The EMDROPS Story
Founder’s Daughter, in 2010
Our real-life story begins in the year 2010. Vick (Founder of Watermins, but that happened later) was researching baby products for his daughter, and came across a recommendation by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) to avoid mixing infant formula with fluoridated tap water. He researched the issue and found that fluoride in drinking water is very controversial. Supporters of fluoridation cite dental benefits, whereas opponents assert that fluoride is toxic. Vick dug deeper and found many research studies indicating that fluoride consumption aggravates and contributes to chronic diseases and autoimmune conditions such as arthritis, dementia, and hypothyroidism [1]. Fluoride has been classified as a developmental neurotoxin in infants and children, and recent research indicates that fluoridated water can reduce IQ in children while increasing ADHD. Due to such concerns, most countries do not add fluoride chemicals to water, and many advanced nations (e.g. Germany, Israel, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland) have banned water fluoridation. Unfortunately, Australia, Canada and USA are continuing with this misguided practice based on unproven “science” from about 70 years ago. Interestingly, everyone agrees that fluoride ingestion is harmful via toothpaste (fluoridated toothpaste always has a poison warning not to swallow), but millions somehow believe that drinking fluoride is helpful. Vick came to the conclusion that he did not want his family to drink fluoridated water. He also realized that tap water can have a variety of other toxic contaminants, many of which are unregulated.
To avoid fluoride and other contaminants from tap water, the main options are either to buy purified bottled water, or to purify drinking water at home (this can be done using a distillation system, or a reverse-osmosis / RO-filter system). Due to environmental and cost concerns with bottled water, Vick bought a RO-filter from Costco and got it installed in his home kitchen. Then he ran into problems. The RO purified water tasted a bit odd due to lack of minerals, and it was a poor thirst quencher. His wife disliked the taste of RO-filtered water so much that she went back to drinking water from the fridge filter. Vick continued drinking the RO water, but after a few months, he started experiencing uncharacteristic aches and physical weakness. Going back to his research, he found a detailed scientific report from the World Health Organization (WHO) that drinking any type of mineral-deficient or demineralized water (such as RO-water, distilled water, softened water, and purified bottled water) is associated with many health risks [2]. In order to avoid such health risks, drinking water should have essential minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
Vick realized that drinking water without minerals is like eating food without nutrients. But now he had a dilemma. What was the better choice? Should he and his family drink mineral-deficient water from their new RO-filter, or go back to using fluoride-laced tap water? He was not satisfied with using a regular carbon filter (i.e. refrigerator, faucet, or counter-top pitcher filter), since such filters cannot remove fluoride. Further, carbon filters cannot remove carcinogenic nitrites and nitrates, which are widespread contaminants in drinking water, originating from agricultural fertilizers and human/animal waste. A water-softening system did not make sense either, because these systems remove healthy “hard” minerals (calcium and magnesium), and instead add sodium to make the water “soft”, whereas over-consumption of sodium can cause cardiovascular disease. Vick searched for liquid products to add minerals to purified water, and found some “trace-mineral” supplements. Unfortunately, those products lacked calcium, and the trace-minerals included some undesirable heavy metals. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Given his scientist background (Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry), Vick decided to develop a custom liquid electrolyte formula with healthy minerals, that could be regularly added to his family’s RO-filtered drinking water.
Developing that custom formula wasn’t easy. However, after several months of persistent experimentation, he found an optimal concentrated formula that provided healthy mineral electrolytes, improved water taste, and could be stored safely at room temperature. A few drops of the liquid formula added to purified drinking water provided excellent mineral levels, without any preservatives, colors, or chemical additives. Further, the formula worked as a potent Calcium-Magnesium dietary supplement by adding half-a-teaspoon into liquid beverages. After using the formula daily for several months, Vick became convinced of the health benefits. He filed for an invention patent, named the formula EMDROPS (pronounced “mdrops”, the product name was coined from “essential electrolyte mineral drops”), and decided to make the product available to others. This ultimately led Vick to quit his lucrative corporate job at a large biotechnology firm, and he took on the challenge of starting up WATERMINS (business name coined from “Water & Minerals”).
The startup process wasn’t easy either. It took more than 3 years of product development, manufacturing process development and stability testing for EMDROPS (click for product overview) to reach the market. It is made in USA with high quality USP grade (US Pharmacopoeia) ingredients in a GMP-certified facility, and is now available at Amazon.com [as of July 26, 2015]. Several of the initial users are medical doctors. Health professionals have started recognizing that EMDROPS is a convenient water enhancer for adding healthy mineral electrolytes to drinking water and beverages. It also works as a liquid calcium-magnesium supplement that is easier to take (particularly for children and senior patients), and easier to absorb as compared to tablets and capsules. Further, EMDROPS is a better alternative to milky-liquid calcium suspension products full of artificial preservatives, colors, sweeteners and stabilizers that need to be vigorously shaken for proper dosing. In fact, EMDROPS is the first and only fully dissolved clear liquid mineral supplement (and water enhancer) on the market that provides sensible levels of calcium and magnesium as ionic electrolytes, without ANY artificial preservatives, colors or additives.
On his part, Vick is very grateful that EMDROPS has grown from an abstract idea to a truly useful product that can help many people. He and his family enjoy drinking pure and fresh-tasting electrolyte water with healthy minerals, and his wife is happy about the water again! Vick is now focusing more on spreading awareness about the benefits of hydration with essential mineral electrolytes, along with developing additional products for health and wellness. And on the side, he has been experimenting with — children’s books! His first, award-winning book (inspired by the same child whose need for pure and healthy water led to EMDROPS) is titled “S is for Smiling Sunrise: An Alphabet Book of Goodness, Beauty, and Wonder.”
Cited References
EMDROPS Video Gallery
Why I Like EMDROPS
The first lady of EMdrops (inventor’s wife) explains in this brief video why she likes the product
How to use Watermins EMdrops
A quick demonstration on how to use EMdrops as:
1) electrolyte water enhancer — a few drops diluted into filtered water
2) liquid calcium-magnesium supplement (1/2 teaspoon diluted into beverages)
EMDROPS Image Gallery
Electrolyte-enhanced bottled water is purified water with mineral electrolytes, but the electrolyte level is quite low, usually about 20 to 30 ppm. Scientists at the World Health Organization recommend at least 100 ppm electrolytes (parts per million) in drinking water. ONE drop of EMdrops added to a cup of water provides that healthy level, about 100 ppm electrolytes.
So if you like electrolyte enhanced “smart” water, do yourself a favor and try out EMdrops. Adding EMdrops to home-filtered (purified) water is the smarter choice: you get fresher tasting water with more electrolytes at a lower cost, while being kind to the environment by reducing bottle waste. More product info here.
Although this is not well known, it is fact that reverse-osmosis filtered, distilled, softened and purified bottled waters are deficient in minerals. What’s more, regular consumption of mineral-deficient water can be risky for your health (the World Health Organization has published a detailed report on this). Water is normally an important source of healthy minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Drinking mineral-deficient water and eating processed foods contribute to mineral deficiencies, with adverse health consequences over time.
EMdrops is excellent for adding healthy mineral electrolytes to drinking water. More product info here.
Some countries (particularly the United States) have outdated policies of adding fluoride chemicals to drinking water, with the belief that this reduces dental cavities. Many doctors and scientists are convinced that fluoride should not be regularly consumed, because recent research shows that even low levels of fluoride are associated with toxic effects over time.
Fluoride can be removed by reverse-osmosis filtration, or by distillation, but unfortunately these methods also remove beneficial minerals. EMdrops is the first and only liquid water enhancer that is designed to add healthy mineral electrolytes (including calcium and magnesium) into purified water, for improved health and hydration. More product info here.
Dietary supplement tablets / capsules of calcium & magnesium are fairly large, since these are essential minerals that the body requires in relatively high quantities. These minerals are also hard to absorb from tablets and capsules, and thus larger doses need to be consumed. Now there is a better way. Simply add half-teaspoon of EMdrops to your favorite juice or beverage instead of forcing down huge capsules or tablets.
EMdrops provides calcium and magnesium as fully dissolved ionic electrolytes that are much better absorbed. More product info here.
Ensuring appropriate nutrition for a child can be challenging, especially when the child is lactose-intolerant and/or dislikes taking milk and dairy products (mild allergy and sensitivity to dairy products is fairly common). In such cases, it is useful to try alternative food sources and supplements. Calcium and magnesium are essential minerals needed by the body in relatively large amounts, and are particularly important for healthy growth and strong bones.
If your child needs a calcium-magnesium supplement, we suggest adding EMdrops to a beverage that they enjoy, after discussing the dosage with a pediatrician. More product info here.
Typical calcium-magnesium liquid supplements are mineral suspensions combined with various artificial additives and stabilizers, and need to be shaken before each use to uniformly disperse the suspended powders in the liquid. EMdrops is a patent-pending liquid supplement that provides essential mineral electrolytes (calcium, magnesium, potassium and chloride) in a fully dissolved ionic state for high absorption. It is the first and only concentrated liquid calcium-magnesium supplement that is free of artificial preservatives, colors, flavorings and stabilizers; and it has excellent stability at room temperature. More product info here.
There is no one giant step that does it. It’s a lot of little steps – Peter A. Cohen
