Understanding Thirst - Part Two

Understanding Thirst - Part One

Why do we drink water? Because we are thirsty, right? But what is thirst? The sensation that we call thirst is assuredly a brainstem built-in survival mechanism. Thirst exists to avoid dehydration. The sensation of thirst is proportionate to the level of dehydration; however, many people have neglected their thirst mechanism for so long that it is now compromised. In fact, studies have shown that it can become confused with hunger. Many people think they are hungry but are in fact are dehydrated.

The sensation of thirst is often described as a feeling of dryness in the mouth and tongue and a constricting sensation in the throat. Even though thirst almost always manifests in the same way, it can be differentiated into two types: extracellular , or hypovolemic, thirst and intracellular , or osmotic, thirst. Extracellular thirst is the more severe form.

Extracellular thirst manifests in two ways: when the volume of blood and extracellular fluid (the fluid that all cells "bathe" in) becomes too low and when there has been a large quantity of salt lost. These two phenomenon cause extracellular thirst.

Salt is critical for proper hydration balance. Salt is primarily found in the blood and extracellular fluids. Very little salt, specifically sodium, is found inside cells. The role of salt in the body is to retain water. One gram of salt retains eleven grams of water. Salt maintains a normal level of hydration to the cellular bathe that all cells exist in. Otherwise this fluid may shrink  too fast and endanger the survival of the cells. Salt is critical in the body's defense against dehydration.

Salt only leaves the body under extreme conditions, such as, vomiting, persistent diarrhea and excessive sweating. The more salt the body loses, the less water it can retain which in turn causes more water loss. When the body loses both salt and water, the situation becomes complicated. At this point both water and salt must be consumed. If water is drunk without  salt, the existing extracellular fluid’s salt concentration is lowered  thus causing even more water loss. Both must be taken, water to increase the volume and salt to retain the water ingested.

Understanding this critical relationship between salt and water could save a life. When someone has suffered severe heatstroke or sunstroke, it is very important to give them water with a little salt in it. If water alone is given, the condition can be made worse and even life threatening. In this scenario the water with a little salt added is to be drunk slowly and in small sips.

It has been my clinical experience that when people tell me that when they drink any  water, they have to urinate within minutes, that this is probably because they need salt and/or alkaline minerals to balance the extracellular fluids.

Next time we will look at the more common form of thirst called intracellular  or osmotic thirst. This is when the inside of the cells have lost hydric balance. Until then remember to pay attention to your thirst mechanism and drink the best water that is available to you. We at Life Ionizers™ believe that the best water available is alkaline, ionized, microclustered water.

For more information on water ionizers please go to www.lifeionizers.com or call 1-800-578-5939.

Yours pH or Better Health,
Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.
Chief Science Advisor
Life Ionizers

FRUIT JUICE AND ALKALINE, IONIZED WATER  -  THE ULTIMATE COMBO

Here's why; three reasons:

1. Firstly, even though acidic fruits ultimately have an alkaline effect once digested due to their alkaline mineral content (oranges have a -2.7(alkaline) PRAL score), the fact remains that they are acidic when they hit the stomach. Some people can not tolerate this initial acidity. It can aggravate their reflux. The solution is to dilute the concentrated fresh juice with alkaline water, thus neutralizing the initial acidity.
2. Secondly, as referenced above, by diluting the fresh juice, the concentration of fructose per ounce is reduced by 50%. This helps the body not absorb fructose at an accelerated rate.
3. And thirdly by adding an antioxidant to the fresh juice, the juice is naturally preserved and a synergistic effect occurs amongst all the antioxidants already present in the juice. Ionized water is a natural antioxidant. The OH- hydroxyl ion, is an electron donor, an antioxidant and by definition a free radical scavenger. Now vegetable juice does not have the fructose nor acidity issue but it would still be a good idea to add a little alkaline, ionized water as a natural preservative and alkalinity, antioxidant booster.

Nuns Avoid Bottled Water

In the fall of 2006, the National Coalition of American Nuns adopted a resolution that asked members to avoid drinking bottled water unless absolutely necessary. Why? Because they believe that privatization of something so essential to life, as water is, by companies like Pepsi-Cola, Coke and Nestle, is immoral. "The use of bottled water in the U.S. is more a lifestyle issue than a necessity," Coyle said. "In this country, we should do more to push [avoidance of] bottled water unless we need it."

It is every person's right to have access to clean, non-toxic water. Yet the corporate water industry continues to bloat, as U.S. sales of bottled water leapt 170 percent between 1997 and 2006—$4 billion to $10.8 billion. Globally, bottled water is a $60 billion-a-year business. Let's face it—we're gluttons for packaged water, and the trend continues to float higher and higher. In the United States, consumption of bottled water in 1987 was 5.7 gallons per person; by 1997 it was 12.1 gallons and in 2006 it was 27.6 gallons per person. The sales of bottled water in the United States has surpassed the sales of beer and milk and by 2011 they are expected to surpass soda!

We at LIFE Ionizers™ embrace this trend and wish to motivate all people to drink more water. After all, chronic dehydration is a leading risk factor in the etiology of many diseases. But we don't believe that the cure for dehyration needs to come out of expensive, toxic, polluting packages. Rather, you can use the tap water that you are already paying for and filter and enhance it with ionizer technology.

Water ionizers take your tap water and transform it into alkaline, ionized, microclustered water. They return your tap water to a more natural state, using a technique similar to how air ionizers clean polluted air. This technology has been in existence for over forty years in Japan but is relatively new to the United States. We at LIFE Ionizers™ are innovators in this technology and have been actively engaged in this research for over ten years.

Call our water experts today to learn how a simple water ionizer can improve your life. Next to the air we breathe, nothing is more critical to life than water. When it comes to alkaline, ionized, microclustered water, we at LifeIonizers say: Be well. Drink LIFE!™

By: Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C., LIFEIonizers™ Chief Science Advisor

References:
Cho, Rebecca. "Is Bottled Water a Moral Issue?" RINF.com . 02 Jan, 2007. Web. 03 Sept. 2009.

Cilantro Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Summer is here and you may find yourself entertaining more or attending social gatherings. It's always great to have a tasty appetizer recipe on hand. This is my new favorite! This recipe was inspired by all the fresh herbs growing in my raised bed garden.

1 cups fresh cilantro
1 cup fresh basil
¼ cup fresh Italian parsley
1 ¼ cup raw pumpkin – soaked overnight in Acid water
1 small avocado or ½ large avocado
1 tsp sea salt
3-4 cloves garlic- minced
¼ cup cold pressed olive oil
Juice from one lemon
Juice from lime

Directions:

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Serve on sliced cucumbers; stuff in mini red, yellow, and orange bell peppers; or spread on your favorite multi-grain cracker. I like to top it with a couple raw pumpkin seeds, freshly chopped parsley, or a piece of a ripe tomato. This is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

By:  Katy Joy Freeman, Raw Food Chef

Grape Goddess Green Smoothie

Summer is a great time to add a green smoothie into our daily routine. The fruit is so fresh and yummy and blending the greens helps your body get the nutrients we need. In her book Green For Life , Victoria Boutenko states "I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to maintain a good alkaline pH balance without consuming large quantities of dark leafy greens." Victoria goes not to say that she feels the green smoothie is a winner because "it is a complete food, it is fresh, and it takes less than an minute to prepare." Most of us do not take the time to chew our salads until liquid before swallowing. When you blend you are breaking down the food so it is easier to digest. Set aside the red bull and try this grape goddess green smoothie for your next energy booster! Your body will love it.

I highly recommend reading Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko for more information on the benefits of green smoothies.

Ingredients:

2 cups red seedless grapes
2 bananas - can use 3 kiwis (peeled)  and one ripe orange if you do not like to use bananas
1 ½ -2 cups ionized alkaline water
2 big handfuls of fresh greens – today I used a mixture of parsley and green leaf lettuce

Directions:

Place all ingredients in high-speed blender and blend until smooth.  Pour in glass.  If you like, garnish with bee pollen then place a fresh strawberry on the rim of the glass.

By:  Katy Joy Freeman, Raw Food Chef

References
Boutenko, Victoria. Green For Life. Raw Family Publishing, 2005

Alkaline tip of the week:

Beat the Heat: Stay well hydrated!

Lack of water can lead to dehydration; our bodies are about two thirds water. When someone gets dehydrated, it means the amount of water in his or her body has dropped below the level needed for normal body function. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired.

Signs and symptoms of dehydration include:

• Excessive thirst
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Dry mouth
• Little or no urination
• Muscle weakness
• Dizziness
• Lightheadedness

It's easier to get dehydrated during the heat of the summer months. Please be good to your body and make it a point to consider the follow tips:

• Drink 2-3 cups of alkaline water upon rising
• Drink at least one cup of alkaline water 30 minutes before eating
• Drink alkaline water before, during , and after exercising
• Consume fresh fruits and vegetables during the day as they are full of water
• Have green smoothie (recipe below) instead of cooked and processed food for a mid-day snack
• Drink a glass of alkaline water 30 minutes after each meal
• Sip on water all day long!

Summer Green Smoothie Recipe:

1 banana
1 peach
1 tbsp raw honey
½ cup alkaline water
½ cup almond or any other nut milk (can use 1 cup of water if you do not have almond milk)
Large handful of fresh greens (i.e. Spinach, romaine lettuce, kale, etc.)

Directions:  Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth and enjoy!

By:   Katy Joy Freeman, Raw Food Chef
References:  www.lifescript.com

Skin Care Made Easy!

Acid Water Spray

by Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

Many researchers and healthcare practitioners agree that the majority of people today are suffering from systemic low-grade metabolic acidosis . It is also agreed that the main source of this metabolic acidosis is the contemporary net acid-producing diet. This diet is referred to in the scientific literature as the Western Diet. So what was our diet before modern times?

Our diet as early human beings is referred to as the Paleolithic diet . This diet was rich in plant material, i.e., vegetation. Inherent to this diet of plant foods is a potassium rich base of alkali salts. Plants are alkaline in nature. Over time "plants" have become "vegetables" but as modern humans we do not consume enough vegetable matter. In fact the pathophysiological effects of this post-agricultural diet is an inversion of the potassium to sodium and base to chloride ratios in the human diet. What this means is that we went from eating a diet that was high in potassium which is alkaline, to a diet which is high in sodium and animal protein, which is highly acidic. It really is that simple!

Animal protein ingestion yields sulfuric acid as an end-product of digestion. On the other hand, the body will metabolize organic plant source anions(-) to bicarbonate, which is alkalinizing. Our modern Western Diet is far too high in NaCl (sodium chloride). Sound familiar? We need to get back to eating more vegetable foods and reversing the metabolic acidosis of "fast food" and excessive animal protein ingestion.

Eat better and be well.




These statements have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration.  The preceding information and/or products are for educational purposes only and are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, or treat illness. Please consult your doctor before making any changes or before starting ANY exercise or nutritional supplement program or before using this information or any product during pregnancy or if you have a serious medical condition

Milk Seen From Another Perspective

Western and Eastern Diets

Alkaline Diet

How Much Ionized Alkaline Water Should I Drink?

Thirst is the WORST Gauge of Needing Water

Coffee Doesn't Count

How Much Ionized Alkaline Water to Drink

• As a rule of thumb, you need 1 liter of ionized alkaline water for every 40 pounds of body weight. Thus a 120 pound woman should drink at least 3 liters of ionized alkaline water each day.
• Drink 8 ounces of ionized alkaline water upon rising in the morning, and another 8 ounces before working out. Then sip 4 ounces for every 15 minutes of your workout.
• Sip more than the required amount...you may see faster results.

How Do I Drink That Much Water?

• Drink one 8 ounce glass of ionized alkaline water upon rising each day.
• Sip an 8 ounce glass each hour.
• Drink more during workouts

• brisk walking, hiking, stair-climbing, aerobic exercise
• jogging, running, bicycling, rowing and swimming
• activities such as soccer and basketball that include continuous running

• walking for pleasure, gardening and yard work
• housework, dancing and prescribed home exercise
• recreational activities such as tennis, racquetball, soccer, basketball and touch football

• One small to medium wash cloth or hand towel
• 4-5 cups acid water from your Ionizer
• 2-3 drops of your favorite essential oil
• Dash of salt (to help emulsify the oil in the water)
• Tupperware container

Creamy Cucumber Soup

With winter just about here it's nice to have some soup ideas handy.  All the soups submitted for this newsletter are Live soups. What does that really mean? It means we are preserving the enzymes and good nutrients by not heating the soup over 105 degrees. You'll reap many more benefits from your foods by eating them raw or slightly heated.

Ingredients:

1 cucumber, peeled and cubed
1 medium ripe avacado
1/2 lemon, juiced (or just squeeze, but be careful to omit the seeds)
1/2 cup Life Ionized Water
2 tablespoons of fresh Dill (you can use dry but use less)
sea salt to taste 

Blend all ingredients and slightly heat if you want or enjoy at room temperature.

Top with any or all of the following: micro greens (sprout mixture), sprouted sunflower seeds, diced celery, small avacado chuncks

Enjoy!

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

What are you Drinking?

By Dale Guiducci

In 1995 I discovered the world of in home water filtration. The company I worked with sold a counter top water filter for around $180.00. The biggest obstacle in selling that water filter was that the general public was not yet aware of the dangers of drinking from their own faucet. Bottled water did not yet claim its own isle at the grocery store and people were just not quite ready to accept that they had to pay for something that had always been free.

Since that time things have changed dramatically. The average consumer wouldn't think of drinking from the tap anymore. Most homes have some sort of water treatment system or their owners spend a lot of money on bottled water every month. So we have come a long way indeed. The change took place through a steady education of the public on the dangers of tap water and the difficulties water treatment plants have in delivering healthy water to our homes.

Now we must further educate ourselves about bottled water and the effectiveness our home water filtration systems. It seems that most bottled water is simply tap water run through a reverse osmosis (RO) system. RO systems are great for filtering out everything from the water, both good and bad. They take out contaminants and chemicals but also minerals and other healthy and necessary components of drinking water. If water that we drink doesn't have the necessary minerals our body is going to search for those minerals in other places such as bones and organs. The net result is that most bottled waters start a process that depletes our bodies of the necessary elements of life.

RO systems can be installed in the home of course. To avoid this loss of minerals a mineral injection cartridge can be added. However, RO systems are famous for poor water pressure and wasted water as only about half of the water is useful. The other half is sent back into the sewer lines. Other types of water treatment systems can be effective but what we're learning is that not all municipal water is the same.

For as many different municipal water districts and companies there are, there are as many different chemical and mineral combinations of the water supplies themselves. We strongly suggest an analysis of each water districts water supply and then creating the right system for homes serviced by that water supply. As an example, carbon is typically the media used by companies to build a residential water filter. Carbon is a great media for removing chlorine which is found in most residential water supplies. However, chloramines are used in some water supplies instead of chlorine to kill bacteria yet carbon is not effective in removing chloramines. A different filtration media would be needed for homes in a water district using chloramines.

For information on your water districts water please contact us at 1-800-578-5939. We will provide you with a water report for your district and walk you through the type of filtration media you need.

In review, bottled water is better than drinking from the tap. However bottled water is typically acidic and does not provide the necessary minerals our body needs. A home filtration system is the best way to provide your family with inexpensive, healthy, good tasting water. Just do your homework by getting a water report from your local district and make sure your filtration system is suited for your water supply. The very best system you can have is one that is set up to filter the water being delivered to your home and that increases the pH (lowers the acidity) in the water you drink. Water ionizers are the latest technology to increase the pH and filter your water if they are set up with the proper pre-filters. For more information call us at 1-800-578-5939.

The Acceptance of the Benefits of Alkaline Water

By Dale Guiducci


With regard to physicians trained in western medicine there appears to be three different views. There are those that will only do what the doctor says, those that listen to the doctor but research alternative solutions, and those that wouldn't trust anything a doctor tells them. Fortunately for companies like ours and people like us the latter two groups are growing.

I happen to fit into the second group. I respect the education of a physician trained in the west but realize that western medicine typically treats symptoms more than causes. Western trained physicians are reactive and see patients only when they are sick and not proactive and teach people how to prevent disease.

I also learned a long time ago to always look at the motivation of someone in a given situation. And quite often that motivation is financial. Doctors do not benefit financially when a patient is healed or doesn't get sick to begin with. So why teach them how to prevent disease? Those amongst the first group described above illogically wouldn't think that a physician would be driven by financial gain. They instead believe in the nobility of the profession. Yet I've had doctors tell me that they need to see upward to 35 or 40 patients a day just to break even in their practice so the concept of nobility most likely takes a back seat to paying the bills.

But it goes beyond the physicians themselves and it's unfair to say that they alone are blind to the concept of preventative care. Health insurance companies seem to be getting on the bandwagon with preventative care as it would be in their best interest financially to keep their insured parties healthy. But they really have no way of implementing effective preventative care measures at the patient level, nor are they yet prepared to pay a doctor to give a patient preventative care advice alone without already having some ailment.

Drug companies play a much bigger role. Drug companies make lots of money and therefore spend large sums to keep their drugs perceived as the only way to treat a disease. We've all seen the commercials about a particular drug that alleviates the symptoms of a disease but at the same time causes several other problems that the patient didn't have to begin with.

I was recently made aware of a law suit against a web site, and the drug companies that backed that site, due to the fact that the site owners wrote and published derogatory articles about certain natural products that competed with the drug company's pharmaceutical solution.

The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is another issue to look at when discussing the perception of people about doctors and medicines. The FDA won't test any product for its effectiveness that isn't considered a drug. Yet they have the ability to limit what a company can say about the efficacy of its all natural, homeopathic products. What this policy does is render a company mute about what its product(s) can do to help people. Companies get fined and shut down by our government for promoting the health benefits of its products without FDA approval. But as mentioned already, the FDA will not approve products that are not considered drugs. It's a Catch22 that has been formed right under our noses.

It appears the drug companies and the FDA have set up a system that is impenetrable and assures big profits for those companies. The residual effect for many Americans is that they perceive that the drugs being prescribed by their doctor is the only way to treat a disease. What people in large numbers are beginning to realize is that these drugs in many cases do not treat the disease but only the symptom.

What people are also starting to realize is that other countries do not have such a cartel formed to make money off the illness of its citizens. Eastern countries such as Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea have agencies that look at and test natural, non-pharmaceutical applications for the prevention of disease. That's right the prevention of disease, not the masking of the symptoms of that disease.

Japan's Ministry of Health has tested the efficacy of alkaline water on the prevention of disease. First off, notice the name, the Ministry of Health. That's quite a bit different than the name of our agency, the Food and Drug Administration . Tests have also been conducted in Germany, Russia and Finland and other countries on alkaline water. Research doctors in these countries have found credible evidence of the health benefits and disease prevention capability of ionized, alkaline water. Water ionizers have been made and sold in Asian countries for decades and are a staple appliance in a significant amount of homes in Asian countries. Yet in the United States we cannot mention the health benefits determined by these researchers.

It should be pointed out that less than two decades ago chiropractors were considered quacks in the United States but were widely accepted outside our country. Today insurance companies will pay for their patients to get chiropractic treatments. Eventually the financial benefit of alkaline water will shift from the drug companies to the insurance companies and once that occurs perhaps we can talk openly about what other countries have known for almost 50 years.

In conclusion it must be mentioned that more and more physicians are touting the preventative benefits of ionized, alkaline water. We have many that sell our product. So not every medical doctor trained by a western university is blind to natural means of preventing disease. The industry however, is still hamstrung because we cannot openly promote these benefits.

Below are sources of some studies conducted on alkaline water available on the internet. To find these studies place the name of the article and/or physician into a search engine window, or visit the link below.

1. Effectiveness of Electrolyzed, Ionized  Water Irrigation in a Burn-Wound Infection Model, Hajime Nakae, MD, PhD and Hideo Inaba, MD, PhD, published in The Journal of TRAUMA Injury, Infection and Critical Care
2. Medical Case Studies and Livestock Studies on the Use of Ionised Alkaline Water, multiple physicians
3. Prevention of Disease with Reduced Water (Alkaline, Ionized Water), Dr. Sanetaka Shirahata, Graduate School of Genetic Resources Technology, Kyushu University
4. Inhibitory Effect of Electrolyzed Reduced Water on Tumor Angiogenesis, Ye J, Li Y, Hamasaki T, Nakamichi N, Komatsu T, Kashiwagi T, Teruya K, Nishikawa R, Kawahara T, Osada K, Toh K, Abe M, Tian H, Kabayama S, Otsubo K, Morisawa S, Katakura Y, Shirahata S., Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan, Published in the Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin January 31, 2008

For more clinical studies please visit http://heartspring.net/water_clinical_studies.html

Disclaimer: Nothing about what has been stated in this article should be construed to mean that alkaline, ionized water is a cure or treatment for any disease. If you have a medical condition, please consult your doctor for medical advice.

What is Tappening?

By Dale Guiducci

Those of us in our middle-aged years have had to learn nearly a whole new vocabulary just to get by - to compete with, work with and live with the younger generations. Words like Googling, texting, IMing, and YouTube are all part of my daily conversations around the office here, and also after work with my kids. Even with my wife.

Recently I learned a new word: "tappening ." Tappening is the name of the new movement encouraging people to not buy and/or drink bottled water. There is a web site (www.Tappening.com ) completely devoted to unearthing the truth about bottled water. The main article is, "Is That Bottled Water You're Sipping Really Worth Your Hard Earned Dollar?"

There's also a YouTube (there's that word again) video featured on the site that is comically done by Penn & Teller. Even though it has some very funny parts it really is no joke how the American public has been duped into spending $4 billion per year on something that comes right into our homes, and that we already pay for with our tax dollars.

The people at Tappening.com have come up with some estimates for the annual expense for each individual that drinks bottled water.

• Eight glasses of water per day is the recommended intake (10 ounces per serving)
• A 20-ounce bottle of water on average is $1.50.
• Four 20-ounce bottles per day = 8 glasses = $6 a day.
• $6 per day X 365 days = $2,190.

Making allowances for days when an individual may not drink the full recommended amount, for possible discounted prices when buying bottled water in bulk, and for the cost of an optional home water filter system (i.e.-Brita or PUR), the folks at Tappening conclude that the average annual estimated savings for an individual who switches from regular bottled water intake to tap water would be approximately $1,400 . For a family of four that regularly drinks bottled water, using the figures and allowances above, the average estimated savings would be $5,600 per year .

Now if bottled water really were all that it's cracked up to be we may be able to justify the expenditure. But in a study conducted by the National Resource Defense Council over 4 years and with 1000 different bottled waters (I didn't know there were 1,000 different bottled waters), roughly one third were found to violate the water quality standards of their own industry.

That brings us to regulation of bottled water. The mighty Food & Drug Administration oversees the bottled water industry but only those bottled waters that are sold across state lines. So, if I bottle water in California and only sell it in California, the FDA doesn't look at me at all. And even if they did, they only have a part-time person in the whole of the FDA that oversees the entire bottled water industry in this country.

This information needs to be heard. Every one of us should talk to everyone we know about bottled water. But, what I can't agree with is that tap water, without being filtered, is a safe solution for our hydration needs.

In an article posted on SkinInc.com it states: The American Council of Science and Health (ACSH) just posted today their "Top 10 Unfounded Health Scares of 2008." One of these unfounded scares is: "Pharmaceuticals can be found in our drinking water." ACSH's bottom-line conclusion is: "No negative health effects have ever been observed as the result of trace levels of pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies. New technology allows us to find minute levels of scary-sounding chemicals in many substances we come in contact with every day, but such small amounts do not pose a health risk. Remember, the dose makes the poison!"

I'm sorry. I have no problem getting on board with a personal ban of bottled water. Since working with LIFE Ionizers™ I rarely use plastic bottles anymore anyway. But I simply can't accept, nor should I think the public be duped the other way, into accepting less than quality standards for drinking water. It's not OK to accept pharmaceuticals, chlorine, chloramines, arsenic, etc. in something that we’re supposed to put 80 ounces of in our bodies every day!

What Tappening.com needs to do to give their cause more legitimacy is to also tout the effectiveness of water filtration systems and even go to the extent of promoting the healthiest water possible which comes from water ionizers. The problem I see with causes like this is that they get so myopic on one theme, in this case "don't drink bottled water," that they almost go to the extent of twisting the facts in their direction, such as it's OK to drink tap water.

Perhaps that's our job however. Let's join the cause of making people aware of bottled water. Let's send them to sites like Tappening.com. But let's also go one step further and educate our customers, clients, friends, neighbors and family on the reality of municipal tap water.

Water on the Global Level

Written By: Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

Our planet's drinkable water is quickly disappearing. The mismanagement of our natural water reserves through its misplacement and displacement is contributing to climate change as well. Industrialized nations have polluted the surface water to the point that we are now taking water from the ground, the wilderness and watersheds and moving it to where we need it. It is moved to big cities and then dumped into the ocean. Furthermore, we pave over water retentive lands, frustrating the hydrologic cycle to fulfill its responsibility and bring the water back.

This global water problem is further complicated by what is termed the "virtual water trade." The virtual water trade is the process where one country uses vast amounts of water to produce commodities that are exported to other countries. Everyday in the U.S.,  1/3 of all domestic water use is for the production of exportable commodities. This is taxing our drinkable water reserves. In fact, Australia, another country involved in the virtual water trade, has hit the "water wall." They are running out of drinkable water.

It was believed until recently that the hydrologic cycle could not be interrupted but we now know that it can and has been dramatically and deeply affected by our abuse and displacement of water.

A global water cartel is forming throughout the world. The future may be more about water and less about oil. Corporations are actively engaging in the water business. Further proof of this is the privatization of municipal water  supplies. Large corporations now survey the globe looking for aquifers much like they did in the past looking for oil or mineral reserves. There are huge aquifers in Latin America that are being surveyed.

As with global warming, the global water crisis is often written off as a cyclical event in nature. Global warming is not the result of cyclical temperature changes and the global water issue is not a result of cyclical draught.

Some startling facts:

• Lake Meade at its present rate of drying up will be gone in 13 years.
• 50 billion bottles of water are sold each year and 95% of the plastic bottles are not recycled.
• The average American uses about 150 gallons of water a day, this includes private and domestic use.
• The average British citizen uses 30 gallons per day, private and domestic.
• Kenyans use 3 gallons per day period.
• It takes 74 gallons of water to produce one cup of coffee.
• It takes 600 gallons of water to produce the corn that is then fed to the cow to produce 1/3 of a pound of hamburger.
• In conclusion, geophysicists have recently determined that from damming up water in huge dams, redirecting streams, rivers and lakes, the speed of the earth's orbit has been altered and has shifted the tilt of axis and the shape of the gravitational field.

Tip of the Week

I would like to periodically fill you in on some helful tips on how to integrate Ionized water into your food preparation.  So...instead of a recipe this week here is a very practical tip on how to use this amazing water!

Successfully storing Celery and Carrots:

How many times have you bought fresh veggies to snack on, use in salads, or other recipes only to find that you don't use them before they become limp and wilted?  Do you throw away veggies because of this?  This tip will decrease waste and keep your veggies crips and crunchy!

Cut up celery and carrots into desired sizes.  Use container of choice and place veggies inside.  Fill up the container with Ionized water and store in refridgerator for up to two weeks. 

You will be amazed how fresh the Ionized water will keep your veggies!  The water can be changed after one week if you prefer, but it's not really necessary.

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

Seasonal Green Smoothie

A great way to maintain an alkaline lifestyle is getting enough leafy greens iand ionized water in your diet.  What better way to do this than starting your day with a delicious green smoothie.  Try to drink a green smoothie a couple times a week and see if you notice a difference!  They just may become your newest healty addiction!

1 ripe banana
2 persimmons - diced
2 dates/ pitted and soaked in 3/4 cup Ionized water - may add more water if you want it thinner
2 handfuls of greens of your choice - try a one or more of the following: romaine lettuce, kale- de-stemmed,spinach,cilantro, parsley,etc...

Mix all ingredients including the date soaking water in a high speed blender, pour, and, enjoy!

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

Alkaline Water Tip

The New Year is here.  Many tend to think about ways to improve their overall health at this time.  Some of us want to release the extra few pounds we put on over the Holidays (or during the entire year!)  You have an amazing weight loss tool at your finger tips…Ionized Alkaline Water!  I think it’s a great idea to be mindful of the food choices you are making and increasing exercise is always a good idea…but don’t forget to increase your water intake as well!   

The following are some suggestions on how to use your ionized water to drink you weight away:

1. Drink 2-3 glasses of water upon waking –start at level 1 and work your way up to level 3-4
2. Drink water all day long so you stay well hydrated.  I suggest you make sure you drink a glass of water every hour.
3. If you are working out, be sure to drink 8oz. of Alkaline water every 15-20 minutes.
4. When you feel hungry and want to reach for a snack, drink a glass of Alkaline water first, wait 15 minutes, and then see if you are still hungry.
5. Drink a glass of Alkaline water 30 minutes before each meal.
6. End your day with another glass of Alkaline water.

A note about emotional eating:
Often we are not really hungry when eat.  We do what’s called emotional eating:  eating instead of dealing with our feelings!  Over the Holidays it’s easy to eat more because of all the parties and gatherings centered on food.

In your daily life, however, there may be emotions you are experiencing such as stress, anger, and sadness. Instead of pausing,feeling and addressing any action you may need to take to resolve those feelings, some of you reach for food. Personally I tend to feel hungry when I get stressed or bored.  I am training myself to drink water instead and have discovered that the hunger goes away.  I ask myself “how am I feeling right now?”  Getting a grip on emotional eating is very important in prevent weight gain and health problems.  Using water to pause and take a break from food can help you get in touch with your true needs. 

So do yourself a big favor this year and take lots of Alkaline water breaks.  Use the time to breathe deeply, hydrate your body, and check in with yourself.  This will increase your awareness of what is really going on and then you can make a conscious choice about letting go of emotions and weight that bothering you. 


Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

A lot of people enjoy almonds as a healthy snack. I can see why as almonds are high in monounsaturated fats, the same type of health-promoting fats as are found in olive oil. They are also high in vitamin E, potassium, zinc, and iron. In addition, they are high in protein and contain more calcium than any other nut which makes them great for those who do not eat any meat or dairy products. I suggest you eat them in their raw form to get the most nutritional value from this tasty nut!

Dry roasted nuts have been cooked with oils. When oils are heated they change and are no longer good for the body. The heated oils can also cause the nuts to be rancid. Like other nuts, almonds contain enzyme inhibitors. This means that their enzymes are lying dormant. If you soak them you will activate the enzyme and they become easier to digest.

Directions:

• Place desired amount of raw almonds in glass jar or bowl.
• Cover with ionized alkaline water and soak overnight.
• Enjoy!

If you will not be using right away, store the almonds in ionized alkaline water in the refrigerator and change water daily.  Will keep for 3-4 days.

If you have a dehydrator and would like to create the dry roasted effect try the following: 

• Place soaked nuts on dehydrator tray covered with teflex sheet.
• Sprinkle with your favorite seasoning such as "Mexican blend" turmeric and sea salt; etc.
• Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 24 hours or until crunchy.

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

“Pick Me UP” Smoothie

This smoothie was created one night when I had to dash off to a meeting after work.  I did not have much time to make dinner and needed something quick and easy to provide some good energy.  It did the trick!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
3 Bananas
1 Orange
6 honey dates – pitted
Handful of almonds
1 tblsp maca powder (great for energy but simply omit if you do not have)
1/ 3/4 cup ionized water
2 big handfuls of organic baby spinach

Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

• 4 ripe tomatoes – medium sized cut up
• 1 cup alkaline ionized water
• Avocado
• Juice of one lime
• Big handful of fresh dill- cut up
• 5 sundried tomatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt to taste

Directions: Put water in blender then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
Top with chopped celery, sprouted sunflower seeds, sundried tomatoes, or anything else that sounds good to you!  Enjoy

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

Strawberry Martini
Serves 4

• 10 strawberries
• Juice from one lemon
• Juice from one lime
• 2 tbsp Kombucha Gold Essence
• 2 tbsp raw agave
• 2 cups ionized water
• 8 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients, pour in martini glass and enjoy!

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

Just because you are eating a more alkaline diet does not mean you have to give up your ice-cream.  As the weather warms up it will be nice to have a delicious cool treat to enjoy.  I created this delightful non-dairy ice-cream to replace the Standard American Diet ice-creams found in supermarkets and ice-cream parlors.  As the old saying goes “try it, you’ll like it!”

• Three ripe bananas – freeze for at least one day (you can keep frozen bananas in the freezer up to 3 months if sealed well)
• 1 cup of raw organic walnuts, shelled and soaked in alkaline ionized water for 6 hours
• 2 dates – place in water with walnuts to soak
• 2 tbsp organic grade b maple syrup
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 tsp organic vanilla or 1 vanilla bean – insides scraped out

Directions: Drain walnuts and dates and reserve 1 tbsp of the water.  Place walnuts and 1 tbsp of the water in a food processer with the S blade.  Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.  It takes a few minutes to get a creamy consistency.  Serve immediately and enjoy!
Add chopped walnuts on top if you want a crunchy topping.

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

Watermelon Wellness Drink

It’s getting warmer outside and you want to stay well hydrated! This is a great “pick-me-up” drink to enjoy now that watermelon is coming into season.  I love this drink and know you will too!

• ½ cup ionized alkaline water
• 5 chunks organic watermelon
• Big handful of organic spinach
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 dates, pitted

Place all ingredients in blender, mix, and enjoy!

By: Katy Joy Freeman, Raw Food Chef

Avoiding dairy is highly suggested as you transition to a more alkaline diet.   Looking for a good substitute?    I want to introduce you to homemade almond milk.  It is fun to make and so delicious.

• 1 cup almonds – soaked for 24 hours
• 4 cups water – I always use ionized alkaline water
• ¼ cup organic raw agave
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp sea salt

Directions: Put all ingredients in high-speed blender and blend for at least one minute.  Place small strainer of cheese cloth over milk bottle and pour milk into bottle.  Set aside almond pulp to use in other recipes.  Will keep in the refrigerator for 2 days.  If the milk becomes separated just shake before using. 

Katy Joy Freeman
Raw Food Chef

Raspberry “Superfood” Sorbet

Serves 2-4

• 2 cups fresh raspberries – frozen
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• ½ banana
• 4 medjool dates – soaked in ½ cup ionized alkaline water and pitted
• ¼ cup water from date soak
• 2 T raw honey
• 2 T bee pollen

Directions: Blend all ingredients in high-speed blender or food processer until smooth.  Top with shredded coconut and more bee pollen and serve immediately.

By: Katy Joy Freeman, Raw Food Chef

Simple Spinach Salad

• Organic baby spinach - rinse with acid water to clean, then dry
• ¼ cup raw pine nuts
• ¼ cup organic dried currants
• 2 stalks celery – chopped
• 1 cup red cabbage - chopped

Directions: Toss all ingredients with dressing listed below and enjoy!

Dressing: Olive oil, apple cider vinegar, fresh garlic, sea salt – use 2 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar when you make your dressing. Amount will vary depending on the size of the salad. I like to mix the dressing on the bottom of the salad bowl then add the spinach and salad fixings.

By: Katy Joy Freeman, Raw Food Chef

The New Sports Drink: Alkaline, Ionized, Micro- clustered Water

Written By: Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

The process of drinking water before and during exercise is referred to as prehydration and hydration respectively. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, the purpose of prehydrating is to start an exercise activity in what is called an euhydrated state. That is your body is normally hydrated and plasma electrolyte levels have also reached a normal level. This prehydration activity should be performed several hours before exercise to enable fluid absorption and allow urine output to return to normal levels. The goal of drinking water during exercise is to prevent excessive water loss or dehydration through the physiological process of sweating. Individual sweat rates can be estimated by measuring body weight before and after exercise. Approximately for every one pound of body weight lost , the equivalent loss of water would be one pint or eight ounces. The goal is to prevent water loss in excess of 2% of the total body weight or one becomes dehydrated.

It has been known through studies that were originally performed in the 1940 s that dehydration resulted in impaired physiological and performance responses. More recent studies have demonstrated performance loss at dehydration levels less than 2% of body weight. Specifically it has been demonstrated that even mild to moderate dehydration reduces aerobic endurance performance resulting in increased body temperature, heart rate, perceived exertion and possibly increased reliance on carbohydrate as a fuel source.

Dr. Judelson, et al., in a study published in October, 2007, demonstrated that dehydration significantly decreased resistance exercise performance as would be performed commonly in a gym with weights or machines.

Clearly drinking water before and during exercise is important. The composition of this fluid replacement has also gone through many changes. Conventional wisdom for many years was that salt, sodium, needed to be added to the water to replace sweat lost sodium. Recent thought has arrived at the conclusion that most people eating the standard Western diet have consumed too much salt and subsequent sodium and that it does not need to be immediately replaced when exercise lasts less than two hours. The issue now becomes what is the best water to replace exercise induced water loss though sweating.

Consider that when exercising you are consuming more oxygen and metabolizing energy through muscle work. This process creates free radicals, lactic acid and a mild metabolic acidosis.

Drinking alkaline, ionized, micro-clustered water may help ameliorate all three of these exercise induced physiological end-products. Water that has been alkalinized may help neutralize the exercise induced acidosis. Alkaline water by definition contains alkaline forming minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium. Water that has been ionized may help act as a free-radical scavenger to address the issue of accelerated oxygen consumption. Ionized water by definition has more negatively charged hydroxyl ions than tap or filtered water. Ionized water has the ability to give up these extra negative charges and may help act as a free-radical scavenger. Lastly when water is micro-clustered it may be absorbed at a faster rate. This may help with general rehydration.

It is recommended that you drink 400-600 mL of water 2 hours before exercise and 150-300 mL every 15 to 20 minutes of exercise, varying the volume depending on your total body weight and sweating rate.

Written By: Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

In October 2004 the U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D. issued for the first time a report on the topic of  bone health. He warned Americans that by 2020, one in two Americans over the age of 50 will be at risk for fractures from osteoporosis or low bone mass. In the U.S. today it is estimated that 10 million people over the age of 50 have osteoporosis and another 34 million have osteopenia (low bone mass) and are at risk for developing osteoporosis. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), osteoporosis accounts for an estimated 1.5 million fractures annually in the U.S. In fact, it is estimated that 1 in 2 women and 1 in 8 men will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.

Other findings in the report include:

• About 20 percent of senior citizens who suffer a hip fracture die within a year of fracture.
• About 20 percent of individuals with as hip fracture end up in a nursing home within a year.
• Hip fractures account for 300,000 hospitalizations each year.
• The direct care costs for osteoporotic fractures alone are already up to $18 billion each year. The number is expected to increase if  action to prevent osteoporosis is not taken now.

If this is not alarming enough, according to the this report, osteoporosis is a "silent" condition because many Americans are unaware that their bone health is in jeopardy. In fact, four times as many men and nearly three times as many women have osteoporosis than report having the condition. One of the most dangerous myths about osteoporosis is that only women need to worry about bone health. Osteoporosis affects men and women of all races.

All researchers and health care providers agree that the key to this potentially life threatening and disabling condition is prevention. Early intervention, recognizing risk factors and modifying or eliminating them and life style changes are the agreed remedies.

Let's take a look at two of the agreed leading risk factors:

• Chronic acidemia from protein-rich meat based diets.
• Chronic acidemia from the over consumption of carbonated soft-drinks, coffee and alcohol.

It is my opinion after 26 years of clinical experience that absent the side-effects of certain prescription medications which are certainly a risk factor for osteoporosis, the underlying primary risk factor is chronic acidemia. It has been well documented that the traditional Western diet of protein-rich foods and the over consumption of soft-drinks, coffee and alcohol can lead to a chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis. This diet increases the net dietary acid load, lowers the pH of the blood and acidifies the urine. What can we do on a daily basis to combat this chronic acidemia?

Both in my practice with my patients and at my own home I recommend along with dietary changes, exercise, calcium and Vitamin D supplementation, the drinking of ionized, micro-clustered alkaline water. Why alkaline water? Every time that the body succumbs to this low grade metabolic acidosis, the body must regain balance and return to homeostasis. Our blood pH level must remain in a very narrow range or organ systems, enzyme functioning and basic life support become at risk at failing. The physiological response to this acidosis is to leach calcium out of our bones and thereby buffer this systemic acidity. I call this process the "Tums effect." It is analogous to taking Tums when your stomach is upset. Tums is primarily calcium just like your bones. When this process occurs day after day your bones are leached out, your calcium "bank" is depleted and you end up with osteoporosis.

The traditional Western diet is far more acidifying than you may think. According to Sang Whang, an engineer, scientist, inventor with many US patents and expert on anti-aging and alkalinity, drinking one glass of cola with a pH value of 2.5 could in theory lower the blood pH to dangerous levels if it were not for this bone calcium homeostatic mechanism. In fact without this bone calcium leaching mechanism, one would need to drink 32 glasses of alkaline water to neutralize this one cola's acidity, according to Sang Whang.

Researchers Remer and Manz developed a system for calculating the average potential renal acid load of specific foods, referred to as the PRAL. Fats and oils have a relative value of zero, they do not produce an acidic load on the kidneys. As the PRAL goes up in positive numbers, so goes up the potential acid load. Negative numbers represent an alkaline effect.

• Milk and Dairy Products: +1.0-+23.6
• Meat and Meat Products: +9.5
• Fish: +7.9
• Grain Products: +3.5-+7.0
• Vegetables: -2.8
• Fruits and Fruit Juices: -3.1

We all know that it is very important to drink good clean water every day to maintain health. Why not optimize that mandatory requirement for excellent health by drinking ionized, micro-clustered alkaline water and mitigate the ill effects of acidic foods and  help reverse the progression of  conditions like osteoporosis?

Investigators Find High Levels of Uranium in California Drinking Water

An investigation by the Orange County Register found that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Southern California's largest water supplier, failed to report that uranium levels in the Hayfield Groundwater Storage Program exceeded EPA safety limits. The investigation also found other toxic chemicals in the water.

Tests conducted in 2000 at the Hayfield drinking water storage project showed uranium contamination between 16 picocuries and 35 picocuries per liter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit for uranium in drinking water is 20 picocuries per liter. The Hayfield level is 2 to 20 times higher than uranium levels reported by the five largest drinking water suppliers in Orange County. The Orange County Register reports that Metropolitan Water District officials proceeded with the drinking water project without notifying some officials of the findings of the water tests.

District General Manager Jeff Kightlinger disagrees with some of the conclusions reached by the newspaper. He said that notice about the drinking water testing was given to the authorities who needed to know. "It was never communicated as a show stopper because we didn't believe it was," said Kightlinger.

The water district says it plans to deliver safe drinking water from the Hayfield water by diluting it with Colorado River water to lower the concentration of uranium to an acceptable level. In addition, the 2000 water test was conducted on untreated water. Water treatment would lower the uranium concentration even further before it is delivered to the public.

The amounts of uranium found in the water tests is not radioactive, but it is a dangerous heavy metal that is toxic to the kidneys and, at high doses, can kill the tissues surrounding organs.

Alkalinization and the PRAL Score of Food

Written By: Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

Measuring the pH (alkalinity or acidity) of water is easy: you simply place 2-3 reagent drops in an ounce of water and look at the color of the water. Measuring the pH of solid foods is much more difficult. Today, there are two basic methods for calculating the pH of foods.

The first method is known as ash analysis. This method requires food stuff to be incinerated at a high temperature. The ashes are analyzed for mineral content. Acidic anions in food include chloride, phosphorous, sulfates and other organic acids. Basic/alkaline cations in food include sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. The problem with this method is that it did not take into account the bioavailability of the food’s constituents. It was in a sense an in vitro (in a laboratory) test as opposed to an in vivo (in life) analysis.

In 1995 two researches Dr. Thomas Remer and Dr. F. Manz developed a new way to measure the acid/base effect of specific foods on the human body. This pH measuring tool is referred to as the P otential R enal A cid L oad (PRAL ). The PRAL of an ingested specific food is determined by measuring the acidity and ammonium appearing in the urine and then subtracting out the measured urinary bicarbonate. This method yields a net acid excretion score based on direct measurements of the urine. Previous to the implementation of the PRAL score method, ash analysis was utilized.

The PRAL method is far superior to ash analysis in that it takes into effect the digestion and absorption of a food and its direct effect on the kidneys and urine. However in my opinion the PRAL method has some limitations as well in that a specific food may elicit a pH homeostatic balancing mechanism and that would influence the end result in the urine. This may be evidenced by the PRAL score of coffee. Nevertheless, the PRAL method remains the best method to date.

Click here to download Table of Foods & Beverages and Their Relative PRAL Values

Let’s calculate a total PRAL score for an average Western diet meal. Take 250g (about ½ lb.) of chicken. The PRAL value for chicken is 8.7 per 100 grams. We have 250 grams which is 2.5 times 100, so we multiply 8.7 by 2.5 which equals +21.75. Add ½ pound of potatoes, that would be -4 times 2.5 which equals -10. Add 8 oz. whole milk, so multiply 1.1 by 2.5(8 oz. equals about 250g) which equals +2.75. The total for the meal would be +14.50. That is a highly acidic load and so typical of the average American diet. Using other typical foods yields the same acidic story. It is not until you incorporate several servings of vegetables and fruits and limit the amount of meat, poultry and fish before you reach a net alkaline PRAL score. Go back to the PRAL table above and look at the food group averages. The whole story is there. Meats, grains and dairy products are all highly acidic. Vegetables, fruits and nuts are all alkaline. Interesting isn’t it? All the foods you have always been told to eat because they are healthy are alkaline forming!

Eat healthy alkaline foods and drink 3-4 quarts of ionized alkaline water every day!

A Paleo-biological View of the Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP) and How It Relates to Alkaline, Ionized, Micro-clustered Water

Written By: Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

A very simple and at the same time complex event took place approximately 2.5 billion years ago. This is when a special form of bacteria called blue green algae learned how to use sunlight to strip hydrogen off of water and combine it with carbon dioxide to make sugars. This is the origin of photosynthesis. But what does this have to do with oxidation-reduction potentials (ORP)? The answer is the creation of oxygen .

A by-product of photosynthesis is the formation of free oxygen or O₂ . As the predominant blue-green algae utilized photosynthesis and stripped hydrogen off water, the "waste gas" produced was oxygen. At this stage of the planet's development, oxygen was a newcomer. At first it was bound to oxygen-hungry minerals like iron and silicon and then absorbed into solution in the oceans. Once these reservoirs were full, it began to accumulate in the atmosphere, fundamentally changing the chemistry of the planet forever. And it is this chemistry that we are interested in.

Chemistry is essentially the science of moving electrons around. A chemical bond between two atoms is actually a pair of electrons shared by two atoms and a chemical reaction is the movement of electrons from some bonds to others. In any chemical reaction, bonds between certain atoms, those in the reactants  are broken and at the same time new bonds are formed in the products. This is a coupled oxidation and reduction reaction. The bond that gives up its electrons is oxidized and the bond that received the electrons is reduced. When it comes to human physiology and life itself it appears it is better to receive electrons than to give them. Aging itself may be a process of loosing electrons and becoming oxidized. So-called free radicals strip away electrons from cells causing a myriad of problems. The rusting of metal, the browning of a cut apple and the aging of human cells whether they be skin cells or heart cells are all at the mercy of free radicals. What to do?

When electrons from atoms or molecules are put together, the available electrons will move toward bonds that are more positive, or lacking electrons. How does this work?

Let's look at water: O₂ +2H₂ = 2H₂ O   Or, we balance it to make one molecule of H₂ O (the number of atoms must be the same on each side of the equation) so when you combine oxygen and hydrogen, the electrons of the hydrogen move toward the oxygen. In the process, hydrogen is oxidized and oxygen is reduced.

H:H = 2H+ 2e-,   so ½ 0₂ + 2H + 2e = H₂ O

So what does this have to do with human physiology, drinking water and health?
Let me explain…

The game of survival is to not get oxidized to death, literally. So we can take anti-oxidants: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, ect., free radical scavengers. These substances give up electrons and help restore the cells and molecules to a healthy state. What if I told you that your drinking water could do the same thing. How?

Ionized, alkalinized, micro-clustered water has free electrons available to do free radical scavenging. This is referred to as the negative ORP or oxidation-reduction potential. We have come full circle. How is regular tap water turned into miraculous new water? By electrolysis.

ORAC- Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity

Written By: Dr. Peter Kopko

A new method of measuring the antioxidant capacities of different foods was developed by scientists at the NIH . This method measures the oxidative degradation of a molecule that has been made to fluoresce after it has been mixed with free radical generators. In more simple terms, a food substance like a carrot has a special molecule added to it that has been engineered to glow. The amount of time and intensity that the molecule will glow is determined by how much and how fast it is damaged by adding a free radical. This is known as the decay curve , florescent intensity vs. time. The only thing that will slow down the destruction of the glowing molecule is if it is protected from the oxidative damage of the free radical by naturally occurring antioxidants in the food substance.

The longer the fluorescent molecule glows the more antioxidant present in the food substance. Correlation between the high antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables, and the positive impact of diets high in fruits and vegetables, is believed to play an important role in the free-radical theory of aging.

Quite an ingenious method. And what did they find? That certain spices, herbs, legumes and berries rated very highly.

Here is a partial list from the Department of Agriculture:

USDA data on foods with high levels of antioxidant phytochemicals

For a more complete list Click here.

We All Need to Spread the Word About Water

For more than a year now I’ve been reading volumes of information about water. I’ve been writing about water, talking about water, and drinking lots and lots of water. I wouldn’t call myself an expert by any means because there are always people who know more than I do about everything. But I would consider myself knowledgeable. When I sit back and think of everything I’ve learned about water, I find it interesting because water is something I studied and learned about in grade school. Yet, there is so much more that has been discovered about water in the last 40 years.

While scientists and engineers have put men and women on the moon, created the PC and the internet, found cures for some diseases, and medicine to mask the symptoms of thousands of others, water has been just water. It’s the same substance that kept organisms alive millions of years ago so we could evolve into what we are today. In those millions of years, water itself has not changed. Yet we keep learning more and more about it. I find it fascinating and mystical at the same time. Have we overlooked certain powers and properties of water? Will we someday understand that what we have overlooked is the key to human survival? Will it be too late?

Then I thought, “what if we could just educate people on what we do know about water now?” Could we save lives and reduce the massive burden on our healthcare system? How are we going to get the word out about water to people? I’m not talking about people like the readers of this article. You want to know about water. You know the people I’m talking about. The 32 ounce soda from 7-Eleven on the way to work people. They put so much acid in their body that it would take gallons of alkaline water to offset the impact. How can we educate these people on the damage they are doing to themselves?

I believe the answers lie in those of us that do the reading and educate ourselves. It’s up to us to share what we know. So I’m asking each and every one of you to learn what I learned recently and share it with everyone you know. In my recent travels over the internet I discovered yet another oracle of information about water. It’s called WaterCure.com .

WaterCure.com features research and information from Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D., an internationally renowned researcher, author and advocate of the natural healing power of water. He attended Fettes College in Scotland and was a graduate of St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School of London University, where he studied under Sir Alexander Fleming, who shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery of penicillin.

What Dr. B (as he is referred to) has shared is comforting and absolutely astounding. It’s comforting in the respect that it confirms some of what Life Ionizers and Dr. Peter Kopko have been telling people for years. What Dr. B tells us is astounding in that it places a tremendous value on the healing powers of water.

Here are some of the statements he makes on the web site:

• Water prevents and helps to cure heartburn. Heartburn is a signal of water shortage in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract. It is a major thirst signal of the human body. The use of antacids or tablet medications in the treatment of this pain does not correct dehydration, and the body continues to suffer as a result of its water shortage.
• Water prevents and helps to cure arthritis. Rheumatoid joint pain - arthritis - is a signal of water shortage in the painful joint. It can affect the young as well as the old. The use of pain-killers does not cure the problem, but exposes the person to further damage from pain medications. Intake of water and small amounts of salt will cure this problem.
• Water prevents and helps to cure back pain. Low back pain and ankylosing arthritis of the spine are signs of water shortage in the spinal column and discs - the water cushions that support the weight of the body. These conditions should be treated with increased water intake - not a commercial treatment, but a very effective one.
• Water prevents and helps to cure angina. Heart pain - angina - is a sign of water shortage in the heart/lung axis. It should be treated with increased water intake until the patient is free of pain and independent of medications. Medical supervision is prudent. However, increased water intake is angina's cure.
• Water prevents and helps to cure migraines. Migraine headache is a sign of water need by the brain and the eyes. It will totally clear up if dehydration is prevented from establishing in the body. The type of dehydration that causes migraine might eventually cause inflammation of the back of the eye and possibly loss of eye sight.
• Water prevents and helps to cure colitis. Colitis pain is a signal of water shortage in the large gut. It is associated with constipation because the large intestine constricts to squeeze the last drop of water from the excrements - thus the lack of water lubrication.
• Water and salt prevent and helps to cure asthma. Asthma, which also affects 14 million children and kills several thousand of them every year, is a complication of dehydration in the body. 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.
• Water prevents and helps to cure high blood pressure. Hypertension is a state of adaptation of the body to a generalized drought, when there is not enough water to fill all the blood vessels that diffuse water into vital cells. As part of the mechanism of reverse osmosis, when water from the blood serum is filtered and injected into important cells through minute holes in their membranes, extra pressure is needed for the "injection process." Just as we inject I.V. "water" in hospitals, so the body injects water into tens of trillions of cells all at the same time. Water and some salt intake will bring blood pressure back to normal!
• Water prevents and helps to cure early adult-onset diabetes . Adult-onset diabetes is another adaptive state to severe dehydration of the human body. To have adequate water in circulation and for the brain's priority water needs, the release of insulin is inhibited to prevent insulin from pushing water into all body cells. In diabetes, only some cells get survival rations of water. Water and some salt will reverse adult-onset diabetes in its early stages.
• Water lowers blood cholesterol. High cholesterol levels are an indicator of early drought management by the body. Cholesterol is a clay-like material that is poured in the gaps of some cell membranes to safeguard them against losing their vital water content to the osmotically more powerful blood circulating in their vicinity. Cholesterol, apart from being used to manufacture nerve cell membranes and hormones, is also used as a "shield" against water taxation of other vital cells that would normally exchange water through their cell membranes.

Do you know anybody that has these ailments? How much money do you think they’re spending on drugs to mask the symptoms instead of addressing the cure? Is it possible that if they simply drank more water they could be on their way to recovery? What if you introduced them to this information and Dr. B’s web site? You see, we can all be a part of the solution to many problems facing healthcare all over the world today.

Our politicians here in the U.S. are in Washington debating over how best to tackle the rising cost of healthcare. Many want to raise our taxes to fund a national healthcare program. Perhaps instead of forcing us to give them more out of our paychecks every week, they should force us to drink more water.

I ask you to do something today. Email this article to someone in poor heath. Email your congressperson and tell them to look into ways to educate the public on disease prevention. Buy a water ionizer for your home. Sit down with your kids tonight and tell them about the dangers of drinking carbonated soft drinks. Drink 64 ounces of fresh, clean water.

If you do just one of these things you’ll feel better. If you do them all you might save a life, become a part of the solution, add ten years to your life, give a gift to your children, and flush toxins from your system. Now that would be a good day. 

Written By: Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

Almost everyone knows that a snowflake has six arms or six sides which makes it by definition, hexagonal. While pentagonal patterns (five sided) abound in living forms, the mineral world favors two-fold, three-fold, four-fold, and six-fold symmetry. The hexagon is a ‘close-packing’ shape that allows for maximum structural efficiency. It is very common in the realm of molecules and crystals, in which pentagonal forms are almost never found. Steroids, cholesterol, benzene, TNT, vitamins C & D, aspirin, sugar, graphite – all of these show six-fold symmetry. The most famous hexagonal architecture is built by bees, wasps, and hornets. So what does this have to do with restructured water?

Restructured water is water that has been ionized, micro-clustered and alkalinized. The hexagonal connection lies in the fact that microclustered water is water that has become "wetter." In other words, when the surface tension of a liquid is reduced, the liquid becomes more “liquid." In the case of restructured water, ordinary tap or processed bottled water which has 13-16 molecules of water (H2O) per cluster is reduced to 6 molecules per cluster. What makes water bead–up on a surface is high surface tension. The ability of a water spider to “walk on water” is due to the high surface tension of the water. Restructured microclustered water is just the opposite. It has tiny clusters and less surface tension which makes it ideal for drinking and optimal absorption. It is believed that natural glacial water has the optimal cluster size at six.

Why?

It is a fact of physical science that as a liquid or gas cools, the molecules contract and become more organized, as in a crystal or solid. Conversely as you heat a liquid or solid, the molecules expand and become more disorganized; a gas. As water chills and approaches freezing, it contracts and forms ice crystals which are composed of six water molecules. This appears to be nature's way of best organizing water into ice crystals. It is my opinion that nature’s chosen hexagonal pattern must be the most efficient geometric pattern for receiving, storing and transmitting energy from water molecules to other molecules, specifically living tissues. Remember nature is already utilizing this pattern in bio-chemicals like steroids, cholesterol, sugar, vitamin C, etc. ...why not water? As I mentioned in a previous article, computer scientists are experimenting with water molecules as memory devices for computers. Water molecules apparently can retain information. It is my opinion that many homeopathic remedies work on this premise and that their “information“ is stored and transmitted via water molecules. Furthermore, as glacial six-sided water crystals melt, they produce, in my opinion, naturally micro-clustered hexagonal water. There is probably an equilibrium between ice and water with both being hexagonal. But how can we get this water at home?

The technology of ionization through electrolysis creates micro-clustered water with a predominance of clusters with six molecules. Experiments have been done on this water with NMR(Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) instrumentation and, in fact, the hexagonal water has been verified.

So if you are unable to catch a fresh drop of water from the edge of a glacier, consider utilizing an ionizing, micro-clustering, alkalinizing water machine: a LIFE Ionizer™!

Hydroxyl Ion vs. Hydroxyl Radical
Written By: Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

There is some very alarming bad science being written about ionizer machines in general. It is being written by otherwise health-conscious individuals and already being quoted in other health-related books. The leaders of this misinformation are Dr. True Ott and Dr. Gabriel Cousins. Dr. Cousins is a medical doctor and a long time proponent and supporter of eating foods in their natural state: raw . Both individuals have written books that claim ionizers produce the hydroxyl radical , an extremely toxic "free radical."

Let me be perfectly clear: they do not ! And I challenge anyone to prove otherwise. Water, H₂ 0, dissociates into (H) hydrogen and (OH-) hydroxyl ions , not radicals. Water ionizers produce hydroxyl ions not radicals . People mistakenly continue to refer to the hydroxyl ion as the hydroxyl radical . By definition, this is incorrect. In any chemistry text on the planet, the hydroxyl radical will be defined as OH(neutral) not OH -. They are not the same chemical. Pluses and minuses in chemistry mean everything. In this case it is the difference between something that is good for you and a toxic substance.

This is not an issue of ideology but basic chemistry. The hydroxyl radical and the hydroxyl ion only have the word hydroxyl in common. An ion and a radical are not the same thing. At best these individuals are misinformed and have a parochial understanding of what is referred to as reactive oxygen species chemistry . At worst they are promoters of poorly researched science and should be careful about offering their opinions.

Here’s why:
Let’s first define what a radical actually is. The standard definition is: any atom, molecule or ion that has one or more unpaired electrons in it's orbit. A radical can have a net charge of negative, positive or no net charge (neutral). The term radical is synonymous with the term free radical . It is this very fact of the unpaired electron, that drives the free radical to do its damage. A free radical is always looking for that “other electron” to become paired again. A free radical will inevitably take another atom, molecule or ion for that electron. The entity that was used is damaged and in fact becomes a free radical itself because it now needs to replace the electron that was taken! This is how free radicals do their damage.

Now that we know what a free radical is, lets talk a little about the hydroxyl radical . Hydroxyl radicals are extremely damaging to living tissues, probably only rivaled by the superoxide anion. Hydroxyl radicals are formed by exposing water to ionizing radiation (atomic fallout).

This is what makes water poisonous, like if it has been exposed to an atomic blast. Even if you wanted to, an ionizer machine that produces alkaline water, could not produce hydroxyl radicals. It does not have anywhere near the power to do so. Furthermore it is a fact of science that ionizer machines produce hydroxyl ions not hydroxyl radicals. There is a big difference. Are these individuals confused by the word "ionizing?" Is a water alkalinizing machine similar to atomic blast? That would be laughable; the water would be radioactive!

Chemical texts draw a clear distinction between what is called a hydroxyl radical and the hydroxyl ion. They are not the same. The point being, once again, is that a radical by definition has one or more unpaired electrons. The hydroxyl ion (OH-) does not have any unpaired electrons and is not a radical. Please note the following from a biomedical website:

•    superoxide anion
•    peroxide (hydrogen peroxide)
•    hydroxyl radical

*****The structure of these radicals is shown in the figure below, along with the notation used to denote them. Note the difference between hydroxyl radical and hydroxyl ion, which is not a radical.

You can clearly see that OH-  is not a radical.  It has no unpaired electrons.

Through the ionization process, like electrolysis, two streams of water are created from the anode and cathode. On one side you have H+ and acidic water and on the other side, alkaline water, OH- hydroxyl ions and alkaline minerals like calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, etc.

We at LIFE Ionizers™ are sincerely concerned with helping people attain excellent health. I personally have been drinking this water for several years now and have experienced great benefits. I have helped many patients acquire this technology and they have great benefits from using this water. The Japanese have also used this water for over 40 years, and with great benefits. This water does not contain the harmful hydroxyl radical. I hope that Dr.’s Ott and Cousins will consider the aforementioned information and possibly retract any incorrect statements they've made.

Dr. Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

If You Think You Can’t Afford a Water Ionizer, Think Again!

Written By: Dale Guiducci

OK, so you are aware of the health related problems with drinking tap water, and/or the economic and environmental impact bottle water has, but you've made the decision for now that the water ionizer you were thinking about will have to wait.

Not only can it NOT wait, but it doesn't have to. I am going to show you how you can pay for a water ionizer that costs between $1,500 and $2,500 without taking any more money out of your pocket than you already do. Sound crazy? Just read on.

Let;s first discuss why you simply cannot afford to wait to filter and ionize your tap water. The primary reason is your health and that of your family. Everyone’s tap water contains different harmful elements, some of which come from the ground and some are purposely added to the water to kill other harmful elements. It's a trade off that our government has decided we can live (or die) with. In some areas where people get their water from the ground, mainly from wells, they must be concerned with leaching from industrialization and the ground itself. The contaminants differ. But in almost all water supplies that are treated by municipal water plants there is either chlorine or chloramines added to “protect us."

Here are some conclusions drawn with regard to the effect chlorine has on our health:

• The Medical College of Wisconsin has stated, "We are quite convinced, based on this study, that there is an association between cancer and chlorinated water."
• According to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality, "Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine."
• Dr. Robert Carlson, a highly respected University of Minnesota researcher whose work is sponsored by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, sums it up by claiming "the chlorine problem is similar to that of air pollution," and adds that "chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times!"
• Breast cancer, which now affects one in every eight women in North America, has recently been linked to the accumulation of chlorine compounds in the breast tissue. A study carried out in Hartford Connecticut, the first of its kind in North America, found that, "women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organochlorines (chlorination byproducts) in their breast tissue than women without breast cancer."

And of course, this does not address heavy metals, arsenic, pharmaceuticals and hundreds of other chemicals that we shouldn’t be drinking along with our water. That should do it for you but if you’re still not convinced just Google "harmful effects of chlorine in drinking water” and do some research. We also haven’t yet talked about how an ionizer increases the alkalinity of our water which offsets the acids built up in our bodies from our diets and the loss of bicarbonates. That discussion would take another article in and of itself. But I hope I’ve demonstrated that there are a multitude of health related reasons why an ionizer is imperative.

So, we’ve covered why you cannot wait to buy that ionizer, now let’s discuss why you don’t need to. If you’re aware of this situation and are drinking bottled water or other beverages such as sports drinks to avoid drinking tap water, just spend a little time and write down how much you spend each day on this stuff.

The FDA tells us that we should drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day. Let’s say you don’t trust the government and you come to the conclusion that it’s just fine to drink half of that to maintain your health. Or, you decide that you can substitute other beverages. That’s 32 ounces of water or other beverages per day. If you go to http://www.newdream.org/water/calculator.php and plug in 32 ounces of drinking water per day into their calculator it will tell you that you are spending $1,138.48 a year for bottled water. That’s $94.87 per month. If you drink sports drinks and carbonated sodas that figure could easily double! And if you are drinking the recommended amount of water that figure does in fact double. 

And that is just for one person. If you have a family of four, you are easily spending $3,000 to $4,000 a year on beverages. So by buying a water ionizer and filling glass containers each day to bring to the office or school, you can almost pay for 2 ionizers.

But I’m not done yet. If you want to save even more money switch out all the incandescent light bulbs in your house and replace them with CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights). One estimate claims you can save over $23 per year for each bulb in the house. Count up the number of bulbs you have and multiply that times $23. CFLs used to cost a lot but you can get them at great prices now. I’ve purchased them for about $1.00 / 2-pack. So, let’s say you have 25 bulbs in your house. Even with the cost of the CFLs you’re saving over $550 per year. You actually save even more when you consider that CFLs last much longer than incandescent bulbs. What does switching out your light bulbs have to do with water? Nothing - except it’s another way to save money so you can afford that ionizer. 

We all make justifications not to do things we know we should. Sometimes, especially during this economic downturn, the justification is the cost. But the conclusion that I hope you’ve drawn is that if you make your health, and that of your family, a priority you’ll pick up the phone or go online and buy that ionizer today. You’ll tell your family that anything but water from the ionizer is prohibited so you can save enough money to pay for it and pocket an additional $1,000 to $2,000 a year. And if you really want to save money and help the environment you’ll count up the number of light bulbs you need and buy CFLs. Good for your health, the environment and your pocket book.

The Downside of Reverse Osmosis and Water Softeners

Written By: Dale Guiducci

Because you are even reading this article you are one of the very small number of people who are concerned enough about the water coming into their house to do some research on it. The problem with doing research is that you avail yourself to the volumes of information out there and therefore can become confused over which is the best type of water filtration to use.

What you first have to ask yourself is, “what is your main concern with the water coming into your home?" For some people they want to filter out the chemicals and other contaminants contained in the municipal supply or coming from their wells. For others, it’s all about how the water makes their skin feel when they bath or shower. And still another group wants to see the glasses and dishes look clean without any spots from minerals.

It still amazes me how many people are completely satisfied that they shower in chlorine and ammonia every day. They ignore the fact that the skin is our largest organ and absorbs small particles into the body through the pores. Yet it’s important to them that their glasses don’t have spots! I agree that drinking from clear glasses is a nicety but if I had to decide between the two I would have some spots on my silverware.

One misnomer is that hard water (water with a high mineral count) causes dry skin. It’s not the minerals that cause dry skin, it’s the chlorine, ammonia, chlorines and other chemicals used to kill bacteria in the water by municipal treatment plants.

There have been two main types of systems installed in hundreds of thousands of homes in the last two decades, Reverse Osmosis and Water Softening Systems, to tackle the issues mentioned above. Unfortunately, both have their flaws and don’t do a complete job.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems can be installed for the whole home but such an application is radically expensive so most people opt for an under the sink variety to deal with only the water flowing from the kitchen tap. This solution leaves them still bathing in contaminated water. But worse RO systems filter every particle out of the water over a certain size. This means they filter out the healthiest parts of water which are the minerals such as calcium and magnesium. These minerals are important for our bones, our teeth and our blood. When we don’t get enough of these minerals from our diets (food and water) our bodies will leech these minerals from bones and organs to make sure the blood is healthy. This can cause osteoporosis and other problems. Some manufacturers and installers are using mineral injection filters to put the minerals back in the water after the RO to offset this problem.

However, another issue with RO systems is that they waste a lot of water. It is estimated that the homeowner will lose 3 gallons of water for every one gallon of filtered water. This water runs directly out to the sewer or septic tank. This, of course, is a budgetary concern but also a big environmental concern especially in places like Arizona and California. A lesser concern is that the membrane through which the water flows must be changed out periodically.

So let’s review RO systems:

• They are effective in filtering out most contaminants and chemicals, but also filtering out healthy minerals .
• They waste 75% of the water coming into the RO tank and are, in most cases, too expensive to be used for the entire home leaving residents bathing in contaminated water.

Water softening systems present a whole host of other issues. Water softening systems, in and of themselves, do not filter out anything. So every contaminant and chemical that is present in the source water will remain so. They are generally installed as a whole home application but can be a component installed on just the hot side just before the hot water heater. What occurs with a water softener is that the water coming into the home is diverted into a tank filled with either salt or potassium. When the water runs across these media the minerals in the water are exchanged for sodium chloride or potassium chloride. Taking out the minerals ‘softens’ the water.

People experience that they need to use less detergents and soaps to gain lather, and that the spots are now gone from their dishes and glassware. Some people like the feeling after showering or bathing but others claim they feel slimy and it seems that they can’t wash off the soap. Typically showers and faucets stay cleaner and have less calcium and lime scale build up. What also occurs though is that the water doesn’t taste very good. Also, because it contains high levels of sodium it isn’t good for people with even marginal blood pressure issues. So typically people have to either buy bottled water to drink or install an RO system to take out the sodium or potassium chloride. Installing an RO with a water softener will alleviate the taste problem and filter out the contaminants and chemicals for drinking water, but it does nothing to change the fact that residents will still be bathing and showering in chlorine, chloramines and ammonia as well as other harmful elements.

Recently environmentalists and municipalities have found common ground in their opposition to water softening systems. Environmentalists disapprove of the salt being dumped into the water supply because it causes problems with irrigation and ground water. The high level of sodium in the water isn’t good for farming purposes.  Municipalities are passing ordinances to ban water softening systems (25 cities in California and more on the way) because it is difficult to filter out the salt and it causes pipes to deteriorate at a much faster pace.

Let’s review water softening systems:

• They don’t filter anything out of the water unless they are accompanied by an RO system.
• Residents still are bathing in contaminated water.
• They can cause damage to pipes in the home and the municipal water treatment plants.
• Environmentalists and cities have serious concerns about these systems and some cities are banning their use.
• And another issue is that the homeowner has to replace the salt regularly which is a burden and a budgetary concern.

So now that we have discussed the drawbacks of two of the most popular systems homeowners have been installing for the last 20 years, let’s focus on the alternatives. The best alternative is a whole home water filtration system that filters out all the contaminants and chemicals without taking out the minerals. We actually want the minerals in our water for our health. There are many such systems available from just under $1,000 to over $4,000 depending on the size of the home and the number of residents in the home. Some of these systems come with various stages of filtration to take out chlorine, chloramines, ammonia, pesticides, heavy metals and other chemicals.

A less expensive approach is to install small filters under the sink to take out the contaminants mentioned above for drinking water. Then install shower filters in each of the bathrooms so residents can shower chlorine and chloramines free.

Of course, to optimize any system and increase the health benefits for one’s family, purchase and install a water ionizer to get alkaline ionized, acidic and filtered water. To understand the benefits of water ionizers visit the web site of your Life Ionizer dealer.  

The Alkaline Diet
Katy Joy Freeman / Raw Food Chef

Live Cream of Tomato Soup
(Serves 4)

This has become an all time comfort food in our house! The ionized water used in this soup really gives it an energy boost! Play around with the ingredients and have fun adding what sounds good to you. Enjoy!

3-4 medium tomatoes
handful of fresh basil
tsp. fresh oregano (can use dried as well; but use less)
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 medium avocado
1/4 cup soaked sun-dried tomatoes
3/4 to 1 cup ionized water
mineralized salt to taste

Blend all ingredients in Vitamix or any powerful blender.

Transfer to soup pan and slightly heat.

Suggestions for toppings: pine nuts, chopped sprouts, chopped celery, chopped mushrooms, chopped olives, chopped onions, chopped sun-dried tomatoes.