Reverse Osmosis is considered one of the best forms of filtration.  A lot of people have RO machines that think that they are drinking really healthy water.  I would like to shed some light on this subject and relate/compare it to alkaline ionized water, which you would get from an alkaline water machine [AKA... water ionizer].

What is RO?

RO stands for Reverse Osmosis.  This is more easily understood if we define osmosis.

Osmosis is the tendency of a fluid, usually water, to pass through a semipermeable membrane into a solution where the solvent concentration is higher, thus equalizing the concentrations of materials on either side of the membrane.

So, likewise, reverse osmosis is when pressure is applied to one side of a semipermeable membrane in order to get fresh water out of a solution.  This actually defies the nature of water.

A typical home RO system would include a sediment filter, an RO membrane, a pressurized water storage container, a post filter, and a separate water tap.

Benefits and Disadvantages of RO

This process is well known for the ability to desalinize water.  This is one of the best ways to go about treating brackish water or seawater.  It will remove up to 93% of the sodium dissolved in water.  This is often used when someone uses a whole house softener that uses sodium.  It is considered unhealthy to drink water that has sodium in it as you can easily get too much sodium that way.

Reverse osmosis will inevitably reduce the total dissolved solids(TDS) of the water as well.  The plus side to that statment is that there will not be contaminants in the water.  However, there will also be very little mineral content left in the water after reverse osmosis.  This is not particularly good for the body to drink as water too void of minerals will tend to leech the body of minerals as it circulates around.

Now, some RO systems do come with an inline remineralizer which would add minerals back into the water, or you always have the option of adding a remineralizing filter (and housing) to the line.

Even with the remineralizer added in, reverse osmosis may tend to make the water acidic, which is not ideal for drinking purposes.

There are specific contaminants that RO will get out of the water.

Contaminant

Lab Test

Field Test

Nitrates

83-92%

92%

TDS

95-99%

60-99%

Sulfates

90-98%

60-98%

Sodium

87-93%

60-93%

The field test here is for properly maintained units, un-maintained, the amounts could be as little as zero.

Something else to keep in mind is that if there is more than one contaminant in the water, the rejection rate for each contaminant could be reduced or hindered.

There is also quite a bit of waste water produced by reverse osmosis.  You only use 5-15% of the water entering the system.  This is a lot of waste water being produced.

How is Alkaline Ionized Water Better than Reverse Osmosis?

Well, obviously it’s alkaline!  It helps prevent the effects of food, drinks, stress, etc. in making your body acidic. It will counter the acidic lifestyles that we lead, and help the body get to a homeostasis.

By the way, you can combine a reverse osmosis machine with an alkaline water machine [water ionizer], but you need to know this one thing:  a water ionizer needs minerals in the water in order to ionize it properly. Many people purchase a water ionizer and request that one of the water ionizer’s filters be traded for a remineralizing filter, or if that brand of water ionizer has no internal remineralizing cartridge, then it’s easy enough to buy an external one. We will often include a remineralizing cartridge at no extra cost, so make sure you request this if you plan to purchase an alkaline water machine [water ionizer] to use with your reverse osmosis machine.

There are healthy, alkaline minerals in alkaline water. This is good because this means that the water you drink from an ionizer will not leech the body of minerals. All water ionizers have filters built into the machine. These filters, depending on the machine, will filter a large number of contaminants. There are some contaminants, such as fluoride, amonia, sulphur, and arsenic, which are not as thoroughly eliminated using a reverse osmosis machine as they would be using an alkaline water machine which utilizes specific filter media targeted toward eliminating that toxin. Fluoride is a great example of this. An unfiltered water ionizer [which there are none, but theoretically] will eliminate 85% of the fluoride from the drinking water [because fluoride is acidic]. A reverse osmosis machine will eliminate about 85% as well.

The reason that reverse osmosis is so uneffective with fluoride is that it relies on the size of the molecule to sift the contaminants out of the water. Fluoride is such a small element, it’s right next to oxygen on the periodic table. A slow flow [trickle] of water through a carbon filter will eliminate about 85% of the fluoride as well. The specialized filter media, called activated alumina, will eliminate up to 99% of the fluoride. Why so much better? Because the activated alumina filter media is chemically attracting the fluoride to it and then when it bonds it is trapped in the media and can’t go anywhere.

Besides for Better Filtration, Why Else Would You Want to Combine a Water Ionizer with a Reverse Osmosis Machine?

Alkaline ionized water has an abundance of antioxidants.  Ionized water actually has one of the most basic forms of antioxidant built right in.  This is measured by Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP).  The lower the ORP the better.  Some of the water ionizers we have tested consistantly get an ORP of -600 to -700!  Normal tap water is a positive 200 or 300 ORP, meaning it will oxidize the body. Even if you handle the acidity problem of reverse osmosis, the ORP is another, separate, issue that reverse osmosis doesn’t handle. RO water is usually around +300 ORP, which is very oxidizing.

For most contaminants, other than sodium, extreme hardness or radium, there is not a big advantage in using reverse osmosis at all. Obviously, good filtration is desirable, but many water ionizers provide you with this. You can go to our water ionizer comparison page to compare various ionizers’ filters, http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/water-ionizer-comparisons We suggest that the best way to filter city water is to use either the H2 or H3 Prefilter System rather than reverse osmosis. With these filter systems you can customize what filters you need [if any] prior to your water ionizer.  Also, if you have a well and you are concerned about bacteria or viruses there are filters for that specifically.  For bacteria, viruses, pharmaceuticals, nitrates, chlorine, chloramine, amonia, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals, the best way to handle is to customize for the water contaminants that you are concerned about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/h2oqual/watsys/ae1047w.htm

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER! Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE [692-5525]

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I was doing a little research on distilled water verses ionized water, and I found some pretty interesting things.  I have a few friends who insist on drinking distilled water because their rationalle is it does not have any chemicals in it and it is pure water, so it obviously is “good for you”. This sparked an interest in what the health benefits or consequences are from distilled water versus alkaline water.

I found a few things that I thought were very interesting about distilled water.  Now obviously distilled water is not going to kill you, but I wanted to find out how healthy it really was for you, especially in comparison to alkaline ionized water.

Distilled Water

• No minerals
• Slightly acidic
• Removes contaminants
• Leeches body of minerals

I found that distilled water tends to be slightly acidic.  The reason for this is that distilled water is void of all minerals.  This is how water gets a pH value [by assimilating minerals]. If it has no minerals, it will assimilate the carbon or other minerals in the air [which are mainly acidic].  On the other hand, distillation removes a broad amount of contaminants, which are in typical tap water.  Contaminant removal is the main reason people drink distilled water.  “Pure water” just sounds so good for you, right?”

Since there are so few minerals in distilled water, it tends to want to get minerals from other places.  If you drink distilled water it would tend to leech the minerals from you.  If you cook with distilled water, it would tend to leech the minerals from the food you are cooking.  This is called adhesion, the attraction of water to other materials.  Water has a positive charge on the Hydrogen side of the water molecule and a negative charge on the oxygen side.  That is what makes water so attractive!

Ionized Water

• Alkaline
• Filters out some contaminants
• Allows good minerals through

As you may well know, diseases thrive in acidic environments. People have known for years that eating raw fruits/vegetables, whole grains, etc., which are alkaline, and avoiding acid-producing foods [white flour, sugar, processed foods...] are good for their health. However, some how or another it doesn’t always sink in that what you eat/drink is directly proportional to how well you are. The last time I checked, doctors don’t ask very often about what your eating/drinking routines are. The availability and desirability of junk foods, processed foods, fast foods [all highly acid-forming] along with our fast-paced lifestyles today, drives people to eat more and more of the wrong things and avoid the right foods.

Alkaline ionized water is alkaline. The alkaline ionized water will allow for acidic wastes to be discarded much more easily and also turns the state of your body more alkaline. Alkaline ionized water will help to buffer the less than perfect diet. In addition, alkaline ionized water is packed full of antioxidants, which also ward off diseases.

All water ionizers allow for the good minerals, such as calcium, magnesium and potasium to go through their filtration process.  This is important because in order for electrolysis to work you do need minerals in the water.  You cannot ionize distilled or reverse osmosis water without remineralizing it. Water ionizers also filter out many of the contaminants found in tap water. Some ionizers have better filters than others. For a comparison of water ionizers [including their filtration] see http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/water-ionizer-comparisons .

There actually have been studies showing that hard water prevents cardiovascular disease.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3396141.stm . [Hard water is just water with lots of calcium in it.]

So, the idea that “pure water” is better for you is just not true.  You don’t get a significant amount of calcium or any mineral from water, but it does seem to have an affect on health.  In the link above, it was found that acute heart attacks were significantly lower in areas of the country where water was harder.

Conclusion

The one benefit that distilled water has going for it is that it does not have contaminants in it.  Other than that, it is actually not very healthy for you.  Alkaline ionized water, on the other hand, is going to help alkalize your body.  If you’re concerned about the purity of your water [from the standpoint of eliminating pharmaceuticals, water-treatment chemicals, and other harmful contaminants], some water ionizers have better filters than others. So, do your homework, and check out the link I gave you above. There are also some great pre-filters out there that will take care of pretty much anything you would be worried about.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER! Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE [692-5525]

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We are going to do a before and after water ionizer comparison with the Athena Water Ionizer before and after using the Spartan Ionizer Shield.

We just got a new TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, and we are very interested in finding out what the Spartan Water Ionizer Shield will do to the TDS measurement as well as the pH and ORP of the water ionizer. It would seem logical that the TDS would decrease with the use of the Spartan Water Ionizer Shield, but we will see what happens.

We are testing the water ionizer in St Louis, and as a note, the water is not particularly hard here, and our water ionizer works very well without any prefiltration. But, I wanted to see what the Spartan Ionizer Shield would do to it. My hypothesis was that it would possibly make it easier for the water ionizer to do it’s job and increase the ORP.

What is the Spartan Ionizer Shield?

The Spartan Ionizer Shield consists of three prefilters.  It is used in cases of very hard water to protect the water ionizer from scaling and improve the taste and quality of the ionized water.

• Filter Number One:  This filter conditions the pre-ionized water by changing the scaling calcium into a non-scaling form which helps protect your water ionizer and also optimizes the pH into a range that is more effective in removing fluoride.  This stage also removes iron, hydrogen sulfide, manganese, chorine, chloramines, fluoride, lead, arsenic, and selenium.
• Filter Number Two:  This stage removes lead, mercury, nickel and other heavy metals as well as chlorine and chloramines.  It also prevents scaling in hard water areas.  This filter also improves the taste and clarity of your ionized water.  The final stage in this filter reduces water tension and makes the water ideal for ionization.
• Filter Number Three:  This filter reduces the harmful effects of hard water scale on the water ionizer and also improves the taste, odor, and water clarity and offers added protection from chlorine/chloramines, VOC’s, and disinfectant byproducts in the ioinzed water.

Go to this link on our webpage for detailed information on the Spartan Water Ionizer Shield.  http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/Spartan

Athena Water Ionizer

Athena Water Ionizer Plus Spartan Ionizer Shield

Results

Summary of Results

TDS

It looks like the TDS was not dramatically changed one way or the other in the ionized water.

It seems like the higher the pH of the alkaline ionized water, the higher the TDS reading. This makes sense to me because the concentrate of alkaline minerals increases as the pH increases in the ionized water.

pH

The Athena water ionizer seemed to have trouble getting a wide range in pH before the Spartan ionizer shield was put in. After, the ionizer shield was put in, there was a wider range in pH. It allows you to get a lower acid water which is very useful in many different circumstances.

ORP

The ORP seems to be slightly higher at the lower pHs and lower at the higher pHs in the ionized water. It’s hard to tell from just one test, but the ORP overall looked better without the Spartan ionizer shield.

Conclusion

The Spartan water ionizer shield is not effective in improving the ionization in St Louis.  However, in very hard water areas, such as the Las Vegas area, it would improve the quality of the water and also prevent scaling.  I have had several customers in this area give very positive feedback on the results of the Spartan water ionizer shield.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER! Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE [692-5525]

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Alkaline ionized water and acidic ionized water both offer significant beauty benefits. A water ionizer is not only the healthiest thing you can use for your body, it will also help you to be the most beautiful or attractive you can be if you know how to use it right.

Beauty Tip #1: Drink lots of ionized water!

Let’s face it. If you’re not healthy you won’t look your best! Drinking lots of ionized water every day has helped countless thousands of people be more healthy [including me -- for 16 years]. Being beautiful is not vanity, it is a sign of good health, overall. All of the “Beauty Tips” in this article are also, in my mind, health tips. A sound, well-balanced body [that includes organs, skin, hair, nails, weight....everything] is the key to beauty. Alkaline ionized water helps with all of that.

But, do not throw away your acidic water!

There are lots of uses for acidic water [both for health and for beauty]. Acidic ionized water is also used for watering plants, softening water for baths and laundry, disinfecting and more, but in this article I’m concentrating on beauty. Here are some surprising things that ionized acidic water can do for your beauty…and the science behind it!

Beauty Tip #2: Acidic Ionized Water [Acid Water] Beautifies Your Skin AND Makes it Healthier.

[Acidic ionized water at the 3 - 4 pH-level is perfect for neutralizing the skin.]

The Science Behind It: Your acid mantle [outermost layer] of your skin is your body’s first line of defense against bacterial, fungal or viral infections. It is important to maintain this layer of your skin [the acid mantle] at about a 5.5 pH. However, because of the nature of soaps [soaps are typically a high alkaline pH in order to emulsify and flush away oils] the acid mantle is often left at too high of a pH after bathing or showering. The consequences of this is a breakdown of the acid mantle, drying out of the skin, and roughness caused by a build-up of alkaline minerals left on the skin. Hair should be about 5.5 pH, but because of alkaline soaps and shampoos you use, the skin and hair are usually found to be way off-balanced at a higher than natural pH level. Acid water is used as a…

Skin Toner and Conditioner:  Rinsing with acid water at a 3-4 pH-level helps to remove the residual alkaline minerals left from bathing, showering, shaving, or hand-washing and restore your skin to its perfect 5.5 ph-level.

What are some of the BEAUTIFUL benefits of rinsing your skin with acidic water?

• Softer skin
• Remediation of dry skin
• Remediation of flaking skin
• Greater resistance to irritations or infections
• Greater resistance to invasion by bacteria and fungus into skin and nails
• Prevention of pimples [pores become healthier]

Beauty Tip #3: Acidic Ionized Water [Acid Water] Beautifies Your Hair AND Makes it Healthier.

[Acidic ionized water at the 3 - 4 pH-level is perfect for neutralizing the hair.]

The Science Behind It: The cuticle is the outermost hair-layer surrounding each hair shaft] .

The cuticle is made of many scales that open up and let things into the hair-shaft if exposed to liquid with a high pH and, conversly, the hair-shaft closes up with a low pH. It is most beneficial to the health and beauty of your hair to close the hair cuticle.

Shampoo is most often found at a high alkaline pH. A high pH solution applied to your hair will open up the hair cuticles , and expose it to becoming dry and damaged.

When you rinse with water at a pH of about 3.0 to 4.0, this low pH water combines with the high pH of your newly washed hair and restores it to its ideal pH of about 5.5.

• Beauty Tip 3A: Use acidic ionized water [acid water] at a 3.5 pH-level as a hair rinse.
• Beauty Tip 3B:Pre-poo [pre-shampoo] your hair. Pre-pooing is where you rinse your hair before washing with acid water. Acid water can be used to make your hair more acidic [and thus close the hair cuticle] prior to washing. Use ionized acidic water [acid water] at about 3-4 pH, pour over the hair and let it sit for a couple of minutes before shampooing. The acidity closes up the hair cuticles, thus preventing the hair shaft from being exposed to and being dried out by the shampoo.] Then after you shampoo [and condition if applicable] give a final rinse to your hair with about a 3-4 pH acid water. This will again close up the hair cuticles and protect your hair from drying out or otherwise becoming damaged later on.
• Bonus Beauty Secret:Hair that has tightly closed cuticles has a smooth, shiny, silky look to it and doesn’t split at the ends.

What are some of the BEAUTIFUL benefits of rinsing your hair with acidic water?

• Smooth hair
• Shiny hair
• More vibrant color of hair [less alkaline mineral deposits on hair to film it up]
• Less static
• Strengthens hair
• Fewer or no more split-ends
• Cleaner scalp [assists to prevent or re-mediate dandruff]
• Hair doesn’t dry out.
• Hair doesn’t tangle.
• Assists with color retention [in dyed hair].

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER! Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE
WE ARE OPEN FROM 8am TO 10pm CENTRAL TIME [7 DAYS PER WEEK!]
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Ionized water is best fresh. But, obviously sometimes you have to store ionized water for some period of time. It would be impractical to bring your ionizer to work with you! I often get questions about what is the best way to store alkaline ionized water, so I have taken the liberty to test a variety of bottles to see which one stores ionized water the best.

By the way, the best way to fill the bottles of ionized water is to over-fill them and carefully cap them in such a way as to try to get no air bubble.

When you do this it will maintain the pH and ORP much better.

ORP: Oxidation Reduction Potential [the antioxidant value of the ionized water] tends to degrade with exposure to air of ionized water. ORP is one of the main qualities of ionized water that makes it so healthy.  A low negative ORP is what we are looking for. This will give you lots of antioxidants. The lower the better.

PH:  A good drinking pH is anywhere from 8.5 to 10. The pH of ionized water tends to keep [store] much longer than the ORP.  PH will reduce with exposure to air but not anywhere near the degree that ORP will.

Storing for 1-2 hours

In these videos, I test the ionized water before filling the bottles and then fill them with as little air bubble as possible. Then I wait for a couple hours and test again.

As you can see, the mason jar was almost exactly the same ORP and pH as the original ionized water before it was stored! This is THE best way to store ionized water. One key thing to do is to ensure that there is no air bubble in the container.

Storing for One Day

Here are some results from further [off-video] testing I did with storing ionized water. I let some containers sit for one day with ionized water. These are some, but not all, of the containers shown in the video above.

As you can see, the mason jar wins again, by a long shot. The glass bottle is a close second.

So if you have to store your ionized water while at work or for any other reason, consider using a mason jar. This is a good way to keep the ionized water as “fresh” as possible.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER! Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year!

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE [692-5525]

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Water ionizers can help you ward off all allergies. They have for me.

When you have a water ionizer you have a great tool to use in adjusting your body’s health-needs. The pH of your body fluxuates according to a lot of factors, such as diet, exercise and stress-levels. That means that some days you may need more ionized water than other days in order to provide your body with: the alkaline buffers it needs to adjust for the daily living needs, the hydration it needs [you need more hydration the more you sweat], and also to provide it with the ORP [antioxidants] it needs to combat free-radicals. I have found, over the years of drinking ionized water, that allergy symptoms are more related to stress, hydration, and diet than to anything else.

What do I suggest an ionized water drinker do if they get an allergy symptom?

Drink more ionized water. Don’t raise the pH of the water you’re drinking…just drink more. Whenever I’ve followed this rule, the allergy symptom has gone away within a few minutes of drinking more ionized water. Here are some examples.

• I was driving, and sneezed once. I had my mind on something else and had forgotten to drink enough ionized water. So, I reached for a big, 32 oz. bottle of ionized water and drank most of it all at once [guzzle, guzzle]. That was the end of that allergy symptom.
• A few times I’ve been out of town and not able to get ionized water, and then gotten some allergy symptom [sore throat, itchy nose, sneeze, or cough], but when I arrived back in St. Louis drand a big, 32 oz. bottle of ionized water [as above] and the symptoms were gone. That was that.

For some reason, for me, 32 oz. seems to be the magic number if ever a symptom arizes. However I would never suggest that I knew that number for everyone. Each person has to figure out their own needs, when it comes to quantity of ionized water, but I’ll be willing to bet that following the general rule of drinking more ionized water will help anyone combat their occasional allergy symptoms.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER!  Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year! 

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE
WE ARE OPEN FROM 8am TO 10pm CENTRAL TIME [7 DAYS PER WEEK!]
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Dr. Robert O Young has a new version of the PH Miracle book available at Amazon or other book stores now.  This is a brief book review of both the new and old PH Miracle books.

First of all, I’d like to encourage you to buy this book (one or the other), as it is worthy of your attention. Do you need both books? In my opinion, no. They are very, very similar to each other. 

There are three main differences between the new and old versions of the PH Miracle books.

1. The new PH Miracle book has a whole section about ionized water and the value of owning and using a water ionizer as part of his PH Miracle plan and advice. The old book emphasized the use of clean [filtered] water, but he at the time was encouraging people to purify the water [i.e., with reverse osmosis] and he later realized the error of over-purification along with the value of water ionization in his research with patients, and so changed that section of the book.
2. The new PH Miracle book has more recipes.
3. The price for the new version of the PH Miracle is over two times higher than the old version of the PH Miracle book.

I believe if you have access to the internet, you can get as much or more information about the value and uses of water ionizers on pages like my “Water Class” page, my “How to Use a Water Ionizer” page, or my “Water Ionizer Comparison” page. 

Dr. Robert O Young has done a great job [with both PH Miracle books] communicating about all kinds of foods and their effects on the body. He discusses the following topics in depth and in a way that is understandable to the lay-person:

• Blood, and its relation to analyzing the health of a person and their diet.
• Oils [saturated fats, trans fats, poly-unsaturated fats, etc.]…this is a very important topic.
• Proteins [in particular vegetable proteins are explained and encouraged over meat proteins, also fresh, wild, cold-water fish are encouraged over other types of fish or meats]: these are discussed in scientific terms, but with emphasis on debunking some of the old myths about protein. I don’t think most people realize all of the nutritionally rich pH-friendly protein that’s available in vegetables. [We have all been told that we get our protein from meat, nuts, poultry and fish.] Dr. Young does a good job explaining all the protein potential of vegetables.] He also discusses topics such as nuts vs. seeds, giving the reader some new insights.
• Carbohydrates are addressed as a matter of course, but while I agree whole-heartedly with discouraging sucrose and refined sugars and flour, Dr. Young also discourages fruit. His reasoning is geared toward alleviation of fungi in the body, and his reasoning is explained in the book, but not well developed in my opinion. 
• Weight Loss is more specifically addressed in his PH Miracle for Weight Loss book, but I think most people who read and understand what Dr. Young has to offer in the regular PH Miracle book [old or new version] will be likely to have an easier time of losing weight.
• Disease in general and specifically is of course discussed with attention to all of the topics above.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER!  Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year! 

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE
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I’ve learned so much about water ionizers over the past 18 years, that I thought I might take a minute to try to summarize the best of what I think might help you understand water ionizers, use water ionizers, and compare water ionizers better.

Why Drink Ionized Water?

In all of the years I’ve been into nutrition [which started in 1973 when I became pregnant with my first son, there is not one single more important thing I've learned or tried that has had more impact on my [or my family's] health than a water ionizer. If I thought it would help, I’d go up on the rooftops and shout it at the top of my lungs… “Your cells are begging you for a water ionizer!!!” I know my cells were. I thought I was perfectly healthy back then too [even though I had several allergies and was sick [or had an ear or throat infection] at least once or twice a year. Ionized water does a lot more than filter your water. It micro-clusters it [makes it more easily absorbable into your cells], it alkalizes it [helping your cells get rid of acids, toxins] and in addition to all this turns your water into a powerful anti-oxidant. Read more…

How do you Explain About Ionized Water to Others?

I have constructed a series of simple explanations and videos to help do the work of explaining water ionization to your friends and family members. Read more…

Which Water Ionizer is Best?

That’s a hard question to answer, because it’s kind of like buying a car. But, just like with cars, there are certain companies who have been making water ionizers longer, who are more trustworthy, more reliable and who have scientists and engineers on their design team who truly understand the process and issues connected with making water ionizers. There are also certain whole countries who are better to buy from [i.e., Japan and Korea] because they make water ionizer production fall under strict guidelines. Finally there are certain models which perform better than others. I test and check out the various water ionizer models in every possible way a water ionizer can be tested and checked out [including drinking that ionized water for a week or two at least]. I have discovered that within the water ionizers I sell, there are good, better and best ones. In the category of “Best” I have noticed not only better ORP [antioxidant levels] in the test results, but in my own body better health benefits. As an example, when I switched to the Athena I was able to see the spider veins on my leg disappear. I have summarized the main water ionizer comparison points on a huge chart. Read more…

How Do You Use and Store Ionized Water?

Drinking Ionized Water Instructions: Start off at the lightest ionization level [pH 8.0 or 8.5] and work up slowly. Don’t try to drink high alkaline levels if your body is showing any signs or symptoms of stress doing it. There may be weeks or months before you can comfortably climb up to the level you desire [about pH 9.5]. Read more…

Uses for Ionized Water:

• Drinking: As a Natural Antioxidant it has helped people’s cells and blood vessels [possible prevention of cell mutations, heart disease, vein/artery issues and blood pressure issues]. As a body alkalizer it has helped prevent cancer and even reverse allergies, colds, acid reflux, and a large list of issues related to acidic bodies. As a finely filtered and micro-clustered water, it helps hydrate the cells and ward-off dehydration [which is known to lead to many illnesses]. Best to drink at room temperature or cold. Best without mixing in addatives. Read more…
  • With Medication: Use only filtered [purified] water setting for 20 min. before and after taking medications. Otherwise medications may become too quickly and thoroughly absorbed into the body.
  • With Vitamins: Used ionized water as usual.
  • With Meals: Try it. Many people love to drink ionized water with their meals and have no problem doing so. I’ve heard it could possibly make the stomach too alkaline and interfere with digestion, but this hasn’t been the case with my family.
  • With Coffee or Tea: It makes a great tasting coffee or tea, however you should know that heating ionized water will lose a lot of the pH and ORP benefits.
  • Mixing into Cool Aid, Crystal Lite, etc.: This is fine to do, however you should know that mixing ionized water with these mixes will lose a lot of the pH and ORP benefits.
• Cooking: Ionized water is great to cook with, but you should know that heating up alkaline ionized water loses a lot of its alkalinity and ORP benefits.  Therefore try not to
• Storing: The best container to use with ionized water is a glass [or hard plastic] smaller [1 quart or less] bottle with a lid that has a rubber seal in it. Fill the bottle to the brim [no air space will help to retain the ORP of the ionized water better]. Once the bottle is opened it will start to lose ORP faster — so, that’s why a smaller bottle is suggested. Read more…
• Babies: Babies should drink filtered water [select the "purified" setting rather than an alkaline setting until the baby is about 2 years old...or unless the baby appears to have allergies.
• Children: 2-4 year-olds should be given alkaline ionized water at level 1 or 2 [8.0 - 8.5 pH].
• Pets: Pets like alkaline water just like people do. Use lower levels for baby animals just as you do children.
• Plants: Plants like acidic water. Collect the acid water from the bottom hose in fill bottles to use for watering your plants.
• Stain Remover: Use the highest alkaline your ionizer can produce [10.5 pH or higher] to dab on stain or dip stained spot into. It will loosen up the stains of chocolate, gravy, soda, coffee, blood and other hard-to-clean substances. After a minute, rub lightly and watch stain disappear. [works on fresh stains, so do this before you launder your stained clothing].
• Grease Cutter/Degreaser: Use the highest alkaline your ionizer can produce [10.5 pH or higher] to clean around stoves or clean grease off dishes & pans and as a pre-wash for fine washables or other laundry.
• Germicidal: Acid water at a pH of 4 or below should be sprayed on surfaces where you wish to kill germs [i.e., toilets, sinks, counters, tables]

What Kinds of Conditions have Reversed by Using Ionized Water?

I’ve heard of or seen all kinds of conditions go away completely, such as allergies, cancer, chronic fatugue, high blood pressure, acid reflux, spider veins, diabetes, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, memory issues, intestinal issues, headaches, heart disease, hypertension, gout, food cravings, dieting plateaus. Read more…

What do Doctors and Experts Say about Water Ionizers?

Most doctors in the US have not heard of water ionizers, but you could explain it to them. Most doctors will agree that it is good to drink plenty of water, filter your water, alkalize your body and consume antioxidants in abundance throughout the day. Ionized water will do just this, and your doctor should agree that at least it couldn’t hurt. Here are some quotes from doctors and experts who have actually studied and used water ionizers: Read more…

How do you Take Good Care of Your Water Ionizer?

For the most part your water ionizer will take care of itself, but since water ionizers are expected to last over 20 years, there are some tips to keeping it performing at its peak for that entire time. Read more…

Why are Water Ionizers so Expensive, and Why is it Expected that the Prices will Start to Climb even Higher in 2011?

The answer is basically Platinum. Platinum is the single most expensive mineral on the planet. It’s more expensive than pure gold. The last I checked, Platinum was selling for $1700.00 per ounce! That figure has quadrupled since I bought my first water ionizer 18 years ago. By the way, Platinum is necessary for coating the electrodes in a water ionizer. Without platinum the electrolysis of water would be very slow and poor.   Read more…

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best present I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER!  Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year! And…

Have a safe and happy spring!

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE
WE ARE OPEN FROM 8am TO 10pm CENTRAL TIME [7 DAYS PER WEEK!]
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Getting Sick is NOT Normal!

More About Me: After being a teacher/principal for almost 25 years, I decided to follow a passion of mine [telling people about water ionizers]. In these past few years of selling water ionizers I’ve done extensive research into how water ionizers work and how to properly test and compare them in an effort to provide accurate and reliable information to my customers. I’ve discovered significant differences among water ionizer quality, and how those differences translate into what one can expect [health-wize] from differing types and models of water ionizers.

My Story in a Nutshell

Sixteen years ago, I, like most people, ate a diet high in fats, meats, dairy, processed & refined food, overcooked food, fast food and soft drinks. I considered myself healthy, based on the fact that I rarely missed a day of work. However I had colds, allergies, and periodic ear or throat infections on a regular basis. I tried to eat fairly healthily [i.e., not too much junk food], especially if I felt an illness coming on and I took vitamins. I considered myself normal, but now I know I know better. I had all the signs of an acidic body, and I was headed for disaster!

What is an Acidic Body?

The fact of acidic wastes getting stuck in our cells is called an acidic body. Most people have one.

Background: PH ranges on a scale of 0-14, with 7 pH being neutral. Blood must maintain a narrow balance of 7.365 pH [which is slightly alkaline] at all times…for survival. The alternative is death. Because of this, the blood will not accept acids from the cells if taking on more acids would jeopardize this life-or-death delicate pH balance. Therefore acids become trapped in fat, cells, organs and joints to protect us from too many acids getting into our blood and killing us. These acids impede the cell functions.

If we can’t clean out the acids from our cells we get sick!

So, what disaster was I headed for back in 1993? Probably cancer, heart disease, or both!

Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Warburg, investigated the metabolism of tumors and the respiration of cells with emphasis on cancer cells. He discovered that cancer is like a fungus, it needs acidity to grow and multiply well, and alkalinity slows it down or stops it. “Cancerous tissues are acidic, whereas healthy tissues are alkaline. Water splits into H+ and OH- ions, if there is an excess of H+, it is acidic; if there is an excess of OH- ions, then it is alkaline.”

Nobel Prize winner, 1998, Louis J. lgnarro found a direct correlation between heart disease and free radical damage inside the blood vessel walls.

The Rest of my Story…What Changed?

Back in 1996 through a series of chance happenings [along with my own curiosity – seeking answers] I stumbled upon a new device, called a water ionizer. A water ionizer is a device which transforms ordinary tap water into two streams of water [acid and alkaline]. For drinking, the alkaline stream of water has been found to be very beneficial to one’s health. It not only helps to alkalize the body [providing a constant supply of pH buffers – so that the cells can give off their wastes], but it also provides the body with a huge amount of natural antioxidants to fight free radicals. After several months of drinking alkaline ionized water my body started to transform. The allergies, post-nasal-drip, congestion, colds, infections….all subsided to a point where I was aware that they were gone after about a year of drinking ionized water. Not only that, but my children and husband, as well, all lost the signs and symptoms of an acidic body to the point where we, as a family, almost never went to the doctor after that.  We went from at least 2 visits each to the doctor [for various ailments] per year to NONE [other than well-person check-ups].

What Does Ionized Water do in the Body?

Ionized water bathes our cells in slightly alkaline pH water which not only helps to hydrated them, but even as importantly it helps to draw the acid wastes out of the cells. In addition, water ionizers are to varying degrees capable of adding natural, simple, yet powerful antioxidants into the water. The significance of this is tremendous! Now that we know heart disease [the number-1 killer in the world] is related to free-radical damage inside the blood-vessel walls, the fact of having readily-available free-radical scavengers [i.e., antioxidants] in every sip of water we drink is significant.

Your Cells are Sensitive to the Water you Drink.

I was completely unaware , years ago, of the necessity of cells to have the right water. Now, after all of these years drinking ionized water, I have total certainty about the cell’s reaction to the wrong water and the RIGHT water. It is amazing, but to me, only common sense, the number of ailments that this one, single machine can help prevent or reverse!

Allergies and illness can be looked upon as a sign that change is needed. To learn more about water ionizers, go to my main website http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com study that, and then continue studying this website! I have used every educational tool at my disposal to help you learn all about the subject of water ionizers.

Here are a few Q & A’s about water ionizers that may help you choose the right model for you.

• Water ionizers are expensive. Is there any value to getting a dirt-cheap model? No. The fact is water ionizers must have platinum coated titanium electrode plates [which is expensive – platinum is selling for over $1700.00/oz. right now]. There is no proper way of getting around this, and without platinum [no alloys should ever be used] the ionizer is not worth much.
• Do you have to spend over $4000. for a water ionizer that will “do it all”? No. Actually, I’ve discovered a few models close to half that price that do better than the $4000. model.
• What is the difference between water ionizers? There are lots of differences that you can explore on my Water Ionizer Comparison Page, but I have found that the biggest difference I personally experienced is in the ORP [antioxidant] per unit of pH of that water ionizer. Lower quality water ionizers have less antioxidants and higher quality water ionizers get a greater level of antioxidants.
  • Low ORP Water Ionizers: When I used an average quality water ionizer [for about 15 years] I got rid of ALMOST all signs of acidity. If ever I had a symptom appear I would just drink more water and it would readily go away.
  • Mid-Level Water Ionizers: When I upgraded to a mid-level water ionizer I had fewer symptoms ever even occur [but otherwise the same as above].
  • Superior Water Ionizers: When I upgraded to what I consider a “best quality water ionizer” I stopped having any symptoms occur whatsoever. In addition, some spider veins that had developed slowly over the years [since I turned about 50] disappeared before my very eyes after starting to drink the ionized water from my newest water ionizer, the Jupiter Athena water ionizer.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER!  Give yourself and your family the gift of health this year! 

Wishing You Water Wellness!
Sincerely,
Cathie LoGrasso
Blog-Master

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE
WE ARE OPEN FROM 8am TO 10pm CENTRAL TIME [7 DAYS PER WEEK!]
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The biggest enemy of a water ionizer [or any water related device is hard water.

Hard water can deposit anywhere from a whitish film to full-blown scaling and clogging, depending on your water hardness, the water ionizer model you purchase, the prefiltration you set up, the hardness reduction devices you use and the everyday care you give it.

There is a fairly simple method of cleaning your water ionizer of its scale build-up that I'm going to teach you about in this post. In high school I once did an experiment where I took a hardboiled egg and placed it in vinegar over night. I was amazed that the next day I could bounce that egg like a rubber ball. What happened was the calcium, which made the egg shell hard, was eaten away by the vinegar. Vinegar [soaked overnight] will react with the calcium clogging up your water ionizer and will loosen it up and allow you to then flush it away.

Water Ionizer Owners: How do you know it’s time to clean your water ionizer?

• If your water ionizer’s pH is dropping over time it’s time to clean.
• If your water ionizer’s flow-rate is slowing down it’s either time to change to a new filter, time to clean [vinegar wash] your water ionizer or both.
• If you see a whitish film forming around your alkaline spout [flexi-hose] it’s a sign that it’s close to time to clean.
• If it’s been a year, and/or you’re getting ready to change your filters [and you've not given your water ionizer a good cleaning yet], it could be a good time to clean it just for good measure! [Please Note: Using products such as the EOS (Elimination of Scaling) device and/or the hard water buster http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/HardWaterBuster may prolong or even eliminate the necessity for the cleaning that is described below.]

Why Would a Water Ionizer Need a Vinegar Wash?

• Water ionizers do a good job of cleaning themselves with their acid washes, especially the Jupiter models, with their continuous cleaning methods. So, inside the water cell your electrodes would or should be squeaky clean, but there are lots of hoses & connectors inside a water ionizer that may get clogged. Calcium is a good mineral, and you need it for ionization, but at times you can have too much calcium in your water. The problem with calcium is, because of its crystal shape — it collects, sticks & clogs. That’s what calcium does. You need calcium though, because you can’t ionize water that’s too soft.
• Even if you don’t live in a hard water area, with extra calcium in your water, you may need to do these periodic cleanings to keep your water ionizer clean inside. But, particularly if you know your water is hard, plan on doing periodic cleanings or get yourself a device or two to prevent hard water build-up. You can find out the hardness [TDS & Calcium levels in your water] by calling the number on your water bill.
  • If you’re noticing the need to do these periodic cleanings more than twice a year, you may want to consider purchasing an EOS http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/EOS or “hard water buster” http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/HardWaterBuster or just do more acid washes [push the acid water button more often].
  • If you have a programmable water ionizer, it can hopefully be programmed to your water hardness to increase the frequency of acid washes.
  • You can pro-actively increase the frequency of acid washes in a way that doesn’t waste the water with this idea: Let’s say you drink your alkaline water at 9.5 pH (or Level 3), there is absolutely no reason why you couldn’t push the acid water level 3 button and get your drinking water out of the bottom hose once a day. This may be a smart thing to do if you’re finding your hard water build-up to be too frequent.
• If your TDS is way too high [over 625ppm] you may even be smart to consider hooking in a reverse-osmosis-remineralizer which would then bring your TDS down to the proper range for ionization without the over-kill of too much hardness. 
• Another possibility for handling TDS that is way-out above the “appliance kill range” is a whole house [natural-sodium-free] water filter & softener, such as the Water Dove System which I sell on my site.
• I suggest not to use a sodium exchange water softener, because it’s unhealthy for you [too much sodium], sodium is not good for the water ionizer [tends to corrode], and it’s bad for the environment [where does all that salt-water go?] However I was in Lowes the other day and noticed they have come out with sodium reduced water softeners. So that may be a way to go. Then if it was me, I’d get rid of that little bit of extra sodium with an Omni-Pur sodium reduction cartridge http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com/product/Sodium-Reducer .

It’s up to you to take care of your water ionizer and keep it safe and protected against scaling.

How to do a Vinegar Wash

What you will need:

• You should save your old used-up filters in the refrigerator in a plastic zip-lock bag to put into your filter port during your vinegar washes. This procedure will ruin your filter for anything but another vinegar wash. Or if you have a Chanson water ionizer, just remove the filter from its container and close it back up again and you’ll be good to go.
• 1 bottle white vinegar.
• Tape [masking or duct]
• funnel

Beginning Your Water Ionizers Vinegar Wash:

1. Unplug the water ionizer.
2. Place water ionizer on its back or side [on a folded towel -- for a cushion]
3. Take the acid hose and raise it to a position higher than the water ionizer. Tape it there, temporarily for the Wash.
4. Make sure your water ionizer has the old [used up] and drained filters in it.
5. Remove the calcium basket and tighten back on the lid. 
6. Curve the flex-spout upwards and using a funnel pour vinegar down the spout [or hose], either one, until it starts pouring out the other [spout or hose]. [If spout is clogged, remove it and let it sit immersed in vinegar for a few hours before you get to this step.
7. Let sit overnight.
8. Using the flex-spout as a straw, blow into it and suck [suction it] to agitate the vinegar inside the ionizer. Try not to spill too much vinegar out the hose. 
9. Over the course of several hours or a day, keep the ionizer in this position and do the agitation described in step 8 as frequently as you can.
10. When you think you’ve done enough, return the water ionizer to its normal position.
11. Run water through the ionizer, and if it’s not clogged anymore test the pH at the highest level [both acid and alkaline]. If all looks good, you’re done.
12. Repeat process [steps 1-11] if the ionizer is still clogged or if the pH ranges are not satisfactory yet.

[Note: If you have a very clogged water ionizer...don't worry if it is very slow-flowing or a trickle at first. The calcium build-up will eventually dissolve with this technique. I have nursed an almost unworking water ionizer back to like-new using this technique over a 3-day period.]

Also Note:

The steps outlined in this blog are steps you can use with any water ionizer to clean it. However, some water ionizer companies have their own cleaning cartridge they sell you to clean your water ionizer annually or semi-annually [as needed]. If this is the case, I would suggest to do the periodic cleaning according to your water ionizer manufacturer’s instructions. If you’re not sure if your water ionizer company has a cleaning cartridge or not, call 1-888-MY-ALKALINE [Cathie] and I’ll let you know.

After over 16 years of drinking alkaline ionized water, I can say with conviction that the very best thing I could give to myself or a loved one is a WATER IONIZER!  Even though Christmas is over, give yourself and your family the gift of health this year! And…  

Have a safe and happy winter!

Email Us: Support@alkaline-water-plus.info
Website Home: http://www.alkalinewaterplus.com
Copyright © 2006 – 2011 Alkaline Water Plus
Call for a “Best Price Quote” 1-888-MY-ALKALINE
WE ARE OPEN FROM 8am TO 10pm CENTRAL TIME [7 DAYS PER WEEK!]
Get the Latest Water Ionizer Deals and News: Tweet! Tweet! Follow AlkalinePlus on Twitter! 

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