As a Canadian, I have had the good fortune of living my entire life in a country with Universal Healthcare. That means every citizen in our country is entitled to free health care. I will leave it up to others to define “free” because our “free” healthcare is certainly not free. However, when our children were born, or when surgeries were required, or even for simple trips to the doctor for checkups that are required, Universal Healthcare sure seems like a good thing.

Many of our older citizens head south each winter to share the warm weather and incredible hospitality of our American friends in the United States. However, they always come back within six months so that they can continue to qualify for our Universal Healthcare system. Our senior citizens, who have their prescriptions paid on top of free healthcare are incredibly grateful for the system.

Should Every Citizen Have The Right to Free Health Care?

I try to avoid political arguments, but how can anyone argue against every citizen having the right to Universal Health Care? I love the passion that Americans have for the freedoms provided under its Constitution and I believe that the American Constitution is one of the most forward thinking and incredible documents ever written. Surely, a country that allows its citizens virtually every freedom including the right to carry firearms should provide a basic necessity such as health care for its citizens. According to Wikipedia, the USA is the “only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage”.

What Does Universal Health Care Cost?

In 2009, Universal Health Care cost the Canadian government about 10% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product “GDP”. In the USA, the 2009 budget for health care exceeded 16% of the American GDP despite the fact that over 50 million Americans didn’t have health coverage. Hmmmm.

One of the people in the USA that doesn’t have health coverage is a friend of mine who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. Her chemotherapy and radiation treatments cost her almost $400,000, which will keep her in debt for the rest of her life. Now that is expensive! The crazy part is that she firmly believes that drinking water, or more specifically ionized water did more to cure her cancer than the medical treatments. She doesn’t discount the medical care she received, but she certainly acknowledges the critical role that her belief system and her reliance upon an alkaline diet and alkaline water played.

Does Universal Heathcare Work?

We have all heard about the waiting times for operations that can happen in a country such as Canada. But then again, we always hear about the bad stuff when it comes to anything. However, in 2009, over 86% of Canadians strongly supported public health care. That is a vast shift in the thinking from the days when I was the young son of a physician. I remember vividly my father ranting and raving about Tommy Douglas and his CCF’ers who were responsible for creating the scourge of social medicine that was forced upon us in 1966 as part the Medical Care Act. I guess that “bloody socialist” had a pretty good vision, because it is hard to imagine 86% of people agreeing about anything other than lower prices or more holidays. Nobody gets turned down for care in Canada, and if non-critical surgeries have to wait a little while, I think it is a small cost.

I see a definite downside to Universal Healthcare, but it is not what you would expect. The reliance upon our doctors and medical system is far too high in Canada, just like it is in the USA. The reliance is greater in Canada because we believe our doctors will take care of us when we are sick and it won’t cost us a thing. How good is that? Unfortunately, our doctors are ill equipped to deal with health care. Our doctors are in the repair business, not the prevention business. The docs write prescriptions by the millions to deal with symptoms instead of educating us about lifestyles that will eliminate the need for cures. Therefore, our Universal Healthcare system actually works against us. Neglecting your health until you get sick just doesn’t make sense anymore than waiting for the engine of your car to blow up because you neglect to put oil in the engine.

The Role of Water in Universal Healthcare

Our bodies require air, water, nourishment and rest. In addition, adding joy and removing stress are a lot more important than most would imagine in terms of staying healthy. Our bodies are truly the most sophisticated machines in the world, but they do break down just like any other machine if we don’t take care of them.

Your body is made up of 60% to 70% water, depending upon your age. The older we get, the more dehydrated we become in most instances. In fact, the entire aging process can be tied directly to insufficient hydration. The recently departed Sang Whang wrote a wonderful book called “Reverse Aging” which illustrated the healing power of proper hydration. Most people would be surprised to learn that if their body becomes dehydrated by as little as 3%, your mental capacity drops 10%. If you don’t want to drink plenty of water and be at your best, at least make your kids drink it.

How Does Water Help Us Stay Healthy?

If you research anything about personal health care, you will definitely read about the importance of staying properly hydrated. You will read about the importance of drinking plenty of water from sports enthusiasts to people who simply want soft skin, to virtually every health journal and health blogger.

On a personal note, I was full of arthritis in 2008. In fact, I couldn’t walk down a flight of stairs without assistance. I was taking medication for arthritis and I was visiting a chiropractor three times per week to loosen me up so that I could live a somewhat “normal” existence. I was also on medication for acid reflux (heartburn). When my physician indicated that he wanted to prescribe Lipitor for high cholesterol, my wife took over. She got me drinking alkaline ionized water and the results were astounding. After 8 years of managing my acid reflux with prescription drugs, it disappeared in a week. Within a month, my arthritis, along with that prescription disappeared. My allergy to ragweed also disappeared.

I started feeling better and was able to enjoy life again. I got back into sports and being active. The next step was to start eating better, which comes and goes for me, but overall has improved dramatically. I have talked to hundreds and hundreds of people who have experienced similar results after drinking more water, or to be more precise, drinking more ionized water. The benefits of proper hydration can be seen in obesity, arthritis, diabetes, cancer, and hundreds of other health issues.

You can experience all of the health benefits of ionized water except for the hydration aspect by eating an alkaline diet. It is all really simple if you let it be simple. Eat fruits and veggies and cut back on the junk food… and leave the sodas in the stores and vending machines. Drink plenty of water (the only liquid your body actually needs), get some exercise and rest, remove things from your life that cause you stress, and start smiling again.

The opinions in this article are those of the author and are not meant as medical advice.