EZ Water - The Fourth Phase of Water
The nature of water is fascinating. We are taught that matter exists in three states: solid, liquid, and gas. But for water, there could be another phase. Dr Gerald Pollack has described the fourth phase of water, or what he calls the exclusion zone. This fourth phase is in between the liquid phase (water) and solid phase (ice). It has many names such as EZ water, colloidal phase, gel phase, or structured water. So, if you hear any of these names mentioned in books, podcasts etc. they are pretty much talking about the same thing, the fourth phase of water.
In his book, The Fourth Phase of Water, Dr Pollack describes how structured water is formed. Anytime you put a hydrophilic substance in water, a zone of structured water is formed. The thickness of this structured water depends on the charge of the hydrophilic substance and a few other factors.
If you are like me, you have no idea what a hydrophilic substance is. To make sense of this, hydro means water, and philic means something has an affinity or love for something else. Hydrophilic things are known to combine or interact with water. An example of this is gelatin. When you put gelatin in water a zone of structured water is formed, which kind of looks like “gel” type substance.
Something else to know is that water has small electrical charges with the oxygen side being negatively charged and the hydrogen side being positively charged. As water becomes structured, the electrical charges separate. The structured water becomes negatively charged while the bulk water is positively charged.
Jelly is a good example to see some of the properties of the fourth phase of water. The fourth phase of water forms best at around 4°C, and it highly structures the bulk water, which is why jelly doesn’t leak even though its more than 96 percent water.
Dr Thomas Cowan says that “this ability of highly hydrophilic substances, especially proteins, to structure water is central to biological life. The majority of the water in biological systems, including in cells, is in the form of structured water. This is why our cells, like Jello, don’t leak even though our cells are about 70% water. The cytoplasm in our cells is in a gel-like state because of the network of hydrophilic proteins that make up the interior framework of the cell.”
There are things that happen with structured water that form right near the hydrophilic surfaces such as increased viscosity compared to bulk water, the structured water is negatively charged (as mentioned above), the pH of structured water is different from the bulk water, and the molecules are more-dense in the structured water zone than the bulk water. All of this happens with no external outputs, it is just a result of putting a hydrophilic substance in water.
Structured water (along with vortexes) is important to the flow of water. It helps explain how sap can travel upwards in trees, and even how our circulatory system may work. The layer of structured water lining the inside of a tube for example, is negatively charged which allows the bulk water to move more easily through the tube as it is positively charged. In nature, this charge comes from the sun and the electromagnetic fields of the earth. Without these, there is no flow.
Healthy intracellular gels could be the difference between health and disease. Whether it is heart disease or cancer, it could come back to how much structured water your cells are functioning with.
“Health is the state of perfect intracellular gels. Disease is when this gel state deteriorates.” – Dr Thomas Cowan.
To support the formation of the exclusion zone Dr Pollacks experiments showed that the most potent energy sources for structuring water are energy from sunlight, the earth’s electromagnetic field, and the infrared energy that emits from any other living being. So, you can get outside in nature exposing yourself to the sun / moon, touching the earth barefoot, and being in contact with other humans and animals, to help support the structuring of fluids in our bodies.
Things to avoid include the usual suspects such as glyphosate / pesticides, electromagnetic fields, plastics, and a whole heap of other toxic chemicals we are exposed to daily.
To build EZ water you can:
Stay hydrated
Exposure yourself to infrared light
Use a sauna. Heat is good at building EZ water
Earthing. Go barefoot outside on the beach or grass
Natural water. Go to waterfalls / the beach
Take turmeric, holy basil, or ghee
Place some water outside in the sun
Crush up leaves off a tree and drink the juice
References / further reading:
Cells, gels, and the engines of life – Gerald Pollack
The fourth phase of water – Gerald Pollack
Water and the cell – Gerald Pollack
https://www.bodyworkmovementtherapies.com/article/S1360-8592(13)00068-5/fulltext
A revolution in the physiology of the living cell – Glibert Ling
https://www.westonaprice.org/podcast/build-the-4th-phase-of-water-in-the-body/#gsc.tab=0
