Neurons and Exercise

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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query bottled. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query bottled. Sort by date Show all posts

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Safety of Fiji Water

 

How Safe is Bottled Fiji Water

Dennis N. Crouse

March 15, 2021

 

Fiji water is sold in recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles1. Fiji water is a unique bottled water because the bottle is made of 100% PET that is more economic to recycle than bottles made of mixed plastics1. Both glass and PET bottles were used to store water from the same spring and in both cases no endocrine disrupters were released into the water2,3. This suggests that known endocrine disruptors, such as di-2-ethyhexyl phthalate (DEP)4, optionally added to some PET as a plasticizer, may be the cause of endocrine disruption seen with water stored in some non-Fiji PET bottles2. Fiji water has been tested and found to contain no detectable DEP5. Also, it is claimed the PET Fiji uses, does not contain phthalate plasticizers1.

Fiji water is also a unique bottled water because of its high concentration of orthosilicic acid (OSA) which is a water-soluble form of silica. OSA exists as single molecules [i.e., Si(OH)4] at a concentration of 124-149ppm6. Drinking water containing less than 160ppm of OSA (equivalent to 100ppm of dissolved silica) is generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. FDA7.

In addition to OSA, Fiji water also contains bicarbonate, calcium, chloride, magnesium, sodium, and sulfate, all of which are considered harmless5. In addition, Fiji water contains the following trace metals including arsenic (1.2ppb), and fluoride (0.24ppm)5,8 that are well below the maximum contaminant levels [MCL or SMCL set by the U.S. EPA]. Also, Fiji water was filtered through a 0.45micron filter and then the filter was examined using a 45x power microscope to reveal 12 particles of unknown composition/liter9.

·       Aluminum: 0 ppb10 (levels of aluminum over 100ppb have been linked to Alzheimer’s)10

·       Antimony: 0 ppb5 (6 ppb MCL)Note 1

·       Arsenic: 1.2ppb5 (10ppb MCL)

·       Fluoride: 0.24ppm5,8 (2.0ppm SMCL)

·       Lead: 0 ppb5 (0ppb MCL)

·       Mercury: 0 ppb5 (2ppb MCL)

·       Particles: 12/liter9 where usually 1 in 3000 is a microplastic particleNote 2

Therefore, Fiji water is safe to drink. 

 

Note 1: An insignificant amount antimony is leached out of PET into bottled water after 3 months of storage at 22oC (71.6oF)11. However, storage of drinking water in PET containers at greater than 70oC (the glass transition temperature of PET) has been shown to add antimony to the stored water11.

Note 2: Fiji water is “micron-filtered” prior to bottling in order to remove particles5. A study that found 12 particles larger than 0.45 microns per liter of Fiji water, used a microscope that could not identify the composition of the particles9. When looking at small particles with just a microscope it is impossible to discern their composition12.   People who use equipment that can discern composition of particles (e.g., Raman spectrometer) have not examined the particles in Fiji water. However, they have found that only 1 particle in 3000 particles in river water is microplastic12. The toxicology of microplastic particles is currently unknown but in spite of this, plastic microbeads were used for a number of years in some toothpastes and cosmetics. Because microbeads may be mistaken as food by fish, the Microbead Free Waters Act of 2015 by the U.S. FDA outlaws the manufacture, delivery, and sale of any rinse-off products (e.g., toothpastes, cosmetics, and over the counter drugs) containing microbeads smaller than 5 millimeters13. 

References

1. Lynch, I., et al.; Fiji water A sustainability report; University of Vermont (2010)

2. Wagner, M., and Oehlmann, J.; Endocrine disruptors in bottled mineral water: total estrogenic burden and migration from plastic bottles; Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res.; 16:278-86 (2009)

 3. Chung, B.Y., et al.; Uterotropic and Hershberger assays for endocrine disruption properties of plastic food contact materials polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET); J. Toxicol. Envrion. Health, Part A; 76(10):624-34 (2013)

4. Latini, G., et al.; Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate and endocrine disruption: a review; Curr. Drug Targets Immune Endocr. Metabol. Disord.; Mar.; 4(1):37-40 (2004)

5. Fiji Water; Bottled water quality report; January (2017)

6. Crouse, D.N.; Silica water the secret of healthy blue zone longevity in the aluminum age, Etiological Publishing (2018)

7. Select committee on GRAS substances – SCOGS-61, NTIS Pb 301-402/AS (1979)

8. Delaney, J. as Client; Tweed Laboratory Centre; NSW Australia; Laboratory report on Fiji water (2019)

9. Barrows, A.P.W., Anthropogenic microparticle contamination in bottled water for human consumption; (2018)

10. Crouse, D.N.; Prevent Alzheimer’s, autism, and stroke with 7 supplements, 7 lifestyle choices, and a dissolved mineral; Etiological Publishing (2016)

11. Westerhoff, P., et al.; Antimony leaching from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic used for bottled drinking water; Water Res.; Feb.; 42(3):551-6 (2018)

12. Ivleva, N.; Technical University Munich; How dangerous is microplastic?  https://phys.org/news/2019-01-dangerous-microplastic.html

13. The microbead-free waters act: FAQs; U.S. FDA (2020) https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations/microbead-free-waters-act-faqs

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Silica Water Recipe for Making Homemade Dissolved Silica

                                                                 SILICADE RECIPE

 

Aluminum is a neurotoxin which is the cause of Alzheimer's and Autism.  Silica has been shown to prevent Alzheimer's as silica binds with Aluminum so it can be removed from your body.  

This recipe is in my books:

Prevent Alzheimer's, Autism and Stroke with 7 Supplements, 7 Lifestyle Choices and a Dissolved Mineral

Silica Water the Secret of Healthy Blue Zone Longevity in the Aluminum Age.  

The books are available on Amazon. Buy books



Video -How to make your own silica water

Recipe for 'Silicade' water (silicon 36.5 mg/L) which has about the same amount of silica as Fiji water (silicon 36.5 mg/L).  This will take 15 minutes to prepare.


ORDERING INFORMATION

 
If you live outside the United States here is a company that will give you a US address and ship the products to your country.  The company sends to 220 countries.  https://www.myus.com/




Measuring spoon - dash, smidgen, pinch - Mini Measuring Spoons Set Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons for Dry or Liquid Ingredients, Fits in Spice Jar - available on amazon

Brand: YellRin

 ASIN    B09J8CDQS4  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J8CDQS4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Do not use antique dash and smidgen measuring spoons as they may not be correctly calibrated.  



Excerpt from Dennis' book Prevent Alzheimer's, Autism and Stroke and Silica Water the Secret to Healthy Blue Zone Longevity in the Aluminum Age

Preparation of Silicade



Silicade as a Synthetic OSA Rich Silica Water Supplement

Making silicon rich water weekly at home is easy and much less expensive and more sustainable than purchasing water bottled in Fiji or Malaysia.  I call this water “Silicade” and there is a You Tube Video on how to make it at “Silica Water – How to Make it at Home”. Silicade provides 124ppm of dissolved silica to lower your body-burden of aluminum. Silicade preparation requires only two ingredients and a set of small measuring spoons that in the U.S.A. can be purchased online and shipped to your home.  Silicade can be stored indefinitely in the dark like Fiji water.  The chemicals to make Silicade store well and should be kept out of children’s reach:
·         Low Alkalinity Hydrous Sodium Silicate: a hydrous powder available online from ChemicalStore.com. The powder is safer and easier to measure than the liquid form but has the same ratio of 3.22 SiO2 to Na2O. The powder has a as a purity of 99.5% and a formula of SiO2[Na2O]1/3.22 H2O (18.5% water) Mw of 97.25. Only order “sodium silicate – low alkalinity”. Do not order “sodium silicate – alkaline” from the ChemicalStore.com or Zchemicals.com.  This powdery chemical can be stored indefinitely in its screw-cap plastic container but slowly clumps. The clumps are easily converted back to powder with a small mortar and pestle.
Note: This solid sodium silicate from the Chemical Store is Product G manufactured by the PQ Corporation of Valley Forge, PA. Brenntag Specialties (Telephone No. 888-926-4151) buys Product G from PQ Corporation and resells it worldwide as G Sodium Silicate product number 387721 in 50 pound bags. ChemicalStore.com and Zchemicals.com buy this product from Brenntag Specialties and sell it in 2 pound containers online. 

·         Sodium Bisulfate (a.k.a. Sodium Hydrogen Sulfate): a white powder 99.5% pure of micro-prills (i.e. very small pellets) from Professor Fullwood of LoudWolf Ltd. is available from Amazon.  Note: both optional calcium chloride and magnesium chloride are available from the same source.
·         Mini Measuring Spoon Set: Norpro 3061D from Dine Company Online. Currently priced under $4 without shipping. Three measuring spoons come attached to a single ring. Only the dash (1/8 of a teaspoon) and smidgen (1/32 of a teaspoon) are used for Silicade preparation. In order to avoid accidental use of the wrong measuring spoon, remove the pinch from the ring. Note: in the early 2000’s some companies, such as Norpro and Dine, began defining and accurately calibrating the dash and smidgen measuring spoons as precise fractions of a teaspoon. Do not use antique dash and smidgen measuring spoons as they may not be correctly calibrated. 
·         Spatula: Any small spatula with a straight-edge works to level the contents of the measuring spoons prior to addition.
Detailed Instructions with Options for Making Silicade
By following these detailed instructions you can prepare a gallon of Silicade or just follow the “Short Recipe for Silicade” that follows after these detailed instructions:
1)      A level dash and two level smidgens (3/16 of a teaspoon, 600mg) of hydrous powdered sodium silicate is placed in a Pyrex glass measuring cup. Add 1/8 cup of tap water and bring to boiling in the microwave or on the stove, and let boil for 30sec. This powder contains 99.5% water soluble sodium silicate monohydrate and a maximum of 0.5% of water insoluble materials, as required by the American Waterworks Standard B104-98 for adding sodium silicate to drinking water23.
Note: Do not heat to boiling more than 1/8 cup of tap water as more water will lower the pH making the sodium silicate less soluble.

2)      The hot water with dissolved sodium silicate is immediately diluted to one gallon (3.785 liters) with cold tap water resulting in a 1.29 mM/liter (124ppm) solution of pH 9.8 OSA.

3)      One level dash (1/8 of a teaspoon, 0.83 gr, 6.9 mM) of sodium bisulfate is added to the solution of OSA and dissolved with stirring in order to acidify the solution to pH 4 to 5. Optionally, if tap water is more basic than pH 8.5, use a pH meter while slowly adding a little more sodium bisulfate in order to lower the pH to 4.0-5.0. A pH 7.0 standard solution is recommended for periodic calibration of the pH meter.

4)      The clear colorless acidic solution of OSA is further purified by filtering through a Brita pitcher style filter resulting in OSA at a pH of 4.4. This removes impurities added with sodium silicate and sodium bisulfate.

5)      Two level smidgens of sodium bicarbonate (a.k.a. baking soda) are added and dissolved with stirring in the gallon of filtered OSA, resulting in Silicade with a pH of 6.5, a TDS of 285 at 25oC, and less than 2mcg/L labile aluminum.  Each quart of Silicade contains 36.5mg of dissolved silicon as 124ppm of monomeric (OSA).

6)      Optionally make Silicade Plus Calcium, if tap water is low in calcium, add two level dashes of calcium chloride flakes or prills (840mg 36% calcium) 99% pure from Loudwolf/Amazon. This will increase the calcium level by 80 ppm, the TDS to 450 at 25oC, and the pH to 6.6 in a gallon of Silicade + Ca. Labile aluminum in calcium enriched Silicade is less than 2mcg/L. Calcium at concentrations greater than or equal to 75ppm have a significant protective effect on cognition433.  Optionally in order to increase magnesium by 20ppm add a dash of magnesium chloride hexahydrate (>98% purity) from LoudWolf/Amazon. Optionally make Sparkling Silicade – Carbonating Silicade will result in a pH 4.5 sparkling beverage.

Drink 3 to 4 cups of Silicade a day around meal times in order to provide a total of 25.5 to 34mg of silicon as monomeric OSA. This is 7.7 to 10.3 times the 3.3mg of silicon that when consumed as OSA per day was observed to lower the frequency of AD118.  Silicade contains 124ppm of OSA and in the U.S.A. 160ppm of OSA (i.e. 100ppm of SiO2) is generally recognized as safe in drinking water22.  

Short Recipe for Silicade
Ingredients needed:

·         Sodium Silicate
·         Sodium Bisulfate
·         Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate)

Tools needed:

·         Dash measuring spoon = 1/8 tsp
·         Smidgen measuring spoon = 1/32 tsp
·         1 cup Pyrex measuring cup
·         1 gallon measuring container
·         Brita filter -  pitcher style
·         Spatula for leveling
·         Stirring utensil

Steps:

1.      Add 1 level dash & 2 level smidgens of sodium silicate to a one-cup Pyrex container

2.      Add 1/8 cup of tap water to the one-cup Pyrex measuring container

3.      Heat the contents of the Pyrex measuring cup to boiling and boil for at least 30 seconds

4.      Dilute immediately with a small amount of unheated tap water

5.      Pour all the contents of the Pyrex measuring cup into a 1 gallon container

6.      Fill the 1 gallon container with unheated tap water to the 1 gallon mark on the container

7.      Add 1 level dash of sodium bisulfate to the one gallon container

8.      Stir the mixture thoroughly and then filter the mixture through a Brita filter pitcher

9.      After filtering, add 2 level smidgens of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to the mixture

10.  Stir Silicade to dissolve the baking soda

11.  Enjoy the health benefits of drinking Silicade!

Silicade can be stored indefinitely in the dark at room temperature or in a refrigerator.
Why This Recipe Works
The goal of this recipe for orthosilicic acid (OSA) in drinking water is to use an easily measured solid silica powder and an acidic microprill that are commercially available online and shipped to anyone, not just chemical laboratories. Both of these chemicals are high purity (e.g. 99.5%). 
·         Solubilize sodium silicate: Boiling powdered sodium silicate for 30 seconds in an eighth of a cup of tap water keeps the pH high enough (e.g. pH = 13) to solubilize silicate434-436.
·         Neutralize to form OSA and prevent polymerization: In order to form OSA and other silica species in equilibrium with OSA489 and to prevent OSA polymerization435-437, immediately dilute the basic (e.g. pH=13) OSA solution to a gallon with tap water and then immediately render the solution non-hazardous by acidifying the solution to pH 4 to 5 with the solid acid sodium bisulfate. A 1.29mM OSA solution is well below OSA’s saturation level in water (e.g. 2-3mM) but requires 7 days to fully stabilize rising from 108ppm immediately after preparation to 124ppm174. Polymerization of OSA has been observed at neutral pH only well above OSA’s 200ppm saturation level435-437.
·         Remove Aluminum: For optimal aluminum removal acidify the OSA solution with sodium bisulfate to pH 4.0 to 5.0 and then filter through a Brita pitcher style filter (OB03)174. A significant portion (e.g. 98.5%) of the labile aluminum introduced in tap water is removed174,175.  This Brita filter is a combined activated carbon and weak cation exchange resin that removes cations like aluminum but does not remove OSA174.  If the tap water used for Silicade is between pH 6.5 to 8.5, as per EPA’s secondary drinking water standard, then after acidification, filtration, and bicarbonate addition Silicade will be pH 6.5. 
·         Optionally add Calcium and/or Magnesium: Have your tap water checked and if it is low in calcium and/or magnesium, add supplemental calcium and/or magnesium to Silicade. The Brita filter reduces calcium and magnesium in Quabbin tap water by one half175. Drinking water with calcium at levels of 80mg and magnesium at levels of 20 ppm has been found to be optimal for good health438.  This may be due to calcium and magnesium competing with aluminum for absorption by the gut433.  Calcium catalyzes the polymerization of OSA but only at pH greater than 818,19.  Silicade + Ca is pH 6.6 and at this pH OSA in Silicade + Ca is primarily a non-polymeric monomer174,439.  

Link to FAQ about making the recipe FAQ Silicade













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Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Newspaper article about Prevent Alzheimer's Autism and Stroke with 7 Lifestyle choices, 7 Supplements and a Dissolved Mineral (2014 )

Melrose resident dives into Alzheimer’s research to help his mother

 

For four years, Crouse pored over thousands of pages of scientific literature. He took courses in dementia and neuro-chemistry. Over time, a promising theory emerged.

By Jeannette Hinkle 
jhinkle@wickedlocal.com 

In 2012, Beulah Crouse’s memory began to fade.

The 86-year-old resident of Marion, Iowa had been a seamstress and an accountant during her working years, but she started forgetting how to load the sewing machine, how to balance her own checkbook. Beulah started getting panic attacks, and at night, she had trouble holding a conversation with her son, Dennis Crouse.

“We knew she was on her way, and Alzheimer’s is one of those diseases that is a steady downhill plod in terms of your mental health – it just gets worse and worse,” said Crouse, who lives in Melrose with his wife Laurie Adamson.

Crouse decided he could help.

He holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Harvard, and went on to earn his doctorate in chemistry from Harvard after developing an anti-tumor alkaloid currently being used to treat colon cancer. Later, he developed strategies and instruments to detect environmental contaminants and measure corrosion.

“When I retired in 2011, I put all that aside until my mother called up,” Crouse said. “I decided that I have the wherewithal to potentially figure out what causes Alzheimer’s and if I can figure out what causes it, I could potentially think of some solutions as a chemist and maybe help my mother. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”

Finding the problem, solving the problem

For four years, Crouse pored over thousands of pages of scientific literature. He took courses in dementia and neuro-chemistry. Over time, a promising theory emerged.

“Aluminum in our food, in our water, in some of the air that we breathe is indeed a causative factor of Alzheimer’s,” Crouse said. “I was totally shocked. I went in thinking, like a lot of people, that Alzheimer’s is mostly a genetic thing.”

Building on English and French studies, Crouse determined a few easy strategies he contends can slow and even reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s caused by environmental exposure to aluminum.

The first is available at most gas stations.

Though it’s more expensive than other brands of bottled water, Crouse said Fiji water is the most affordable way to get silica, which according to his research, draws aluminum out of the brain through chelation. Crouse said those up for a little chemistry can make silica-rich water at home, for the cost of about a nickel a gallon. For Beulah, Crouse said, the drink made a difference.

“We put my mother on Fiji water and in four months, my dad saw significant improvement in her performance and she was having more good days than bad,” Crouse said.

Crouse first noticed the positive change during an evening conversation with Beulah, who had special difficulty with her cognition after the sun went down – a typical symptom of Alzheimer’s.

“She had a long story to tell me and she told it,” Crouse said. “As a son, it’s good to know you took part in making it happen and didn’t just sit back and wait for her to drift off.”

Along the way, Crouse found other strategies he argues cuts down on aluminum build-up in the brain. Aerobic exercise, vitamin D and eliminating sources of aluminum in one’s daily environment all lead to lowered levels of aluminum, he said.

Beulah has no trouble drinking Fiji water, Crouse said, but efforts motivate her to exercise aerobically and eliminate all aluminum intake have met some friction. For most of her life, Beulah made tomato juice in a large aluminum pan, which she still considers to be “a useful pan.”

“After 30 or 40 years, there is this black corroded line around the pan,” Crouse said. “She’s been making neuro-toxic tomato juice all these years and drinking it down every morning with breakfast. I went home and wrote on all the sides of the pan with magic marker, ‘Do not use this for cooking – Skip.’ Skip is my nickname.”

But Beulah has been taking most of her son’s advice. For her 90th birthday this past fall, the family shared an aluminum-free cake made with natural dyes and cream of tartar baking powder – the only baking powder Crouse said doesn’t contain aluminum.

“It was beautiful,” Crouse said. “It was vanilla. She wanted vanilla.”

Spreading the word

When his mother’s health started to improve, Crouse thought he’d done his work. But Adamson, who had watched Crouse dig through medical journals and search the internet for years, wanted others to benefit from his findings – partly because he found aluminum might also impact autism.

Crouse wrote a book, titled “Prevent Alzheimer’s, Autism and Stroke: With 7-Supplements, 7-Lifestyle Choices, and a Dissolved Mineral,” which he published this fall. Now, the couple is working to further publicize Crouse’s research.

They created a video that will air on MMTV, they’ve reached out to congressmen and senators and made sure Crouse’s book is easily searchable online. Still, the findings are controversial, and the role of aluminum in Alzheimer’s is a topic of debate in the medical community. The Alzheimer’s Association lists aluminum exposure as one of eight myths about the disease on its website.

“During the 1960s and 1970s, aluminum emerged as a possible suspect in Alzheimer’s. Since then, studies have failed to confirm any role for aluminum in causing Alzheimer’s,” the site reads. “Experts today focus on other areas of research, and few believe that everyday sources of aluminum pose any threat.”

Even so, Crouse and Adamson believe in the research and the couple’s personal experiences have motivated them to share his findings with others.

“We’re retired,” Adamson said, “and we certainly don’t want to make this a full-time job for ourselves, but at the same time we’re passionate about getting this information out.”

Crouse said his research provides agency to individuals as federal budgets for the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Health are cut, reducing their ability to regulate and study environmental toxins.

“Transforming frustration to hope, my book proposes inexpensive ways that an individual can control their own mental fitness, lower aluminum accumulation, and avoid these diseases in their brain without medical insurance or prescription pharmaceuticals,” Crouse said. “These recommendations, if followed, will empower us to save ourselves and our children from these diseases that have currently reached epidemic proportions.”

The couple’s two-part video on MMTV goes deeper into explaining Crouse’s findings. The first is titled “Brain Fitness in the Aluminum Age – Preventing Alzheimer’s.” The second is titled “Brain Fitness in the Aluminum Age – Eliminating Aluminum Intake.” The videos will be uploaded to YouTube after airing on MMTV.