How Alkaline Water Benefits Your Immune System

The food you consume and the polluted air you inhale, create a lot of acidic waste in your body. Even the tap water that comes to your home is not safe as it contains many pollutants, chlorine, fluorine and other minerals in it. Consuming alkaline water benefits your health and improves your immune system.

Alkaline water benefits your health by neutralizing acids and removing toxins from your body. Tap water normally has a pH value of 7 and is neutral. Alkaline water has a pH range of 7.2 to 9 that is safe for the body. The pH value describes the acidity or alkalinity in a water sample. If the body is excessively acidic, there is a lack of oxygen available in your body cells, and you will not be healthy. When your body is alkaline, and it is getting sufficient minerals from the food and drinks to remain alkaline, your blood will function normally. Providing oxygen to the body cells and removing all acidic waste from the body is significant for health.

The extra amount of acid present in your body weakens your immune system and can cause several diseases. On the other hand, if your body is alkaline, it will function better. Alkaline water acts to neutralize the acids present in the body and enables it to flush out the toxic, acidic waste.

Alkaline antioxidant water can be prepared in a number of ways. One of the best and economical ways is by ionizing the water. Ionized water is alkaline, rich in antioxidants and is free from bacteria as well as other volatile organic substances such as chlorine, fluorine and harmful trace metals present in tap water. It also contains an excess of oxygen atoms and retains healthy minerals. Ionized alkaline water benefits the health as it makes the passage of water between your body-cells easier. Alkaline water provides oxygen to the body cells to get rid of toxins. Antioxidants are important to improve your health. The ionized water has a higher antioxidant level, and is more beneficial for your health and immune system. ORP signifies the Oxidation Reduction Potential of ionized water and measures the antioxidant level of ionized water. A higher antioxidant level in the ionized water implies that it is better for your health. The alkaline ionized water is more beneficial than clean water to save you from abdominal complaints and chronic diarrhea, and it shows a better overall improvement. Alkaline mineral water reduces bone resorption. Ionized water protects the body against oxidative damage to protein RNA and DNA.

Alkaline water benefits your body to fight the aging process and numerous degenerative diseases. As alkaline water is more easily absorbed into your body-cells, it reduces the build up of acidic waste in your body and makes it less susceptible to degenerative diseases including gout, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure as well as heart disease. The high pH water forces the stomach to generate more hydrochloric acid that produces more bicarbonate to go into your bloodstream. With aging, the bicarbonate and as such the alkalinity in the blood stream reduces and the body is unable to neutralize acids. The increase in acid level causes cholesterol, uric acid, kidney stones, etc. Alkaline ionized water also refills the deficit of calcium, prevents bone loss, and also prevents kidney disorders. Thus, the alkaline water benefits your immune system in several ways.

Although alkaline water can greatly benefit your health, there are a few things you need to know about it before you start. You can visit http://www.alkalinebenefits.org/ for great information on alkaline balance and the best ways to implement it in your own life.

Alkaline Benefits also contains other useful information about how to live healthier. This includes consuming various alkaline superfoods such as spirulina, wheatgrass and chlorella.

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Supercharge Your Immune System With Garlic, Lemon and Raw Honey Shots

I used to always be time poor, crazy busy and my days were very long ones with only 5-6 hours sleep per night. As I was always on the go, I often didn't have time to think about what I was eating, or my health. I would catch a cold or come down with the flu and couldn't figure out why; I exercised regularly, I ate what I thought was healthy, so my immune system was strong right? Wrong. My body was always fighting to keep going so it's no surprise my immune system was weak.

Nowadays I don't get sick, and if I do feel something coming on I opt for all natural cold combating vitamins like Echinacea and vitamin C, as well increasing my fruit and vegetable consumption. But in order to keep my immunity strong and avoid getting sick altogether I regularly consume natures immune boosting offerings like garlic.

Garlic contains a superpower of flavonoids and sulfur-containing nutrients and is a simple way to keep your immune system in top form. A study by Washington State University determined that when fighting disease causing bacteria's, garlic is 100 times more effective than antibiotics.

Garlic is best consumed raw as when it's cooked it reduces the protective effects of the allicin. It's still beneficial when used in cooking, just use double the amount that you would when consuming it raw and add it in at the end of the cooking process, not the beginning.

Another natural immune booster is raw honey, not only is raw honey highly nutritious, it's anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal. It contains copious amounts of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and vitamin C as well as potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur, sodium chlorine and phosphate. Be sure to consume raw honey and not "regular" honey, as raw honey hasn't been heated to high temperatures so it contains more of the beneficial health properties.

Also well known for fighting bacteria and infection are lemons as they're abundant in vitamin C and flavonoids, and also contain, magnesium, calcium and citric acid.

During the autumn and winter months I have one garlic, lemon & raw honey shot per day, and if there is a flu outbreak I'll up it to two per day. It truly is a super charged immune booster and best of all it's 100% natural.

Raw Garlic, Honey & Lemon Shots

What you'll need:

1/2 lemon

1 large clove of garlic

1 tablespoon of raw honey (I use Manuka honey)

What to do:

Finely chop or crush the garlic and let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes (this will maximize its potency).

Extract the juice from the lemon then add the garlic, honey, and cayenne pepper and mix well.

About the Author

Marina Daniell is the founder of staple life, an inspiring blog for women about simple living (doing less, so you can live more). A dedicated Bikram Yogi, lover of fashion, beauty and food. When she isn't in the hot yoga room she can be found rolling fresh gnocchi or pasta for her family, or whipping up beauty products with items from her fridge.

You can follow Marina on Facebook or check out her blog staple life.

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Bacterial Infections - Effective Ways to Spot and Stop Them

What are Bacterial Infections?

Bacterial infections are diseases caused by harmful bacteria invading the body.

Bacteria are living organisms with only one cell. Not all of them are harmful; in fact, most are natural residents of the body called "normal flora" and are vital to health.

A bacterial infection can occur in two general ways:

• when harmful strains of bacteria infect and proliferate in the bloodstream or other body tissues, or
• when the usually harmless normal flora multiply extensively in body areas where they are not supposed to be. For example, the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which are normal residents of the skin, can harm one's health by causing a blood infection when they enter the bloodstream through a cut or wound in the skin.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Bacterial Infections?

The signs that one is suffering from a bacterial infection vary widely, usually depending on where the infection is located in the body. Fever, though, is considered a general symptom. It is common for the body's temperature to spike when it attempts to fight infections.

Other signs of diseases caused by bacteria would be more specific to the body area or system affected:

• Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) - This is a general term for an infection anywhere along the urinary tract, and may involve the urethra, ureters, kidneys, or the bladder.
• Frequent need to urinate
• Pain or burning sensation during urination
• Cloudy or bloody urine
• Cramping or pressure in the lower abdomen

Bacterial Gastroenteritis - This is the inflammation of the stomach (gastro) and intestines (entero) caused by bacteria.

• Diarrhea or frequent watery stools (3x/day or more)
• Bloody stools
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Abdominal cramps
• Abdominal pain

Bacterial Pneumonia - This is the infection of the lungs caused by bacteria, usually involving a buildup of exudates and inflammatory cells in the lung's air spaces.

• Cough, usually productive of sputum
• Chest pain
• Difficulty in breathing
• Coughing out of blood

How are Bacterial Infections Treated?

The usual treatment of choice is antibiotics. Antibiotic drugs are either bacteriocidal (kill bacteria) or bacteriostatic (stop bacteria from reproducing). There are many antibiotic classes, each class inhibiting a certain process in the bacteria.

A commonly prescribed antibiotic is amoxicillin. It is commonly prescribed because it is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, which means that it is capable of killing a wide variety of bacteria that are the usual causes of commonly-occurring infections. Among the illnesses it is usually prescribed for are:

• Urinary tract infections affecting the urethra, ureters, kidneys, or the bladder
• Lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis
• Nose infections such as sinusitis and nasal vestibulitis
• Throat infections like the common strep throat and tonsillopharyngitis
• Ear infections such as acute otitis media or the swimmer's ear
• Gonorrhea

It works by inhibiting the bacteria's ability to form cell walls. Being one-celled organisms, bacteria's cell walls act as their skin. Without their cell walls, their contents would leak out and unwanted substances from outside can also enter, leading to their destruction.

It is available as a capsule, tablet, liquid suspension, or pediatric drops. It is usually taken three times a day (every 8 hours) or twice a day (every 12 hours). It is strongly advised by medical practitioners to finish off the whole prescription of any antibiotic (usually one week in duration). Stopping the regimen too soon can lead to the bacteria growing stronger and more resistant, making future infections harder to treat.

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