“Man and man’s earth are unexhausted and undiscovered. Wake and listen! Verily, the earth shall yet be a source of recovery. Remain faithful to the earth, with the power of your virtue. Let your gift-giving love and your knowledge serve the meaning of the earth.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

The trend of  holistic ingredients in sleek, minimalistic packaging is quite imminent. I already perceived this tendency when I clicked through moonjuice’s online store (which I mentioned the post before) and various inspirational minimalism blogs. A prime example is black bottled water. The first time I encountered a picture of a bottle of BLK I really thought someone photoshopped it but in fact for about 4USD you can find it on Amazon. Why is the water black and what is its benefit?

The answer lies in the black humic minerals which are added to the water. Predominantly mentioned as the magic ingredient is Fulvic acid. BLK claims it ‘alkalizes’ the body and supplies it with electrolytes (click). Fulvic acid, next to humic acid, is one of two kinds of natural acidic organic polymers. Until now it cannot be easily synthesized and mostly it is being extracted out of organic matter like humus found in soil, sediment, or aquatic environments. Due to its chemical composition it has the ability to form strong complexes with metals like copper, iron, and aluminium (1, 2, 3) and is therefore a precursor of organic water pollutants that are considered harmful (see 1, 2, 3). Fulvic acid is also present in ancient alternative medicine: Sometimes called Shilajit, Mumijo, Mumie, black-tar or vegetable asphalt (I am sure there are many more names) is a black solid and it is considered to be a potent fortifier and adaptogen in e.g. ayurveda and traditional chinese medicine. Traditionally there are a mulititude of topical uses of Shilajit and it’s supposed to cure infected wounds and ease inflammations. I found four useful reviews supporting the ascribed effect (1, 2, 3, 4). Ingested it is said to be neuroprotective, cognition-enhancing and preventing Alzheimer’s disease (1, 2, 3, 4) and helpful against gastric infections (1, 2, 3, 4) and chronic fatigue syndrome (1, 2). If you think BLK is your only option of black water I listed some alternative brands on the right bar. There is still a lot of research required to figure how Fulvic Acid truly contributes to the human health and most studies you can find are very preliminary. Anyways, I’ll order a bottle just out of curiosity, Ea

today: Cerium, Yttrium und Neodymium