Sports drinks are all the rage, but one to pay particular attention to is AquaHydrate. LovetoKnow recently spoke with Richard Berry CEO of AquaGenus, the parent company and creators of AquaHydrate. AquaGenus is headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, and specializes in all natural beverages for health and fitness minded people. He provided fascinating insight not only into their product, but why it may be an important part of your supplement regimen.
About Aquahudrate
What is AquaHydrate?
AquaHydrate, the first high-performance sports water designed for ultimate hydration. AquaHydrate is made by enhancing ultra-pure water with three of the most widely acclaimed hydration-boosting and recovery technologies-alkaline pH of 9, ionic minerals, and micro-clustering-all combined for the first time in a premium bottled water. As a high-performance sports water, AquaHydrate provides an all-natural alternative to sports drinks that are loaded with sugar, caffeine, and artificial additives. Likewise, it provides a new option for water drinkers looking for a health and performance boost. People who drink the water are amazed at the difference that AquaHydrate makes. The first thing people notice after they drink the water is that there is no 'slosh factor' after they drink it because it is absorbed so quickly. Then, they find that they are not only able to work out longer and harder, but they are also less sore and recover faster. And, AquaHydrate is all natural, so it's good for your body.
How did you develop AquaHydrate?
AquaHydrate is one of the purist waters on the market, and undergoes a proprietary seven-stage purification process using a filtration system that is finer than the human kidney. Three hydration-boosting technologies in AquaHydrate-known as AIM for alkaline pH, ionic minerals, and micro-clustering-combine to provide ultimate hydration. An alkaline pH helps battle the acid-producing effects of exercise, stress, fatigue, and poor diets. Ionic minerals improve hydration at the cellular level, by drawing water into the cells. This effect can be seen when examining red blood cells under a microscope, before and after drinking AquaHydrate. Finally, AquaHydrate is micro-clustered, increasing absorption by reducing the size of each cluster to approximately 3-5 water molecules, instead of the approximately 11-15 molecule-sized clusters found in most waters.
The ionic minerals, trace elements, and electrolytes in AquaHydrate are provided through an exclusive agreement with Trace Minerals Research-a renowned, 40-year global leader in the natural foods industry. The minerals are harvested from a pristine natural source in the Great Salt Lake, and are in the perfect amount and balance for optimal use and absorption by the body. Through this agreement, AquaHydrate is the only bottled water to provide these ionic minerals, trace elements, and ionic electrolytes. Water is nature's ideal delivery vehicle for these essential minerals. Unlike supplements, water provides a sustained source of minerals throughout the day, which is especially important for athletes who constantly lose them through sweat and muscle exertion.
Many critics of enhanced water products say they are unhealthy. What's your take?
"You are what you drink" is as important as what you eat when it comes to health problems like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and many others. Many people credit the emergence of the mass bottled water market to a study done in the seventies by the Environmental Protection Agency. Originally set up to define guidelines for the newly created Safe Drinking Water Act, the study identified a number of chemicals and minerals in municipal water supplies that were unhealthy. The study results stirred up near panic in some parts of the country, leading to a sudden, increased demand for bottled water.
What does the research show about tap water safety?
Concerns about the health and safety of tap water have only increased since the initial report by the EPA in the seventies. A recent AP story based on a five month investigative study revealed that a vast array of pharmaceuticals have been found in the drinking supplies of millions of Americans. One example cited in an article called Big Business in a Bottle was the discovery of more than 56 pharmaceuticals or drug-by products found in a major city's watersheds including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, epilepsy and mental illness.
What about bottled water?
Contrary to popular belief, not all bottled waters offer a solution to this kind of contamination. Many brands undergo no filtration during the bottling process and are essentially the same quality that comes from the tap. Responsible bottled water producers, however, tackle purity issues in a variety of ways. Some natural premium waters are bottled from sources in remote places where contamination is unlikely. According to the International Bottled Water Association, for bottled water that originates in the municipal water supply, which accounts for 25% of bottled waters, a multi-barrier approach is often used for purification, including reverse osmosis, micron filtration, distillation, ozonation and the application of ultraviolet light during the process.
What is functional water?
In addition to mineral and spring waters, as well as purified premium waters, several other categories have emerged as the industry has matured. So-called functional water -- which includes sports, flavored, near and enhanced waters - is another fast-growing category that is cutting into the soft drink market.
At one end of this category are sports drinks, many of which contain fairly high levels of sugar (though less than their soft drink rivals), as well as artificial additives and colorings such as brominated vegetable oils that have raised health concerns.
At the other end of the functional water spectrum are highly engineered waters, such as AquaHydrate, that are designed for optimal health and hydration, with no artificial additives. Trace minerals, for example, can be infused into water, increasing the body's ability to utilize vitamins and other nutrients.But only ionized trace minerals can be readily absorbed into cells and assimilated by the body. The acid/alkaline balance of water has also emerged as an important factor, with some waters carrying a slightly alkaline pH to help combat the acidic and toxic cellular environment created by our fast-food diets and stressful lifestyles. Microstructuring is another way to enhance the hydrating ability of water, by restructuring large water molecules into smaller clusters that can be more readily absorbed by cells.
With so many options in the water market, let the buyer beware the source and contents of their water, the process involved in purifying it, and ways in which the water has been enhanced to benefit health and hydration. With more than 900 brands on the market, it can be tough to sort through the information and choose wisely.
What makes AquaHydrate better than other water on the market?
AquaHydrate is an alkaline pH, mineral-rich, ionically activated water specifically designed for the hydration, performance and recovery.
Can you explain more about these concepts?
- Alkalinity: Muscle activity generates free radicals during exertion. These contribute to muscle damage, soreness and weakness. Free radicals cause premature muscle fatigue. As cited by a University of Kentucky study in Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Volume 39, No. 10, Nov 15, 2005, pages 1263-1290, antioxidant pre-treatment can delay muscle fatigue. Dr. Shirahata from the Water Institute of Japan showed that alkalinized water is an excellent scavenger of free radicals. This protects muscles from DNA damage. AquaHydrate is ionized to an alkaline pH of 9.
- Ionic Minerals: It is recognized that ionic minerals are the only forms of biologically active minerals that the body can use. Electrolytes, macro and trace minerals are commonly lost during intense exercise/competition. AquaHydrate replaces the body's 72 minerals with natural ionic minerals from Utah through an exclusive relationship with Trace Minerals Research, a 35 year veteran of the natural foods industry. Ionic minerals neutralize excess acids formed during intense activity. Athletes form large amounts of lactic acid and acid by-products from burning carbohydrates for energy. These need to be buffered by alkalinizing minerals readily available in AquaHydrate.
- Microclustered water: Water scientists recognize water as a unique liquid with special biological activity. This means that all water is not equal. The biological properties of water are recognized not only by its basic chemical composition of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one atom of oxygen (H2O), but also by its interrelationship with other water molecules. Water molecules that are activated with electrolysis form "microclusters". These microclusters contain groups of 5-10 molecules of water and are negatively charged. Drinking water with a negative charge is more easily assimilated by the body. In one experiment, when mice were treated with a lethal dose of x-rays and then given activated microclustered water, their death rate decreased from 96% to 10% in comparison to the control group that received regular de-activated tap water.
Tell us more about how AquaHydrate benefits the body.
Three hydration-boosting technologies in AquaHydrate - known as AIM for alkaline pH, ionic minerals, and microclustering - combine to provide ultimate hydration. An Alkaline pH helps battle the acid-producing effects of exercise, stress, fatigue, and poor diets. Ionic minerals improve hydration at the cellular level, by drawing water into the cells. This effect can be seen when examining red blood cells under a microscope, before and after drinking AquaHydrate. Finally, AquaHydrate is micro-clustered, increasing absorption by reducing the size of each cluster to 3-5 water molecules, instead of the 11-15 molecule sized clusters found in most waters.
The ionic minerals, trace elements, and electrolytes in AquaHydrate are provided through an exclusive agreement with Trace Minerals Research - a renowned, 35-year global leader in the natural foods industry. The minerals are harvested from a pristine natural source in the Great Salt Lake, and are in the perfect amount and balance for optimal use and absorption by the body. Through this agreement, AquaHydrate is the only bottled water to provide these ionic minerals, trace elements, and ionic electrolytes. Water is nature's ideal delivery vehicle for these essential minerals. Unlike supplements, water provides a sustained source of minerals throughout the day, which is especially important for athletes who constantly lose them through sweat and muscle exertion.
The key to increasing hydration is improving water's ability to absorb into cells. This decreases the volume of water sloshing in the stomach and excess urine production.
- Ionizing water: Ionizing water increases its pH thereby lowering its surface tension. Lower surface tension allows the water to come into better physical contact with the cell membrane which enables better absorption. AquaHydrate lowers water surface tension by both alkalinizing the water to a pH of 9 and by its ionic minerals.
- Reducing the Size of the Water Droplet: Microclustering increases absorption by enabling microdroplets of water to more easily fit through the pores of the cell membrane. Larger clusters of water molecules only bridge across the micropores on the cell membrane. They don't fit inside the tiny pores on the cell membrane and so cannot be absorbed. This is where high surface tension of larger water droplets resist being absorbed into the cell.
For More Information
If you're curious about these health claims, or you'd like to try AquaHydrate for youself, Richard suggests visiting AquaHydrate. You can click "where to buy" then enter your zip code to find a local retailer carrying AquaHydrate.
