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I am Dr Patrick Flanagan, and this is the latest edition of my Dr Health Secrets newsletter. Just in time for hot summer days and ice-cold thirst quenching water, I wrote this newsletter about toxic water and its effects on your body.

Wash Away All Your Health

I suppose you can say that water is my, well, thing. As an advocate for the nutritional benefits of water, as well as the health implications associated from there-lack-of, I feel obligated to highlight the darker side of the substance that is needed as much as the air that we breathe.

This saddens me greatly, although I suppose I should just be resigned to the fact by now, but I still fail to fully understand how people continue to pollute, corrupt, and destroy something that is so vital to all of our lives. Still less plausible even, is the knowledge that people still drink this water, then wonder how and why their health has decreased immeasurably and almost unexplainably.

The water that you drink, bathe in, shower in, do laundry in, and otherwise completely function in, has a dark enemy within it that craves a healthy body, such as yours, to corrupt and nestle inside. It may sound dramatic, but if people truly knew what was in their water, they would feel more violated than if they were robbed and then later sued by the assailant after he/she fell and broke their leg.

The chemicals in tap water have been a growing concern for many years, and although there are groups and organizations that make it their work and passion to inform the public, their voices seem to fall on na've and unassuming ears.

Water Way

70-80% of the human body is composed of water. It is the ultimate solvent and mixes with almost everything biological or chemical. Our bodies are mostly water and, like you, I'm careful about what I drink. Yet today there are over 2,100 known toxins that cause cancer in U.S. drinking water. I used to think, "Come on! If harmful chemicals were really in drinking water, the city or state would do something."

But then one day I simply bought a home water testing kit and sampled some of my tap water. I was shocked and appalled at what I found. Just type "home water testing kit" into your favorite search engine for your own kit

In the U.S. alone, there are over 100,000 toxins present within the environment. In U.S. drinking water, there are over 2100 toxic chemicals that are known to cause cancer. Women have a one in three chance of contracting some form or cancer, while men have a one in two chance. Currently, there are 19 major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, San Diego, New Orleans, Atlanta, Detroit, Denver, Phoenix, and others, that have highly polluted drinking water that is not fit for human consumption.

This is a warning you are used to hearing when you travel within exotic locations, but now the threat has made its way into your home. According to the Washington, D.C. based Environmental Working Group (EWG), manufacturers dumped more than one billion pounds of toxic chemicals into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water between 1990 and 1994. EWG also estimates that manufacturers contributed about 450 million additional pounds via sewage. (1)

1000 contaminants are added every year and only 100 are addressed. 1/10 of 1 year's amount of toxins is not sufficient. Just one example is the fish in the UK now reportedly contaminated by Prozac due to so many prescriptions while the sewer systems have no way of breaking down this non-organic chemical. That's just one example.

Pesticides are an entirely other problem. Two billion pounds of pesticides are used every single year. That's eight pounds for every American. These pesticides enter water systems via disposal sites, animal waste, runoff, sewage, etc. After reviewing published (but not publicized) State data and conducting its own tests, EWG found that a single glass of Midwestern tap water has three or more pesticides in it at any given time.

What's a Water Drinker To Do?

The best solution is get information about your local water supply (see RESOURCE BOX) and then to get a highly advanced water filter for your house. Quality filters can range in the thousands of dollars, but clean water is much cheaper and easier than medical problems later in your life. Nothing feels as good as a shower without chlorinated water!

Remember, the problem with drinking distilled water is that your body is designed to drink water with minerals in it. So try adding minerals to your water and see how you feel. And some mineralized bottled water sources are great, as long as they are rigorously tested as many premium bottled waters are.