Water for health

Pure water processed only by nature is a type of “whole food.” It not only flushes toxins from the body and supplies many needed minerals, but it also impacts the body in many subtle ways.

by Dr. Larry Wilson — 

Next to oxygen, water is the most essential substance for human life. It is also complex, often containing hundreds of dissolved minerals and chemicals. Most water is “structured” or clustered in complex ways. It is indeed an amazing substance whose extreme value often goes unrecognized.

Drinking water principles

1. The type and amount of water one drinks is an essential aspect of health and healing.

2. Ingesting any amount of caffeine, alcohol or sugars (including fruit or sweet juices) dehydrates the body, to some degree. Avoid these to remain well-hydrated. This includes most fruit.

3. Water is more than a beverage. It is a type of energy that we all need in a certain amount on a daily basis. If we do not obtain it, our health will suffer.

4. Pure water processed only by nature is a type of “whole food.” It not only flushes toxins from the body and supplies many needed minerals, but it also impacts the body in many subtle ways. Like other whole foods, when it is tampered with, water loses most of its precious healing properties.

Water is altered any time one adds anything to it, spins it, alkalinizes it or filters it using any method except pure carbon. All of these alterations tend to ruin it, in my experience.

However, packaging water in clear plastic jugs does not destroy its healing properties, in spite of what many people claim.

5. Most people do not drink enough pure water. Adults need about 3 quarts or 3 liters daily. A little more may be required for those who perform physical labor, exercise vigorously, live in a very dry or hot climate, or weigh more than 250 pounds or 110 kilograms.

Basic rules for drinking water

The following rules are based on more than 30 years of clinical experience, and not just on theories of which type of water to drink. My experience is as follows:

1. The best water to drink is plain spring water. It does not matter if it comes in plastic bottles. You may be able to have it delivered in glass or recycled plastic bottles, or you may find a local source at findaspring.com. The second best type of drinking water is carbon-only filtered tap water.

Other beverages such as coffee, tea, juices or others do not tend to hydrate the body. Please do not count other beverages as water intake, except perhaps for a cup or two of mild non-caffeinated tea, such as chamomile.

2. Most adults need to drink about 3 quarts or 3 liters of water daily. Drinking more than this is not beneficial. If someone claims to need a gallon of water or more daily, for example, I immediately check to see if the water is hydrating the body properly, or if some other condition might be causing this degree of thirst.

3. To stay well hydrated, avoid all substances that tend to dehydrate the body. These include caffeine in any form, sugars and sweets of all types, and alcohol in any form and amount. Sugars include fruits, juices, fructose, rice milk, almond milk, soy milk, rice syrup, honey, agave nectar, other sweeteners, coconut milk, coconut water, coconut crème, and sweet foods and beverages of any type.

The only daily juice I suggest is 10 to 12 ounces of store-bought or preferably fresh carrot juice or 1 to 2 ounces of wheat grass juice. Please pay attention to this factor.

4. Do not drink much water with meals. It dilutes the stomach juices and can impair digestion. Drink only enough with meals to take your nutritional supplements.

5. The best time to drink a lot of water is when you first wake up. Adults can drink about 1 quart or 1 liter of water upon arising. Then wait 20 to 30 minutes before eating. You will still need to drink water during the day, but this provides a good start toward drinking a total of 3 quarts or 3 liters of water for the day.

The only problem with drinking this amount of water in the morning is that you will need to urinate more frequently, which might be difficult for some people who commute to work.

Different kinds of water

Let us examine the most common types of drinking water in more detail.

1. Spring water — Spring water flows from rock formations and is sometimes found in deep aquifers. It has been filtered and mineralized by passing through layers of rock and soil. Its advantages are that it contains excellent trace minerals and usually hydrates the body well. Most is low in toxic metals, toxic chemicals and pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and other micro-organisms.

Disadvantages are its cost, having to buy it in plastic bottles, the inconvenience of having to carry it home and, in some cases, perhaps questions about its purity and safety.

The television news sometimes tells us that spring water is unregulated. This is not true in the United States, or in many other nations. Spring water must meet certain strict government criteria to be sold and labeled as spring water. I have found that this type of water is the best choice for most people.

2. City tap water — Advantages of drinking tap water are that it often hydrates the body well. Also, it usually contains a variety of trace minerals, and it is inexpensive and convenient.

Disadvantages of tap water include possible contamination with heavy metals and toxic chemicals, and most tap water in the U.S. contains residues of medical drugs. Many drugs do not break down quickly, so they easily find their way into our drinking water supply.

For this reason, if you drink tap water, I always suggest filtering it with a carbon filter. This does not damage the water, and it will remove some chemicals and drug residues.

Some people like multi-stage water filters for tap water because they remove some toxic metals. However, these filters damage the water, so I do not recommend them. I recommend carbon filtration only.

3. Well water — Well water can be fine for drinking, but it is often contaminated. Sadly, I have had to tell some people with wells not to drink from them.

4. Steam distilled water — When water is distilled, most minerals and chemicals are removed. Advantages of distilled water are that it usually hydrates the body well and is also free of most chemicals, toxic metals, bacteria and viruses.

I do not recommend drinking distilled water for more than a few days, however.

Problems with distilled water are:

• It acts as a chelator in the body. This means it pulls metals out of the body. This is a very serious problem, as it tends to demineralize the body if consumed for any length of time. Adding minerals back into the water does not necessarily fix the problem.

• It lacks nutrient minerals, which is a serious problem. Quality spring or tap water can supply 30 or 40 trace minerals that the body needs.

• It is very yin in macrobiotic or Chinese medical terminology, which is quite harmful in most cases.

5. Reverse osmosis water — Reverse osmosis (RO) water is by far the most common manmade method of purifying water. It involves passing water at high pressure through a plastic membrane with tiny holes in it. Most minerals and chemicals are too large to pass through the membrane and remain behind. This results in fairly chemical-free, pathogen-free and mineral-free water.

Advantages of RO water include its low level of toxic metals, toxic chemicals and pathogens, and its relatively low cost.

However, I do not recommend drinking RO water at all. Its disadvantages include:

• It does not hydrate the body well. This is its worst aspect. It is unfortunate, but we see it over and over again. The plastic membrane somehow damages the water in a subtle way.

• It is severely mineral deficient; therefore, it does not supply the body with needed trace minerals.

• It may have a mild chelating effect. This means that it can remove some vital minerals from the body, similar to what occurs with distilled water.

• It is extremely yin in macrobiotic or Chinese medical terms because it lacks minerals. The yin quality is harmful.

• Water quality declines as the filters age but can be difficult to monitor.

• It is somewhat acidic, although mild.

For all these reasons, please do not drink any water made using reverse osmosis. Read labels, please. If you have an RO filter at home, you can still use it by simply removing the RO cartridge and only use the carbon filter in the system.

Adding minerals to distilled or RO water does not work well, in my experience, because:

• One does not know which or how much minerals to add.

• Many minerals added to water contain toxic metals.

• Adding sea salt is a dangerous practice because the high sodium content tends to unbalance the body.

• Water is a type of whole food. Tearing it apart and then trying to put it back together does not work well. It is much better to drink spring water or filtered tap water.

6. Carbon filters — Carbon, or activated charcoal, is an excellent filtering material for tap water. Even the inexpensive Brita filters are helpful for tap water. Less costly carbon filters simply contain powdered charcoal. A better type is a carbon block filter. The carbon has been compressed to form a denser block, which removes more impurities.

Advantages of carbon filtration are that it is inexpensive and will remove quite a few toxic chemicals, chlorine and other gases. More importantly, carbon does not damage the water. Disadvantages of carbon filtration are that it does not remove fluoride or most toxic metals. All carbon filters clog up and eventually stop working. A dirty carbon filter is worse than no filter at all. Be sure to change the filter regularly. Also, carbon may support bacterial and fungal growth. Some manufacturers state that their carbon filter must be used with chlorinated water to help reduce bacterial and fungal growth. If yours says this, be sure to observe this caution.

Other popular kinds of water

The type and amount of water one drinks is an essential aspect of health and healing.

Multi-stage filters — These units will remove more contaminants than carbon alone. Unfortunately, all the multi-stage filters I have seen damage the water and make it less usable by the body. As a result, the water does not hydrate the body well. Thus, I would stay away from multi-stage filters.

Alkaline water — I know of three types of alkaline water systems. I suggest avoiding all of them. Alkaline water is too yin in macrobiotic or Chinese medical terms. It may also contain some platinum, a very toxic metal. You may feel better drinking it for a while, but the long-term consequences are not good. To alkalinize the body properly, eat 9 cups of cooked vegetables and take 3000 to 4000 mg of kelp daily. These contain a lot of alkaline reserve minerals. As these accumulate in the body, the body becomes more alkaline naturally.

Adding ozone to drinking water — This is excellent. It will add extra oxygen and kill some microorganisms. A simple machine to add ozone to water is sold by Oxygen Orchard (oxygenorchard.com). Other machines also can be used. Another way to increase your oxygen intake is to buy an ozonator/ionizer air purifier and just leave it running wherever you live and work.

Water softeners — Some people who have hard water (water with a high calcium content) have a tank in the garage, to which they add either salt or potassium pellets to “soften” the water. The sodium or potassium breaks up the hard calcium compounds.

A newer method to soften water is to pass it by strong magnets. This nonchemical method is better because it does not add chemicals to the water.

Water softeners do not purify the water, and may even damage it to some degree. I do not suggest drinking water that is softened with chemical pellets. Drinking water softened with a magnetic system is probably fine.

In summary, I find clinically that spring water is usually the best drinking water for most people. Carbon-only filtered tap water is second best. Please avoid RO water, distilled water, alkaline water and most “designer waters.”

Dr. Lawrence Wilson has a medical degree and has been in the health field for more than 25 years. His books include Nutritional Balancing and Hair Mineral Analysis, Legal Guidelines for Unlicensed Practitioners, Healing Ourselves and Manual of Sauna Therapy and The Real Self. He also co-authored Toxic Metals in Human Health and Disease and contributed to The Dangers of Socialized Medicine. www.drlwilson.com or 928-445-7690.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 33, Number 1, February/March 2014.