Drinking Water 101

Here's an article on a topic very dear to my heart since I've had so many problems and reactions to the water here in Seoul. The articles is published by Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida, a 100% raw food lifestyle education center. 

DRINKING WATER 101

Clean Water 

Water is the most important nutrient for your body second only to air. You can go for months without food but, you can only go for a few days without water. Water not only keeps your tissues and organs hydrated but it also assists in the absorption of nutrients to your cells. The water you drink becomes your blood. It gives you energy, reduces inflammation, improves your skin, lubricates your joints, and helps keep you young and healthy! But, what is the best kind of water to drink and where can I find it? 

Wild Springs 

When it comes to making the safest and healthiest water for human consumption it is a good idea to try to re-create the same conditions in which nature delivers the purest water to us. The best water on earth rises from great depths from free-flowing, natural wild springs. This water is scrubbed by the rocks in a natural cleansing action as it rises by its own volition until it joyously springs forth on the earth’s surface in a celebration of life ready to be consumed. Wild spring water has been distilled by nature and preserved deep within the earth for many hundreds (in some cases thousands) of years far removed from human contamination.

On its long journey to the surface the water rubs itself against many miles of rocks and crystals. This movement against dissimilar materials charges the water, restructures the water and gives the water energy and life. This process makes the water molecules more linear and structured in such a way that it is more easily absorbable and better hydrating. It also makes any minerals in the water living and organic by charging them in the same way the plants charge the minerals through the xylem in their root structure. This movement prepares and arranges the minerals in such a way that your body can utilize them. Still stagnant water creates dead inorganic minerals.

But, not all spring water is created equal. Some springs are better than others. The best springs are typically found in the mountains. Curiously near the peak of the mountains, not near the bottom. Here are some other signs of a good spring:

1. The water will be consistently cold in every season indicating a very deep aquafer
2. The water flow rate will be consistent even during periods of little or no rain again indicating a very deep aquafer
3. The pH will be close to neutral
4. The total dissolved solids (TDS) will be low
5. A high number of turns per foot

There is a list of wild springs in your area at findaspring.com. This online directory is a community and user created database of natural springs around the world. Some of these springs are in public state parks and some are on private property. If you bring your own bottles almost all of them will allow you to collect the wild spring water for free or with a voluntary donation. Some of these springs will have water test results posted. I recommend that you have your wild-crafted spring water professionally tested in a lab to be sure it is safe to drink. 

Filtered Water

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to good quality wild springs or have the inclination to go and get collect their own water. Even if you do I would still recommend that you have a really high quality whole house water filtration system professionally installed. This way every time you shower, bath, brush your teeth, wash your clothes, wash your dishes, water your plants, or drink from any faucet in the house you are using clean water. Some whole house water filtration systems simply perform better than others. Typically, these systems are multi-staged since it takes different kinds of filter media to remove different kinds of contaminants.

Here is what to look for in a high quality whole house filtration system:

1. Outputs water with a low TDS (less than 50ppm)
2. Removes chlorine
3. Removes fluoride
4. Removes heavy metals
5. Removes pharmaceuticals

You will probably notice a drop in water pressure after you install a whole house water filtration system. This is because water filters have to slow the water down in order to be effective. You may want to consider installing a booster pump to maintain your normal water pressure. Water filtration technologies are constantly improving and new and better products are becoming available every year. I teach a class called “Water Wisdom” as a part of the Life Transformation Program where I share with our guests the latest and best technologies and products available and where to get them. There are water filters that will remove most of the contaminants listed above. 

If you do not own your home or you are otherwise disinclined to install a whole house water filtration system I would recommend that you at least install shower head filters on all your showers and use a portable water filters in the kitchen for drinking, preparing meals and in the bathroom for brushing your teeth. You can also get an RV inline hose water filter for watering your outdoor plants. Again, consider coming to Hippocrates to get the full download on the latest and best portable water filter technologies and products available and where to get them.

Bottled Water

While bottled water is an environmental disaster it is a reality for some people because of the lifestyle they have created for themselves. I would recommend that you use a reusable water bottle whenever possible preferably made from glass. Bottled drinking water is not regulated by the USDA nor the EPA so there are now laws governing and there is no oversight. As a result the industry is rife with abuse. In fact, 50% of all bottled drinking water tested is nothing more than just plain old tap water. On a scale of one to ten (ten being the best) here is my scoring system for bottled water: 

Enhanced Water

Once we have effectively filtered the water the next step is enhancement. It is a good idea to attempt to re-create the same conditions in which nature delivers the purest water to us – freely flowing water from natural wild springs. This movement is nature’s way of energizing and enhancing the water and preparing it for consumption. These natural conditions can be replicated at home with some of the following items:

• Pouring
• Stirring
• S-curves
• Whirlpools
• Vortex
• Sacred geometry
• Magnets
• Crystals
• Light
• Positive thoughts 

This will prepare the water for your cells making it healthier, better hydrating, and better tasting. Water has consciousness and it craves our respect. These types of water enhancements will reenergize, restructure and rememorizes water that has in some cases been abused. Municipal tap water has been unnaturally mixed with chemicals and exposed to pollution, forced through miles of pipes, valves, pumps and machines exposing it to chaotic energies alone its long arduous journey. There are devices that will accomplish the type of desirable enhancements such as the ones listed above. We utilize some of these devices here at Hippocrates for providing the best water for our guests, our associates, and for our plants.

Here are Hippocrates we take a holistic approach to the natural healing arts. We believe and we teach that if you give your body the right substances, forces influences and conditions that your body will take care of itself. This includes:

• Adequate Sunshine
• Pure Fresh Air
• Clean Water
• Plant-rich, Nutrient-dense diet
• Exercise
• Adequate Rest
• Spiritual Outlook
• Positive Thinking

Of all the things you can do for your optimal health the two acts of simply consuming only the best clean water and breathing only pure fresh air are by far the most important things you can do for your body.

Article by Brian Hetrich, Greenhouse Manager

The Importance of Good Water

Water: The Clear Choice (a pamphlet by Vibrant Life magazine)

Water provides true refreshment for the thirsty, but most people don't know that it also plays a vital role in all bodily processes. Unfortunately, most people don't drink enough water, perhaps because they don't realize how important it is. The fact is, not drinking enough water affects every aspect of your body, right out to your skin.

Essential for Life

Although deficiencies of other nutrients can be sustained for months or even years, a person can survive only a few days without water. Experts rank water second only to oxygen as essential for life.

Water supplies the medium in which your body's various chemical changes occur, aiding in digestion, absorption, circulation, and lubrication of body joints. Water is used for virtually all bodily functions, including carrying nutrients and oxygen around the body and eliminating waste.

Waster maintains body temperature through perspiration. It helps cushion joints and protect organs and tissue. Even your skin is affected. Since your body's major internal organs snatch up water first, skin gets only what's left -- if there is any. When you stay well hydrated, however, skin stays supple overall and plumped up, lessening the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles.

Benefits of Water

Water promotes good health in many ways, from reducing the risk of certain cancers to improving short-term memory and weight loss. For example, in a 10-year study of nearly 48,000 men, those who drank six eight-ounce glasses of water daily were half as likely to develop bladder cancer as those who drank just a glass a day. Although the study included only men (who run a higher risk of bladder cancer than women), drinking plenty of water and other fluids may well protect both sexes, says the study's lead author, Dominique Michaud, a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Not drinking enough water can also make you fat. When you don't drink enough water, your body sects a hormone, aldosterone, that causes tissues to hold on to almost every molecule of liquid water retention. New research shows that a decrease in water may cause your body's fat deposits to increase.

Another side effect of hidden thirst is that you may think you're hungry when you're actually thirsty. Drinking water throughout the day keeps your stomach feeling full and reduces the desire to eat. The colder the beverage, the greater its fat-burning power. Maximize calorie burn by keeping the water ice-cold. [Comment: Cold water actually slows down digestion, especially if any residual oils remain to be digested as it congeals the fatty oil.]

In a two-year project Susan Kleiner, nutritionist and assistant professor at the University of Washington, pulled together findings from more than 150 studies worldwide to present the most complete picture to date of the impact of hydration on health. "While we've long known the effects of severe dehydration, we're now beginning to understand the impact of chronic mild dehydration on health and performance."

In a separate study conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, researchers monitored women who drank more than five glasses of water a day and found that their risk of colon cancer was reduced by 45%.

Another study conducted at the Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, Delhi Cantt, India, Dr. Kleiner reports that they found that a 2% loss of body fluid affected short-term memory and reduced the ability to add and subtract.

So How Much Is Enough?

While thirst signals the body's need for fluid, slight dehydration has already occurred by the time a person becomes thirsty. It only takes a loss of 1-2% of the body's total water content to cause dehydration. On average, you lose 10 cups of water a day and get only four back from your food. Each person will lose a minimum of 400mg (about 1 1/2 cups) of water through breathing, 400mg through the skin, and 1,000mg (4 cups) through the kidneys. (This is the minimum, so if you're active you'll lose more.)

The amount of water inside a cell, known as the cellular hydration state, can change within minutes. When you begin to lose as little as 1% of your body weight in water, your ability to regulate heat begins to be impaired. If you lose 7% of your body weight in water, you're likely to collapse when exercising in heat. If you dehydrate a muscle by as little as 3%, you can cause a loss in contractile strength of about 10% as well as a 12% loss in speed.

According to the American Dietetic Association, it's not eight glasses of water a day; it's eight eight-ounce servings -- big difference. However, those eight cups are just a guideline. For instance, you should add a cup if you exercise, live in a warm climate, or drink more than two cups of coffee or alcohol a day, since these drinks act as a diuretic. Air travel and working in a climate-controlled office also adds a cup or two.

Fully rehydrating the body doesn't occur as fast as you might think. Even after consuming large amounts of water, your dehydrated body can take from a few hours to a day or more to completely rehydrate. Tissues such as the muscles and skin, which are predominantly water, take the longest to recover from dehydration. A good sign is if you urinate every two to four hours, and your urine is clear or light in color.

Most people take water for granted, not realizing how desperately their bodies crave it. Don't wait until the tap runs dry to realize how important water is; start today replenishing your body, and begin to reap its many rewards.

MORE WATER INFORMATION:

http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education/water-health.htm

water can heal
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education/medical-water-cold.htm

last paragraph
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education/quality-water-mineral.htm

5 biggest pollutants in drinking water
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_health/health1/1-alkaline-with-water.htm

Passing Gas

Bottled Water - SamDaSoo, Seoksu, Kirkland

After an extended vacation outside of Korea, I came back and didn't have any filtered water in my house to drink, so went to the supermarket and bought a couple of bottles, the brand Seoksu, since the "best" brand in Korea SamDaSoo wasn't available that day. Earlier in the year I had reacted to the water, with numbness in the head and arms, but I needed just a couple of bottles till I could get to a filter or get to Costco for the imported Kirkland brand, which doesn't bother me.

Well, I drank one glass of the Seoksu bottled water and my feet felt weird within seconds. I looked down and within five minutes my ankles had swollen. Needless to say, I didn't drink much of that water till I could get to the office filter the next day, but by the second glass my ankles were very swollen! That water must have had an instantaneous, and very scary, effect on my kidneys to get that kind of reaction. Thank goodness that within a few hours of drinking the filtered water, my ankles returned to normal.

So, using a couple of different water-testing spa kits, I thought I'd test the water of the two bottled waters, Seoksu and SamDaSoo (which also bothers me), just to "know" a bit more about them, I also tested straight Bragg's organic raw apple cider vinegar plus some pau d'arco made with Kirkland water and slow-cooked in the crockpot for a few hours. The raw apple cider vinegar is acidic, of course, but it supposed to have an alkalinizing effect on the body (like lemons and limes, according to the research) and the pau d'arco is a bark that is anti-fungal and who knows if it would interact and change the pH and other things of the water that was used to make it. TI should have tested the Costco Kirkland water without making it into a tea, but wasn't thinking. Ah well. The test is only for alkaline and acidity and doesn't find other minerals aspects or contaminants so it would only have been for very basic info.

Molar Extraction and Pain-killer Soups

Today, finally after 3 1/2 years of living with a cracked and repaired molar, I got it pulled! Yes! Systemic candida is also perpetuated by bacteria that gets into the gums, especially in infected teeth, and though the infected tooth may be "cleaned out" and capped, the bacteria still resides deep in the gums and still feesd the blood flow with the infected bacteria.

 

I have been rather worried about my cracked tooth for a long time. It cracked at the height of all my health problems over 3 years ago, and my teeth for the first time in my life were nasty. Loads of bacteria, bad breath, plaque, and inflammation in the throat. [The scaling given by the hygienist turned my bad mouth and health situation around and I actually started getting batter.]

 

Once the hygienist finished the scaling, the dentist came over the see the damage of the cracked molar. Yikes! He injected me with whatever they use to anesthetize the tooth, I had a throat-tightening reaction. Very scary! I told the dentist he better quickly treat me before the stuff wore off because my body couldn't take any more injections that would affect the throat. I made him work without taking a break because I was so nervous. I'm sure that's why he told me my tooth didn't need to be capped. He insisted it was a good decision not to cap that tooth. I think he was unnerved about my reaction (and of course I was too) and that he didn't want to risk it. I didn't want to risk it either so told myself that when/if it cracked again, I was going to get that thing pulled.

 

Two years later, last fall, it was cracked again and the dentist absolutely insisted that the tooth was still good and could be repaired. What? So I have to go in every two stupid years to get the thing repaired?! But he wouldn't pull it. So I told him matter-of-factly that next time it was coming out. He accepted that probably thinking next time was way down the road. Well, "way down the road" turned into about four months.

 

As of the end of February this year, my job is finished and I have been planning to leave Korea - all rather sudden because back in November when we were to submit our letters for extending our contracts, I was feeling really bad again so submitted my letter of resignation. I was having water reactions again. I quickly figured out a deficiency of vitamin E was involved but it took over a month to figure out that I was also consuming inadequate amounts of magnesium. What clued me in to that was the water reactions themselves. If a person is having water reactions to most waters and even distilled water, then there has to be a problem with the person's electrolytes. Ah ha! And if it is an electrolyte problem, then there's a problem with the sodium-potassium pair or the calcium/magnesium pair. I thought about it a bit and decided it was most likely a problem of low magnesium, a typically under-consumed electrolyte. So I started feeding myself magnesium-rich foods and ... the reactions that the vitamin E didn't clear up, disappeared! Wow!

 

Anyway, because I had handed in my resignation and someone has taken my position, I am now jobless and therefore insurance-less come March 1. So I decided, "OK, let's get that evil molar out before the insurance expires." So today was the day.

 

That molar was indeed evil. It had some incredibly deep and tenacious roots. I saw that dentist easily pull a man's molar about a year ago, but there was nothing easy about pulling mine. He twisted back and forth and I could feel a big strain on my right jaw joint (the left was heavily anesthetized ... but I feel it now!). Finally, it just wasn't budging so he got what looked like an ice-pick or walnut-pick and had to gouge it out a bit. Well, that baby finally came out ... and yep, there was a very visible crack that went way down the tooth, which would have been well below the gum-line. Yes! It's finally out!

 

Afterwards, I went walking for three hours in the sunshine to boost circulation so the dental toxins would more quickly be stirred to go out of my system. But on the way home, the drugs were starting to wear off and I could feel the pain coming. I started planning what to eat to "fix" that problem, and the food had to be soft. Yep, lots of vegies, especially vegies that are anti-inflammatory. So by the time I got home, I had it figured ... and I included a handful of  cherry tomatoes, the only inflammatory food in the soup, to round out the flavor:

 

Anti-inflammatory Soup

 

2 cups garbanzos (cooked) + 1-2 cups garbanzo bean broth

1 large onion sliced

2/3 zucchini, sliced

2-3 stalks celery sliced*

4-5 cloves garlic

1 large knob ginger

20 sesame leaves**

2-4 stems green onions, sliced**

1 handful cherry tomatoes*

4 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon cumin*

2 teaspoons turmeric*

1 teaspoon rosemary*

3/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt*

2-4 cups water

 

Throw all ingredients above that have no stars in the pot and turn on the heat. After the onion becomes translucent, add the ingredients with one star (*) and cook on a medium simmer for just a few minutes to soften them. Then add the ingredients with two stars (**); stir them in and cook only a minute or two. Turn off the heat, and serve. [All vegies should be cooked soft but not overcooked so as to kill all the enzymes or all their natural flavor.]

 

My tooth and very sore jaw weren't too happy with a hearty soup so I blended the soup and sipped it. And as soon as I had had a few sips, the pain started easing, and by the time I'd sipped up a big bowl, the pain had really diminished!



 

The blended version. My left jaw joint was hurting worse than my gouged gum, so opening my mouth just enough to
spoon the soup in was all I needed. The jaw actually started to loosen after I'd taken a few sips.

After the main course, I still wanted to make sure that I had a lot of enzymes in my body, and of course chlorophyll. Both of them are very good for removing, or at least, masking pain. So I washed a big basket of some kind of green leaf in the cabbage family, meaning these vegies have a lot of oxalates, so eating them every day or every other day could interfere with calcium absorption, but I hadn't eaten any oxalates for three or so days, so these vegies were chosen because they have a high water content. Also in the mix are a handful of spicy sesame seed leaves, one peeled cucumber, and half of a package of strawberries, which are acidic by the way. Usually because of my candida, I don't eat fruit, but lately I've been trying to add a few other nutrients in. The vitamin E and magnesium scare told me that my body is starved for better nutrition and I've micro-managed the inflammation maybe too carefully. I've got to try adding foods ... carefully ... and the strawberries are greatly out-proportioned by the green leafies so should be "safe" at this point.

After I juiced everything, I had close to 7 cups of juice. I drank about 3 cups immediately and the lingering gum pain just slipped away. My body was absolutely saturated in 90% green vegie juice, which is great as a natural pain killer ... and quite tasty with strawberries mixed in!!!

Seokgye Doosan Apt - Heavy Metal Water Posting

My (previous) water situation at Doosan Apartments:

I would have posted this long ago but I didn't want my address disclosed while I lived there. I have since moved (very thankfully) and my present water situation seems much better. There are much MUCH less white flakey deposits around my kitchen sink and I hardly notice the deposits off water drips in my dish drainer where at Doosan I could clean the dish drainer and immediately after washing a round of dishes, there would already be white deposits lining the edges where water drops had fallen. And if I boiled water at Doosan, there would be a white scum deposit on the bottom of the pan. I started double washing my pans because of the problem. Stupidly (in hindsight) when my apartment contract was up, I didn't feel like going to look for another apartment even though I was starting to think that the apartment water wasn't quite right. it was some time before I started noticing a pattern of an increase in the poor water quality and the amount of excavations in the stream right next to my apartment. Oh I could kick myself for signing another 2-year contract because it was shortly after signing that contract that I confirmed the tap water as being the cause of my problems ... at least bad for me and bad for my cats.

I do think it VERY IRONIC that the only time in 4 years that I lived in the Doosan Apts that there was a posting concerning the heavy metals in the water. VERY IRONIC indeed! The following posting was put up in all the apartment buildings, including the elevators so everyone would see it, and it stayed up for at least a month. I took this picture on 26 October 2009. So interesting that when I was having my worst problems with the water that there suddenly was a water report in all the buildings ... and never again. Hmmmm!

According to the chart above, everything falls within the legally accepted range for "normal". What is not tested here is arsenic, copper (because of copper piping), and of course a host of other things, including bacteria. It would take a lot of expensive testing to regularly do all the "necessary" testing to assure water safety for citizens. Anyway, I should NOT have been drinking the tap water, and wow, who would have thought that a person had to give filtered water always to pets too?




The stream to my north and the tributary to my east ... the northern stream was dug out almost continually after I got there. The city is building some kind of leisure walkway along the stream but they chose a very lousy place for that as the stream gets badly flooded in the spring and early summer (monsoon season) and virtually dries up in the summer.

I lived for 2 years in apt bldg #101 and then moved to #103 for a second 2-year stint. Almost the entire last 2 years I knew I had made a serious mistake because I noticed that whenever the little stream to the north got plundered with heavy equipment, which was at least 2-3 times a year for extended periods of time, the water would have more white deposits around the sink. I was carrying filtered water but I had to use the apt water for washing my many vegies and I just plain didn't feel well. Whenever I came back from my vacations to the states (usually 4-5 weeks), I would relapse as soon as I returned. Feeling poorly was one long on-going evil experience.

Cats and Systemic Candida

My girls! Cafe (tan) and Aulait (white)

It's been almost 3 years since I got sick with systemic candida, or actually I should say, since both of my cats and I got so very sick. All of us had been sick with something before. For me, I was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism (September 2006) and had low-to-no energy and looked like a skeleton. And it was because I needed to relax more and stay at home to eat better and sleep better that I got my first cat, my beautiful white Aulait. She was 4 months old and was everything I wanted in a cat - a female, not long or short hair, not afraid of dogs (she played with the leash of my neighbor's dog that I was walking when I stumbled across the new pet shop!), and from a loving environment (the owners at the pet shop allowed the 5 four-month old kittens to just walk around the entire pet shop - how awesome!) Well, within a month of getting Aulait, I realized she had food allergies to the canned food "EVO" or was it "EVOLVE". She farted hugely when she ate the wet food so I changed to another brand, but I still gave her the dry EVO(LVE). Another month later, she bloated and stopped playing. When I took her off of the dry food, within three days she was her joyful self! As she was growing up, I did notice that over time, she got pickier and pickier about the foods she would eat.

First day for Cafe to play after getting the cat killing disease - panleukopenia

And then after a year, Aulait so loudly and over and over again demanded companionship, so one day I spontaneously went to the "meat market". Well, it is the street where teeny kitties and puppies are the products of a thriving business and the poor babies are known to also be the products of overbreeding. I bought Cafe from a tiny boutique that seemed to give better care to its animals. And within four days, Cafe had the cat killing disease panleukopenia, a very contagious white blood cell disease. I didn't know anything about the disease or maybe I would have taken her back to the shop, but for the next 3 weeks, she was pretty darn sick and only survived because we barely caught the disease in time. She luckily pulled through but her GI track was very compromised ... I wasn't aware how badly but was told to keep her on a strict diet for six months to let it heal.

So three years ago, all three of us suddenly got sick ... and the source of our sickness I traced to our tap water which I stupidly was drinking and stupidly was giving to the cats. What made me finally figure out the prob was my cheeks inside my mouth felt like they were being pinched whenever I drank the water. And then I started noticing how much white sediment or deposits were around my faucet and in my dish drip tray, more than that at my friends' houses and other places around the city. Chlorine? Likely but not sure. But that whiteness had been ever increasing since the river directly beside my house had been, and was still being, excavated.

Cafe was the sickest at first. Her very weakened GI track from before resulted in kidney problems and at age 2 she painfully started passing sandy crystals. The vet put her on a low protein diet and for 6 months she was OK, and then she relapsed. The vet was surprised she relapsed so soon, and it was pretty bad, so I had to put her to sleep. 2 1/2 years only .... so very young and so very sweet.

Well, by this time Aulait and I were very sick, and very weirdly we shared some symptoms although I was having horrible bone problems and she seemed less affected in that department. We've both had neuropathies, hers much worse than mine, we've had inflammation in our eyes and elsewhere (I can tell by how she held herself that she was having arthritis and other flexibility issues). But while we both felt badly, I could treat myself more specifically. I could do liver and gall bladder detoxes, eat onions and garlic for cleansing the blood (cats are allergic to both), and go regularly in for vitamin A and D tests. Aulait wasn't doing so well after I put Cafe to sleep so I took her in to the vet and had her tested. Outcome - thrombocytopenia, a white blood cell problem and an autoimmune disease. Her full diagnosis was:

thrombocytopenia: utilization - destruction -  lack of production
lymphocytosis/monocystosis: excitement - antigen stimulation - neoplasia
borderline polycythemia (erythrocytosis)
borderline low MCHC
suspected nucleated red blood cells

Her bloodwork:

HCT ......... 36.2% ........... 24.0 - 25.0 ▲
HGB ........ 13.3 g/dL ....... 8.0 - 15.0
MCHC ..... 28.8 g/dL ...... 30.0 - 36.9 ▼
GRANS ... 4.7 x10³/µו .… 2.5 – 12.5
……. %Grans …. 28%
L/M ….… 12.1  x10³/µו ... 1.5 – 7.8 ▲
……. %L/M …... 72%
PLT …….. 21 x10³/µו ….. 175 – 500 ▼
Retics …... 0.7%
NRBCs … likely

And the vet told me I would have to bring her in regularly (every 4 months) for life to get testing and treatment. Well, I did take her in every four months when her energy was depleted, and Aulait got expensive testing, and then pharmaceutical treatment for 10 days or so and then retesting to see if the therapy worked. After the 3rd time of taking her in, I decided to try diet control in a different way than I had with Cafe. I had syringe-fed Cafe for 6 months a special kidney support low calcium mush-food that helped, so I started syringe-feeding Aulait nutrients, mostly barley green which is very high in vitamin Bs, which I knew would benefit her nerves and maybe help with the neuropathies she was having.  Well, she stopped having energy-loss relapses! And for the next two years she didn't go to the vet's except for her annual inoculations.

Spirulina - she never could eat spirulina neatly like the other supplemental powders.

That didn't stop her ongoing increase in food allergies though. She expressed more and more dislike at foods she had happily eaten before, AND she started having water allergies AT THE SAME TIME I WAS HAVING THEM with seemingly similar reactions!!!! (See Reaction to Bottled Water - headaches and numbness) From this time onward, she stopped going to her water bowl until she was really thirsty and then she would do a little foot scrape dance before she would lap just a few times and then scurry away, with her fur crawling horribly on her back.

Over the past several months I'd really upped her nutritional supplements that I syringed into her mouth. Such a sweet trusting baby. She would just open her mouth and half lap, half back-tongue-action the liquid down quickly. She got barley green, barley green and bee pollen (the latter which is extremely high in vitamin Bs but also with natural sugar so I can't take this for candida - I've suspected Aulait as having the exact same problems as myself since almost the beginnings so I didn't use this in the beginning; later, I used it to see if it's help since I was running out of options. It did a bit. Anyway, both Aulait's neuropathies and candida mess with vitamin Bs and Aulait definitely needed vitamin B to help with her nervous disorder, so I would mix a little bee pollen with the barley green. She loved the taste and if I kept the bee pollen percentage small, her neuropathies temporarily disappeared). Over the past months via syringe I've given her spirulina (she's not particularly fond of this), mullen leaf powder (she likes it), catnip tea (she hates it), and of course also syringed in anti-inflammatory oils like flax seed oil (yuk from her!), cod liver oil (yuk!), evening primrose oil (a bit yukky) and olive oil (sometimes yuk). Although she hated the ickiness of the oils, she was calmer afterwards and her neuropathies were less!

She still got worse though. The last few months I've been syringing three times a day for her. I even syringed dextrose based on the vet's recommendation. It helped her sudden bouts of hypoglycemia, but I had to be careful to not give her too much dextrose ... or she would have horrendous neuropathies that made her madly lick her four paws, her back, her tail, and to "escape" the creepiness she would race all over the apartment in madness. So terrible to watch. Whenever I saw her having one of these bouts (caused by food, wrong supplements, too much dextrose, or even hunger), I would quickly mix barley green with a little bee pollen and syringe it in her mouth and then feed her a wet food that was made from meat and not processed filler "meat" like in the canned Fancy Feast (that brand gave Aulait the worst neuropathies!). She got so she would come and "tell" me when the problems started, because we both figured out that if we could address the problem early, it would be easy to "fix". She had these strange hypoglycemic-neuropathy attacks at least 2-3 times a day in the end.

On May 30 I couldn't stand watching her struggle with her problems anymore. She also seemed to be starting to have pain as her eyelids were usually heavy and she looked dull. She had long since stopped playing much ... and the day I dreaded came when I knew her quality of life was too poor to go on. So I had her put to sleep. Tough decision but she no longer suffers, so in that respect, we are both at peace.

The vitamin loaded powders for Aulait: barley green, bee pollen, alfalfa powder, mugwort powder

Mixing nutritional supplements for syringing

Left to right (back): dextrose, spirulina, barley green, bee pollen; (front) spirulina mixture, bee pollen and barley green mixture

Barley green for Aulait

I don't really know what happened with Cafe, but I think we were all exposed to a horrendous bacteria that attacked our weakest areas - for Cafe, it was her already compromised GI track. [But then as I read somewhere, 70% of diseases start in the GI track!] Even though the vet that diagnosed her with renal sand said she was eventually going to suffer kidney failure, I think the bigger cause of her death was of a bacteria, aka systemic candida. She had a lot of the tell-tale symptoms: very bad breath, extremely waxy ears, and intolerance to foods (but not as bad as Aulait).

Aulait certainly was suffering from a bacteria. We shared so many symptoms it was crazy - food sensitivities, odor sensitivities (Aulait was extremely sensitive), neuropathies, inability to make decisions when at our worst, extreme tiredness, and so many more. Poor baby, to be so sick from food ... But baby, we so understood each other and for seven years we were always there for each other! Now rest and be at peace.

Liver Cleanse

The liver is the most important organ in the body. It cleans more than one liter of blood per minute, but if the liver is congested (in medical terms, fatty) it can no longer effectively clean the blood and there is gradually a build-up of toxins, ultimately making the person very sick. For people with candida and cancer, the liver is sadly over-crowded with toxins, for instance, dead bacteria that cannot be transported out of the body because there is so much!

Last summer a colleague lent me a book on doing a liver cleanse. Honestly, I never considered the liver as playing such an important role in the cleansing of the body from candida die-off, so the book was totally informative. The book The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse: An All-natural At-home Flush to Purify and Rejuvenate Your Body was a very good read. However, if I hadn't bumped into some of what he said earlier in my research, I might have discounted this book and its info as Andreas Moritz is a horrible grammarian, has lousy to awful punctuation and in the latter part of the book even has dyslexic and incomplete sentences. The information was great but he lost a lot of credibility by his utterly poor proofreading skills.


Anyway, I had been experiencing more and more discomfort - changeable throughout the day but more obvious after eating something with lemon juice and olive oil (which causes movement and the body's attempt at flushing of liver "stones") - and so as soon as I read the information on the gallbladder and liver flush, I knew I was going to try it to get some relief.

Yeast Infection Liver Cleanse

The following is a compilation of two sources for liver cleanses: The Yeast Infection Liver Cleanse and The Amazing Liver Cleanse by Andreas Morita

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 – 3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 tablespoons Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulphate = MgSO4)
3 glasses water (24 fl oz), divided into 4 portions

RECOMMENDED — For a few days to a week before the cleanse, avoid animal and dairy products and fried foods to maximize the effect of the liver cleanse. Eating food at room temperature also prevents the liver from getting chilled and reducing the effectiveness of the cleanse. During this time also, avoid taking medicines, vitamins and supplements unless absolutely necessary in order to not give the liver any extra work. The day of the cleanse or the day before, do a colon cleanse (colonic irrigation is best; colema-board irrigation is second best; a coffee-enema is third; last resorts, 2-3 day fruit and veggie diet will help clear the colon). A clear colon minimizes discomfort during the cleanse, prevents back-flushing of oil and toxins, and so helps with the swift elimination of any gall or liver stones. Cleansing the colon prior to the cleanse is highly recommended whereas cleansing out parasites first (a 3-week process) is essential (the liver cannot be cleanse if parasites reside in the body).

THE DAY OF THE CLEANSE — In the a.m. have a light breakfast that does not include sugar, dairy, meat, spices or processed foods. For lunch eat plain cooked food like steamed veggies with rice, and avoid protein, oils and fats as this requires more digestion and may cause nausea during the cleanse. Carefully follow the schedule below for best results!

2 p.m. – Stop eating and drinking

6 p.m. – Dissolve the 4 tablespoons of Epsom salts in 3 cups of water (room temp water is best so as not to chill the liver). Drink 3/4 cup or one-quarter of the preparation as quickly as possible. This will start to (further) clean out the colon as well as dilate the ducts, thanks to the magnesium in the salts. [Set out the lemons and olive oil so they will be room temperature by 10 p.m.]

8 p.m. – Drink the second portion (3/4 cup) of Epsom salts. Get everything done so that at 10 p.m. when you drink the lemon-olive-oil concoction, you can immediately go to bed.

9:45 p.m. – Pour 1/2 cup (measured) and 1/2 - 3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice in a shakable container, and shake to mix. Go to the bathroom the last time(s).

10 p.m. – Beside your bed while still standing, drink down the lemon-olive-oil mixture and immediately lay down. Lay either on your back with your head elevated or on your right side for the oil to have its most effectiveness on the liver and gall bladder. Lay completely still. Do not talk. Try to sleep. Best results will be achieved through a relaxing, sleeping body. You will have no pain or discomfort as the magnesium has dilated the ducts and they are well lubricated with oil. If you feel nauseous during the night, either you did something wrong in prepping for the cleanse like eating heavy food, or you are detoxing too fast and the bile is back-flushing back into your stomach. Prop yourself up to prevent further back-flushing and try to sleep.

6 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. – Upon waking but not before 6 a.m., drink down the third portion (3/4 cup) of Epsom salts. It’s best to stay vertical for this evacuation time, so get up, read or move around. Go to the bathroom as needed. The Epsom salts will now help you evacuate the stones that were spilled from the gall bladder and liver during the night. Many of the stones float, so guestimate how many you are evacuating. Green stones are definitely from the liver as they are covered in liver bile; they are mostly cholesterol, come in many sizes from small to even as large as 1”, and float easily. Tan and white stones are from the gall bladder and are composed of about 10% cholesterol; when small, they float but the larger ones sink. Black and red stones may also be evacuated. Also, white chaff will appear floating on the surface and getting rid of these millions of tiny crystals is important for preventing future stones.

8 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. (two hours after the first a.m. Epsom salt drink) – Drink your fourth portion (3/4 cup) of Epsom salts and continue to move around.

10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. (two hours after the final Epsom salt drink) – You make have a little fruit juice (or veggie juice for people with candida). After 1 hour, you may have a piece of fruit or some veggies. By noon, you may eat a very light meal. You should be back to normal and feel the first signs of improvement by the evening or the next morning. However, continue eating light meals for a few days as your liver just had major surgery, albeit non-invasive surgery.

2 – 3 DAYS LATER, FOLLOW-UP PROCEDURE — People who do a liver flush/cleanse often have a few stones remaining in the colon. If any remain, a person may have irritation, nausea, infection, headaches, abdominal discomfort, thyroid problems, etc. as these stones become a source of toxemia to the body. The colonic irrigation is the only sure way to eliminate the remaining stones but a coffee enema followed by a warm water enema will have remarkable results. To doubly ensure the cleansing effect of the enemas, in the a.m. on the day of the follow-up colon cleanse mix 1 teaspoon of Epsom salts in a glass of warm water and drink it. Later that day do the dual enemas.

ON-GOING CLEANSES — If you evacuated stones, you will need to repeat the cleanse in 2 – 3 weeks, waiting only as long as 2 months for the next cleanse. Not continuing the cleanse and removing all the stones would probably cause more problems than if you had not done the first cleanse. You may need to cleanse anywhere from 5 – 12 times, depending on the severity of your problem and the amount of stones being evacuated. Cleanse until no more stones appear. Do not cleanse when sick though. It is recommended for liver maintenance that the liver cleanse be done twice a year.

CAUTIONS — Technically, anyone with a history of gall stones, bladder infections, etc. should not do the liver cleanse until he or she has done a bladder cleanse (see Bladder Cleanse Tea) first. Also, people with a history of colon congestion or constipation should do 2-3 colon cleanses before their first liver cleanse.

My Results

2011/6/3 - 1st cleanse - 650+ stones (pea-size average, 25 or so were white meaning gall stones - much to my surprise!)
2011/6/15 - 2nd cleanse - 100 stones (irregular shaped, pea-size and smaller)
2011/7/6 - 3rd cleanse - 50 stones (average size of a nickle!)
2011/9or10 - 4th cleanse - ???
2012/2 - 5th cleanse - ???
2012/3/31 - 6th cleanse - not many, got constipation because I ate too soon and didn't drink enough water because of the water problems I've been having. Felt sooo much better though after this cleanse! Like a new person!


The stones that I counted are only the "floaters" and not the heavier ones that sink (like those pictured above). Some people use a wire net to find out their results, but gross, I just can't be bothered. I figure that as long as some "floaters" appear, I should continue doing flushes.

Sourcing for the picture of the liver and the gall stones is from the The Holy Kale. The Holy Kale also has a variation of directions for the Liver/Gallbladder Flush.

A very good after-the-flush first light meal is steamed cauliflower and broccoli and well coated with more fresh lemon juice, olive oil, lots of garlic and maybe a little sea salt. (I take a knife and quickly cut the steamed vegies into smaller pieces before putting the dressing on.) The fibrous steamed vegies will move gently through the GI track and the lemon-olive oil dressing will require a last final squeezing flush from the gallbladder and liver. After eating, try not to be stationary in order to aid the body in expulsing the detox materials. Be sure to start drinking plenty of water to aid in the GI flush and to keep the kidneys well-flushed after the heavy salt solution of the night before.


Factors affecting gall stone production include:

Natural Health Techniques offers this information and much more on gallbladder and liver stone development. This site includes signs for recognizing the stones as well as their own version of the flush.

• Obesity — the more weight you have the more likely you are to form stones.
• Excess Estrogen — increases cholesterol (a major component of gall stones) and decreases the contractions of the gall bladder.
• Ethnicity — Native Americans and Mexicans seem to be predisposed to make stones for some reason.
• Gender and Age — Women are twice as likely to get gall stones than men, and women over the age of 60 have a higher frequency as well. I’ve heard doctor’s say that anyone over the age of 40 usually has gall stones.
• Taking Cholesterol Lowering Drugs — More cholesterol is secreted in through the bile when on these types of drugs. It seems to make sense that taking natural substances to decrease cholesterol would also influence this, but I know of no scientific studies yet to show that.
• Fasting and Dieting — As the fat is mobilized, it passes through the digestive tract and therefore the gall bladder.
• Diabetes — Have higher levels of triglycerides which are passed into the gall bladder and make up bile.

Water Testing with Precipitator: SamDaSoo vs. Chungho Water

Another person, my friend L, responded to my cry of desperation on Facebook related to my reaction to bottled water. L wrote in my inbox that her husband had a precipitator which tested the purity of water and that I should come over right away and test my water. Some time during this morning after I left home, we decided that I should go over to her house today. I went but didn't have a chance to also get a sample of water from my own kitchen and another from my Brita water purifying jug that in desperation I bought at Costco yesterday.

Ergh, I do NOT want to drink tap water that has been "purified" through the little portable Brita jug. I don't trust the purification system, and think the city tap water is too horrendous here in Seoul, especially where I used to live (thank goodness I finally could move in February!). Anyway, I don't want to put tap water in my fragile system as THAT was what initially blew my system -- drinking city water, the divine Arisu that is marketed by our Korean President Lee Myung-bak as drinkable but which made myself and my two cats very sick (one cat died and Aulait and I have been sick sick sick since).

Anyway, my friend L picked up a new bottle of SamDaSoo at a local store and we went to her house to test it against her water from her reverse-osmosis Chungho water purifier.

To use the precipitator for best results, the water needs to be at room temperature. If it's cold, the results won't be accurate as the activating prongs need to heat up the water to room temp before the actual testing may begin. If water is contaminated, the water continues to heat up based on the number of minutes the precipitator is set at. We set the precipitator timer for 5 minutes but in less than 45 seconds a clear difference in the quality of water between the bottled SamDaSoo (left) and the reverse osmosis Chungho water (right) was obvious! If the water is relatively uncontaminated as the Chungho water appears, then the water does not heat up much beyond room temperature ... and the Chungho water didn't whereas the SamDaSoo was getting steadily warmer, and very steadily grosser, Grosser, GROSSER!






The printout for diagnosis of the quality of water based on its color after using the electrolosis devise was in Korean so I had to bring it home to translate.

YELLOW - nutrition (amino acids, organic minerals, 용존oxygen, pure water molecules), nature-born organic matter

WHITE - lead, zinc, mercury/quicksilver

BLUE - copper pipe rust, arsenic, mercury/quicksilver, lead, copper, sodium/natrium

BLUE - germs/bacterium, carcinogenic natural matter, gas

RED - iron/steel bacterium, rust water, iron water

BLACK - heavy metals (zinc, lead, copper, chromium, phenol/carbolic acid, manganese, etc)

YELLOW is the indicator for water registering contaminants under 10ppm and therefore is safe to drink.


Analysis of SamDaSoo Water

Now based on the 5-min electrical activation of the SamDaSoo water as shown here, the colors of the water do not appear to fall anywhere near the safe zone. In fact, very far from it! The water had a scum on top of it that seems to fall under "BLACK" which signifies heavy metals. The water itself is white and colorless. That seems good from a lay-person perspective since the bottle has a 2-year stamp for company considered safe shelf life. But yikes when you consider it! Is the company so confident that no bacterium is in the water and will grow in those 2 years?!?! And just WHAT did they do to the water that would give them such company-product confidence? But now to analyze the "WHITE" - lead, zinc, mercury. OK, we're talking heavy metals a-g-a-i-n!!!!!

Now if we were to analyze this a bit closer, we could cross-compare the disgusting water results with that from a Ionic Detox Foot Bath, which also uses some kind of electrolysis. Foam is not mentioned at all on the chart above but white foam did appear on the SamDaSoo water. What does this signify? And do the two electrolysis tools have overlap in what the gross water appearance tells of the chemical make-up of what is in the water? Hmmm ...

Reaction to Bottled Water (Headaches and Numbness)

In January I started to feel poorly again. I didn't really understand but thought maybe it had to do with being bored as I didn't have winter work so I wasn't getting as much exercise as when I'm running around teaching and with papers to grade while trying to accomplish a lot during the week. I was starting to have weird headaches and low energy too. In Februrary I went home for two weeks and felt really good while at home (seems natural!). The headaches disappeared, the achy feeling in my back let up, and I had more energy. OK, I was going home, but still, I didn't exercise much at all at home. It was cold outside and my aging parents are becoming more and more housebound in the winter so we pretty much had a low-energy, low-key 2 weeks together (not my choice of lifestyle). In March when I came back, the headaches started again - mild at first but getting more and more noticeable. Odd, because I've never been one to have headaches and my diet was careful and good.

Then this past week, hell really started. The headaches became really bad and my arms became numb - 5 long days of numbness with the intensity varying throughout the day. I'm not sure when the numbness started as I've had arm problems (pinched nerves, reaction to sugars, swelling at the wrists ...) off and on since this Candida struck. I just try to ignore it if I can, but I've never really experienced anything like this ... numbness in my arms that lasted for days and days and days??? It's been really bad all week, horrendously bad, and to the point where my hands became very weak, especially the left, and it was hard to type, or even hold things. Yesterday was probably the worst - I was walking across my kitchen room with a half-eaten bowl of soup and the bowl just slipped out of my left hand ... SHATTER and SPLAT! My hand didn't even register it slipping!

Then last night before I called my parents I picked up a bottle of Korea's best bottled water, SamDaSoo, what I've principally been drinking since January, that is, since I was on winter vacation and didn't go to work every day and have filtered water, and also because in February I moved away from the subway line and so no longer felt like carrying a bottle of filtered water home every day after work. Anyway, I picked up the bottle and took a good chug on it before calling my mom and another huge headache hit and within seconds numbness descended into my arms and down my back. I REALIZED THE NUMBNESS IS CAUSED BY THE BOTTLED WATER, SAMDASOO. After we talked on the phone, I thought I'd try another bottled water, Seoksu, which I had bought that afternoon. It was so much cheaper so I thought I'd test it out. SAME THING WITH SEOKSU - BIG HEADACHE AND NUMBNESS DOWN THE ARMS!

Yesterday morning before going to church, I posted on Facebook the problem of the numbness caused by bottled water, Samdasoo and Seoksu, and if anyone knew where I could get testing. A colleague (thankfully!!!) did some research for me and suggested that my symptoms fall under arsenic poisoning and that arsenic has been located at toxic levels in many water sources - tap and bottled - throughout the world. On the first website he suggested, I found this statement that matches my symptoms: "When someone is suffering from arsenic poisoning, he or she may first experience headaches. Later, headaches will transform to a lightheaded sensation. Numbness and a tingly feeling in the hands and feet may also occur at the onset of poisoning."

He also wrote: "Arsenic poisoning is a medical condition caused by elevated levels of the element arsenic. The dominant basis of arsenic poisoning is from ground water that naturally contains high concentrations of arsenic. A 2007 study found that over 137 million people in more than 70 countries are probably affected by arsenic poisoning of drinking water.[1] from wikipedia. Seems very possible it can come from drinking water, and from the link above your symptoms match some of the signs."

Then he explained a little about tap water and bottled water: "Although more often found in contaminated ground water, it's also well known that bottled water is no better than tap water in many cases. Often just repackaged tap water with some minor chemical treatments and sold at a profit. There are numerous articles about that." The site he suggested that I read more on is titled "Bottled Water Not Better".

Arsenic poisoning does make sense on another level. In my hair analysis test of January 30 this year, arsenic did register as a toxin. I've never had arsenic show up on my two previous tests, each about 10 months apart. But on this last test, arsenic was the toxin that registered the highest in my body. It registered in the "low range" at 0.102 with 0.3 registering as high ... but for it to show up where it has never registered before does create cause for some concern considering the symptoms.

Yikes! I'm ordering an arsenic poisoning water test kit and testing both my house water AND SamDaSoo so I can perhaps KNOW why I'm reacting so terribly. This is not living!!!