Water, cells, and life | Dr. Gerald Pollack | TEDxNewYorkSalon

What does water actually do in the formula for life? Water scientist and biomedical engineer Gerald Pollack shares new information and ideas about simple things we can do to charge up our human cells faster than our cell phones. The report from his lab will surprise you.

Dr. Gerald Pollack is a professor at the University of Washington. Dr. Pollack’s research investigates biological motion and cell biology. His curiosity was piqued when he dissected a muscle cell and noticed the interior water did not run out, but stayed in place. Why was that? This led to his 1990 book, Muscles and Molecules: Uncovering the Principles of Biological Motion, winning an “Excellence Award” from the Society for Technical Communication. His 2001 book, Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life, and his newest book, The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor, won that Society’s “Distinguished Award.”

He is founding editor-in-chief of the journal, WATER, convener of the Annual Conference on the Physics, Chemistry and Biology of Water, and executive director of the Institute for Venture Science. He won the 2015 Brandlaureate Award, previously bestowed on Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs. In 2016, he was awarded the first international Emoto Peace Prize.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Water, cells, and life.

That covers a lot of ground.

But I want to be more specific.

I want to talk about:
Where do we get our energy?

Now, obviously, we get
a lot of energy from food,

but I'm going to introduce the idea

that we might get
additional energy from light.

Now, why do I raise this question?

Well, I raise the question because nature
commonly uses light to supply energy,

for example, green algae,
they photosynthesize -

they take in light
and the light creates energy.

And the same is true of some bacteria;
they also photosynthesize.

But what we know best,
of course, is green plants.

So green plants soak up light

and convert that light
into chemical energy,

and that chemical energy, then,
drives whatever the plant does,

the metabolism, growth,
bending, you name it.

And all of this works through water -
the roots of the plant absorb water,

and that water goes to the leaves,

and what happens in the leaves
is that when they receive light,

they take the water that's inside them

and split the water
into positive and negative -

H+, OH-.

This is the first step of photosynthesis,
and it's driven by light.

So you might say light creates
this kind of battery with plus and minus.

And the question is,
are we also solar powered?

Do we use light to get some of our energy?

And I'll show you that we actually do -

we engage in the first step
of photosynthesis,

that is, the splitting of water
into the negative and positive.

Mother nature, when she created us,
hasn't forsaken this wonderful mechanism

of using light to get energy.

And I'll show you also
that that leads to many insights

in terms of our own health.

Everybody knows
that our body is mostly water,

and in our laboratory
at the University of Washington,

we're studying water,

and we came upon
something really interesting.

When water meets certain materials -
these are hydrophillic,

or water-loving materials,

which means that if you have a surface
and you drop the water,

it spreads out instead of beading up
the way it does, for example, on Teflon.

So what happens
is that the water molecules split

into the positive and negative,

and the negative ones
line up, as you see here,

next to the hydrophilic material.

This negatively charged water is,
in fact, a different phase of water.

It's not even H2O,
it's actually H3O2, is what we found.

And we refer to this fourth phase,
if you will, of water,

that is beyond solid, liquid, and vapor,

this fourth phase
is semi-crystaline water, as EZ.

So what's EZ?

EZ stands for "exclusion zone."

And the reason we called it
exclusion zone when we found it

is as this phase of water builds,

it pushes out everything
that's inside of the water,

that is, solutes, particles, whatever;

and so we called it,
logically, "exclusion zone,"

and EZ, is, well, easy to remember.

So, essentially, this is potential energy
because it's just like a battery of water.

And all batteries need to get charged,
and the question is,

well, where does the energy come from
to charge this battery?

Your cell phone needs to get charged,
it's battery, and this is another battery.

And the answer came from a student

who was doing something
that he was not supposed to do, so -

He was carrying out an experiment,

and this experiment is using
some hydrophilic material

and putting water next to it,
just as I've shown you.

He took a lamp - the lamp was sitting
right next to the experimental chamber -

and just for fun,
he shined the lamp on the chamber,

and what he saw was really astonishing.

He noticed that
because of the illumination,

the exclusion zone, or EZ, expands,
and it expanded hugely.

And when he took the lamp away,
it came back to its original shape,

which is a thin band of EZ -

you can see at the upper left
running parallel to the surface, so -

Well, it didn't take a rocket scientist
to figure out that, you shine light,

it gets bigger, and maybe
the light is what's responsible,

the photons are responsible
for providing the energy

to grow this exclusion zone.

So obviously, we were really
impressed by this student's result,

and we began to study
different wavelengths of light,

ranging from the ultraviolet,
through the visible light,

through the infrared light,

and we found that by far,
the most effective light was infrared.

Infrared is actually all over -
it's hard to get rid of,

and it's not just inside,
it's outside too.

And this is literally free energy -

we learned about free energy
in our chemistry textbooks,

but this is literally free,
it doesn't cost you a nickle;

it's there.

And because it's there all the time,

it means that when you have water
next to a hydrophilic material,

you always have EZ water.

And of course, if you add more light,
then the EZ grows, you see?

So light is basically feeding the growth.

So this feature, this light-induced
separation of charge

can also be used to get electrical energy
from light and water.

All you need to do, at least in theory,
is stick two electrodes in -

one in the negative, one in the positive -

and you ought to be able
to get electricity to light a lightbulb.

We've demonstrated
that this is actually the case.

You can see here, you flip the switch
and you get the light.

So just as water behaves
as a light-driven battery,

cells actually operate
much the same way also

as a light-driven battery,

something you perhaps never thought of.

But think about the cell
and what's inside.

So inside the cell, you've got
large macro molecules, mostly proteins,

and these proteins
have hydrophilic surfaces,

and of course, there's water,
lots of water inside the cell.

And so what happens
is that there are exclusion zones,

you have EZ water,
which has negative charge.

And the positive charges would
be lying beyond those negative charges.

So, the reality is the cell
is really crowded, with proteins mostly,

and this negative EZ
practically fills the cell.

And what happens is that
the positive charges are pushed out,

and the cell is negative.

But, negative charges
near each other, they repel;

they want to get away from one another.

And that tendency to repel
constitutes potential energy.

And this potential energy
is basically released

in the form of protein folding -

that is, the proteins ordinarily
occupy one configuration,

but they fold - they start this way
and they fold into another configuration.

So for example,
if this were a muscle cell,

the proteins would
be in one configuration,

and they move to another configuration,

and that's what is responsible
for your muscle cells contracting,

and it allows you to jump.

So, the way it works, it looks like this:

on the left side, here is
a typical protein in its extended form,

and it's got EZ water around it.

And what happens is the EZ water
melts into ordinary water

and the protein is able to fold.

But of course, it's got
to go back to the original position,

and what happens is
it does as EZ water builds around it.

So this is the normal function
of a typical protein.

And on the right side,
imagine what happens with no EZ.

You see, with no EZ,

it doesn't have the potential
to get back to its original configuration,

and so it's not working.

So your muscle, or whatever cell,

is not working properly
if it doesn't have EZ water.

Of course, if you have
some EZ water, then it functions,

but not quite as well as if you have
a full complement of EZ water.

You have potential energy from the EZ,
which drives the work of the cell.

Light, as I said, is responsible
for building the EZ,

and building negative charge,

and that's what gives the cell its energy.

And then the energy is consumed

as these proteins do the work
of the cell, your work, and fold

if you just connect
the dots between the two.

So light is actually driving
the work of your cells,

or light is actually
driving your function.

Well, also inside the cell
are structures called mitochondria,

and they're known
as the energy factory of the cell,

central for energy production.

How might that work

in terms of the framework
of what I've been presenting?

Well, look at those membranes
inside the cell.

Those membranes are hydrophilic surfaces.

And, as I mentioned, next to
hydrophilic surfaces, EZs build.

So this is a perfect configuration
for building EZs and negative charge,

and contributing that
to the rest of the cell for energy.

So, where do we get our energy?

Well, we get it from food,

(Laughter)

and obviously, we can get quite a lot
of energy under certain circumstances.

But we also get it from light,

and the light is absorbed by the water,

and that light absorption builds EZ
and creates energy.

Should this matter to you?

Well, yeah, I think so.

Light matters for function,
and therefore, for health;

and water matters for function,
and therefore, for health.

Because they all build EZs, and the EZs
are needed for proper function.

So, for your health,
what builds EZ water in your cells?

Well, there are a few things
we can think about.

First of all, drinking water.

Well, water is the raw material
for building EZ water,

and so, obviously, you need to be hydrated
in order to function properly.

Green juicing - the juice
is the inside of the cells of the plant.

So you're basically extracting
EZ water from the plant cells

and putting it into your cells.

Good strategy, and that's why many
integrative medical health professionals

suggest that green juicing
is the single easiest and best way

to maintain your health,
because of EZ, I believe.

There are some substances
that are known through the millenia

to be good for health,
and these are just a couple of examples:

turmeric, coconut water -

we've studied a half dozen of these
experimentally in the laboratory,

and we found that putting
a certain amount in the water,

in the amount that corresponds
to the amount that might be in your body,

builds EZ.

It's not published yet, but we're onto it.

Sunshine - you go out in the sun,

you feel good, you feel healthy,
good to be alive.

Well, light that you receive builds EZ.

And the sauna is perhaps
even more effective

because the heat means
that it's generating infrared light,

and infrared light is what builds EZ
powerfully and effectively,

and that's why you feel good
after you come out of the sauna.

And finally, grounding,
sometimes called "earthing,"

connecting yourself to the ground.

Well, you can do this
by taking off your shoes

and walking on the beach.

And you feel good.

And why do you feel good?

Well, it might be some
psychological issue,

but you're connecting
yourself to the earth,

and the earth has been known for a century
to be negatively charged;

it's a vast repository, a practically
infinite repository of negative charge.

So you soak up this negative charge,
which then builds EZ.

So are we solar powered?

I think we are,
like many other living species.

And mother nature didn't abandon
this wonderful mechanism

of using light from the sun
to give us energy and confer health.

And the way this happens,
evidence is showing

that this happens
through splitting of water -

just like the first step
of photosynthesis.

So we undergo - not just plants -

we undergo the first step
in photosynthesis.

Well, our cells need energy,
just like cell phones need energy,

and some of that comes from light,
not just food, but light.

And within limits, the more light we get,
the healthier we are.

So seek the sun.

Thank you.

(Applause)