Water really creates more harm than good on the outside of the body, and the reason for the damaging effects of water can be outlined in one word: Oxidation.
Oxidation is the primary explanation for why we wrinkle. Oxidation is the basic cause of most diseases. Oxidation is the cause of skin cancer. Oxidation is the reason most of us will die.
Oxidation occurs when excessive oxygen, in addition to oxidizing agents, embarks on a destructive journey that leads to the formation of free radicals, resulting in an unbalancing of electrons and eventually damage to cells that were otherwise healthy and productive contributors to a healthy body. These injured cells can themselves become aggressors and produce more free radicals.
Pure water can result in Oxidation when damp skin or hair is exposed to catalysts such as warm air, sunlight or direct heat. Of course, today`s water is hardly ever what is known as pure, and because of this, Oxidation is less the result of the water itself, but rather of what is in the water.
The most insidious oxidative agents are present right in the tap. Tap water is purposefully loaded full of oxidizers including chlorine, chloramines and bromine.
Statistics on the amount of these bacteria in tap water can be startling. For instance, because 100 people died in Milwaukee from bacteria in drinking water years ago, it has become standard to discover over 3 times the chlorine in the city`s tap water than is legally necessary in pools! You literally could be using �pool water� to cleanse your skin and hair.
In addition, today`s water is loaded with minerals such as calcium, iron and copper � possibly good inside the body, but potentially disastrous to hair and skin. Just over a decade ago, a study in Great Britain linked hard water with eczema. And in case you think that does not damage you, more than ninty percent of Americans get hard water from the tap every day.
Understanding how hard your water is and how much chlorine it holds can encourage you to use hair and skin care products that will actually sustain your natural hair texture, color and shine as well as stop or even reverse signs of aging on the skin. So what should you do?
Investigate Your Water. Do an easy chlorine test with OTO (orthotolodine) and get a hard water test strip to test for hardness. Simply purchase the OTO at your local pool store and dispense 5-10 drops into a small glass of water and look if the water turns yellow. If it turns yellow, it is full of enough chlorine to instigate oxidation.
Use antioxidant products that are of the proper type and percentage to have an impact. An active form antioxidant, such as fresh-dried ascorbic acid at 10 percent concentration or greater, in fact stops oxidation on the hair, scalp and skin. Vitamin E, in a five percent concentration, is very successful on the skin to cease oxidation from damaging lipids in and near skin cells.
So you believe you have the best antioxidant product? Don`t believe the hype; see for yourself. Your test kit will also test your antioxidant products to see whether they are neutralizing oxidative agents and thus are active. When you test your water and it turns yellow from the chlorine oxidation, apply one drop of your favorite antioxidant serum or cream to the water. If it is truly an antioxidant, or if the antioxidant is still active, the color will disappear like magic. If it doesn`t, the antioxidant is not present.
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