Ionized water and Mouth Hygeine

People often ask me about the effect of ionized alkaline water on bacteria in the mouth. Frankly, I have had no idea until now, but at last I have found a bit of science that assists. Here it is:

Antibacterial effect of electrolyzed water on oral
bacteria', by Lee SH and Choi BK:

"The electrolyzed tap water was put in contact 
with five major periodontopathogens or toothbrushes contaminated
with these bacteria for 30 sec.
In addition, the water was used as a mouthwash for 30 sec in 16
subjects and theantibacterial effect on salivary bacteria was
evaluated. Ionized water significantly reduced the growth of
all periodontopathogens in culture and on toothbrushes,
and that of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria
in saliva, when compared to the effect of tap water."

Chemo and Antioxidants

No wonder we are so confused about supporting our cancer rehabilitation.

Dr Ralph Moss reports that cancer patients are frequently told by their oncologists not to take antioxidants while undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Supposedly, antioxidants counteract the beneficial free radicals that are generated by conventional treatment, thereby interfering with its effectiveness. A small number of scientists have argued the opposite, suggesting that antioxidants do not generally interfere with cancer treatment but, rather, enhance its effectiveness while sparing normal cells from damage. It is one of the great dividing lines between conventional and CAM-oriented practitioners.

Now some research from the University of Rochester has contradicted the idea that antioxidants interfere and added credibility to the idea that they enhance treatment effectiveness.

What to do? What to do?

Robyn loses her biological age

Robyn Backhouse is one of our ION LIFE distributors, hailing from Western Australia. She's been drinking alkaline water for quite some time so when I read her wonderful blog and saw her experience, I just had to share it:

Robyn says:

I now have;
Better concentration
Need less sleep
My energy levels keep increasing
I no longer have cold sores
I have had no colds or influenza (in the past would get the flu each year and would be in bed for up to 3 weeks)
I’ve had no allergies
My liver spots faded

I believe that my overall health continues to improve on a week to week basis as I continue to remove toxins from the body at a cellular level and my body becomes more alkaline. Eleven months after I commenced drinking ionized alkaline water I had my biological age recalculated. I now had a biological age of 29 years – nearly half my actual age!
Phwoah! Good for you, Robyn! Here's a link to her site.

Dr Susan Lark talks about cancer

I receive almost daily emails from the good Doc. I also have one of her books on my shelves; "The Chemistry of Success", all about acid/alkaline balance - sadly out of print. Here's what she had to say in today's email:

"Believe it or not, a whopping 1/3 of American women get some form of cancer every year. After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most prevalent form, affecting about 200,000 women annually. Other common cancers in women include colon, ovarian, and lung. As scary and overwhelming as these numbers are, you aren’t helpless when it comes to cancer prevention and treatment. Cancer has a weak link—one that does not get much publicity or attention, but studies show that it’s a huge factor in the disease’s growth and development. What’s this link? It’s cancer’s reliance on an acidic environment in the body.

That’s right. Cancer thrives in an overly acidic environment. But when you take measures to reduce the acidity in your body, it chokes the life out of cancer cells."

As Without, So Within

..or so say the spiritual masters! Strange that I see two bits of news today, both about depression, one outside, one inside.

Item One:
"US President George W. Bush said on Monday he expects the economy to ride out a financial storm that is roiling markets, with the help of his administration and the Federal Reserve."
Why do I feel uneasy about this one??

Item two:
"Seventy-six percent of Americans polled said the economy is in recession, compared to 22 percent who said it is not, USA Today said. Asked if the US could slip into a depression lasting several years, 59 percent said it was likely and 79 percent said they were worried about it, the paper said."

So.. the Boss says yes, the people say no.

It seems to me that we are coming into a time when we need to begin taking responsibility for our own lives. I often lay in bed pondering the obvious morass of climate change, war and poverty, and ask myself what 'little me' can do.

Surely reducing the water I use to brush my teeth isn't going to save the world, but looking at my values and why I use them to portray the world as a place where I see myself as a victim seems far more useful. And one way I'm getting great help is the following..

In case you haven't heard, Oprah is hosting a series of lessons with author of 'A New Earth', Eckhart Tolle. Whatever spiritual persuasion you claim, this man is great!

You can download them or watch them online if you have broadband, and I can heartily recommend them. Go here

The Big Alkalarian Speaks

Tony Robbins isn't just the world's best motivator. He's also a great fan of Dr Robert O. Young, acid/alkaline pioneer, and a mad keen pH balance man himself. In his 5 day seminars he devotes an entire day to explaining why people should alkalize.
Here's a video by him.

Feel So Good!

Had a call from Merrilyn this morning. A lovely lady who has been through hell with rheumatoid arthritis, Merrilyn has been a client of ION LIFE for years now in her quest to regain her health.

Here's what Merrilyn had to say:

"For a long time I suffered with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. Being very acidic I started drinking Ionized Alkaline Water and at the same time began pulling toxins from my body with Detox Foot Patches. It took 2 years before I became aware of changes happening and then quite rapidly my Arthritis hugely improved. Now I feel energized and free - Oh! what a feeling!

Merrilyn McQuillan QLD

Something Different: A whale hunt superbly depicted

Yes, I hate whale hunting too. But this multimedia depiction of a whale hunt by native Alaskans is extraordinary, not just for the images, but for its presentation.

Beautiful Breast cancer

It's hard to come to terms with any disease, but finding beauty in the most unexpected places is a process of life I choose to call 'Gratitude'. Here's a pic of breast cancer cells that is - to me - beautiful.

More prize-winning images of the microscopic body can be found here.

Talk About Spin!

I received a report today that confirmed what I've known for quite some time; that almost all water supplies in the Western World are already contaminated with dilute drugs.

Of course, as usual, 'authorities' are telling us that there is no harm in contuinually ingesting hormones, anticancer and other drugs for years on end. But when I heard today that one of the 'authorities' is saying that having these drugs in our water supply may be beneficial because it may impede microbial growth, I think I just met the 'King of Spin'. Give the man a medal!

Don't worry about the free chemo in every glass, be happy because it kills bugs in your water!

Yeah. Right.

..and while I'm on the subject,

Not only are trace pharmaceuticals in the water a problem for humans, but they also are a problem for fish and wildlife — and have been for some time, says a March 11 Associated Press story.

The story, which offers a summary of research dating back to at least 2003 on the link between pharmaceutical contaminants in water systems and wildlife health, was written by The AP National Investigative Team — the same folks who reported on trace pharmaceuticals in US drinking waters.

“It’s inescapable,” said Sudeep Chandra, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, in the article. “There’s enough global information now to confirm these contaminants are affecting organisms and wildlife.”

Fish, for example, are experiencing low levels of sex steroids, limited testicular function and low sperm count. Some male fish are becoming “feminized,” producing egg yolk proteins typically made only by females, the article said.

Ah, but ask an expert, it won't hurt us because we're not fish!

This is neither a new or newly discovered problem for at least one young person, as a story in the March 10 Wheeling newspaper The Intelligencer has pointed out.

In August 2000, 17-year-old West Virginia high school student Ashley Mulroy won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize as well as a West Virginia state science prize for studying this very problem, as WaterTech Online™ reported.

After reading a news story in 1998 about European scientists who had discovered drugs in their water supply, Mulroy decided, with the aid of her mother, to test her own tap water as well as water from the nearby Ohio River, says The Intelligencer. The testing became a school science project, and Mulroy found traces of three antibiotics — penicillin, tetracycline, and vancomycin — in the water.

Her work earned her the Stockholm Junior Water Prize in 2000.
Ashley is now a student at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, the story said.

Don't Call Me: I'll Be Busy Intensely Doing Nothing

Last year we spent a truly rewarding week at the Stillness in Action retreat, run by long term meditators Bobbi Allen and Simon Clough. It's on again this year and we are booked in. If you are interested, book early as it has limited numbers.

Cassie and I loved it not just for the peace it afforded us, but because they incorporate Joanna Macey's teachings of Deep Ecology, a philosophy even more relevant to a world threatened with climate change.

You certainly don't have to be an experienced meditator as Bobbi and Simon are excellent facilitators, patient and with great empathy. The venue this year is, I'm told, a truly beautiful spot. All meals are covered and all you need do is show up. Oh, and no, they don't rouse you out of bed at 4 am.

If you'd like to join us, it's on 5-12 April this year at the Wild Mountains centre, rathdowney, SE Queensland. Here's the link to their site.

Bicarbonate of Soda Query

I've had a few people ask me whether just using the bicarb you buy in the supermarket is OK for alkalizing by taking it orally.
ION LIFE user and Naturopath extraordinaire, Des Wiggins kindly filled in my gaps; Here's Des' comments on the use of Bicarb Soda.
Note; Des' comments are in red, the rest is from Derek, one of my clients.

Hi Ian

I was walking through the shops this morning and saw some baking soda on the shelf. I remember a few Alkalarians talking about ingesting it.

1. Is it baking soda found in the shops ok to ingest? I remember Robert Young mentioning something about aluminum contaminants.

Baking powder rather than baking soda is more likely to contain aluminium, but apparently some brands of bicarb soda do contain aluminum. Baking soda generally has an acid ingredient such as cream of tartar. It appears companies are not required to list the aluminimum content. Sneaky? The chemical formulas & reactions for baking soda without and with (respectively) aluminium are as follows:

NaHCO₃₊KHC₄H₄O₆

NaHCO3+NaAl(SO₄)₂

Reaction: NaHCO₃ + KHC₄H₄O₆ = KNaC₄H₄O₆ + H₂O + CO₂

Reaction: NaAl(SO₄)₂ + 3 NaHCO_{3 =} Al(OH)₃ + 2 Na₂SO₄ + 3 CO₂

2. Reading about sodium bicarbonate from the perspective of a chemist I get the impression that it can make you feel sick or worse if you ingest enough of it. I'm confused, doesn't the body desperately want sodium bicarbonate and would it be safe for me to ingest small amount on a regular basis?

Some people feel sick ingesting less than a teaspoon once a day. Depends on the individual. Safe - yes, but why use it? If one can ingest water with a pH of 10 why bother? A good practice I use is to also use Alkabalance with the pH 10 water. It doesn't appear to raise the pH any further, but you get the added bonus of Ka & Na minerals.

3. Is ingesting bicarbonate even a practical method for alkalizing in day to day life at all? In the sense of be a pleasant thing to put in your mouth several times a day.

Probably not practical and depending who you ask probably not pleasant.

I'm planning on using it when I'm "forced" to eat highly acidic foods to 'cushion the blow' so to speak, as I think it was also Robert Young again who said that the stomach's main purpose was to create bicarbonate. I'll still drink alkaline water but there's only so much alkaline water I can drink without having to be going to the bathroom every 10 minutes. Do you have any advice or experience for those wanting to use the poor man's method of alkalizing on top of what they're already doing? (e.g. safe amount to take etc...)

Poor man's way to get pH water? Get a Melody filter from Ionlife and pay it off over 6 months - interest free even.

Des added an emailed postscript:

Ian,
just as a by the by I contacted W___M______ (they have the Mc_____ bi-carb soda which appears in all supermarket shelves) and asked if their product has an aluminium content. The girl in the tech department wasn't sure, but did say it contained lead and arsenic. Albeit in small quantities.

I asked if she could e-mail me the heavy metals content and she said the info she just gave me is in internal documents which they don't give out. They have one for the public, but I suspect it may not contain the heavy metal content.

She promised to find out about the aluminium content and let me know. I won't hold my breath waiting for the answer, but when/if I get it I will pass it on to you for your reference in case you are asked in the future.

Ian: I think that will settle a few minds. Thanks so much, Des!

Diabetics, Your Trip up the Amazon is now Useful!

This little South American frog (get the name! Paradoxical Frog (Pseudis paradoxa)) has been found to secrete a synthesixable ooze that can stimulate the secretion of insulin in pancreatic cells.
The paradoxical frog, Pseudis paradoxa, secretes a substance from its skin which protects it from infection. But the molecule, pseudin-2, may have another use for humans. Researchers found that it stimulates the release of insulin, the vital hormone which is deficient in diabetes sufferers.

Scientists made an artificial copy of the peptide, or protein building block, and showed that it could be used to boost insulin production in people with Type 2 diabetes.

They believe it could provide a new diabetes drug treatment, part of a new class of medicines called incretin mimetics which mimic natural substances.

The bright green and pink paradoxical frog, from Trinidad and the Amazon basin, is appropriately named because of its odd habit of shrinking with age.

As a tadpole, it can reach 27 centimetres in length, but adult frogs are only about four centimetres long.

Read AND UNDERSTAND the labels on Flavoured Water

Dr Janet Starr Hull (author: Sweet Poison) has a nice newsletter and I was taken by a story she had about a bottle of 'flavoured water' her daughter Katie brought home.

Here's her story:

"I grabbed the flavored water bottle from her hand and read her the ingredients:

Fitness Water - Lemon Flavor
16.9oz - 2 servings per bottle

16 calories per 8 fl oz - 25 calories per bottle
Fat 0
Sodium 35 mg, 70 mg
Total Carb 3g, 6 g
Sugars 2g, 4g
Protein 0

Vitamin C 10%, 25%
Vitamin E 10%, 25%
Niacin 25%, 50%
Vitamin B6 25%, 50%
Vitamin B12 4%, 10%
Pantothenic Acid 25%, 50%

"Propel Fitness Water^®, created by the makers of Gatorade^®, hydrates and nourishes your active body with a splash of fruit flavor and essential vitamins. It contains antioxidant vitamins C and E, along with B vitamins, which aid in energy metabolism as part of a daily diet.

"Ingredients: Water, sucrose from corn syrup, natural lemon flavor with other natural flavors, citric acid, sodium citrate, potassium citrate, sucralose, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin E acetate, niacinamide (vitamin B3), calcium disodium EDTA (protects freshness), calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5) pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), acesulfame potassium, vitamin B12."

This "fitness water" contains sugar from high fructose corn syrup, MSG (natural flavors), and two artificial chemical sugar substitutes - sucralose (found in Splenda) and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K). This isn't healthy water; it's chemical soup in a water bottle. No wonder Katie gets a headache after a strenuous workout. Her body needs WATER to rehydrate it - natural, pure water. NOT chemical water."

Ian: I recommend you check out her site. She's on the mark.

Hair and Nails: Result!!

We had a call from Carla this morning:

"Since drinking Alkaline Water I have become a very healthy person, my nails and hair have noticeably improved."

Why would this be happening? Perhaps it's because her body is beginning to function in balance again, allowing the minerals she needs to be taken up rather than - as is the case with an acidic body - eliminated.

Lots more stories here

Gingko: does it assist memory?

Taking the supplement ginkgo biloba had no clear-cut benefit on the risk of developing memory problems, according to a new study.

The three-year study involved 118 people age 85 and older with no memory problems. Half of the participants took ginkgo biloba extract three times a day and half took a placebo. During the study, 21 people developed mild memory problems, or questionable dementia: 14 of those took the placebo and seven took the ginkgo extract. Although there was a trend favoring ginkgo, the difference between those who took gingko versus the placebo was not statistically significant.

The researchers made an interesting observation when they examined the data at the end of the trial. Taking into account whether people followed directions in taking the study pills, they found that people who reliably took the supplement had a 68 percent lower risk of developing mild memory problems than those who took the placebo. Without further study, it is unclear if this difference is real or just a chance occurrence.

On a cautionary note, the study also found that people taking ginkgo biloba were more likely to have a stroke or transient ischemic attack, or mini stroke. Seven people taking ginkgo had strokes, while none of those taking placebo did. "Ginkgo has been reported to cause bleeding-related complications, but the strokes in this case were due to blood clots, not excessive bleeding, and were generally not severe," said study author Hiroko Dodge, PhD, of the Department of Public Health and Center for Healthy Aging Research at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

Source: ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2008)

Joke

I'd like to say it's my joke; but it's not. Clive sent it to me and it's worth a cut'n'paste!

I recently picked a new primary care doctor. After two visits and
exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing "fairly well" for my age.

A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, "Do
you think I'll live to be 80?"

He asked, "Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer or wine?"
"Oh no," I replied. "I'm not doing drugs, either!"

Then he asked, "Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?" I said, "No, my former doctor said that all red meat is very unhealthy!"

"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, sailing,
hiking, or bicycling?"
"No, I don't," I said.

He asked, "Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lot of sex?"
"No," I said.

He looked at me and said, "Then, why do you even give a shit?"

Your Hair tells All

University of Utah scientists have developed a method of analyzing human hair that can determine the general location of a person’s drinking water source during recent weeks to years.

Geochemist Thure Cerling, who led the research effort with ecologist Jim Ehleringer, claims that the method can be used by law enforcement investigators to track past movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.Their research, published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may also prove useful to anthropologists, archaeologists and medical doctors.

“You are what you eat and drink — and that is recorded in your hair,” Cerling said in the release.

The new technique analyzes stable isotopes of hydrogen (rare hydrogen-2 and common hydrogen-1) and oxygen (rare oxygen-18 and common oxygen-16) contained in growing hair, isotopes which originate in water and food that a person consumes and air they breathe, the release said.

“We have found significant variations in hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in hair and water that relate to where a person lives in the United States. Police are already using this to reconstruct the possible origins of the unidentified murder victims,” said Ehleringer.