Water is not merely a collection of individual H2O molecules. Instead, water in the liquid state is characterized by a specific structure, (H2O)n, where “n” equals the number of H2O molecules that are joined together. How are these water molecules joined? And, what is the nature of their structure? This is what has baffled scientists for years until recent research has started to shed new light on the subject.
What is “Structured” Water?
First, let us clarify what it is that is being structured. Some people, when they hear “structured water”, they think of the structure of water, as H2O. H2O is only the chemical structure of the atoms which make up a water molecule, which is discussed in the section “Structure of Water“. When we talk about “structured water”, we are referring to the arrangement or configuration of the H2O (water) molecules in relation to each other, and when they become organized to form a repeating, geometric, molecular pattern, then water becomes a liquid crystal and this liquid crystalline form of water is what is referred to as “structured” water.
To help you understand a little better… every one of the Earth’s minerals has a crystalline form. Diamonds are crystalline carbon and emeralds are crystalline beryllium. The difference between a diamond and carbon is the way the molecules are organized or structured. Each crystal has a specific structural pattern which gives them their unique characteristics. Minerals form crystals when external forces or energy cause the molecules to form an organized, repeating pattern. Most people know that a diamond is formed by extreme pressure, and that is because it forces the molecules to arrange themselves in a different configuration to withstand the pressure.
Most people only think of H2O as being in a crystalline form when it is in its solid phase as ice, but numerous scientific studies have discovered that there is a liquid crystalline form of water as well. Unlike in solid crystals such as diamonds, the molecules remain mobile and fluid, yet they move together in a coherent way. The only way many of the properties of water can be explained is by understanding that water has a very unique molecular structure which gives it properties that don’t tend to follow the generally accepted rules of physics, but the understanding of this “fourth phase of water”, as Dr. Gerald Pollack describes it, gives us a more holistic view of why water acts the way it does.
Water’s crystalline structure is based on tetrahedral geometry where oxygen atoms form the center of each tetrahedron. Under ideal circumstances, as water tetrahedra join together, a repeating hexagonal pattern is generated with oxygen atoms forming the vertices of each hexagon (like in the picture above). This is the reason liquid crystalline water has also been referred to as “hexagonal” water. Quartz crystals exhibit the same molecular geometry as structured water. Quartz is a network of interconnected SiO4 tetrahedra. Structured water is a network of OH4 tetrahedra. This is one reason water has the capacity to store and transfer information.
Liquid Crystalline Water in Biological Organisms
One of the most dedicated, innovative and insightful scientists that has researched extensively into the amazing substance that is water, is Mae-Wan Ho.
Mae-Wan Ho has a BSc in both biology and chemistry (first class honors) and a PhD in biochemistry from Hong Kong University. She was a postdoctoral fellow in biochemical genetics at the University of California, and in the 1970’s, she was Senior Research Fellow at Queen Elizabeth College. She was then affiliated with Open University for almost 25 years, first as a lecturer in genetics and later as a reader in biology. Ho has most recently been Visiting Professor in biophysics at Catania University in Sicily. She is the author or co-author of a dozen books, best known among them: “The Rainbow and the Worm: The Physics of Organisms”, as well as over 200 scientific papers. She is also an inventor with two patents on polarized light microscopy and one on collagen ultrasound therapy.
Her first major discovery of liquid crystalline water and the major role it played in all biological organisms, she writes about in her paper, “Water is the Means, Medium, and Message of Life“:
“More than 20 years ago, I peered down a polarizing light microscope and saw a rainbow dancing inside a worm. It took a while to decipher the meaning of that vision. Typically, colours are generated by birefringent crystals such as quartz with ordered arrangement of atoms, or liquid crystals with ordered alignment of electrically polarized molecules. The rainbow in the worm means that the organism is liquid crystalline and coherent to a high degree, even quantum coherent, as consistent with other evidence. It means that the entire organism is electrically polarized from head to tail, like a single uniaxial crystal. Not only are the macromolecules in all the tissues and cells perfectly aligned, but also the 80% by weight of water in the organism. It is actually the water that makes the entire organism liquid crystalline because this water is liquid crystalline, as others also discovered later. To see the rainbow colours in the living organism, the liquid crystalline molecules not only have to be fully aligned, but also moving coherently, macromolecules and water molecules together.“
In another one of her scientific papers titled, “Life is Water Electric“, she states:
“New evidence suggests that the L-field (Life-Field) is generated by, and embodied in, the quantum-coherent liquid crystalline water that makes up to 70–90% of organisms and cells, and is essential for life. Water forms quantum coherent domains at ordinary temperatures and pressures. This liquid crystalline water makes life possible by enabling proteins and nucleic acids to act as quantum molecular machines that transform and transfer energy at close to 100% efficiency. It provides excitation energy to split water in photosynthesis, releasing oxygen for the teaming millions of air-breathing species that colonize the earth, at the same time generating electricity for intercommunication and the redox chemistry that powers the entire biosphere. Living water is the means, medium, and message of life.”
Dr. Gerald Pollack, professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington has provided significant evidence for water’s liquid crystalline structure. His research has demonstrated water’s capacity to form large zones of structured water. He has shown that this water has measurably different characteristics including: molecular stability, a negative electrical charge, greater viscosity, molecular alignment, and an enhanced ability to absorb certain spectra of light. He and others have provided evidence that the liquid crystalline phase of water is intimately connected with the generation of life.
Dr. Pollack discusses his research in a lecture given in this video:
Importance of Structured Water
** The information posted here by essenceofwater.org is for informational purposes only and is not meant to replace professional medical diagnosis, treatment or advice. You should always consult a qualified healthcare professional with questions about any medical conditions.