What’s in your water?

I hope that you're not drinking any tap water, because you may just feel sick after reading this! Accourding to the Environmental Working Group's (EWG's) two-and-a-half year investigation of water suppliers' tests of the treated tap water served to communities across the country, tap water in 42 states is contaminated with more than 140 unregulated chemicals that lack safety standards! In total, there are 260 different chemical contaminants that are in our drinking water! Now given, 119 of those are regulated with safety standards, but that is still an astounding number of chemicals in our “fresh tap water”. Peculiarly, I had a lot of trouble finding a definitive and official list of all of the 119 regulated chemicals that are in tap water, but I was able to find one resource that made mention of some of the contaminants that are in our tap water. What are some of the chemicals in tap water? Let's see a small list:

Chlorine
Chloramine
Bacteria
Lead
Asbestos
Chemical Pollution:

• trichloroethane (industrial solvents!)

• volatile organic compounds (various plastics, gasolines and petroleum products)

Herbicides:

• dioxin (2-4D)

• lindane

Pesticides:

• DDT (uhuhh)

• malathione

Chlorine-resistant Cysts & Parasites:

• Giardia

• Cryptosporidia

I encourage everyone to look at the elongated version over at Healing Daily.com; what you see here is simply a condensed, bulleted, list for the sake of saving space. This list is hardly the full list of contaminant's that are in our water supply though. Don't forget that the Environmental Working Group had found a total of 260 different chemical contaminants in our water! What I find odd is that I can not – anywhere – find a listing of all the chemical contaminants that are in our water.. I can't even find a full list of what's supposed to officially be in our water “for our own good”. Perhaps it's just a lack of research on my part, but this sort of secrecy is very troubling when it involves the health of millions each day!

You may be wondering as to what the solution is to all of this. Not drinking water isn't an option. Our bodies are made of 70% water and undiagnosed dehydration is prevalent; this is something I will discuss next month. Simply put, we must consume water throughout the day or we risk health complications. But this becomes a problem when the very water we are to consume is literally poison. I was going to wait until next month's newsletter to outline my picks for water filtration, but I decided that it's important to know your options now so that you can keep drinking water and won't waste your money on the wrong product.

The first option many will turn to is bottled water. Is this an option? Eh…. sorta. Bottled water is much cleaner than tap, certainly, but bottled water goes far fewer routine testings than tap and so it has the potential of being contaminated. Another issue, is that it's been discovered that the water will – after a period of time – actually leech chemicals from the plastic containers! So unless you know a good deal about the company you're buying your bottled water from, and know when it was bottled, I'd try to stay away from bottled water as a tap water alternative.

There are two big names that I trust when it comes to water purification: Berkey and Nikken. Both of these companies produce high-end products and make good on their promises. Berkey is a Texas company that produces primarily counter-top hardcore filtraition units that will filter out everything from anywhere (including raw lakes and streams!). In addition to their counter-top units, berkey also sells a similar-styled unit meant for travel (whether that be camping, sporting events, or survival situations), a fantastic shower filter that I use myself, and a sports bottle that also has enough power to filter out raw lakes and streams (I never am found without my sport berkey!). I've used berkey's products for a few years now and i love them; they're also reasonably priced and the Berkey name is well known and respected amongst many groups.

Nikken is also a wonderful company. This Japanese company's products are not limited to just water filtration and really extends to many different categories from air filters to cook ware. I know my Acupuncturist Helen Law purchases and uses a number of products from Nikken. Nikken products are pricey, but I think that they are worth every single penny. More on the subject of water filtration, Nikken offers similar products to Berkey: portable sports bottle, counter top units, and a shower unit. But, Nikken also offers something very hard to find: an under-the-counter water filtration system! Nikken's products filter out the same things that Berkey's products do (although it is worth noting that Nikken advises against using raw untreated water with their products), but they also remineralize the water through the use of their “PiMag” magnet technology. My Acupuncturist's office has one of their units that functions similarly to a water cooler and I must say that the water that came from that thing is probably the best water I've ever tasted so I think that Nikken is on to something with their PiMag technology.

There are other filtration systems out there for water, but I've never used them, and so I can not comment on them. Right now I own a berkey KDF shower filter and a sport berkey and once I can, I plan on buying a nikken under the counter filter system as well. I hope all this has helped! I strongly suggest reading the entire article from Healing Daily and understanding exactly what kind of disgusting things are in our water. There is also the issue of Fluoride, which I will be covering later; it's a huge subject that deserves an article all to itself!

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Asthma is reversable, just like everything else

I was talking to a friend of mine the other night and decided that the next pathology I should look into was Asthma. This is something that my step father suffers from, as well as my cousin; the National Safety Council estimates that 23.2 million people suffer from asthma. I'm willing to bet that at the very least, every other person knows someone with asthma or suffers from it themselves. This, like the others pathologies that I've studied, is supposedly incurable and is only able to be treated through the use of synthetic medication for the rest of ones life. I find this to be absurd. This is the problem we face when focused on specifically one answer to everything.

Again and again I explain what disease really is. Disease is simply the result of a social, lifestyle, or environment problem that occurs to us each day and then this leads to a deficiency. Deficiency is disease – it's that simple.  Dysmenhorrea and menstrual cramps are brought on by a lack of vitamin B complex and other nutrients. Insomnia comes from imbalanced melatonin levels. Depression comes from a lack of seratonin. The list just goes on and on. This rule is of course no exception for Asthma. Dr. Batmanghelidj, M.D. states an interesting alternative to the current theory of modern medicine as to the actual cause of asthma:

It is caused by the drought management programs of the body. In asthma free passage of air is obstructed so that water does not leave the body in the form of vapor – the winter steam. Increased water intake will prevent asthma attacks. Asthmatics need also to take more salt to break the mucus plugs in the lungs that obstruct the free flow of air in and out of the air sacs.

Not recognizing asthma as the indicator of dehydration in the body of a growing child not only will sentence many thousands of children to die every year, but will permit irreversible genetic damage to establish in the remaining 14 million asthmatic children.

In an interview with Mike Adams about this subject, Dr. B elaborates more (links placed are from Newstarget.com):

Yes, well you see, drought management means that you have to clog the holes where water is lost from the body. Water is the most precious commodity in the interior of your body, and when not enough is coming in and more is being lost, this is a no-no situation for your body. The intelligence behind the design of the body has it such that a drought management program will kick in, and then allergies are a sign of dehydration because the system that regulates water balance of the body suppresses the immune system, because it's an energy-consuming situation. Then you get asthma.

You see, we lose about a quart of water through breathing every day. It is actually the surface tension in the alveoli of the lungs that produces contraction of these tiny membranes, and air is pushed out. And in the process, that water will leave with the air that is leaving. So you lose about a quart of water in breathing. We need to replenish that. When we don't replenish it, the body tightens up the bronchials and plugs up the holes and we call this reduced air flow in the lungs because of dehydration, we've labeled it as asthma.

Now, children, there are 17 million children in America, probably more because the numbers rise every year, who have asthma, and the reason is, at the same time, children have been consuming more and more sodas. Three year olds to five year olds have been consuming three times as much soda in the last ten years than in the ten years before that. So these people are getting dehydrated, they are consuming more sodas, which doesn't function in the same way as water, and that is why they get asthma. Now, give these children water, and their asthma will disappear very quickly, in a matter of a few hours, completely the breathing becomes normal. The need for these inhalers will disappear.

Clearly we are seeing now that Asthma can be triggered by a lack of water and/or too much soda intake (although really one soda is too much).The other culprit is (cow's) milk, actually. Mike Adams explains this well:

New research shows that ingredients found in asthma inhalers actually worsen the condition in asthmatics, creating a cycle of dependence on the inhaler. Asthma inhalers are largely unnecessary in the first place, since nearly every case of asthma can be reversed through dietary changes alone.

There are two culprits when it comes to asthma: cow's milk and lack of water. Cow's milk is the leading cause of asthma, especially in infants, and nearly everyone who stops consuming dairy products for 30 days sees their asthma improve dramatically or disappear altogether.

 It almost sounds too simple to be true, but I believe that avoiding all dairy products and drinking nothing but fresh water will reverse more than 95% of the asthma now being observed in the population. Of course, it only works if you actually do it. Asthma cannot be reversed by simply thinking about giving up soft drinks and cow's milk — the person actually has to take the action. Sounds stupid, I know, but you'd be surprised to learn how many asthma patients will agree with all this and never follow a word.

It's interesting to note how a study from last year showed that steroid usage for asthma is actually no more effective than that of a placebo. Now for those that have steroid-resistant asthma, a study has shown that vitamin D (which – I must remind everyone – can be obtained naturally by just spending some time outside in the sun for a good 20 minutes or more. Vitamin D and Melatonin, ho ho!) can provide a benefit.

Of course, there is also childhood asthma. This can be brought on by a number of different things such as cockroches, pollution, and diet, in addition to the issues I already mentioned. Never forget that your environment and your diet ultimately lead to you and can have a very negative effect on your body. One thing that I've seen reccomended for children however is the Buteyko breathing method, which is a collection of daily breathing exercises that is said to even be able to help adults that suffer with Asthma.

Ultimately, you must find what is right for you. But keep in mind that a good environment and a proper diet is essential irregardless of what steps you take to reverse this curable disease.

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