How To Reduce The Risk From Swimming in Chlorinated Pools and Drinking Chlorinated Water.

Ben Greenfield (0:01)

Folks, it's Ben Greenfield here, and I'm looking at a quote right now, and it says, There is no treatment or drug which can overcome or negate the effects of a poor diet, inadequate nutrition, lack of exercise, and an unhealthy lifestyle.

And that quote actually comes from the gentleman who we have as a guest on today's podcast, Dr. David Getoff, and Dr. Getoff is a naturopath. He is a board certified clinical nutritionist, and he also happens to know a lot about water and water health. And that's what we are going to be talking about today, is for those of you who are spending time in swimming pools, getting exposed to chlorine, maybe a little bit worried about this stuff and what it can do to your bodies and what you can do about it. We are going to focus on that today. So Dr. Getoff, thanks for coming on the call today.

David Getoff (0:59)

You are very welcome. I am right here. It's so funny.

Every state is a little different with their laws and regulations.

And in my state, I am not allowed to use the word doctor, so everybody calls me David, our naturopath. So it just depends on where I am, and I don't care. When I was brought up, my dad was always telling my little friends, don't call me doctor, my name is Lou, call me Lou. So I was brought up in a very liberal environment. Now I'm a little different.

Ben Greenfield (1:27)

You're down in California, right?

David Getoff (1:29)

I am down in Southern California within the boundaries of San Diego County.

Ben Greenfield (1:33)

Okay, gotcha.

Now, obviously, as a naturopathic physician and a clinical nutritionist, you know a lot about various aspects of health and wellness, but what kind of got you into knowing about water? Where did you learn what you know about water, water health, water filters, chlorine, its effects on the body, things of that nature?

David Getoff (1:55)

Well, actually, that came first and then continued. I've been seeing patients and helping them get well in the private practice for approximately 20 years. But for almost 10 years prior to that, I hadn't quite decided as I continued to learn nutrition what I wanted to do when I grow up, which is sort of ridiculous. I was 60 a week and a half ago.

And I love fixing things. Now, of course, I love helping people help themselves fix their bodies. But so for 10 years prior to the 20 that I have now, I actually build myself as a...

If I can't do it right, I won't do it at all. Every day home repairs for people, and I went into people's homes and did various different things. And one of the things that was very, very interesting was water. So I went to the Pacific Water Quality Assurance Conferences every year and the WQA, which is the western version of that. And I got a huge education that most of the people doing water don't do because they're just doing the same thing over and over instead of learning. And I learned all about the different types of filtration modules, the different media, which is what we call whatever the water is going through, reverse osmosis units, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

And was astonished at how few of the people that were out there doing water really knew any of this because they were salespeople for large companies. They didn't have to know anything. They were just trying to sell you a unit to get their commission.

Ben Greenfield (3:20)

Yeah, yeah, interesting.

David Getoff (3:22)

I was actually learning it because I was, me, myself, and I were the only people that had ever run any company that I've been working for for 30 years. It's basically just me. And so I just wanted to know this. And so I took training in reverse osmosis. I took training in deionization systems, a bunch of different companies that manufacture different types of media, four or five different types of charcoal, et cetera, et cetera, as to what they really do, how they do it. And then when I switched occupations, I no longer believe anybody.

One of the things that keeps me honest and I guess keeps me busy is I simply don't believe anybody except myself. And so when somebody says that this particular filter, for example, takes out fluoride, I go, really, send me a bunch of lab tests and show me what instrument was used to test it, how much fluoride was going in, what was going out, how much of the media was used, and over and over again, they can't.