phenomeNEWS - This Month's Article

Look & Feel Great In 2008

Water: The Fountain Of Youth And Vitality

by Susan Smith Jones

Next to oxygen and breathing in fresh, clean air, water is the most important necessity of the body. Every cell in the body needs water to perform its metabolic work and the colon needs plenty of water to help flush out toxins and keep things moving in a timely manner.

Since the planet is approximately 75 percent water, our body is approximately 75 percent water and our cells are around 75 percent water, the key to vibrant health may be as simple as the water we drink every day. Water is one of the fundamental elements of life. Finding pure sources of water is essential in this modern era when environmental toxins abound. In ancient times, the purest water came from wells, streams and rainwater. Now, after a hundred years of high usage of chemicals and pesticides, well water, rivers and rain are often polluted. Tap water is even worse as it’s usually been treated with “cleansing” chemicals.

Plants have the natural ability to distill water. The method by which modern water purifiers remove unwanted chemicals and bacteria is very similar to that of a plant. Filters range from filtering out only odor and taste to removing all unwanted inorganic minerals and harmful bacteria. Reverse osmosis water distiller systems evaporate the water and re-condense it, leaving toxic sediment behind. Reverse osmosis water is much better than tap water, but the best device for creating the healthiest water, in my estimation, is an ionizer, which I’ll discuss at the end of the article.

In addition to transporting vital nutrients, water regulates the body’s temperature, allows for easier digestion, lubricates the joints, helps eliminate wastes and keeps skin healthy, youthful and attractive. Not drinking enough water can lead to dehydration, which may result in frequent headaches, general fatigue, dizziness, constipation and impaired memory and vision. A shortage of water also will result in excess water weight, as too little H2O causes our bodies to store water outside of our cells, making us feel bloated and heavy.

Drinking plenty of water will help you loose or maintain a healthy weight, too. Water is calorie-free, suppresses the appetite naturally and helps metabolize fat. Without enough water, your kidneys cannot function properly, which forces them to send some of their workload to your liver. Since one of the liver’s main functions is to metabolize stored fat, the added work from the kidneys means that the liver burns less fat so that more fat remains on the body – usually on the waist, hips and thighs. If you’re overweight, it’s a good idea to drink at least three extra glasses of water daily over the recommended eight glasses of water a day.

Are you Overly Acidic?

The best water – with a pH of around 9.0 – is rarely found in plastic store-bought bottles or from tap water. Why is the water’s pH important? Very simply, normal, healthy body functioning has extremely specific pH requirements. Arterial blood, for instance, has a pH between 7.35 and 7.45. Though the body utilizes a buffering mechanism to maintain a specific pH, this buffering mechanism can be stretched beyond its capacity by life’s many sources of acidity. When the blood pH chronically sits toward the acidic side of this range, research shows this has a slow but steady negative impact on health.

Chronic disease, diet, lifestyle, stress, antibiotics, toxicity and aging all lead to an increasingly acidic shift within the body. Though our bodies can excrete much of this acidity, a kidney cannot excrete urine with a pH lower than 5 without significantly damaging the genitourinary tract. A can of cola has a pH between 2.8 and 3.2. To dilute a 12-ounce can of cola to a pH of 5, an additional 33 liters of urine would be required. Obviously this is not possible, so the body excretes some of its mineral supply to neutralize the acid. We are virtually bombarded by sources of acidity. Excess protein and fat in the diet, for example, are very common to the modern lifestyle and are a substantial source of acidity. Trying to avoid the many sources of acidity is virtually impossible and nearly every one of us, especially as we get older, is increasingly acidic.

This acidic state leads to a condition of malabsorption. Though a person’s diet may include the needed nutrition, the body cannot properly absorb water and minerals. This results in mild but perpetual dehydration and mineral deficiency.

These problems inevitably lead to other, more serious chronic ailments. As the body’s source of immediate buffer becomes stressed, the bones present an emergency source. Calcium is then robbed from the bones, ultimately resulting in decreased bone density and osteoporosis. Besides affecting the bones, the digestive tract is also affected and is usually the first noticeable victim. Often starting with middle age, many people suffer from chronic heartburn, chronic indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel or leaky gut. Impaired nutrition also negatively affects the immune system It is said that approximately 70 percent of our immune system resides in the gastrointestinal tract. A healthy digestive system is therefore critical to having a healthy immune system.

Better Health Starts with the Best Water

The solution is to return the body to a state of balance where it can heal itself of the other problems. Purchasing most or all of your water in plastic bottles from the store is just too pricey and not the best water for you, if vibrant health is your goal. Besides, you want to reduce your use of noxious plastic containers anyway. So I encourage everyone to check out the Ionizer Plus®, which is the home machine that I’ve used and recommended for over 15 years. This superlative device, through a process of electrolysis, concentrates minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium) already present in your water. In the process of doing so, the minerals get split into the highly bioavailable ionic form and the resulting water is alkaline (has a pH greater than 7.0). The electrolysis also reduces the surface tension of the water making the water itself more easily absorbed by the body. Not only does this water help fight and reverse on-going acidity, but it’s also a rich source of the very minerals robbed by acidity from an unhealthy diet and lifestyle of your past.

Keep in mind that as we alkalinize our bodies, we maximize our health. This advanced Ionizer Plus first filters the tap water to remove contaminants, chlorine, chemicals, taste, etc. Next, it enters an electrolysis chamber, which divides it into Alkali-ion and Acidic-ion water. The reduced molecular clusters permeate the body quickly and efficiently. This device is paramount in my health program and is perched on my kitchen shelf. I use the machine’s alkaline water for drinking and meal preparation and the acid water for my skin and plants. For more information, visit my website and click on Susan’s Favorite Products, visit www.hightechhealth.com or call (800) 794-5355.

Look and Feel Younger with Susan’s Favorite Health Tip

Here’s one of my best-kept secrets to rejuvenating the body and restoring youthful vitality. In at least two of my daily glasses of water from my Ionizer Plus, I add a couple tablespoons of E3Live™. This is one of nature’s most perfect superfoods and the world’s first and only fresh-frozen live Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA). Briefly, for thousands of years, algae have been used worldwide as an excellent food source and potent medicine. For 25 years, the naturally occurring AFA growing in Klamath Lake oregon, has been harvested and sold as a unique dietary supplement that’s extremely nutrient rich. AFA provides more chlorophyll than wheatgrass; it’s 60 percent high quality protein; it has all the B vitamins, including B-12; it provides essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids; and it’s teeming with powerful digestive enzymes. It is the only AFA product that is organic, kosher, vegan, raw and so versatile.

For over 12 years, AFA been a staple in my diet and a healthful food that I recommend to everyone. It is a delicious green liquid (also available in a variety of flavors) that lends itself to combining with water, adding to juices or smoothies or simply enjoying it by the tablespoon. I encourage you to try it for 90 days – just one season – and see all of the positive benefits it will have on your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Of the many companies that offer AFA products, there’s only one company that I recommend. You’ll find information on E3Live on my website, when you click on Susan’s Favorite Products. Ask the company, Vision, the harvesters of E3Live, to send you their free CD that describes what it can do for your hair, skin, body and overall well-being. Or, for more detailed information, please visit www.E3Live.com or call (888) 800-7070.

So right now, go fetch a glass of purified water and strive to drink at least eight glasses of the best water you can every day. Make a commitment to do this for 30 days. At the end of the month, you will notice, as will everyone else, how great you look and feel and how much more energy and vitality you have. So drink up! And as you do, remember to take some time for yourself today to be grateful and to celebrate life.

© Susan Smith Jones, PhD is an internationally renowned motivational speaker, frequent radio/TV talk show guest, culinary instructor, holistic lifestyle coach, anti-aging counselor and author of 17 books, including “The Healing Power of NatureFoods” & “Health Bliss” (2-book Hay House series) and “Be Healthy~Stay Balanced: 21 Simple Choices to Create More Joy & Less Stress.” To order her Hay House book series, call (800) 654-5126 PT (M-F). To learn more about Susan and her work or to order any of her other books and audio programs , please visit: www.SusanSmithJones.com.