Water- Your Universe, Your health

No book on holistic or alternative health should be written without devoting a considerable amount of thought to water. Earth is approximately 80% water, most of it salt water, and our lives revolve around this fascinating compound. We grow into human beings while immersed in water, and the Earth allows us to continue life through the hydrological patterns of water recycling. We thirst for it, swim in it, bathe in it, build our houses close to it and sometimes suffer from its power. Our bodies depend on it, and we take it for granted. It is the universal solvent and its molecular structure makes it totally unique. It is the most important key to life. Water is in the streams and rivers, under the ground, in the clouds, and frozen into the polar geography. We watch the weather to be sure we can travel or tan, and get depressed if it rains too long. Some shudder at thunderstorms, and winter storms make us shiver. Water is the best conductor of electricity and can help to heighten our awareness and our connection to Heaven. Native Americans revered water, and many tribes attributed names to its various forms. Water was the highest of all the elements, capable of changing its form and shape. The Greeks had Thor and Zeus, as the power of water and weather was held in high esteem. We build bridges over water, bottle it, carry it, dam it, channel it, fish in it, sail it, float in it – but somehow over time, we have lost respect for it. We’ve replaced it with sodas and alcohol, allowed factories to dump anything and everything into it, watched as children of any age relieved themselves in it, wondered how nuclear waste polluted it. Because we’re so technologically intelligent, we have found ways to pollute it even more with hormonal waste, antibiotics, and antidepressants, chemicals most have never heard of, and even the agents that are supposed to protect us from disease. There are more than 700 chemicals in the water supplies that feed our homes and businesses, most of which have been proven to be carcinogenic, or at the least, dangerous to our health. Heavy toxic metals such as mercury and lead are released through mining. The Pecos River in New Mexico was once a pristine source of water, but is now so contaminated from mining pollution that residents along its course cannot use well water or eat the fish that somehow survive in it. Oil drillers had brine pits for runoff, and farmers added to the pollution with herbicides and pesticides. Deforestation has caused massive erosion of ground soil and the drainage systems that empty into rivers and streams are filled with lawn fertilizers, extraordinary amounts of animal waste, and other chemicals that flow like rivers back to the ground. Landfills in New York State made the news in the 1970’s and 80’s when residents of Love Canal were forced to leave their homes, many leaving behind the gravesites of children. There are thousands of landfills all over the United States, and the leaching effect these chemicals and radioactive compounds have on the groundwater will continue for hundreds of years. Many believe this is another case of, “someone else’s job.” As long as we don’t believe we’re directly affected, we won’t worry about it. Another belief is that wastewater and treatment plants are there to make the water safe, so there’s nothing to worry about. This is partially correct. Billions of gallons of chlorine, for example, are dumped into our drinking water to make it “safe” to drink. Chlorine was used in World War I to kill people, and it does kill the living organisms that are in the water at the plant. The problem is, chlorine also has lethal by-products and we ingest them, bathe in them, and release them into the airs as toxic gases when we boil them. Have you ever wondered why the cancer death rate has decreased while the cancer incident has tripled since 1960? Has it bothered you that heart and lung disease, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, colon and liver cancer, and a host of other diseases and illnesses are on the rise in spite of the thousands of new drugs introduced each decade? Did God intend birds to get the flu or cows to be diseased? Every bit of the water on Earth is connected. Every weather system connects our toxic waste to each other. The Earth’s natural recycler of evaporation and precipitation is universal, and the winds of change carry our mistakes in all directions. Hurricanes, typhoons and tornadoes are the most violent storms and the United States is the only country that has tornadoes. These cyclones, cycles of change, are destructive and sometimes deadly, but what can we learn from them? We seem to believe that the Earth is separate from us, and that all the weather we endure or enjoy is not really connected to our bodies or minds. We each have our own hurricanes, our own tornadic changes that come from our imbalances in energy. As the Earth does what it needs to do to heal itself, so do our bodies, sometimes because we direct it, but more often because it’s the body’s job to do whatever it has to do to stay on Earth. The more we pollute the earth, the more tornadic the storms. The more we pollute ourselves, the more frequent and tornadic the dis-ease. Our answer to polluted water has been a deluge of bottled water products that have made many companies very prosperous, but done nothing to keep us well. Some people say they boil their water and believe that to be safe, unaware that boiling toxic water in your home releases toxic gases into the air. Others buy distilled water because they’re sure there’s nothing harmful left from this process. This is mostly true. The harmful contaminants have been distilled, but the bottles are cleaned with chlorine, and the water itself contains none of the minerals we should have. It’s essentially dead water. Some people have learned to dislike the taste of water, most likely because the salt purifiers of the fifties and the chlorination from the sixties until now, has left them with this distaste. They use soda and tea and coffee and beer and wine to make up for the lack of water. Water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. Anything that changes this chemically makes it something other than water. The biggest killer in the United States is not cancer or heart disease, but dehydration. Coffee, the mainstay of morning rush hour, is a diuretic. It makes you eliminate even more water from your system. Our cells depend on water and minerals to function. If we are not replenishing our own water table with fresh, healthy water, how can we not know that the streams we call arteries and veins, and the ocean we call brain are not drying up and polluted? Coffee and caffeine also leach minerals from our bodies such as calcium and magnesium, essential to heart and muscle heath. Because our skin is the largest organ of our body, we are constantly absorbing pollutants and chemicals in every shower and bath. We step into a hot shower, which opens the pores, and absorb within ten minutes the equivalent of three to four pounds of water laced with chlorine and a host of chemicals that no one even tests. We cover ourselves with creams and lotions hoping that the miracle of chemicals will hydrate and restore our skin to health. We have pieces of our colons surgically removed because dehydration has formed pockets of toxic waste when all we had to do was drink good water to keep it clean and healthy. Every animal and plant on Earth depends on water to give it life. Organic farming is not the answer to healthy vegetables if the water tables are polluted. Bottled water is not the answer if the water is dead or dangerous chemicals have to be used to clean the containers. Carbon filters in refrigerators are not the answer as they not only need to be changed or cleaned often to avoid molds and bacteria, but they essentially only remove the chlorine and not other volatile organic compounds. Carbon filter pitchers and ceramic containers are not the answer either for many of the same reasons. The Earth cleans our water through a very slow process of mineralization, ionization and electro-static filtering. Because the earth has many layers, water flows through it and into slowly, taking its time to reach the aquifers. A quick pour through a carbon filter or crushed ice from the refrigerator is not going to provide safe, healthy water. The best water system is one that mimics the Earth and has an automatic back-flushing capability to ensure clean media. A KDF carbon block filter is a good beginning. It uses an electrochemical oxidation process that destroys bacteria, volatile organic compounds, removes chlorine and its by-products, and reduces many other chemicals. It needs a second stage carbon filter of high quality to trap known and unknown germ spores and toxic molds. It needs enough time for the water to flow through it, which means it can’t just be a showerhead or faucet attachment. The media need to be large enough to last a long time and to continuously clean water during emergency storm conditions when water is deemed unsafe. Few companies can provide this system, but those that do should be considered Godsends. Don’t be fooled by claims that carbon is everything and a small carbon filter will keep you healthy. There are hundreds of lawsuits pending against many companies who have made these claims, and many people have paid the price. If you still believe your water is safe and healthy, or that water purifying is “someone else’s job,” as least get educated enough, and take suitable action, to protect your children and grandchildren. That IS your job.