Nothing is more important to our health than drinking lots of pure water. All of complex biochemical functions in our bodies depend on this key substance. Along with regulating many micro-processes in our cells, it's essential in absorbing and transporting all nutrients and oxygen throughout body. It's equally critical in eliminating wastes and toxins from body. At a time when we are exposed to increasing levels of environmental toxins from our food, air, and water, conventional wisdom to "drink 6 to 8 glasses of clean water per day for optimum health" is more important than ever before.

Unfortunately, as most people now know, most sources of drinking water are also contaminated with a wide variety of toxins. As a result, increasing numbers of people are now using water filters and are spending large sums of money annually on bottled water.

It is not so widely known, however, that an FDA survey has stated that 31% of 52 brands of bottled water tested were tainted with bacteria. Similarly, a study conducted by National Resources Defense Council on 103 brands of bottled water found that about one-third of them contained levels of contamination--including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. Moreover, there is growing evidence that xenoestrogens can leach out of plastic bottles into water when they are stored for long periods in either hot or very cold environments.

So many Americans, in spite of spending over $1,000 a year on bottled water, may still be exposing themselves to a significant level of toxins. These two facts taken together provide a major incentive for considering a new alternative to bottled water. It's called "WELLNESS WATER."

A Brief History of Wellness Water

Around 30 years ago, Haru Naito left Japan to attend State University of New York. After winning NCAA swimming championship there, he returned to Japan to coach Japan's National Swimming Team. Through his devotion to improving performance of his swimmers, he became involved in emerging field of sports medicine. This led him to start investigating unusual levels of health, vitality, and longevity of certain ethnic groups, including Hunza of Pakistan.

As a result of his extensive research with this group, he concluded that their extraordinary health and longevity was largely due to their water supply. Through careful analysis of this water, he discovered that it had certain unique features as a result of being filtered through minerals of volcanic origin.

A Tale of Two Feet

Frank is a very physically active 43 year old, who does not always make smartest choices regarding footwear. One day while playing soccer in very worn out shoes, he noticed a painful tearing sensation in heel of his left foot. Next morning, he could barely walk. Being an avid user of oils, Frank started applying Peppermint and Wintergreen to his sore foot.

He also went to his doctor, who diagnosed his condition as Plantar Fasciitis. The doctor told him to take mega-doses of Ibuprofen for his foot pain and come back in 6 months for surgery in case Ibuprofen did not work. Feeling that destroying his liver with mega-doses of Ibuprofen might be less than stellar advice, Frank ignored doctor and kept on applying oils each day. After 3 months, pain was gone completely and Frank returned to his active lifestyle, though a little bit wiser regarding his choice of footwear.

Frank has a former neighbor named Cathy, also an active 43 year old. Cathy is on her feet all day, running a rescue kennel for abandoned dogs. Cathy also was diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis around same time Frank was. Cathy elected to follow her doctor's advice. The Ibuprofen did not help overcome her foot pain, so she elected surgery.

The doctor warned her that surgery was only successful half of time. He was not kidding. Cathy was off her feet for over a month after first surgery. This was followed by a second surgery. The foot worsened. Cathy went back for a third surgery, now off her feet for most of a year. This time Cathy contracted a Staph infection that almost killed her.

Do math; two bottles of Peppermint and Wintergreen versus three extended hospital stays, medication, specialists and a year of lost productivity. How much cheaper would all of our insurance premiums be if health care profession opened their minds to plethora of health promoting, non-invasive modalities (such as essential oils) that exist today?

The above is a “story” received over internet and I do not vouch for its accuracy, but it does tell a similar story to my own. What follows is real and true: it is my life and my sweetie’s life. My “sweetie” is my wife, my soulmate, my best friend, June, whom I met in 1952. I consider myself to be luckiest of men as I am still married to first love of my life.

We freely use essential oils in our home and we use them for many things, cuts, scrapes, burns. I love them, particularly Lavender, but several others as well. They have a pleasing odor. And in case of Lavender, a healing, non-scarring result for my sweetie in case of three recent severe burns she received on her arms from oven of our stove. For me it smells good, feels good, but doesn’t do anything particularly beneficial; for my wife it heals rapidly and prevents scarring.

Thieve’s Oil has a profound calming and pleasing effect on my sweetie; I just like smell it gives off. There are several others which we use as ingredients in body lotions. Some are calming, some are sensual, some are relaxing. And that’s way they work for her. I just enjoy smells, but otherwise feel no beneficial effects from essential oils.