At lower levels of contamination, with low concentrations of highly toxic chemicals like dioxin or radioactive materials, the water may be odorless and tasteless. Uranium, radon, and radium are common, naturally occurring radioactive contaminants. In addition, radiation spills from plants designed to radiate medical supplies, and now food, are also adding to the water contamination problem.

Water the general public uses comes from two sources: underground water such as springs and wells, and surface water such as rivers and lakes. Both of these sources are becoming more and more polluted because of poor governmental regulations and enforcement, breakdown of our water systems, unsafe disposal of toxic waste, acid rain, inadequate safety procedures in the disposal of radioactive wastes, improper purification of raw sewage, agricultural herbicides and pesticides, and the general pollution of our environment.

An herbalist friend of mine said, "pay attention to your elimination, or it will eliminate you." Unfortunately, agencies created by our government to protect us and our environment are in many cases (as with the military's admission that they are a major contributor to the ozone layer depletion) adding to the problem. We need to protect ourselves from the polluted and toxic water in which we are slowly drowning.

Finding safe water is possible. Sources of safe drinking water are: bottled spring and mineral water which has been filtered through carbon or other types of filters, distilled water, and water that has been filtered through reverse osmosis or other purifiers, including ozone. Each of these has particular advantages and disadvantages, depending on the type of water and its source. Reverse osmosis or distilled water that has gone through a pre and post-carbon block filter are the safest two sources.

However, neither reverse osmosis, nor distilled water, are the healthiest water that we can obtain. Although both are pure from a chemical point of view, neither is biologically active. Findings by Dr. Paul Kouchakoff, a leading researcher in the field, have shown that distilled water, because it has been boiled at high temperatures, has lost its crystalline structure, and actually acts like a foreign body inside us, stimulating a pathological increase in white blood cell count!

The healthiest water is biologically active or structured water. Structured water either already contains, or has the capacity to hold, more energy than distilled water or water that has gone through reverse osmosis. Researchers have found that the bond angle of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in structured water is different than that of processed water The amount of structured water inside our cells has been linked to our overall health. Live foods contain structured water. Approximately 85% of most fruits and vegetables are water, so eating raw fresh fruits and vegetables is a delightful way to obtain our daily requirement of biologically active water.

The more structured the water is in our biological system, the better the enzyme systems can carry out their metabolic process work, and the easier it is for vitamins and minerals to be assimilated into our cells. When the water is structured, the individual water molecules become grouped into high energy, liquid crystalline units. The more structured the water, the more life energy it holds, the better the individual cells function, and the higher the quality of health.

The good news is that it is possible to structure distilled or reverse osmosis water so it can be transformed from simply a safe and clean water, to a high energy, healthy water. This can be done with sunlight, magnets, crystals, or even the energy from our hands. The famous water of Hunza, in the Himalayas, associated with longevity, has been found to be highly structured water.

Researchers, Patrick and Gael Flanagan, MDs, who did much of this Hunza water investigation, found that the key element in maintaining the structured nature of this water was its colloid content (microcrystalline charged particles that balance each other in a formation that attracts the individual chaotic water molecules to from liquid crystal hydration shells which form structured water). They discovered that the more colloidal structure in water, the more free energy is available for enhancing the health of our systems. This free energy in water is called 'zeta potential.'

Liquids with the most biologically healthy colloidal systems are the most structured, and have the highest zeta potential. When the zeta potential is decreased in a biological system, the integrity of its fluids is disrupted and the system's function decreases. For example, when the colloidal system of carrot juice begins to collapse after a few days, we see the appearance of a gooey jell. When the zeta potential of blood decreases, the red cells begin to stick together loosing their discreteness, thickening the blood. This sludging effect has been associated with general poor health, lack of oxygen in the tissues, and lower energetic cellular functioning. Just as clean, pure, freely flowing rivers, lakes and oceans bring life to planet earth, so does high energy, freely flowing fluids in our body, such as blood, fluid between the cells, and the fluid in our cells, bring health to our bodies.

Researchers have discovered that fluid colloid systems in our bodies are disrupted by: cooking, microwaving, or irradiating food; aluminum in drinking water, beer and soft drinks; and extremely low frequencies (ELF's) from hair dryers, TV sets, computers, and even washing machines!

The best approach to maintaining a high colloid zeta potential in our body fluids is to take in water that increases the zeta potential. The best diet for this is one abundant in life foods with high liquid content. The ones which contain the highest zeta potential include organic fruits and vegetables and their fresh juices. By maintaining a high zeta potential in our blood and intracellular fluids, one is likely to have the colloidal structure of our biological systems disrupted or destroyed by the myriad of potential zeta potential destroyers in our environment.

With this awareness of zeta potential, we can choose water and high structured water content foods and liquids which are true elixirs of health.

Also see Fluoride in our water