk much of anything over 5 – 6 hours at a time!”

I explained that many forms of arthritis are due to chronic dehydration and the joint starts to stiffen and harden etc. She said “Oh I know that but had forgotten that” and then asked me “well how much water should I drink a day, there is a formula isn’t there?”

How Much Water Should You Drink each day formula

For every 25kg of body weight a litre of clean alkaline mineral water.

If you are exercising or sick a little more! This will ensure that you are able to hydrate at a cellular level.

She nearly died, she said "that means I need to be drinking around 3.5 litres a day!!"

What we teach children in the zazen Water Ambassador School Program ~ the Secret of Water lessons is this simple formula because we are not taught this at school or by our medical advisors.

When you wake up in the morning drink around 25% of the total water calculated for your body weight (to flush the body waste from sleeping for 6 – 8 hours) then 50% at school or during the day and then the final 25% at home!

The importance of Hydration during Exercise

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:04:00 GMT

Excerpted from an article on www.nzherald.co.nz

Human "homeostasis" or state of balance is the optimum, Rush says. It is about keeping the body regulated with a steady amount of fluid in to match the fluid going out at that time. This homeostasis can be thrown into imbalance through bodily processes such as evaporation from the skin, exercise, and environmental factors such as heat and humidity.

If you don't drink sufficient water your performance is compromised. Your heart has to work faster, meaning your energy levels will decrease and you won't be able to metabolise fat as easily as you should. Conversely, you'll get more out of your exercise session if you're properly hydrated.

Providing you have sufficient liquid in your system the chemical ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is turned into ADP (adenosine diphosphate) during exercise and helps your muscles contract. That process is impaired if you're dehydrated. A good way to find out if you're drinking enough is to look at the colour of your urine after exercise. If it's dark, you're probably dehydrated.

If you're really worried about hydration and dehydration then weigh yourself before and after exercise. You shouldn't lose more than 2 per cent of body weight in fluid during any exercise session or your performance will decrease.

One of the big mistakes people make when exercising is only drinking when they are thirsty. Another is to assume you need sports drinks - which are sometimes packed with calories.

Unless you're exercising at really high intensity for an hour or more a day you probably don't need sports drinks to replace electrolytes such as sodium and potassium.

If you're exercising for more than 90 minutes the rules change; in that case consider drinking one cup of electrolyte drink every 15-30 minutes.

Parents have a responsibility to ensure their budding athletes drink enough when exercising. Younger athletes do not control the build-up of heat as well as adults so need to drink more regularly.

Children may not understand the need to keep hydrated, although they tend to be better than adults at responding to thirst, says Rush. Whenever children are exercising adults should offer them water during breaks.

No-one is the same. But there are some general guidelines for drinking and strenuous exercise:

Before: Drink about two to three cups of water a couple of hours before exercising and then about one cup around 15 minutes before.

During: Drink one cup of water if necessary every 10-15 minutes.

After: Have a larger drink after exercise. It's essential for recovery, ensuring that you can exercise tomorrow and the next day rather than feeling too tired to do anything.

For the full article, go to: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10765335

Hungry Water in Plastic Containers vs Alkaline Water

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:08:00 GMT

I was asked the other day if we had considered marketing a zazen Alkaline Water System with a glass bottom tank.

I went on to answer the question by explaining how the zazen Alkaline Water System worked emulating Mother Nature's water cycle, producing a clean and balanced water with a broad range of essential alkaline minerals ideal for the body’s hydration needs - and therefore in this balanced state would not leach chemicals to balance itself.

It was at this point he exclaimed!......"Oh, I get it he said… so zazen Water is not hungry!”

What a great description “hungry water”. So I thought to myself, "note to self....use this description going forward!"

So if zazen Water isn’t hungry - what water is hungry?

Simple, any water that is acidic (lower than 7.0pH). Did you know that rainwater can be as low as 5.7 pH (acidic) and up to 7.0 pH (neutral). Why? Because it has not collected any alkaline minerals from earth yet and therefore not alkaline but acidic to neutral.

Many of the bottled waters in plastic bottles are hungry! Water created by the distallation and reverse osmosis methods create hungry water! They will leach minerals from the drinker in order to get absorbed or will leach chemicals from containers where possible.

PS. The zazen Alkaline Water System is BPA free. EVERY part of the system is BPA free - the filter cartridge housing; seals, tap and tanks – are all BPA* free.
It is important to remember that it is not just the tank that the water sits in but also ALL parts that water comes in contact with you should consider.

What is BPA?
Bisphenol A is a chemical used in cheaper plastics which helps harden the plastic – it is a chemical which is described as an endocrine disruptor and the body takes in BPA, if it is present, thinking it is estrogen. BPA is called a “false estrogen” and the body cannot discern any difference. Studies show endocrine disruptors have been associated with cancer.

What are the medicinal benefits of alkaline water?

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:26:00 GMT

I was asked this past week by a doctor what the medicinal benefits of drinking alkaline water were. I have written below what I wrote to her with her subsequent reply below as well.

I explained that we measure the alkalinity by the pH of the zazen Alkaline Water System and this will vary slightly depending on a number of factors, however the pH can range on average around 7.4 and up to 8.5. The alkaline minerals help create great tasting alkaline water through the re-mineralisation process of the zazen Water System. The blood in our body is slightly alkaline at 7.4 pH so that is also a goal.

So the first point is given the fact that zazen Water contains essential alkaline minerals (especially the electrolytes); plus the system reduces the toxins in the originating water, so the body does not have to do the filtering of these… then we believe zazen Water aids in cellular hydration. If we accept for a moment that if an individual is hydrated then the body is able to perform the tasks of releasing metabolic waste and draw nutrients more efficiently into the cell, then we can conclude that drinking zazen Alkaline Water assists create a healthier more alkaline state.

The second point we make in drinking zazen Water is as the water reaches the stomach (the alkaline water helps stimulate the stomach to release hydrochloric acid – which is good), this then stimulates the body to release bicarbonate buffers into the bloodstream (to balance the acid in the stomach otherwise there would be holes burnt through the stomach lining).

These bicarbonate or alkaline buffers naturally released by the body, also help aid in reducing the toxin or acid load in the blood etc. again assisting create a healthier more alkaline state. We of course make no medical claim.

Here is the reply from the doctor.

“Dear Janet. Thank you for answering my question. You have gone to a great deal of effort to try and help me with my query and that goes a long way in my thinking. Thank you again!"

Headaches, Migraines - Drink More Water

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:42:00 GMT

I played basketball for many years at a top level and was constantly suffering from headaches and sometimes severe migraines (which were debilitating). I am going back 25 years now – and back then drinking water was not a part of a daily regime for many people including many athletes! Today of course with better access to information online etc. this is changing but not fast enough!

Imagine how dehydrated we must have been and the additional stress this placed on our bodies! Other than a constant headache other symptoms included constipation and stiff muscles, slow recovery and soreness – much of the lactic acid build up from the strenuous exercise did not get flushed though our systems as quickly as it could have due in part to dehydration!

Recently the New York Times reported a study, also published in Neurology, where scientist’s recruited migraine suffers and divided them into two groups. Group one were given placebo medication to take regularly and group two were told to drink 1.5 litres a day in addition to their normal intake (this is about 6 cups).

At the end of two weeks the researchers found that those in group two (increased their water intake on average by 4 cups a day) – but they experienced on average 21 fewer hours of pain and also experienced a decrease in intensity - than those in the placebo group, during the study period.

I recommend, as do many health officials, that we drink approx. 4 cups of water for every 25kg of body weight; and more if you are ill or exercising. I have found this to work for me and those I love.

Sounds like a lot doesn’t it! So I did some more extensive research on water and health. Two key things I thought would happen and be a potential problem when I started this routine, was I was going to feel really bloated (because this was a feeling I had experienced in the past trying to drink a lot of tap water and bottled water) – and I would be going to the toilet all day long .

I started drinking a high quality alkaline mineral water and what I experienced was that I didn’t have that bloated feeling ever! And as I built up my water intake over 6 weeks, I immediately started to feel better and better – my stiff, achy and creaky joints stopped, I stopped crawling out of bed slowly needing to warm into the day and I no longer experienced any headaches. In fact I no longer suffer from headaches or migraines at all! If I feel a little light headed I simply reach for a glass of quality water.

I also found out that health professionals will tell us we should actually urinate at least 6 times a day - it is good for us and this is the body flushing toxins etc and helps to flush the kidneys! And our urine (other than first thing in the morning) should be a light colour without strong smell.

In a great book – Your Body’s Many Cries for Water by Dr Batmanghelidj - the key thing I learned and have applied every day now - was that the body actually loses its “thirst mechanism” and we over time mistake the thirst craving for a craving for food! So we end up thinking we are hungry when in fact we are thirsty! And what do we do is we eat more and drink less water! My body now tells me it is thirsty and I now recognise that and act on it by giving my body what it is asking for – because our bodies instinctively know what is good for them (we just need to learn to listen to it again).

Magnesium in Water… what are the health benefits?

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Recent current affairs television segments have explored spring waters with magnesium added and the reported health benefits. Some of these bottled waters are marketed as “unique water” simply because of the addition of magnesium (used to enhance the alkalinity and overall wellbeing benefits).

So let us explore what may be happening when people drink water that has magnesium added to it. Magnesium is a critical mineral salt or electrolyte in the body. Magnesium is used in every cellular function. Benefits include helping with osteoporosis, prevention of cardiovascular disease, helps with hypertension, treats migraine, depression, insomnia, menopause, cramps … the list goes on.

Magnesium and hydration - To better understand how the body operates when hydrated, we can explore the movement of key electrolytes (minerals salts) sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium (plus chloride).

These electrolytes actually charge the body by charging the water and depending upon the charge they are holding (negative or positive) they can move water in and out of cells and around the body.

Sodium and calcium always partner and as they move into the cell they displace potassium and magnesium.

So What is an Electrolyte?

An electrolyte is a mineral that dissolves in water and carries an electrical charge.

Since the body is mostly made up of water, electrolytes are found everywhere in the body – inside the cells, in the spaces between cells, in the blood, in lymph glands and everywhere else.

Because electrolytes have electrical charges, they can move easily back and forth through cell membranes. This is important because as they move into a cell, they carry other nutrients in with them and as they move out of it, they carry out waste products and excess water.

To keep body fluid levels in balance, your cells need to have a lot of potassium inside them and a lot of sodium in the fluids outside them. To keep the balance, sodium and potassium constantly move back and forth through the cell membranes as do magnesium and calcium.

Sodium easily combines with other elements and is necessary to make hydrochloric acid – the powerful digestive juice inside your stomach that breaks foods down to enable it to be digested and absorbed.

All these electrolytes – sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium – keep the amount of water in the body in balance, carry impulses along the nerves, help make muscles contract and relax and keep the body from becoming too acidic or alkaline.

Electrolytes are also required to carry glucose (blood sugar) and other nutrients into the cells and to carry waste products and extra water out again. Electrolytes also regulate blood pressure and heartbeat.

zazen Alkaline Water has a balanced range of alkaline minerals including magnesium, sodium, chloride, potassium and calcium, which aid in hydrating you at a cellular level for maximum wellbeing benefit.

Many minerals such as magnesium are also more easily absorbed in water than in food.

The zazen Alkalinity & Antioxidant Enhancer product (AAE 100gm) – releases additional magnesium into your zazen Water system enhancing both the Alkalinity and Antioxidant value of the water. Click here to download the AAE fact sheet

Additional reading:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/10/magnesium-can-reduce-your-risk-of-sudden-death.aspx

http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/Magnesium-health-benefits-supplements/2011/01/20/id/369647

The Benefits of Using Shower Filters

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:12:00 GMT

10 Reasons to Use a Shower Filter

The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that every household in the United States has elevated levels of chloroform in the air due to chlorine released from showering water.
Tap water often contains at least as much, if not more, chlorine than is recommended for use in swimming pools.
More chlorine enters the body through dermal absorption and inhalation while showering than through drinking tap water.
The chlorine in showering water has harsh, drying effects on skin and hair.
Skin pores widen while showering, making dermal absorption of chlorine and other chemicals possible.
The chlorine in showering water can cause rashes and other skin irritations when absorbed by the skin.
Chemicals in showering water vaporize at a much faster rate than the actual water. Thus, the steam in a shower contains a much higher concentration of chemicals than the water itself.
Inhaled chemicals make their way into the bloodstream much more quickly than ingested chemicals, without the added filtration benefits of digestion.
More water contaminants are released into the air of a home from the shower than from any other source.
Chlorine is a suspected cause of breast cancer. Women suffering from breast cancer are all found to have 50-60 percent more chlorine in their breast tissue than healthy women.

10 Benefits of Using a Shower Filter

Using a shower filter is one of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce harmful exposure to chlorine and other chemicals.
Showering in filtered water results in greater respiratory health by reducing the risk of asthma and bronchitis from chlorine inhalation.
Showering in chlorine-free, filtered water decreases the risks of bladder and breast cancer.
Children, who are particularly at risk of the harmful effects of chlorine inhalation, benefit especially from the reduction of chlorine from showering water.
As chlorine is a leading cause of fatigue, showering in filtered, chlorine-free water results in higher energy levels and overall greater health.
Reducing chlorine from showering water results in better air quality throughout the house.
Without the drying effects of chlorine, skin becomes softer, healthier, and younger looking.
Reducing chlorine from showering water reduces the presence of skin rashes and the appearance of wrinkles.
Because the hair is able to preserve its natural moisturizing oils, it becomes softer and healthier when chlorine is removed from showering water.
When the body is able to retain its natural moisturizers, the need for costly lotions and moisturizers is greatly reduced.

Benefits of using a Water Filter

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:13:00 GMT

10 Reasons to Drink Water

Water is absolutely essential to the human body’s survival. A person can live for about a month without food, but only about a week without water.
Water helps to maintain healthy body weight by increasing metabolism and regulating appetite.
Water leads to increased energy levels. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is actually mild dehydration.
Drinking adequate amounts of water can decrease the risk of certain types of cancers, including colon cancer, bladder cancer, and breast cancer.
For a majority of sufferers, drinking water can significantly reduce joint and/or back pain.
Water leads to overall greater health by flushing out wastes and bacteria that can cause disease.
Water can prevent and alleviate headaches.
Water naturally moisturises skin and ensures proper cellular formation underneath layers of skin to give it a healthy, glowing appearance.
Water aids in the digestion process and prevents constipation.
Water is the primary mode of transportation for all nutrients in the body and is essential for proper circulation.

10 Reasons to Use a Water Filter

In order to capitalise on the health benefits of water, it is essential to draw from a clean source of water.
Drinking impure, contaminated water is the leading cause of epidemic disease in developing countries.
There are more than 2100 known drinking water contaminants that may be present in tap water, including several known poisons.
Bottled water does not offer a viable alternative to tap water.
Municipal water treatment facilities cannot always control for the outbreak of dangerous bacterial contaminants in tap water.
The only way to ensure pure, contaminant-free drinking water is through the use of a point-of-use filtration system in your home or office.
Several types of cancer can be attributed to the presence of toxic materials in drinking water.
Clean, healthy drinking water is essential to a child’s proper mental and physical development.
According to the EPA, lead in drinking water contributes to 480,000 cases of learning disorders in children each year in the United States alone.
It is especially important for pregnant women to drink pure water as lead in drinking water can cause severe birth defects.

10 Benefits of Using a Water Filter

Water filters provide better tasting and better smelling drinking water by reducing chlorine and bacterial contaminants.
Point-of-use water filters reduce lead from drinking water immediately prior to consumption, thus preventing this harmful substance from entering the body.
The purchase of a countertop filter results in a source of clean, healthy water that costs much less than bottled water.
Water filters greatly reduce the risk of rectal cancer, colon cancer, and bladder cancer by reducing chlorine and chlorine byproducts such as Trihalomethanes and Disinfectant By-Products from drinking water.
A solid block carbon water filter can selectively reduce dangerous contaminants from drinking water while retaining healthy mineral deposits that balance the pH of drinking water.
Drinking clean, filtered water protects the body from disease and leads to overall greater health.
A water filter provides clean, healthy water for cooking, as well as drinking, at the convenience of tap water.
Water filters reduce the risk of gastrointestinal disease by more than 33 percent by reducing cryptosporidium and giardia from drinking water.
Drinking pure water is especially important for children. Water filters provide the healthiest water for children’s developing immune systems.
Water filters offer the last line of defense between the body and the over 2100 known toxins that may be present in drinking water.

Some Interesting and Useful Water Facts

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:52:00 GMT

Did you know.......?

Roughly 70% of an adult’s body is made up of water. At birth, water accounts for approximately 80% of an infant’s body weight.

While the daily recommended amount of water is eight cups per day (we more specifically recommend 1 litre for every 25kgs of body weight), not all of this water must be consumed in the liquid form. Nearly every food or drink item provides some water to the body.
Soft drinks, coffee, and tea, while made up almost entirely of water, also contain caffeine. Caffeine can act as a mild diuretic, preventing water from traveling to necessary locations in the body. So these drinks don't count in your daily water intake.

Pure water (solely hydrogen and oxygen atoms) has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic. Water dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Wherever it travels, water carries chemicals, minerals, and nutrients with it.

Somewhere between 70 and 75 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water (similar to the percentage in our bodies - interesting coincidence!!).
Much more fresh water is stored under the ground in aquifers than on the earth’s surface. The earth is a closed system, similar to a terrarium, meaning that it rarely loses or gains extra matter. The same water that existed on the earth millions of years ago is still present today. We are drinking the same water the dinosaurs drank!
The total amount of water on the earth is about 326 million cubic miles of water. Of all the water on the earth, humans can use only about three tenths of a percent of this water. Such usable water is found in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.

The average person uses anywhere from 300 to 400 litres of water per day. Flushing the toilet actually takes up the largest amount of this water.

By the time a person feels thirsty, his or her body has lost over 1 percent of its total water amount.
The weight a person loses directly after intense physical activity is weight from water, not fat.

Good Advice - When to Drink Alkaline Water

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:14:00 GMT

Is there a Correct Time to Drink Water?

This is interesting!! We all know you need your minimum water consumption to flush the toxins out of your body (we recommend 1 litre for every 25 kgs of body weight), but this takes it all a step further.

From A Cardiac Specialist!

Drinking water at certain times maximises its effectiveness on the body:

2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
1 glass of water before going to bed - may help avoid stroke or heart attack

THMs (Trihalomethanes) and Chloroforms in Your Drinking Water

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:26:00 GMT

We know our drinking water does not just contain hydrogen and oxygen (H₂O). Under a microscope and through chemical analysis we can find up to 2000 harmful contaminants in our drinking water. A key health hazard found in ALL chemically treated metropolitan drinking water are Chloroforms and THM’s.

THM’s & Chloroforms are a breed of deadly modern day man made chemicals created as a bi-product of disinfecting our water. They need to be removed before you drink your water as they are cancer causing.

THM’s & Chloroforms are produced from a chemical reaction with the organic compounds naturally occurring in our drinking water. The amount of organic matter (rubbish) in tap water is essentially made up of decomposing vegetation, algae and dead parasites killed through the disinfectant (chlorination) water process.

What happens to this organic matter as it breaks down and is exposed to disinfectants such as Chlorine and Chloramine?
Minerals are naturally released back into the water, which is fine, many of the minerals are used by the body and good for us. Unfortunately as this organic matter breaks down, proteins from the dead carcasses of parasites are also released. These proteins, when combined with Chlorine or the disinfectants used to kill parasites, create this deadly family of modern day chemicals called THM’s / Chloroforms.

For more information:
USA EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Report on Health Risk of the Trihalomethanes Found in Drinking Water Carcinogenic Activity and Interactions.

What a Good Quality Water Filtration & Re-mineralisation System will do to your tap water.
A good quality water filter & re-mineralisation system will remove and reduce many of the harmful chemicals in our drinking water including THM’s and Chloroforms (refer zazen Blog Post Electrolytes in Drinking Water). But the system should also rebalance your drinking water so that it supports your body’s ability to hydrate, creating a mineral rich Alkaline Water - just like natural water found bubbling out of a mountain spring.

Distilled Water and Reverse Osmosis Systems will not give you Alkaline Water.
The water produced by these systems does NOT nourish the body; nor hydrate it at a cellular level, most of it runs through us (you know the feeling of water sitting in your stomach). It is generally low pH or acidic water (below 7.0pH).

Because many of us are already mineral deficient, and we need minerals to actually use the water effectively and efficiently, the body has to rob minerals to absorb these types of water.

Electrolytes for Hydration in Drinking Water

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:18:00 GMT

We are sure you would have heard the term electrolytes – and the need to replenish these when we have over exerted ourselves when exercising or if you have suffered from a diarrhea or vomiting episode.

What happens is that we have lost so much body fluid (water containing mineral salts) - that we become dehydrated. We MUST replenish both the fluid (water) and these valuable mineral salts in order for the body to rebalance itself. Otherwise we get worse and suffer headaches, low energy etc.

What are Electrolytes and why are they so important?
An electrolyte is simply an alkaline mineral – or mineral salt. These “electrolyte” mineral salts dissolve in water and carry an electrical charge. Since the body is made up of over 70% water – electrolytes are found everywhere in the body.

Alkaline Water containing a balanced range of electrolyte minerals is essential for re-hydration – which is why sports drinks (Gatorade and PowerAde) are based on rehydration with electrolytes minerals contained in them – along with carbohydrates, flavoring and sugars!

Because electrolytes have electrical charges, they can move easily back and forth through cell membranes. This is important because as they move into a cell, they carry other nutrients in with them and as they move out of it, they carry out metabolic waste products and excess water. The key electrolyte minerals are Sodium, Potassium and Chloride (not chlorine!) mineral salts, which have a negative electrical charge.

To keep body fluid levels in balance, your cells need to have a lot of Potassium inside them and a lot of Sodium in the fluids outside them.

To keep the balance, sodium and potassium constantly move back and forth through the cell membranes. Sodium easily combines with other elements and is necessary to make hydrochloric acid – the powerful digestive juice inside your stomach that breaks foods down to enable it to be digested and absorbed.

So all 3 electrolytes – sodium, potassium and chloride – keep the amount of water in the body in balance, carry impulses along the nerves, help make muscles contract and relax and keep the body from becoming too acidic or alkaline.

Electrolytes are also required to carry glucose (blood sugar) and other nutrients into the cells and to carry waste products and extra water out again. Electrolytes also regulate blood pressure and heartbeat.

zazen Alkaline Water contains all 3 key electrolytes plus many other ionized alkaline minerals creating an alkaline water full of alkaline minerals ideal for the body’s modern day water needs.

The Green Revolution: One of the most ecologically devastating technologies of modern times

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:22:00 GMT

The story of the Green Revolution began when, in 1943, the Rockefeller Foundation dispatched a team of agricultural experts to Mexico to set up a research program on local grains.

Soon to head the research was agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the so called father of the “green revolution”.(1)

His research program soon paid off with effective results. He used groundbreaking breeding techniques to produce disease-resistant varieties of wheat that produced much more grain than local strains.

By 1951, the disease-resistant wheat strains were widely established and a new wheat/fertilizer package was developed that gave high yields accompanied by newly developed irrigation lands of Mexico.

This initiated a rapid growth in overall wheat yields, which rose from some 770 pounds per acre in 1952 to over 2,900 by 1964 in the newly irrigated areas. (2)

This yield increase appeared to arrive at the right time because during the 1950s and 1960s, public health improvements led to increased population levels in underdeveloped nations, leading to concerns that present agricultural methods could not accommodate growing food demand.

Alerted to this concern, the Rockefeller Foundation, in 1961, created a new research program to study millet in India. In 1962, it joined forces with the Ford foundation to found the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines to develop new strains of Asia’s major food crop.

This new breeding project, with large financial backing, gave results even quicker than the Mexican project. Within three to four years “miracle” rices of differing variety were boosting yields in the Philippines. Like the Mexican wheat, the new rice varieties had similar stringent requirements for fertilizer and irrigation.(3)

Chemical farming was favored among the farmers and the growers for a quick yield of crops. The growers found that it was much easier to cultivate crops without taking much trouble of preparing organic manure.

It generated dramatic results and increased grain yields of rice from 1.4 tons per hectare during 1934-58 to 3.6 tons in the early 1960s. (4)

The number of crops increased throughout the year. The farmers obviously did not spurn the chance of growing more food with the chemical fertilizer and pesticide readily available through local mediums. (5)

Following the successes of the program, the term ‘Green Revolution’ was coined in March 1968 by the director of U.S. Agency for International Development, William Gaud. (6)

Thanks to the ‘Green Revolution’, world food production more than doubled between 1960 and 1990. In Pakistan and India, two of the nations that benefited most from the new crop varieties, grain yields more than quadrupled over the period.(7)

Thus the ‘Green Revolution’ is usually thought of as the accelerated growth in Third-World grain production which resulted from combining new seeds, mostly wheat and rice, with heavy applications of fertilizer, pesticide and controlled irrigation.(8)

It would appear Borlaug’s work, which expanded agriculture at just the moment when such an increase in production was most needed, was of value.

Indeed, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply. Many experts credit the ‘Green Revolution’ with averting global famine during the second half of the 20th century and saving maybe 1 billion lives.(9)

However, the story has recently taken a twist.

Experts in India, at a recent workshop on climate change and sustainable agriculture, have opined that the ‘Green Revolution’ has done more harm than good to the agriculture sector in the country from a long term perspective.

They suggested the farmers to return to traditional practices in farming in order to make the vocation sustainable in the future. (10)

What harmful effects are of concern?

Many resonate from chemical pesticides which have caused widespread environmental problems such as water pollution, soil degradation, insect resistance and resurgence, destruction of native flora and fauna, and human hazards.

Sprayers of pesticide who come into direct contact and inhale toxic compounds are getting poisoned and facing premature deaths. The growers who are indiscriminately using pesticides in the field are not aware that they are facing risk to their health.(11)

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pesticides poison 25 million lives every year. About 20,000 unintentional deaths occur every year due to pesticide poisoning.(12)

Most of these pesticides are prohibited but are smuggled into the “Third World” countries and black-marketed in private capacities. For example, the USA exported more than 344 million pounds of hazardous pesticides during 1992-94.(13)

More pesticide is needed because insects and micro-organisms that inflict harm to the plant have developed a stronger immunity to the pesticides. The overuse of pesticides has caused massive destruction of natural enemies of insect pests and resurgence of pest species.

The increase of pesticides and fertilizer usage is also accompanied by an increased risk of contamination to ground water supply.

Ground water is found in spaces between soil particles and rocks, and within cracks of bedrock. The water table is the name given to the top of a saturated zone.

Major reservoirs of ground water are called ‘aquifers’. Aquifers are recharged by rain, snowmelt, or interchange with surface waters. Ground water is not stationary, but moves vertically or horizontally following the slope of the water table.(14)

How does pesticide effect the ground water?

Once pesticides are applied to its target area, many events may occur. The pesticide may be consumed by plants, evaporated into the atmosphere, carried off by the wind, or ingested by insects, worms and microorganisms. The pesticide may adhere to soil particles like iron filings to a magnet or be dissolved in irrigation or rain water.(15)

A number of pesticides that contain nitrates have the potential to interfere with normal functions of the body, particularly the endocrine system that regulates physiological functions through hormonal signals.

Nitrates can build up to high concentrations in groundwater, due to wash-off from agricultural use.

High levels of nitrate exposure in drinking water has also been suggested as a cause of cancer, thyroid disease and diabetes.(16)

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Lead Poisoning in 292 NSW Schools - What parents need to know!

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:12:00 GMT

On Monday the 17^th of September 2007, we were alarmed to read of over 42 schools in country NSW that were identified with elevated levels of lead in the schools water supplies. A year later in September 2008 there were 292 schools identified – and parents were NOT Aware!

Whats going on? We have been asking ourselves the following questions:

How would lead leach into schools drinking waters supplies IF it is not in the piping or traditional plumbing materials?
If lead is in the school’s water supply – then is it possible or even probable that it is also in the local area water supply as well; if so how is it getting in there?
Where does the lead come from that we find in our water tanks?
How do we filter lead out of our water for peace of mind?
If lead is present – is there the possibility of other heavy metals likley to be present as well which could also threaten our children’s health?

: What’s hiding in your water?

We had the opportunity recently to interview and listen to a Biochemist and local geologist resident in country NSW explain how the coal mining process actually releases a number of deadly heavy metals including lead, arsenic and cadmium into the air as coal dust. When the coal shale is broken as part of the mining process, these deadly and toxic heavy metals that have been bound (and harmless in that state) in the shale for millions of years are released through the mining process.

And yes, as the coal is transported and railed across country NSW to Newcastle and as it sits in those massive open pit mines, open train wagons and piled high ready for loading – the coal dust picked up by the wind is deposited on the roofs, porches, grounds and play areas of our schools, houses and businesses. And for those on tank water or where the water is potentially exposed to “dust and dust run off!” – it is dissolved into the water which ends up in our drinking water supplies! Simple but scary.

And no-one is taking any responsibility for this! They are still looking to replace the plumbing in the schools of any lead content!

The biochemist / geologist and his naturopath wife who is also a research scientist were alarmed when they moved to country NSW several years ago and tested their own tank and drinking water. They found deadly heavy metals were present including lead, cadmium and arsenic! They are now sending the message to all that will listen that you MUST filter your water and recently tested the zazen Alkaline Water system and purchased it for their own use (having tested many others). Click here for the testimonial on the zazen Essential Water system