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).

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

1. 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.
2. Tap water often contains at least as much, if not more, chlorine than is recommended for use in swimming pools.
3. More chlorine enters the body through dermal absorption and inhalation while showering than through drinking tap water.
4. The chlorine in showering water has harsh, drying effects on skin and hair.
5. Skin pores widen while showering, making dermal absorption of chlorine and other chemicals possible.
6. The chlorine in showering water can cause rashes and other skin irritations when absorbed by the skin.
7. 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.
8. Inhaled chemicals make their way into the bloodstream much more quickly than ingested chemicals, without the added filtration benefits of digestion.
9. More water contaminants are released into the air of a home from the shower than from any other source.
10. 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

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

10 Reasons to Drink Water

• 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

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.

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.

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)

To read the remainder of the article click here

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:

1. How would lead leach into schools drinking waters supplies IF it is not in the piping or traditional plumbing materials?
2. 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?
3. Where does the lead come from that we find in our water tanks?
4. How do we filter lead out of our water for peace of mind?
5. 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?

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

The water we drink has been around for hundreds of millions of years.  It travels in a continuous cycle between the oceans, the air, the earth’s surface and underground storage (acquifiers), undergoing natural cleansing as it makes this journey, but also potentially becoming contaminated.  Water vapour condenses to form clouds, which release water as rain, hail or snow when conditions are suitable.  

As the water falls to earth it either moves into the soil or runs into rivers and the ocean.  Surface water in lakes, streams and oceans evaporates, returning moisture to the atmosphere.  Plants also return water to the atmosphere by taking water from the ground through their roots and releasing it from their leaves in a process known as transpiration.

Our drinking water comes mainly from two sources: surface water (rainfall and its runoff into streams and rivers) and groundwater (water that has collected in underground stores or aquifers).

Surface water can come from a river, lake or artificial dam. Groundwater is accessed through a bore. Across Australia, water suppliers access this water, treat it and distribute it to consumers.  The quality of our drinking water should be of very real concern to all of us and it is generally recommended that all tap water should be at the very least filtered. 

However, to receive the essential health benefits that water should provide, these days we need to treat the water ourselves in our homes before we drink it.   We live in a very very different biochemical environment than we did 30, 40, 50 years ago.

Alkaline Mineral Water, which cleanses, hydrates, nourishes and energises us, is filtered, rebalanced, remineralised and restructured.

In Australia, we lead the way globally in certain areas of disease and illness. 

• Cardiovascular disease is our number ONE Killer!
• A lifetime risk of developing cancer is 1 in 2 for men; 1 in 3 for women (trending to 1 in 2)
• 37% of population suffer from sleep disorders
• Depression linked to lack of quality sleep (World Health Organisation)
• 60% of Australia’s adult population are overweight
• Diabetes will affect up to 10% of the population by 2010
• Water is our most important nutrient – it’s a GLOBAL crisis that threatens to dwarf the Energy Crisis
• Water standards in Australia are voluntary guidelines. There are no penalties for non compliance, and no compulsion to inform the public.

A zazen Alkaline Water filter (which should be white)
showing what it has taken out of our drinking water 

“Up to 75,000 illness days and 550 deaths are attributed to water contamination in NSW.”  (John Archer, Author)

Why is this happening?
 
Dr. Batmanghelidj (author of “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water) states:  

“From the new perspective of my 22 years of clinical research into molecular physiology of dehydration…I can safely say the 60 million Americans with hypertension, the 110 million with chronic pains, the 15 million with diabetes, the 17 million with asthma, the 50 million with allergies…all waited to get thirsty. Had they realized water is a natural antihistamine and a more effective diuretic, these people would have been saved the agony of their health problems.”

Whilst this quote is referencing Americans, the same can be said for Australians.  In fact in some statistics we are worse than Americans, for example our obesity rate is higher.  Not much to be proud of in that.

Dehydration is a condition in which the body’s ability to operate as a self-healing organism is blocked.  It affects blood pressure, blood-sugar metabolism, digestion, and kidney function.  Thirst means the body is already in this state, and dry mouth is the last symptom of chronic dehydration.

What causes dehydration?  Besides the fact that many people don’t drink enough water, they also consume excessive amounts of coffee, sugar-filled drinks, regular and diet soda, herbal and black tea, sports drinks, and concentrated juices.  
 
Sugar dehydrates the body and caffeine is a diuretic that causes the body to eliminate fluids.  Most of us think of thirst as the common signal that our bodies need water.  However, because we’ve ignored it or responded with fluids that make the situation worse, we’ve become desensitized.  
 
Consequently, as we grow older, we gradually lose our perception of thirst, compounding the challenge and actually speeding up the aging process.  Fatigue is the first symptom of dehydration.  By the time we feel thirsty, we’re already dehydrated.  Pain is yet another sign the body sends, telling us it needs more water