THIRSTY, GROUNDING, ALKALINE, OR LACK OF CHARGE?
In the past century, disease patterns in the world have changed dramatically. Our ancestors dealt mostly with infectious diseases—illnesses cause by germs. Better hygiene, vaccinations, and antibiotics have pushed back infectious diseases. Today, half of the illnesses that threaten human health are chronic degenerative diseases from arthritis, Parkinson’s and dementia to cancer and heart disease.
There is a growing consensus that chronic inflammation plays an important role in the development of degenerative diseases. But what causes inflammation?
Fereydoon Batmanghelidj (1930-2004) was an Iranian doctor who asserted that chronic dehydration was the cause of most disease. In 1979, after the Iranian Revolution, he was sent to a prison for political prisoners in Tehran. While he was incarcerated some of his fellow prisoners were suffering from peptic ulcers. As he had no access to any medication, Batmanghelidj was only able to treat the inmates with water. He made them drink lots of water and that turned out to substantially reduce their pains.
Batmanghelidj continued to experiment with his ‘water treatments’ and after he was released, he published an editorial about his experiences in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. He moved to the United States and spent the next twenty years researching and writing about water consumption as a cure for many diseases. In his book You are not sick, you are thirsty, Batmanghelidj argues that most disease can be cured with increased water consumption.
Ragnar Berg (1873-1956) was a Swedish biochemist. He is best known for his theories on the importance of acid-base (alkaline) balance. Berg argued that disease is caused when the body begins to accumulate too many acids which obstruct normal physiological function. His model disease was gout, but Berg traced many other “diseases of civilization” to acid-base imbalance, including obesity, arthritis, and diabetes. His recommended diet consisted of 80 percent alkaline foods (mainly fruits and vegetables) and 20 percent acidic foods (grains and animal protein).
In the past twenty years, many pioneers of complementary health care have followed in Berg’s footsteps promoting an alkaline rich diet to overcome inflammation.
Modern diets are characterized by excessive consumption of acidic grains and animal protein which is not compensated enough by the consumption of alkaline fruits and vegetables. This leads to over-acidity in our bodies. That is why advocates of a healthy lifestyle advise to eat more fruits and vegetables.
Research has shown that when the body has the natural, slightly alkaline disposition, the oxygenation of the blood is optimal. In an acidic body, oxygen intake is reduced which undermines health and vitality.
According to yet another complementary health strategy, human health, vitality, and wellness are dependent on connection with the energy of the earth. In that vision that is supported by more and more scientific studies, disease is caused by the fact that modern lives are disconnected from the planet. Most of us have shoes with rubber or plastic soles that insulate from any contact with the soil, and we live in buildings made with layers of materials that disconnect from the planet as well.
Professor Dr. Gerald Pollack’s vision of structured EZ water offers a unifying theory for all these different health strategies. Pollack argues that ‘inflammation’ occurs when cells lose their negative charge. Hydration is a remedy. Drinking the right kind of (structured) water can indeed increase the negative charge in the cells which confirms Batmanghelidj’s vision.
Eating more fruits and vegetables which contain structured EZ water delivers negative charge to the cells as well. Pollack’s water discoveries shed new light on the alkaline-acid balance. Experiments in his lab show that an acidic fluid—with a low pH—has a net positive charge. In other words, acidic and positive charge go hand in hand. And that makes sense as the positive charge is caused by an excess of positively charged protons.
The more EZ water your body contains, the fewer protons, the higher the pH (alkaline), the stronger the negative charge in your cells, and the healthier you are. This confirms Berg’s theory pointing to the acid-alkaline balance as the critical disease factor.
Making contact with the negative charged soil of the planet—grounding—also supports the negative charge of the body. There is a scientific reason why you feel good after walking barefoot on the beach!
What emerges is the perspective that the root of disease is lack of negative charge in the cells of the body. We know that unhealthy cells like cancer cells have less negative charge. We also know that bodies without negative charge are dead. The good news is that there are multiple strategies to add negative charge to our cells. But as we consist of two thirds of water, drinking water with some fractions of structured EZ water should be on top of everyone’s daily list for a healthy life!
This article is part of YOU ARE WHAT YOU DRINK, the story of healthy water. For the main story, click here.
