A Day In The Life #4: What My Swimming Pool Has Taught Me About Osteoporosis

Vivian Goldschmidt, MA Inspiration

Evidence-Based
4 min Read
a day in the life

Believe it or not, I’ve learned a lot about osteoporosis from the 13,500 gallons of water in my backyard swimming pool. Because the pH of the water in it – just like in every pool – needs to be balanced in a very similar way to the roughly 1.5 gallons of blood that circulate in our body. I’ll explain.

When I bought my house, quite a few years ago, I wasn’t really looking for a pool. After all, having a swimming pool adds one more thing to my already long to-do-list, since someone has to take care of the swimming pool. And that someone, of course, is me.

You Probably Already Know This: the pH Balance is Crucial

There are basically two main things to check for the pool water to be crystal clear. One is the pH of the water and the second one is the chlorine levels. Both are linked to each other because chlorine is highly alkalizing (it has a pH of around 9.5), and needs to be constantly present in the water in order to disinfect it. On the other hand, rain and dirt typically acidifies the pool’s pH. So chlorine levels and pH have to be perfectly balanced.

The optimal pool water pH ranges between 7.2 to 7.6, which is surprisingly similar to the optimal pH of our blood. As I write in the Osteoporosis Reversal Program:

“The blood, lymph and cerebral spinal fluid in the human body are designed to be slightly alkaline at a pH between 7.35 and 7.45.”

I Can See the pH Imbalance With My Own Eyes!

To check the water pH, I typically use – you guessed it – the strips. But more often than not, I can figure out what needs to be corrected by just looking at the water. When there’s a layer of greenish dirt-like precipitate on the pool walls, the water is typically too acidic.

This is strikingly similar to the calcium precipitate we get in our blood when it’s too acidic and our alkaline reserves have been depleted. That is why the bones need to release calcium so they can neutralize the acid. And that is what makes bones fragile and susceptible to fracture.

To alkalize my pool, I simply pour in a cup or two of sodium bicarbonate or baking soda , which is a potent acid neutralizer or buffer. Bicarbonate happens to be the predominant acid neutralizer in our blood.

I love to literally see the green dust completely disappear in just a couple of hours, leaving the pool sparkling clean. An incredible parallel with our bone health!

Pool “Detox”

Since the water is constantly recirculated, the sides and bottom of the pool have to be brushed a couple of times each week. Also – and most importantly – the pool filter needs to be sprayed clean once a month. This insures its optimal cleaning power. I’m always amazed to see the dirt dripping onto my patio floor while I power hose the filter.

Just like it happens with our own “filters” – the liver and kidneys – accumulated dirt (toxins) will render the pool filter overwhelmed and then it could eventually become a lot less functional. Unfortunately, only the pool filter can be replaced with a new one… We are stuck with the liver and kidneys we have.

What Are the Odds?

This happened just a few weeks ago. I was brushing the pool when I noticed that the mechanism to lengthen the brush pole was broken. So off I went to the pool supplies store and bought another pole. Much to my dismay, I soon realized that no matter how hard I tightened the new pole, it wouldn’t stay extended.

The next day I returned to the store to exchange the defective product. Out of curiosity I asked the salesperson if this happened often. He answered that for approximately every 100 poles he sells, two are returned because the mechanism doesn’t work.

So this time, it happened to me. As I was walking out the store with the new pole in hand, I realized what I had always known: that statistics are not just numbers… statistics happen to PEOPLE … people like you and me.

And precisely because of this truth, every adverse osteoporosis drug effect – no matter how small it may seem, will ALWAYS happen to people, not to numbers. It’s not a game (even though taking the osteoporosis drugs could be considered a “gamble”), and it’s not “luck” – whether good or bad. It’s a random event that can happen to anyone.

I leave you with this powerful thought till next time.

Affectionately,

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