The Disadvantages Of Reverse Osmosis Water Purifiers

By Tyler Waterman

The original home water filtration method was a reverse osmosis water purifier fitted to your water supply. In the years since this system was introduced, more effective and economical systems have become available and yet major players in the water industry continue to push the old system. This article looks at the disadvantages of reverse osmosis water filters.

Why Are They Still Sold?

These outdated systems are still being promoted by water marketing companies that realize the profits to be made from these very expensive units that start at $10,000 each.

This is largely due to a lot of marketing dollars spent by the larger water companies selling the units, and the fact that they do a very good job for certain applications such as removing the salt from sea water leaving it suitable for use in irrigation and industry. They do remove many of the harmful contaminants present in drinking water; however this is where the plus points start to run a little thin.

The Waste

One of the major disadvantages of reverse osmosis systems is the huge amount of waste-water that is flushed down the drain in order to produce a small amount of purified water.

As an example, in order to produce 5 gallons of treated water, units discharge between 40 to 90 gallons of water as waste! This is bad enough, but if you are one of the thousands of people using a septic system to collect waste water from your home, then the chances are you will need to upgrade the size of your tank.

Power Bills

These systems take power to run, and given the waste water to drinkable water ratio, it is clear that they will be using electricity at a high rate. Not ideal given the increasing price of electricity, along with the higher impact on the environment.

Does Reverse Osmosis Make Water Safe To Drink?

The most important question that you should be asking when considering purchasing any water filtration system, especially when buying one that is costly and expensive to install.

Well, the answer is that this system makes the water safer to drink, but not necessarily safe. It does a competent job certainly, but no better than the considerably cheaper systems employing more economical methods to filter water without all the whistles and bells whilst doing so.

Simply because one of its major disadvantages is that reverse osmosis systems do not actually eradicate all the chemical contaminants and cysts that can be found in water today.

One manufacturer has freely admitted as much with a proviso that these kinds of units are only designed to clean up the water's aesthetic properties. They don't actually act as a way of preventing waterborne toxic and microbiological chemicals from getting into the supply.

One other very small but very important disadvantages of reverse osmosis filters is that they can also remove some or all of the minerals found in water. So knowing this you would be far better off using a much more inexpensive and efficient way to provide pure clean water for you and your family. - 17274

About the Author:

About the author: Tyler Waterman is a health enthusiast and chief writer for http://SafeClearWater.com. Visit his site and discover the best drinking water filter today.

A Natural Alternative To Shoe Lifts

By Shaun Davids

Do you really want to wear shoe lifts the rest of your life? Or would you rather want to discover how to grow taller naturally? Are you worried about how tall your child will grow up to be? Despite the fact that many aspects affect how tall you are, especially your genes, you can still grow taller now.

Did you know that with a little effort you can naturally increase your height by 2 inches (about 5 cm), and if you work hard at it, you could gain about 4 inches (roughly 10 cm) in height? It really is not that hard either. All it takes is your time, dedication and enthusiasm to follow the program. And within a few months, you would have forgotten about your shoe lifts.

To get started you will be focusing mainly on your bones - particularly in your back and legs. Certain parts of these bones can be lengthened easily through posture and stretching exercises, helping to increase height.

The first set of bones you should work on, are in your spine. Inbetween these bones (or vertebrae) are soft cartilage discs that can be lengthened to help you gain a few inches in height. Working on your back is better than relying on shoe lifts which can actually cause back problems.

Another way of growing taller is to work on improving your posture when standing or sitting. And when you go to bed, you should try lie down with your spine straight and back flat, allowing your spinal column to decompress and become longer and stronger.

Other parts of your body to focus on are your legs, specifically your shins and thighs that can be stretched out. If you were not aware of this, there are gaps between these bones. And with regular exercises of roughly 60 minutes a day for 7 days a week, you could effectively lengthen those bones relatively quickly and lose the shoe lifts forever.

Taking this advice to heart is a great start for you to grow taller naturally. Once you have the energy, enthusiasm, motivation and dedication, you could reach you rideal height within a few months and never rely on shoe lifts again. - 17274

About the Author:

Discover how you can get taller without using shoe lifts now, and increase your height by 2 to 4 inches within 2 months - with long-lasting effects! Otherwise, here is another resource on natural alternatives to using shoe lifts.

7 Key Rules to Slim Down Easily

By Thong M. Dao

If you're hoping to lose fat, there's a pretty good chance you've tried a lot of methods. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people who are unhappy with their bodies don't succeed in their fat loss goals. That's because they're often using gimmicky weight loss plans that can actually damage their bodies! If you're in this boat, and you don't know how to get rid of the fat while staying healthy, here are a few tips that might get you on the right track.

1. Drink plenty of water. It is recommended that you drink 8 glasses per day, but that may take you some time to work up to. Your body needs a whole lot of water. Water doesn't just flush all the toxins out of your body, but it makes you feel better and healthier. The best thing about water is you can drink as much as you want because it has no calories at all. When you're drinking a lot of water, you eat less as well because you won't feel as though you are starving to death.

2. Have a glass of water while you are having the meal. Again this is another way of making yourself full so that you can actually rise from the table eating less but feeling full just the same. Instead of drinking it one gulp, take sips after each morsel. It will help the food to settle faster so that you get that feeling that you are full faster.

3. Fruit juice isn't as healthy as most people think either. Juice actually has a lot of sugar in it as well. Instead of drink fruit juice, eat more fruit. Fruit provides your body with much needed fiber as well as vitamins.

4. Increase your fiber intake. Like I mentioned, the body needs a lot of fiber. So try to include in your diet as many fruits and vegetables as you can.

5. Check everything you eat from the food itself to what you top it with. Condiments and garnishments may destroy a healthy meal since they're generally high in fat.

6. Eat only when you are hungry. Be sure to drink a glass of water first to determine if you really are hungry or if you are really thirsty. Many people have the tendency to eat when they see food. It doesn't mean they are hungry; they just want to eat it. Don't eat anything you're offered unless you really are hungry. If you feel you must eat it out of being polite, just nibble, don't have a meal.

7. Go easy on tea and coffee. Tea and coffee are harmless by themselves. It's when you add the cream and sugar that they become fattening. Did you know that having a cup of tea or coffee that has cream and at least two cubes of sugar is as bad as having a big piece of rich chocolate cake? - 17274

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Grab your free fat loss information and begin burning fat right now!

VaNu In The News

By Rapid Recovery Collection Agency

Fountain of Life continues to gain momentum among sports pro's. The Fitness Section of the March 2009 Golf Digest suggests that VaNu can count some new fans among the golfing elite. From the article in Golf Digest:

Professional golfers Camilo Villegas and Mike Weir and instructor David Leadbetter are among the fans of a new health drink called VaNu. In fact, Leadbetter distributes the natural juice, which is made from 5 foods found in the Amazon Rain Forest, including the antioxidant-rich Acai Berry.

Mark MacCloskey, CEO of Fountain of Life, is not surprised, We have several top LPGA, PGA and Senior Tour players consuming VaNu, and they are reporting amazing results.

Golf Digest is a Conde Nast publication with a circulation base of 1,650,000, and is widely read among golfers throughout the United States. According to the company website, the magazine publishes the best and brightest of golfs greatest teachers, players and writers. David Leadbetter, regarded as the Worlds leading golf instructor, is owner and head instructor of the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. He appears frequently in Golf Digest.

ABOUT FOUNTAIN OF LIFE AND VANU(TM) Fountain of Life is a nutritional company based in Dallas, Texas. Through research and partnerships with scientists worldwide, Fountain of Life is helping people to optimize their health through their flagship product, Vanu.

VaNu is an all-natural nutritional drink created and blended by Fountain of Life. VaNu is a Superblend of Superfoods featuring the Acai berry. This carefully blended formulation is loaded with powerful antioxidants and flavanoids from some of the most exotic fruits in the world. Packaged in a distinctive 750ml (25.3 ounce) purple glass bottle, VaNu nourishes the body with a 1-2 ounce serving, twice daily.

Product claims have not been reviewed by the FDA. Fountain of Life products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or class of diseases. - 17274

About the Author:

Rapid Recovery Collection Agency recommends it's staff live a healthy and energetic lifestyle. Rapid Recovery teamed up with Fountain Of Life as an alternative to sugar packed energy drinks.

Buying Brita Water Filters? Here are 2 Important Points You Need to Know.

By James Dogwood Harry Osgood Peter Parker Sue Asnee

Brita water filters are quite often the first choice of most people when they think of buying a water filter. Not surprisingly, Brita is the best selling water purification system in the world today. Now, my question is " Is Brita the best choice available for customers today?

As someone who has spent a lot of time studying water purification and analyzing the different types of water filters available on the market, I have two important points to make about Brita water filters. So read this article very carefully, if youre someone who is contemplating buying a Brita water filter.

Brita has two types of water filters " pitchers and faucet filters. These two types of water filters are quite affordable. A significant unique selling proposition for Brita, I must say. People from all walks of life are able to afford them as these water filters are fairly cheap. Now, on to my first point.

Although, the initial investment as far as Brita water filters are concerned is very low indeed. Their pitcher model costs just under $30 and their faucet model costs just under $40. However, the initial cost of filters is deceiving to the uninformed. You also need to take the ongoing costs, or the maintenance costs, into consideration as well. These costs are known as the backend costs as opposed to the front end costs. Ill give you an example.

A Brita pitcher filter cartridge sells for about $8. The cartridge is capable of producing about 10 gallons of pure water after which the filter should be replaced. Similarly, a filter cartridge for the Brita faucet filter costs about $20. It is capable of producing up to 100 gallons of pure water after which it should be replaced.

Now, depending on the size of your family and your daily water consumption, you can do the math. Even if you consume only two gallons of water every day, the cost per gallon, as far as Brita water filters is concerned, is somewhere in the range of $0.20 to $0.25. This is way more than the average cost per gallon of their competitors, which lies in the range of $0.08 to $0.15. So, my point is " these water filters are definitely not the cheapest on the market.

Now, let me make my second point.

When it comes to efficacy, I have a major bone to pick with Brita water filters. These filters, though certainly effective to some extent, are not capable of removing contaminants like volatile organic compounds, cysts, certain types of pathogens, and some harmful byproducts of chlorine. Conversely, Britas competitors like Aquasana produce water filters that are capable of removing all these contaminants.

So, where does this leave you, the consumer? It looks quite clear on me end. When it comes to water filters, Brita water filters are not the cheapest and they are certainly not the most effective either. So, what I want to say is very simple. Do not go by popular perception. Learn about the different types of water filters available on the market, their efficacy, cost, and all other related factors and then make an informed decision. - 17274

About the Author:

William Lin CPA is passionate about health through high quality water sources. Concerned about the connection between the water you drink and your health? Visit William's site at Pure Filtered Safe Water and see his research for FREE.

Weight Loss And Resveratrol

By Jen Croff

Resveratrol has now been featured in many places including the media and a variety of other sources, as well.

It has been covered extensively by the media and has been featured on shows like Oprah and Dr. Oz who frequents her show has even recommended it to users at home to take on a consistent basis.

60 Minutes, the popular television program, first investigated red wine 17 years ago. They were particularly interested in why the French were so thin despite a diet high in such foods like cheese. Red wine, as we know now, is a drink that is full of resveratrol. We now know that resveratrol was very important to staying healthy.

Even clinical studies show the results of resveratrol. In one study, two mice were raised and given a high carb diet. However, one of the mice was also given a resveratrol supplement while the other one did not.

After a while, the weights of the two mice were taken and it was found that the mouse that had gotten the resveratrol supplement was 30% thinner than the other mouse despite having the same lifestyle and diet!

Our bodies can only absorb about 40-50% of the nutrients we eat. So, the rest of the food ends up being stored in fat cells for many years at a time. Often, this excess turns into toxins.

Resveratrol is an anti-oxidant and so it is able to get rid of these toxins in our bodies and make us healthy and thin again. Even after only a short time of use, resveratrol can have these great effects.

For this reason, if you want to try out resveratrol for yourself and get these great health benefits, then try a resveratrol supplement like Resvalife. At the time of this writing, Resvalife is even being offered for free so you can try it out before spending any money on it. - 17274

About the Author:

To read more about anti-aging, check out Resva Life. Also, check out the Resva-Life review that is now being offered for a limited time.

SmileBrite And White Teeth

By Jen Taser

Getting older includes many things but it also means that our teeth begin to change from the whiteness of our youth to a yellow tinge. This happens naturally through contact with food and drink although certain substances will cause your teeth to become yellow quicker such as coffee or cigarettes.

Luckily, in recent times, we have come up with a solution to this problem of yellowing teeth and many people can now turn their yellow teeth back to a beautiful white. Now we can perform this just as easily as we deal with other anti-aging issues like wrinkles, poor skin or anything else that comes with age.

In past times, the only person who could offer you the service of whitening your teeth was your dentist. The dentist usually provided treatments with either lights or bleach or a combination of both. These procedures work pretty well but unfortunately they are quite costly and not very convenient as they require a trip to the dentist each time.

Now there are a variety of home treatments that you are able to employ to get your teeth whiter. In fact, so many products have come out that you might have trouble choosing the right one. There is, however, one product in particular that works quite well.

SmileBrite is at the peak of the teeth whitening product list. According to reviews and its site alike, your teeth can become whiter up to 7 shades so. This is a pretty big difference.

SmileBrite has 22% peroxide bleach which is similar to the levels dentists use when doing teeth whitening tasks. It is also a perfectly safe level.

Due to SmileBrite successfulness in whitening teeth, many news organizations have also picked up on this and reported it. Also, from reading users reviews, it is pretty clear that a wide variety of people have found this product beneficial in whitening their teeth.

If you are interested in whitening your teeth, SmileBrite is the best bang for your buck. Also, for the current time, SmileBrite is also offering a free trial, so be sure to take advantage of that in order to get results without having to pay a dime! - 17274

About the Author:

To read more about teeth whitening, check out Smile Bright. Also, check out the SmileBrite review that is now being offered for a limited time.

Gout And Uric Acid Information

By PJ Easton

Since close relatives in my family suffered from gout and uric acid pain, we became aware of the foods they needed to avoid like purine rich foods, and alcohol. There is always a concern that some family illnesses can be passed down to our children.

It came to my attention during questioning with my doctor on what types of illnesses my family members had. One of the questions was does anyone suffer from gout. I figured that we should do some research to understand this illness a bit better.

My research basically found that small amounts of uric acid is normally found in humans and is waste produced by dying cells that release purines, your body can also absorb purines from food. When there is too much uric acid in your blood then a condition called hyperuricemia occurs.

If a person has hyperuricemia for many years usually more than 20 years then too much excess uric acid gets stored all through the person's body and then it's possible for the uric acid to crystallize into sodium urate. Then what can happen is that the crystals can accumulate in the persons joints which then sets them up for a painful attack of gout.

If you are a person who produces too much uric acid then you will need to get a doctor to help you lower your uric acid to a level that will keep you from these terrible symptoms from gout and hyperuricemia.

You must visit your doctor and get him to take blood to test and measure. He test the blood for what is called serum uric acid levels.

Your doctor might recommend that you change some habits, or foods you eat that could exacerbate gout attacks. In some cases he may recommend medication to help you lower the uric acid levels in your body.

If a person is over weight or obese, like if your body fat is not in scale with your height, then they are up to four times more likely to get gout than someone who is of a fairly normal weight. So watching your weight is an important lifestyle change even if you don't have gout yet.

A healthy weight keeps people from getting heart disease and high blood pressure as well, and there is research suggesting that hypertension and cardiovascular disease and even kidney related diseases may come from uric acid being too high. - 17274

About the Author:

Do you suffer from Painful Gout? Are you looking for alternatives? This is only one of many free home remedies for gout from Gout Cures/ Check out our great range of free quality articles.

Malibu Pilates Chair-A Closer Look

By Steve Estes

The Malibu Pilates Chair is one of the newest models of Pilates machines. Like most other pieces of exercise equipment, the MPC is being marketed chiefly to the weight loss crowd. And with good reason. While most people think about technology as a way to do less and get more done, it has also brought us things like this excellent Pilates machine. And this is a good thing because losing weight isn't just about hard work, it is also about using a particular strategy to get what you need to do done.

Unlike the Pilates Reformer, the top dog of the work out machine world, the Malibu Pilates Chair is compact and relatively light weight. But, like the Reformer it will work out your entire body and for only a fraction of the cost. Clocking in at just under three hundred and fifty bucks it really is affordable. Contrast that with the nearly 3 grand that a Reformer can set you back and you can clearly see the savings.

The Chair is a great place to enter into the world of Pilates machines. If you are just starting out you may want to start slowly. But you will find yourself getting quickly up to speed. And don't worry about it taking up all your room.

The thing about using a device like the Malibu chair is that you are the one doing the work that the chair makes so easy for you. It's designed to offer you ease of use and before long you will see the pounds of fat literally melting off your body before your very eyes.

Back when I was heavy I had to do things the old fashioned way, through hours and hours of pain and struggle. If something like this had been available to me I'm fairly certain I could have easily lost at least 20 pounds in a month or so.

So as not to sounds too rosy about it let me just say that it does have minor drawbacks. Even though it comes with a 20 minute workout on the free DVD (I prefer the Total Dream Body Sculpting workout for a full hour, but that's just me. It's also included on the DVD), and a free wall chart and custom diet plan. It doesn't offer the complete range of motion that a studio model offers. But hey, that's why the price is so low. - 17274

About the Author:

So, if you are looking to lose 15 pounds fast, or maybe more, click on this link to find out more about the Malibu Pilates .

Getting to Know HCG

By Amelia Handley

Losing weight isn't really a mystery. Exercise and a lower calorie count result in a loss of weight for most people. And that's the end of the story.

So why is it so hard for so many people to lose weight? The problem for most people is time. It takes a lot of time to fit in exercise and a lot of us have a lot of things we'd rather be doing; or things that we have to be doing. It takes a lot of time to eat healthy because that means more fresh produce (more trips to the store) and more cooking at home. Losing weight through exercise and healthy eating requires a large portion of an individual's time.

So what if you just don't have all that time to dedicate? If you don't have the time to dedicate...you don't end up losing any weight. When you don't lose any weight you're frustrated and unhappy. It becomes a very negative cycle.

So how do the Hollywood stars do it? They never seem to have to try again and again to lose the extra weight after they have babies or after they gain weight for a role or after they just gain weight like a normal person. What do they have that the rest of us don't? They have HCG.

The HCG diet was created by Dr. Simeon. It's based on the combination of HCG, B12 and a low calorie diet. There aren't any expensive frozen menus to purchase. There are no yucky side effects. It's all based on the natural chemistry and physiology of the human body. And it's the most effective thing out there offering results as pronounced as 1-2 pounds of weight loss per day.

Now we're not saying that you don't have to put time and effort in to the HCG diet; you do. It's just that the results make the time and effort very, very worth it! Immediate results inspire you to embrace the low calorie diet and the continued results inspire you to keep it off. The length of the program can vary from 15 to 40 days so you have a short time period to focus on. Even the most frustrated dieters will see an immediate change that makes sticking to the program a sure thing. - 17274

About the Author:

Amelia Handley studied exercise science in college with a minor in Nutrition. Yet she still found herself veering from diet to diet in order to control her size. With HCG Diet Direct she's found a program that allows her to combine her desire to control her own body weight with her education and obtain balance.