Years ago, I read a book by Dr. Joseph Price entitled “Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine.” His research indicated that almost all coronary heart disease, including strokes, is caused by a combination of chlorinated water and cholesterol. There is much new research that expands the claims to everything from cancer to asthma.
Dr. Price conducted a series of studies using chickens as the subjects. He found that over 95% of the chickens that drank chlorinated water developed atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries in just a few short months. Much more recently, a scientist with the EPA performed a similar experiment with pigeons with the same results.
I know it’s confusing because we have been taught that cholesterol is the big culprit. Approximately 80% of the cholesterol in our bodies is produced in the liver, irrespective of our dietary intake. Much research indicates there is little to no correlation between dietary cholesterol consumption and serum blood levels.
Chlorine, of course, is put in water to disinfect it, to kill bacteria and viruses that cause diseases like Typhoid and Cholera, and it does an okay job of that. The rub is that it damages people too. One noted biochemist says chlorine is so dangerous it should be banned. Another stated that chlorinated water is hazardous to our health, if not deadly. Remember, chlorine has been used as a chemical weapon like mustard gas from WW1 to Iraq, as well as in dry cleaning solvents and bleaches.
Autopsies performed on 300 GIs from the Korean War with an average age of 22 years found that 80% of them showed gross evidence of hardening and almost complete blockage of some arteries. Their water had been so heavily chlorinated that some of them had a difficult time drinking it. At normal consumption rates it may take 20–30 years for the damage to show up. Of interest is the fact that about 20 years after the commencement of chlorination in America there was a tremendous increase in the heart attack rate. Additionally the cancer rate is 93% higher for those who consume chlorinated water.
We are not only exposed to chlorine in the water we drink, but we bath and swim in it. It has been found that inhaling the hot steam in a shower can give you up to 100X the exposure of drinking the water. And some experts have warned that if you can smell the chlorine at a pool, don’t go in. Did you ever think that a shower or leisurely swim would be hazardous to your health?
Two of the major effects of chlorine on the body are that it creates massive amounts of free radicals that create inflammation generally, but specifically in the blood vessels. That in turn starts forming plaques that are basically like miniature benign tumors. Additionally, the chlorine ions that line the vessels have a -2 charge so that calcium ions with a +2 charge circulating in the blood are attracted to and bond with the chlorine, creating more plaquing and clogging, a dangerous combination.
I recommend that you try to go chlorine-free. How? There are a number of different types of home water filtration systems that are very effective in removing chlorine and other contaminates. If this sounds like a lot of trouble, just remember Dr. Price’s poor chickens.
