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FAQ

To see the answers click on the questions below.

Q - When using the therapeutic strength (4 oz per gallon of distilled water) of magnesium bicarbonate concentrate and drinking the recommended 4 glasses a day, how much magnesium and how much bicarbonate would I be getting on a daily basis?

A - The recommended daily amount will give you 1400 mg of magnesium bicarbonate but These are not the whole story.

The first mistake people make is assuming that 100mg (for example) of a mineral means you get 100mg in your body. In truth this depends on a number of factors, in particular the form the nutrient is in. Some people grasp this fact and realize that many forms are very difficult to absorb so they seek out “bio available forms” but then make the second error. This error is to assume that everything that is absorbed can be used. These are not the case and is one of the reasons that we don't see the same results in the test tube that we see in the living human body.

In the living body if, for example , you want to supplement magnesium and take it in the form of magnesium chloride, once absorbed your body needs to deal with the chloride and this affects its ability to use the magnesium attached to it.

In another example if you want bicarbonate you can take it as sodium bicarbonate or you might choose magnesium bicarbonate. The body will deal with these two bicarbonates very differently because of what they are attached to. The bicarbonate attached to the magnesium has a direct route into the cell via the magnesium channel. The bicarbonate attached to sodium cannot access the cell via the calcium channel because of the sodium. Further the body has to find a way to deal with the sodium; this makes it much less usable even though it has been absorbed.

Therefore while both quantity and absorption have their place they don't mean much without this third part of the puzzle, which is the body's ability to actually use the nutrient in question. These are less easy to establish and is best answered by results in real people, not test tubes.

When Dr Russell Bennett first saw the power of magnesium bicarbonate in affecting the lifespan of cows increasing it by up to 50% it was because of this special combination of minerals rather than particularly high levels of magnesium or bicarbonate and These are the real secret of its healing abilities.

All that said, MagBicarb is water chelated and activated for the greatest possible bio-availability and has higher levels of magnesium and bicarbonate than any other waters currently available with a total of 1400 mg in a day’s supply breaking down into 228 mg of magnesium and 1,172 mg of bicarbonate.

There are a few mountain spring water sources with around 600 mg of magnesium bicarbonate per liter, with little calcium bicarbonate. One would have to drink over 2.3 liters of such spring water to get the bio-activity of 1 liter of therapeutic strength MagBicarb Water. Also, such water would have to be treated with a high power clustering technology, as is the MagBicarb concentrate. These are doable but inconvenient for many people.

When people need lots of magnesium and simultaneously lots bicarbonate activity, they can consume 2.3 liters daily of MagBicarb therapeutic water, which will give them 3,260 mg of magnesium bicarbonate per day. At that daily amount, magnesium bicarbonate acts as a prime decalcifying agent that gives relief to many conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, heart and circulatory problems as well as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Q - And when you add 1 oz. of MagBicarb in 1 liter of water?

A - Since 1 oz. of MagBicarb has 1500 mg of magnesium bicarbonate in it, the concentration of that entire liter will be 1500 mg per liter. These are the same as the therapeutic strength MagBicarb Water.

Q - Why does it need to be added into distilled water?

A - Distilled water is the recommended carrier. You may also use low-calcium clean mountain spring water or filtered low-calcium tap water. However, most filters do not remove the calcium bicarbonate in the water and in many cases this calcium is antagonistic to the product and reduces its effectiveness.

Q - How long after opening the magnesium bicarbonate concentrate bottle does it last at good effectiveness if kept refrigerated between openings?

A - The bottle will last until there appears a white deposit on the bottom or two years, whichever comes first.

The white deposit on the bottom will not show up if the opening instructions on the label are carefully followed. If a white deposit appears, it is magnesium carbonate, an insoluble component of rock and although magnesium carbonate supplements are sold commercially, there are many people who will metabolize it poorly. At the high concentration (5%) that MagBicarb ships, to save on shipping costs, the product is unstable and can only be kept whole in solution when there is carbonation still present in the bottle.

However, some carbonation is lost every time the bottle is open, so, we recommend that at least 1 oz. of MagBicarb concentrate or more be carefully poured into 1 gallon of water, each time the bottle is opened. This means that the bottle will last for 32 openings or more, when the instructions are followed. Of course, once the MagBicarb concentrate has been diluted into drinking water, this MagBicarb Water is effective for many weeks, if kept away from excessive heat or light.

Another caution is to make sure that MagBicarb Water is never left in a wide mouth container exposed to the air for any length of time. This will ensure that water does not evaporate excessively, leaving behind a hard deposit of magnesium carbonate, otherwise known as a "hard water" stain. When MagBicarb Water is kept in a closed gallon container, there will be very little hard water stain because no water evaporates. Of course, after drinking the MagBicarb Water, it is quickly metabolized in the physiology and these long term instabilities will not come into effect.

Q - How does Magnesium bicarbonate concentrate decalcify tissues?

A - The amount of magnesium bicarbonate is given as 1500 mg in 1 oz. of Magnesium Bicarbonate Solution (MBS). These are a 5% solution. These are a sort of water-chelated magnesium bicarbonate mineral complex. This complex is a large balloon-like sphere that is delicate and easily damaged if we try to remove the excess water in it. These balloons are so large that they actually touch one another in the MagBicarb, which is what gives the MagBicarb its syrupy feeling. It is not practical to try and increase the concentration past the 5% mark as these balloons start interfering with each other.

So, when you dilute 4 oz. of concentrate in 1 gallon of water that means putting 1 oz. of MagBicarb in 1 quart of water which is 4 X 8 oz. of water. If you drink 4 glasses a day of this therapeutic strength Magnesium Bicarbonate Water, (MagBicarb Water), you will be getting 1500 mg of magnesium bicarbonate chelated mineral complex which has the biological activity of 1500 mg of ionized Magnesium ++ (Mg++) These are so powerful that it dissolves the calcium eggs that have formed over a lifetime in and around the organs.

When a calcium egg forms around a cell, this cell may stop accepting insulin resulting in type II diabetes, when the calcium egg forms around the blood brain barrier, the brain may develop Alzheimer, when a calcium egg forms around the heart muscles, heart disease may result, when the calcium eggs form inside the liver, gallstones may result. When the calcium eggs form inside the pancreas, type I diabetes may result. When calcium eggs form in the eyes, cataracts may result. When calcium eggs form in the joints, arthritis may result. When calcium eggs form at the junction between muscle and bones, fibromyalgia may result. When calcium eggs form in the immune system, allergies and/or auto-immune malfunctions may happen. When calcium eggs form in the kidneys, they may stop functioning altogether.

Q - How quickly will we see improvement in the above mentioned conditions when drinking the therapeutic strength of magnesium bicarbonate concentration in water?

A - When people have succeeded in eliminating all the hydroxyapatite fibers outside their bones using the therapeutic MagBicarb Water, they can revert to the maintenance strength of MagBicarb Water which will give them 425 MG of magnesium bicarbonate mineral complex in 4 glasses. This has the potency of the MDR in magnesium of about 425 mg per day. The maintenance amount is 1 oz. per gallon of water. Some will notice benefits much more quickly, even immediately.

Q - When can we cut back to a maintenance dose of concentrate in water?

A - When people have succeeded in eliminating all the hydroxyapatite fibers outside their bones using the therapeutic MagBicarb Water, they can revert to the maintenance strength of MagBicarb Water which will give them 425 MG of magnesium bicarbonate mineral complex in 4 glasses. This has the potency of the MDR in magnesium of about 425 mg per day. The maintenance amount is 1 oz. per gallon of water.

Q - Is it ok to heat the magnesium bicarbonate water?

A - Yes, it is OK, but drink it soon after heating it to minimize the rate of decay of the hexagonal water cluster at higher temperatures.

Q - How come I don't taste any carbonation? I thought the bicarbonates diminished when the carbonation goes away?

A - Once the concentrate is diluted down to drinking concentration of 1500 PPM or less, the chelated magnesium bicarbonate clusters are quite stable and there is no carbonation needed to keep them that way, it is only at the very high concentration needed to ship the concentrate economically that we add excess carbonation to stabilize the concentrate.

Q - Why do I have to wait four hours after mixing the bicarbonate and distilled water before drinking it?

A - Waiting 4 hours after mixing is necessary to allow the water chelated clusters to form adequately. If you don’t wait the four hours and allow the combined mixture to sit, the magnesium bicarbonate you drink will only be about 80% effective.

Q - Can I mix the magnesium bicarbonate with iodine?

A - Yes, BUT, the water amplifies ALL flavors and adding even a few drops of iodine can change the flavor.

Q - Can I use magnesium bicarbonate finished water to use in juices, with fruit powders, lemon, tea or other flavored drinks?

A - Yes and you will find that you will need less flavoring since the magnesium bicarbonate intensifies all flavors. This may be a cost savings for you. It also mixes well with natural juices such as lemon or grape juice. It is OK to mix in fruit powders, fruit juices, fruit juice concentrates, lemon juice, or lemon juice concentrate.

Q - I’m finding I drink it throughout the day including with meals. Is that okay or does it dilute the effects?

A - It is quite all right, indeed, to drink 8 or more glasses per day. It is best if 4 of these are taken between meals as the product is alkaline and can weaken the stomach acid for folks that produce very little of their own stomach acid.

Q - Does pouring a glass of the final mixed product for drinking, and then letting it stand for awhile, diminish the amount of magnesium bicarbonate or reduce the effect of it? In other words does an 8 oz glass of final product need to be ingested within any certain time frame?

A - No, that will work just fine but you should not let sit to the open air for days or weeks, as the water evaporates and there will form a magnesium carbonate film on the surface that is just rock.

Q - Why does my urine pH drop after I start using magnesium bicarbonate water?

A - These are due to the principle of conservation of charge, in biochemical reactions.

What These are about is that, after using too much calcium and not enough magnesium for too many years, some users will develop calcified acidic lymph that is the precursor of a great many diseases.

When taking adequate amounts of therapeutic strength MagBicarb Water a most desirable response can happen, whereby the acidic lymph components will get diverted to the kidney for elimination from the body. This happens because of the healing of the immune system by the magnesium bicarbonate. Once healed, the immune system will hunt down and divert to the kidneys, via the blood stream, these acidic residues that are "stuck" in the lymph.

Over time, this will raise the pH of the lymph to the desired 7-7.4 range and the resistance to diseases will increase substantially.

Q - Can I use more than 4 oz. per gallon of the magnesium bicarbonate concentrate in a gallon of water?

A - It is probably a good idea to warn people strenuously AGAINST using any higher concentration of concentrate than 4 oz. per gallon, which corresponds to 1500 PPM of magnesium bicarbonate, except under qualified medical supervision. These are because there is this magical value of 8500 PPM of salinity which is the salinity of blood plasma. If we get too close to that, with any conducting solution, the blood plasma starts behaving differently than normal and very close supervision is needed because we do not have detailed accounts of what happens to sick people under such circumstances.

Here is another reason not to increase the concentration of MagBicarb in water over the therapeutic dose: at the therapeutic dose, MagBicarb Water has 100mg/deciliter of glucose in it, which is "normal" blood sugar, so it is well tolerated by everyone, including diabetics, provided that such diabetics cut back in some other sugars, especially when they drink the water with meals. Thus, our general recommendation is to consume therapeutic strength MagBicarb Water only away from meals and to drink maintenance strength (1 oz. per gallon) MagBicarb water with meals.

Q - Is there any problem with drinking the concentrate if there is compromised kidney function? Magnesium is generally not efficiently excreted via kidneys with severe kidney insufficiency, so magnesium is usually restricted as magnesium toxicity can build up. Bicarbonates are encouraged though to help excrete acids. So should people with impaired kidney function or renal failure not use this magnesium bicarbonate water?

A - There is no doubt that therapeutic strength MagBicarb Water can stress a malfunctioning kidney and These are part of the FDA disclaimer on the label. If people suspect kidney malfunction, they should stick to maintenance dosage of (1 oz MagBicarb per gallon of water) until such time as their kidney function improves or if they are supervised by knowledgeable practitioners.

Q - What types of bicarbonates are in the magnesium bicarbonate concentrate solution?

A - The magnesium bicarbonate solution contains sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate. In 1500 mg of magnesium bicarbonate solution, there is about 65 mg of sodium bicarbonate and 65 mg of potassium bicarbonate. These serve to maintain the mineral balance of the bicarbonate solution, to compare with the general area as it occurs in the ocean-going mammals where our bodies come from.

Q - Can regular sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate be added to the magnesium bicarbonate water? If so in what amounts without affecting the chemistry of your water?

A - It is known that when too much sodium bicarbonate is taken in, the bicarbonate losses via the kidneys will raise the kidney pH to high values. This gives a natural limit to how much sodium bicarbonate should be added to the magnesium bicarbonate water. In addition there is a chance that using too much sodium bicarbonate will carry the magnesium bicarbonate through the kidneys with it.

In practice it is wise to limit the sodium bicarbonate to about 1/3 the amount of magnesium bicarbonate, and similarly with potassium bicarbonate. In time we would also recommend using about 1/3 calcium bicarbonate for good balance. We are saying that if one uses 1500 mg per day of magnesium bicarbonate, one should use no more than 500 mg of potassium bicarbonate, if one uses 3000 mg of magnesium bicarbonate, one should use no more than 1000 mg of potassium bicarbonate, and so on for sodium bicarbonate too, as an insurance policy. But Dr. Sircus may know of special situations where different values should be used, for instance in cancer, etc.

Q - Can Diabetics safely use magnesium bicarbonate water since it has some sugar in it?

A - Therapeutic strength MagBicarb Water has 100mg/deciliter of glucose in it, and if you drink that with food that has already some sugar in it, you will need to compensate for the extra sugar in the food. MagBicarb Water has 1 calorie of sugar per 8 oz glass. That is not enough to alter the taste of the water, but it is enough to let you dissolve fruit juice at 4:1 and still taste the fruit sweetness.

Q - I have a SodaStream at home which I can make my own carbonated water and drinks with and I am wondering if this magnesium bicarbonate concentrate can be used and then carbonated for drinking. If so how much bicarb will be in it?

A - Yes. Only what was in the initial magnesium bicarbonate solution, but no additional bicarbonate will be created.

Here is a recipe: start with 32 oz. therapeutic strength refrigerated MagBicarb Water. Process this in the Soda Stream to carbonate it. (3-5 sprigs). Take 24 oz. of this carbonated water and add 8 oz. of any fresh fruit juice or reconstituted juice from frozen fruit juice concentrate or mixtures of juices. Add 4 packets of Truvia (no calories, all natural). Tastes like any regular soda, but has 1/4 the calories and is very high in magnesium bicarbonate and has NO bad stuff in it, all natural, 100% natural. I drink easily 2 quarts or more of this per day.

Q - Do Bicarbonates decrease magnesium in our bodies?

A - About bicarbonates depleting magnesium: people drink hard water which is high in calcium and they consume lots of high calcium foods, that is well known. It is also known that there are a number of biochemical reactions that react calcium with whatever magnesium (bicarbonate) is in the body to produce magnesium chloride which is much more readily eliminated than magnesium bicarbonate. These are because magnesium compounds are rather delicate and often times they react to strong calcium presence to substitute calcium instead of magnesium in precious locations and bump the magnesium out of the way. These are why we recommend that folks cut way back on their calcium intake. Either add back some small amount of calcium as calcium citrate, say, or they figure out how far back to cut calcium intake.

Q - Generally carbonated drinks are very acidic, isn’t this counterproductive when drinking magnesium bicarbonate concentrate which is also carbonated?

A - MagBicarb concentrate is alkaline with a pH of 8.

It is not recommended to drink straight MagBicarb concentrate. When the concentrate is properly diluted to therapeutic strength, the resulting MagBicarb Water is quite compatible with the carbonation in carbonated drinks. In other words, all acidity is NOT created equal: dissolved CO2 (also called H2CO3 or H-HCO3 or hydrogen bicarbonate) does not damage MagBicarb Water.

Q - How is the magnesium bicarbonate concentrate checked for absence of contaminants, heavy metals or radiation?

A - These are done by making sure that all the starting components are free of contaminants and radiation.