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An Introduction to Ionization
The ionSpa® and Negative Hydrogen ®
Technical and Informational Overview
An ion is a charged atom that has lost an
electron, thus creating a magnetic (attraction)
field capable of neutralizing
oppositely-charged particles (toxins your
body).
The ionSpa® Detox Foot Bath control head
delivers an electrical current through water in
the ionizer® array to generate negatively
charged hydrogen ions (H-). This hydrogen ion
(H-) with an extra electron is one of the most
powerful antioxidants known and a great source
of readily available energy. These ions (H-)
travel through your body and attach themselves
to toxic and oxidative substances, thereby
neutralizing the substances charge. After being
neutralized, these particles are pulled through
the skin or processed through your body's
natural organs of detox and then out of your
body.
When the ionSpa® is operating, an abundance of
negative ions are being produced in the water,
which raises the user's pH to a more alkaline
state. Why is this significant? The vast
majority of people in the United States live in
an acid state and often suffer chronic health
issues. Such people greatly benefit from
exposure to high concentrations of negatively
charged ions, bringing their bodies back into a
more balanced acid-alkaline state.
What is Negative Hydrogen (H-)?
Everyone knows that your body needs oxygen in
order to live. So much emphasis has been placed
on oxygen as the essential element allowing us
to exist on Earth that we tend to forget the
other equally essential element, namely
hydrogen. Without hydrogen to combine with
oxygen we would not have water. Oxygen burns
hydrogen in the living system (our bodies),
releasing the energy that runs our bodies.
Hydrogen is "the fuel of life." It is essential
to most biological processes in its atomic
form, positive proton form or negative ion form
(H-). Studies have shown that the human body
stores hydrogen in its tissues. As we age,
tissue hydrogen-depletion may lead to many of
the symptoms of the aging process. This may
cause sub-clinical dehydration since it appears
that hydrogen may play a role in hydrating our
cells. Hydrogen makes up 90% of the matter
known in the Universe; helium makes up 9%. All
the other elements in the Universe are found in
the remaining 1%. Since hydrogen is so
abundant, you would think that we know all
there is to know about it, but we are just now
learning about hydrogen's importance in the
living system (our bodies).
The word hydrogen comes from the Greek language
and it means "water-former". Indeed, we all
know that water, the matrix or mother of life,
is made from hydrogen and oxygen. In fact,
water is formed when hydrogen is burned by
oxygen.
We create pure water every day as a product of
our metabolism. When we burn hydrogen in our
cells, the energy that is released is used to
run our bodies. Hydrogen is the lightest and
smallest element known to science. Due to its
small size, hydrogen easily travels throughout
your body. It can also loosely hold another
electron (in its outer shell), in which case it
is called H minus (H-) or reduced hydrogen. No
electron moves in the living system (your body)
unless it is accompanied by hydrogen. In the
absence of an adequate supply of negative
hydrogen ions, intracellular or functions with
a cell, intercellular communication between
your cells and energy production are inhibited.
Thereby, toxins and free radicals accumulate
and health deteriorates.
ATP
Inside all cells are varying numbers of small
energy factories. Known as mitochondria. The
more active the tissue is, the greater the
number of mitochondria. These mitochondria
produce the energy currency of your body called
ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate). Adenosine
tri-phosphate is a biochemical energy battery
that supplies almost all the energy needs of
the human body.
Hydrogen produces ATP molecules by moving
electrons along the mitochondrial electron
transport chain. Our purpose of eating food is
to ultimately create ATP, which could be called
the source of life's energy. Hydrogen, from
food, supplies the needed protons and electrons
for the mitochondrial electron transport chain
to make ATP. We each use about one-half pound
of pure hydrogen every day just for the
production of ATP. Attaching hydrogen to a
molecule means lending energy to it. Since in
hydrogen the electron and proton are loosely
coupled, by attaching a hydrogen atom we
essentially attach an electron.
Free Radicals and Antioxidants
High levels of free radicals are a major cause
of aging, as well as many acute and chronic
diseases. A free radical is a toxic compound
that has lost a negatively charged electron,
produced in your body as a by-product of
metabolic oxidation. It therefore carries a
positive charge and is unstable. It is capable
of attracting an electron away from a vital
cellular site such as the electron-rich DNA.
Loss of an electron can damage a cell and alter
its ability to perform its special function or
to replicate itself normally. Levels of free
radicals are higher in people exposed to air or
water pollution, commercial animal products,
toxic chemicals, or cigarette smoke.
An antioxidant is a compound, which has a weak
attraction to one of its electrons. It
therefore readily surrenders an electron to a
free radical, stabilizing and neutralizing the
free radical, which then becomes a stable
compound. Having surrendered an electron, the
antioxidant itself may temporarily become a
free radical, but a less aggressive one until
it captures an electron from another
antioxidant, to replace the one given up, in a
cascade of electron transfers to milder, and
milder, and less damaging compounds.
Negative hydrogen, however, is the one unique
antioxidant that does not become a free
radical. The electron it surrenders is an extra
electron. The negative hydrogen ion becomes
stable hydrogen, balanced with one electron and
one proton. Antioxidant compounds are produced
by your body, but are also obtained either from
food or from dietary supplements. Vitamin C,
Beta-carotene, vitamin E, and selenium are well
known as water and fat-soluble antioxidants,
found in fruits, vegetables and phyto-nutrient
supplements such as spirulina plankton.
Another
antioxidant compound is proanthocyanidins,
extracted from grape seeds, or pine bark. It is
significant to this discussion to realize that
each molecule of an antioxidant compound, no
matter how large the molecule, surrenders only
one electron. The hydrogen atom is the smallest
of all elements and has as much antioxidant
power as the large, complex compounds described
above. Since the H- form is prevalent in nature
it could be called an ever-present antioxidant.
Hydrogen, when in the hydride (H-) state, is
found in most fresh fruits and vegetables, as
well as in actively moving water.
Cellular Conductivity
The living system contains numerous chemical
messengers that carry information and trigger
events in metabolism. Virtually every action
that takes place in your body requires
communication of chemical messages from one
cell to another, conducted by electrons passing
through extra cellular fluids. An optimal level
of conductivity in these fluids is essential to
life and all activity. Abert Sent-Gyorgyl, the
Nobel laureate who discovered Vitamin C, found
that the tissues of the animal body store
hydrogen in vast quantities. Different organ
tissues "pool" hydrogen in different amounts.
For example, he found that the order of
hydrogen pooling is the following:
Liver > Intestine > Kidney > Heart > lung >
Spleen
Liver tissues store the most hydrogen, while
the spleen stores the least. This is
interesting in view of the fact that the liver
is your body's first line of defense and needs
a supply of the most antioxidants in order to
do its work of detoxification.
Aging
Transport of hydrogen is the missing factor in
the search for the cause of the aging process
and the secret to age reversal. As we grow
older, our cells become dehydrated and our
hydrogen pool becomes depleted. The hydrogen
pool protects our cells from free-radical
damage. Free radicals are responsible for the
aging process. There is a paradox in medicine,
and that is the fact that oxygen is the source
of all life and is also the major cause of
aging. Much effort is being expended to find
powerful antioxidants that may control or
reverse cell damage by oxidative free radicals.
The single factor that is common to all
antioxidants is that they are sources of
hydrogen. Hydrogen is the ultimate antioxidant.
Carbon Cycle
We have all heard about the carbon cycle in
biology. The carbon cycle is the process by
which plants use sunlight and water to create
carbohydrates and other foodstuffs. These are
then used as food by animals that eat the
plants. Animals exhale carbon dioxide gas,
which is then taken up by the plants. The
plants then use the carbon to make more
carbohydrates, proteins and lipids (fats),
which then serve as animal food. The carbon
cycle could actually be renamed the hydrogen
cycle. Plants create carbohydrates, proteins
and lipids by attaching hydrogen to carbon
atoms like hats on a hat-rack. Carbohydrates
contain an equal amount of carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen. We can say that all the foods that
nourish us are primarily sources of hydrogen.
We can see that the life cycle is really a
hydrogen cycle. The "burning of the hydrogen"
is a secret of life. The burning of hydrogen
controls your life energy.
Free hydrogen that is released from the
carbohydrates, proteins and lipids are carried
into the mitochondria (power plant in each of
your cells) by a process known as the hydrogen
shuttle where they are used to make ATP. In
this process, hydrogen is burned by oxygen,
releasing energy. The final product from the
burning of hydrogen is water. This extra water
is eliminated from your body and is eventually
taken up by plants and split by photosynthesis
to make more carbohydrates, proteins and
lipids. In biological systems, hydrogen and
electrons travel together in pairs. When this
combination meets up with a positively charged
cell-damaging free radical, the hydrogen may
react with the free radical and neutralize it
so that no further cell damage may occur.
By consuming large quantities every day of, a
new transport system is created that makes
hydrogen available to the cells without first
having to be attached to food. These electrons
are available in the gastrointestinal tract to
neutralize free radicals that occur from poor
digestion and microbial imbalance.
Since hydrogen bonds are the "glue" that holds
together the molecules in the DNA double helix,
these bonds can be activated and energized. As
we age, the DNA helix coils tighter and
tighter, loosing flexibility. This contraction
of the DNA coil may reduce the number of times
that our cells can divide. Normally, our cells
can only divide about 50 times before they
cease reproduction. If we are able to loosen
the DNA helix by activating the DNA hydrogen
bonds, it will have a profound effect on our
ability to increase the regeneration of our
cells. The DNA helix floats in water and is
therefore hydrated. The tightening of the helix
with aging may be a reflection of the loss of
the hydrogen pool with aging. By restoring a
plentiful supply of the hydrogen pool, these
spirals naturally unwind and regain their
ability to stimulate cellular reproduction.
Symptoms of hydrogen depletion include chronic
fatigue, depression, hormone imbalances and
indigestion. As our tissues are depleted of
hydrogen, they become stiff and lose
flexibility. Dehydrated tendons and muscles
tear more easily, and dehydrated bones become
brittle. Loss of lung flexibility leads to loss
of oxygen. By replenishing our hydrogen stores,
we can relieve many of these conditions brought
about by hydrogen depletion.
The human body becomes toxic or polluted from
both external (exogenous) sources and internal
(endogenous) sources. The most common external
pathways of toxicity are from inhalation
(smoking, air pollution, dental amalgam
fillings, sick buildings), ingestion (chemical
residues on food, chemicals in water, drugs)
injection (vaccinations, flu shots, tattoos),
absorption (chemicals from synthetic fabrics,
paints, plastics, pesticides and chemical
fertilizers sprayed on lawns) and irradiation
(medical x-rays, nuclear power plants, bomb
testing, uranium mine tailings, cell phones and
towers, computer monitors and televisions,
microwave ovens, and power grid and radio and
satellite transmissions). The internal sources
of toxicity are from fermentation,
purification, and rancidity from undigested
foods consumed, and from dehydration,
malnutrition, and toxic thoughts and emotions.
This endogenous (internal) toxicity can also be
caused from the effects of exogenous (external)
toxins contributing to malnutrition, and
inhibition of digestion through damage to the
nervous system, immune system, and end enzyme
systems.
There are 70,000
chemicals being used in commercial production
in the US. The EPA has classified 65,000 of
them potentially, if not definitely hazardous
to human health. Over 6,000 new chemicals are
tested in the US each week! Three thousand
chemicals have been identified as intentionally
added to food supplies and over 700 in drinking
water. During food processing and storage, more
than 10,000 other compounds can become an
integral part of many commonly used foods. One
of the major symptoms of chemical toxicity
seems to be a breakdown of the immune function,
which encourages all kinds of symptoms in your
body. Another major symptom is damage to the
nervous system and nervousness.
We aren't rewarded immediately with good health
and radiant well-being as soon as we change our
"evil ways". The vast increase of chemicals in
our environment, foods and medicines has
greatly altered your body's ability to rid
itself of toxins. Often, the recovery of health
and improvement of the diet cause unpleasant
symptoms. People truly seeking health have to
decide to sacrifice their old comfortable diet
patterns and habits to be rewarded by good
health. It doesn't take long before they
discover that after improving their diet, they
sometimes feel much worse (temporarily). A
common complaint is, "Do I really have to go
through that?" They are going through what is
called detoxification. Poor health and illness
is progressive, it does not occur overnight,
Good health and well-being is also progressive,
it may take weeks, months, or years.
Body Cycles
Life is a series of cycles of energy
production, storage, and discharge. This
general cycle defines all living organisms,
from one-celled algae to man. All of nature
follows the 24-hour cycle of a day. All
creatures, from the oyster to the elephant,
follow a daily pattern of work and rest, sleep
and activity. There are biological rhythms
within your body that dictate periods of brain
activity, hormone levels, and a host of other
factors obey this rhythm, which scientists call
circadian. Circadian rhythm is a blend of
interaction of an internal clock and external
cues of the earth's magnetism, electrical
fields, gravitational fields and cosmic
radiation, even the movement of other planets.
Each of our twelve acupuncture meridians in our
body has a two-hour period of heightened
activity, together, totaling 24-hours—the
circadian cycle of the earth's rotation. Your
body has bio-rhythms of 14-days for the
physical, 28-days for the emotional and 33-days
for the mental aspects of us. Healing occurs in
cycles. Some days your body has a high-energy
level and it rebuilds damaged tissues. On such
days, we may feel great. On other days, your
body must do its detoxification and remove
accumulated toxins. When this happens, we may
experience low levels of energy or even
depression.
Most people lead a lifestyle and follow a diet
that inhibits your body in its cyclical work.
For instance, when your body is ridding itself
of impurities via a cold, people become
impatient. They try to suppress their body's
purification cycle with drugs or food and your
body must abandon its efforts. Your body
behaves in a sort of roller-coaster fashion as
it conducts its detoxification process. One day
it may purify (the body is literally washing
itself) heavily and we may feel like death
warmed over. The next day, the toxins have been
removed and we feel great. We feel so great, in
fact, that your body decides to dig a little
deeper and remove some of the older toxins, and
then we feel worse. This is a continuing cycle
in the process of healing.
Once a certain level of health has been
reached, we do not notice the detoxification
and healing crisis with every change of season.
Notice how people seem to get sick at those
particular times of year. Fasting for 7-10 days
with those who understand the benefit practice
each seasonal change gained from helping your
body during these natural times of purifying.
Your Body's Infinite Wisdom
Your body wants to live forever; it wants to be
free from all pain and illness; it actively
desires complete healing to take place within
it at all times. Your body is your friend and
partner in your effort to regain health. Your
body has the innate capacity, knowledge, and
wisdom to heal itself at any time if it is
allowed to do so. Your body possesses its own
healing ability and the wisdom to direct this
ability. The only thing we must do is let your
body conduct its work with as little
interference as possible. We can furnish it
with the highest-quality raw foods when it
needs it or abstain from food when it does not
desire it. We can exercise and rest your body,
and give it fresh air and sunshine. Other than
that, all we can really do is wait patiently
and intelligently and not become alarmed by the
symptoms of its healing or try to suppress
those symptoms even if we are healing heart
disease, cancer, AIDS, or any other
degenerative condition.
If you have faith and trust in your body's
ability to heal itself, the unpleasant
symptoms, which may accompany this healing,
become more bearable and are not a source of
fear or misgiving. Ultimately, we must let our
body perform its health-restoring work at its
own pace. The real doctor is within your body
and is capable of performing all the needed
healing functions. The cellular intelligence
driving your body is infinite in its capacity.
We need not have any fears about its wisdom or
ability to restore itself to the
highest-possible level of health and
well-being.
The Liver
The liver is one of the most important organs
in your body when it comes to detoxifying or
getting rid of foreign substances or toxins.
Glutathione, the most abundant sulfhydryl in
your body, functions to chelate and detoxify
heavy metals. Mercury and lead have also been
shown to combine or complex with glutathione.
Once complexed together, the bile becomes a
major route used by your body to excrete the
complex, thereby reducing the amount of
glutathione available. The primary source of
the sulfur portion of cysteine is methionine.
Cysteine cannot be taken up by hepatocyctes
(liver cells) easily, whereas methionine is
taken up more readily, and is then metabolized
into S-adenosylmethionine, homocysteine,
cystathione, and cysteine. Cancer cells utilize
methionine in order to grow and proliferate.
Cancer or tumor dependence on methionine for
growth is an artificial condition, brought
about by some earlier failure in the trans-sulfuration
and transmethylation pathways. Therefore, if
the availability of methionine is reduced, not
only will the capability of the liver to
detoxify be impaired, but there will also be
less glutathione available to complex with
foreign substances. Studies have demonstrated
that a deficiency of methionine can, in itself,
cause liver cancer without the presence of a
carcinogen, and also that the deficiency of
methionine can permit a heavy metal to cause
toxic effects.
The Colon
The colon is the sewer of your body. If the
colon does not rid itself of these impurities
(waste), the waste from head to toes cannot get
out. According to some estimates, about 70
million Americans suffer from bowel problems.
These statistics cover only those people whose
problems are severe enough to cause them to
consult a medical doctor. Your body's tissues
will not eliminate wastes unless the colon is
working.
The bodily systems are connected. When the
colon is purified (washed out), your body will
start pulling poisons out from everywhere,
because it can. Wastes from the colon can leak
out and pollute other organs. Other organs can
be treated with natural methods, with only
partial results, because these organs keep
getting re-infected or re-irritated by poisons
from the colon. The impacted colon creates
diverticulosis, which are herniations or
pockets in the wall of the colon that contain
fecal matter. If it stays in there long enough,
it will leak into your body and cause what is
called autointoxication. These diverticula
cannot usually be detected inside the colon
with colonoscope, but on the outside of the
colon where you cannot see. The bowel pockets
leak pus, blood, and fecal matter back into the
bloodstream.
When your body is toxic, the cells cannot
receive nutrients from the blood because the
interstitial fluid surrounding the cells is
plugged-up with wastes from sluggish lymphatic.
The internal poisoning also causes mental
depression and morbid thoughts. It is a vicious
cycle: one condition feeding the other like a
dog chasing its tail. Most people, instead of
getting rid of the impurities (waste) in their
colon use incense, air wicks, underarm
deodorants, foot powder, mouthwash, toothpaste,
breath fresheners, perfumed sprays and colognes
to cover up their stink because they are filled
with impacted fecal matter.
If the colon does not go through this process
of purification (washing), the other organs
cannot rid themselves of their waste. If a
person cannot get the bowels washed out, even
if they wash the plaque out of the arteries, it
is going to go back into your body. They will
just re-absorb it. Unless they wash out (or
purify) the colon, they will never regain
vibrant health.
The Kidneys
The principle task of the kidney is to preserve
the volume and composition of the extra
cellular fluid constant. This it must do
despite a varying outside environment, and
varying input. A part of this task (but only a
part) is to remove from your body some of the
waste by-products of metabolism which the cells
cannot break down further. Thus the principle
function of the kidney is not excretion, but
regulation.
We can move and live on dry land, even though
we are three-quarters water, and survive; our
cells carefully tucked away in a carefully
preserved ocean of extra cellular fluid, whose
composition is guarded with exquisite accuracy
by the kidneys, a major part of our
life-support system in this hostile
environment. We can roam into deserts, and
(usually) survive, or drink a six-pack of beer,
or starve, or gorge, but essentially the extra
cellular soup remains of a constant
composition, and because of this, the
composition of the cells themselves is
constant.
The kidney is less in control of the
intracellular water, since if the kidneys do
their job adequately, each cell is largely
autonomous, and will extract and eject what it
needs or does not need from the extra cellular
fluid. The kidney conserves what we need, but
even more, the kidney permits us freedom of
excess. That is, it allows us to take in more
than we need of many necessities, water and
salt for example, and excretes exactly what is
not required. This is essential, since neither
our ancestors nor we, animal or human know the
composition of the foods we eat, and the only
way to ensure a sufficiency of everything is to
eat an excess of at least some.
Finally, the kidneys preserve the volume of out
body fluids as well as their composition. Given
that we are almost ¾ water, quite simply
weighing oneself each day can assess the
precision with which the kidney achieves this.
Despite variations in diet, exercise or fluid
intake, the figures remain constant. The kidney
performs its tasks, with a precision of as good
as1 % and never worse than 5%, under extremely
varying circumstances. If the kidneys fail
suddenly, death occurs after a few days, partly
because some of the accumulated metabolic waste
products are toxic to the heart, which stops.
More interesting is the way in which the kidney
can adapt to slow destruction by dysfunction,
so that one can survive on as little as 5% of
overall kidney function. The kidney has greater
reserve capacity in the face of disorder than,
for example, the heart or the lungs.
Lymphatic System
Nearly 80% of your total body weight is water.
One-third of your body fluid is extra cellular,
meaning that it is outside the cells. But only
12% of your body fluid is blood and 62% of your
bodily fluid is outside the cells. What that
means is that 36% of your fluid is lymph. Lymph
is the fluid that surrounds all cells. It is
the cell's environment. There is 3-times more
lymph fluid in your body than blood. Not all
cells are surrounded by water. Bone minerals
surround the bone cells. But all cells depend
directly on extra cellular water for food. The
lymph fluid, through minute channels, feeds
even bone cells.
When waste material leaves your body cells, the
two circulating body fluids, the blood and the
lymph carry it away. The lymph is formed out of
the blood but contains no red blood cells. Each
cell in your body is bathed by the interstitial
fluid, which consists of material from the
bloodstream together with substances passed out
of the cells. About 90% of the water and small
molecules entering the interstitial fluid from
the bloodstream are re-absorbed by local blood
vessels. The remaining 10% of the water and
small molecules plus the protein, other large
molecules, and particles in the interstitial
fluid collect in a network of tiny vessels.
The lymph vessels combine into larger ducts
that eventually empty back into the blood
stream. The lymph vessels contain one-way
valves and are lined with muscle tissue that
pumps the lymph through these valves. Because
the lymphatic system carries away toxins from
all body cells, its proper functioning is
important to the health of your entire body.
Lymph is filled with nutrients on their way to
the cells, waste products thrown off by the
cells hormones, and enzymes. Leukocytes,
lymphocytes, monocytes, and anti-bodies and
other white blood cells are able to travel
wherever water exists. Just as the air around
your body is in motion constantly, the lymph
fluid that surrounds the cells is also in
constant motion.
Cells are able to function better with fresh
lymph fluid filled with the proper
concentrations of hydrogen, oxygen, glucose,
and all other nutrients. Valves exist in all
lymph channels. In the large lymphatic, valves
exist every few millimeters, and in the smaller
lymphatic, the valves are much closer than
this. Motion pictures of exposed lymph vessels
show that when a lymph vessel becomes stretched
with fluid, the smooth muscles in the wall of
the vessel automatically contract.
Furthermore, each segment of the lymph vessel
between successive valves function as a
separate automatic pump. That is, the filling
of a segment causes it to contract and the
fluid is pumped through the valve to the next
lymph segment. This fills the subsequent
segment and a few seconds later, it too
contracts. The process continues all along the
lymphatic system until the fluid is finally
emptied back into the blood stream from the
thoradic duct into the vena cava right
underneath the collarbones. When fresh supplies
replace the waste products of cells (the
toxins, bacteria viruses, poisons, trash and
debris) cells are healthier, and so are you.
The removal of the proteins from the
interstitial spaces is an absolutely essential
function, without which we would die within 24
hours. The colon is the principal organ through
which mucoid matter from the lymph is
eliminated.
When the lymphatic system becomes extremely
full of mucoid material, a pressure is created
that is felt all over your body. It starts as a
tension in the muscles that becomes an aching
of the muscles as the pressure increases. One
function of a fever is to thin the lymph mucoid,
improving its ability to flow and to pass
through the walls of the colon. All
lymph-purifying influences reduce fever by
lessening the necessity for using fever to thin
the lymph. If the colon cannot perform the
necessary rate of purification of the lymph,
then your body uses the liver to do the work
instead.
The toxins taken up by the liver are excreted
as part of the bile. When the flow of bile
becomes excessive, bile backs up into the
stomach, and the result is nausea. Most grasses
are lymph purifiers, which is why animals eat
grass when sick. Now we can see how problems
can originate when the colon becomes clogged.
When this happens, waste material gets backed
up into the lymphatic system. As this process
continues, waste material gets backed up into
your body tissues and disease can result. This
process can affect any body part because the
lymphatic system serves all your body's cells.
So simply
and yet so complex is the wonder of negative
hydrogen and all the processes affected. Truly,
negative hydrogen is "the fuel of life".
Article provided br Wellspring Products
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