| Ray Kurzweil Talks About Alkaline Water |
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 Dr
Kurzweil is one of the world’s leading inventors, thinkers, and
futurists. He has been awarded 12 honorary doctorates, been honoured by
3 US Presidents and is the recipient of many of the nations highest
awards for excellence. Ray drinks 10 glasses of of Alkaline
Water per day, and believes it will help him live a long and healthy
life. In this short interview he answers a few basic questions about
Alkaline Water.
Ray Kurzweil has been called “the restless genius” by the Wall Street Journal and “the ultimate thinking machine”
by Forbes magazine, Kurzweil’s ideas on the future have been touted by
his many fans, who range from Bill Gates to Bill Clinton. Time magazine
writes, “Kurzweil’s eclectic career and propensity of
combining science with practical—often humanitarian—applications have
inspired comparisons with Thomas Edison". Question:
I have read on the Internet that it is not possible to create alkaline
or acid water from pure water and that water that is pure enough to
drink can't be split into alkaline and acid components. Is this true?
Answer: As responsible scientists, we had the same skepticism when we first heard about alkaline water.
Therefore, the first thing we did was to purchase a water alkalinizer
as well as an accurate electronic pH meter. We ran tap water with pH
7.1 from our home faucet into the device and found that the water
coming out of the alkaline outlet had a pH of 9.5 (indicating very
alkaline), while the water from the acid outlet measured pH 4.5
(indicating very acidic). We
repeated this experiment with a variety of tap waters obtaining
alkaline outputs with a pH ranging from 9.5 to 9.9. It is true that
"pure" or distilled water can not be ionized. If you were to try to
"split" distilled water, it would not work. Tap or spring water,
however, has dissolved minerals in it. It's the minerals in the water;
primarily calcium, potassium and magnesium that allow water to be
"split" by an electric current into alkaline, "electron-rich" (i.e.,
containing negatively charged ions that can engage in chemical
reactions to provide electrons to positively charged free radicals) and
acid, "electron-deficient" components. Individuals who say it is not
possible to split tap or spring water are misinformed. One site on the Internet states "Ionized
water is nothing more than sales fiction; the term is meaningless to
chemists. Most water that is fit for drinking is too unconductive to
undergo significant electrolysis."
The above statement is easily shown to be incorrect with a simple pH
meter and an electrolysis machine. Most tap waters run through the
machine produce highly alkaline water as measured by a pH meter. Question:
Since you advocate drinking alkaline water, why not simply mix
something like sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) with water and drink
that? There are, in fact, alkaline waters sold that are made by mixing
water with bicarbonate. Wouldn't that work as well and be much less
expensive than a water alkalinizer?
Answer:
There are more benefits to "alkaline water" than simply the alkalinity
or pH. The most important feature of alkaline water produced by a water
alkalinizer is its oxidation reduction potential (ORP). Water with a
high negative ORP is of particular value in its ability to neutralize
oxygen free radicals.
ORP can also be directly tested using an ORP sensor and meter. We have
conducted these experiments as well. We found that water coming
directly from the tap had an ORP of +290mV, while the water coming out
of the water alkalinizer had a negative ORP. The more negative the ORP
of a substance (that is, the higher its negative ORP), the more likely
it is to engage in chemical reactions that donate electrons. These
electrons are immediately available to engage in reactions that
neutralize positively charged free radicals. This is the key benefit of
water produced by a water alkalinizer that is not available by simply
drinking water than has had some bicarb or other compounds dissolved in
it to make it alkaline.
Although water mixed with
bicarbonate is indeed alkaline, it does not have a negative ORP; rather
it has a positive ORP, meaning that it is unable to neutralize
dangerous oxygen free radicals. Alkaline water produced by running tap
water through an electrolysis machine does have a high negative ORP,
meaning that it does have the ability to neutralize oxygen free
radicals. We have confirmed these ORP measurements through our direct
tests . Question: OK, why is it important to drink alkaline water with a high negative ORP?
Answer:
All chemical reactions occur with the transfer of electrons. Negatively
charged entities are said to be reducing agents, meaning they are
relatively electron rich and are able to donate electrons, reducing the
charge of the entity with which they react. Relatively electron-poor
entities are referred to as oxidizing agents, meaning they tend to pull
electrons away. Thus, each substance in our body may act as either an
oxidizing or reducing agent.
However, not just any negatively charged ion will be able to engage in
the specific chemical reactions needed to neutralize oxygen free
radicals. The HCO3- (bicarbonate) ions in alkaline bicarb water do not
have this potential, whereas the OH- and mineral-rich water coming from
an electrolysis machine (from tap water) does have this potential. That
is implied in the negative value of the "oxidation reduction
potential."
Free radicals are among the most damaging
molecules in the body and are highly unstable molecules that are
oxidizing agents and are electron deficient. They are a principal cause
of damage and disease in the body. Oxygen free radicals contribute
significantly to a broad variety of harmful conditions in the body
ranging from life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, stroke
and cancer, to less severe conditions such as sunburns, arthritis,
cataracts, and many others. Free radicals MUST get electrons from
somewhere and will steal them from whatever molecules are around,
including normal, healthy tissues. Damage
to tissues results when free radicals strip these electrons from
healthy cells. If the damage goes on unchecked, this will lead to
disease. For example, the oxidation of LDL cholesterol particles in
arterial walls by free radicals triggers an immune system response that
results in atherosclerosis, the principal cause of heart disease. The
negative ions in alkaline water from an electrolysis machine are a rich
source of electrons that can be donated to these free radicals in the
body, neutralizing them and stopping them from damaging healthy
tissues. Specifically, these ions have the potential to engage in the
chemical reactions necessary to neutralize oxygen free radicals.
Vitamin C and E, grape seed extract and alpha lipoic acid, for example,
are all powerful electron donors. The vegetable-rich diet we recommend
is alkaline and helps donate electrons to the body. Alkaline,
electron-rich water falls in the same category. It can help with your
body's need for electrons to counteract free radicals.
Interestingly, we also tested vegetable juice with the ORP meter and
found that it also has a high negative ORP, meaning that it is able to
neutralize oxygen free radicals. So at least one of the important
benefits of eating vegetables can be obtained from drinking the high
negative ORP alkaline water from an electrolysis machine.
Another benefit of drinking alkaline water is that it assists in the
absorption of minerals. We know that if the body is not absorbing
enough minerals, it will rob minerals from the body's mineral reserves,
chiefly calcium from the bones.
It is well known that many chronic diseases result in excess acidity of
the body (metabolic acidosis). We also know that the body tends to
become more acidic due to modern dietary habits and lifestyles and the
aging process itself. By drinking high negative ORP alkaline water, you
combat metabolic acidosis and improve absorption of nutrients.
The blood is carefully buffered to keep it in a narrow range between pH
7.35 to 7.45. The body keeps blood pH stable by utilizing alkaline
buffers, chiefly bicarbonate, to neutralize acidic liquids (such as
colas, which have a pH as low as 2.5) and other acidic products and
byproducts. But as the blood stream receives these acidic substances,
the alkaline buffers get used up. Drinking
alkaline water helps reduce the burden on the limited alkaline buffers
which are needed for the body's natural detoxification processes. Question: Is there research that actually shows the benefits of drinking alkaline water?
Answer: A number of studies are summarized below. One study described
below suggests that alkaline water encourages "friendly" anaerobic
microflora in the human intestinal tract, and discourages "unfriendly"
aerobic organisms. The researcher (see Vorobjeva NV below) writes:
"Many diseases of the intestine are due to a disturbance in the balance
of the microorganisms inhabiting the gut. The treatment of such
diseases involves the restoration of the quantity and/or balance of
residential microflora in the intestinal tract. It is known that
aerobes and anaerobes grow at different oxidation-reduction potentials
(ORP). The former require positive E(h) values up to +400 mV. Anaerobes
do not grow unless the E(h) value is negative between -300 and -400 mV.
In this work, it is suggested that prerequisite for the recovery and
maintenance of obligatory anaerobic microflora in the intestinal tract
is a negative ORP value of the intestinal milieu. Electrolyzed reducing
water with E(h) values between 0 and -300 mV produced in electrolysis
devices possesses this property. Drinking such water favours the growth
of residential microflora in the gut. A sufficient array of data
confirms this idea."
Dr. Grossman has also had many of his
patients report of health benefits they have experienced from drinking
alkaline electron-rich water.
Question: How can alkaline water with a pH of 9 or 10 be expected to affect the body when the pH of the stomach is 2 or less?
Answer: It is important to remember that large amounts of hydrochloric
acid are present in the stomach primarily when food is there. There is
only a small amount of acid in stomach when it is empty, and this can
be easily overcome when alkaline electron-rich water is consumed.
Therefore, in order to gain maximum benefit, we recommend drinking
alkaline water in between meals. Water consumed between meals will very
quickly pass through the stomach and the GI tract.
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