Naturally sparkling mineral water occupies a specific and carefully bounded role within the Primal Diet. It is not a staple or a daily necessity, and it is certainly not to be consumed in the volumes promoted by the bottled water industry. Rather, it is the one form of water that Aajonus considered acceptable when water must be consumed at all, and he distinguished it sharply from all other forms of water, distilled, filtered, artificially carbonated, municipal tap water, and processed still mineral water alike.

Aajonus's core position on water generally was that all water leaches nutrients. He stated explicitly: "All water leaches nutrients, not just calcium. That is why I suggest that people drink very little water." Water in his framework is classified as a solvent, in fact, the universal solvent, and he pointed to its listing as the first solvent in any archeological or geological textbook as evidence of its dissolving, denaturing properties inside the human body. When water enters the digestive tract, it dissolves and thins digestive acids, dilutes mucus membranes, destroys bacteria, and leaches nutrients from the intestines, blood, and neurological system. These are properties that are beneficial to plants and to geological processes but harmful to the human body when water is consumed in quantity.

The single exception he carved out was naturally sparkling mineral water, defined very precisely as water in which the carbon dioxide comes from the same geological well as the water itself, not from a synthetic chemical process. Among the brands he named as meeting this standard at various points in time were: Gerolsteiner (his longtime favorite), San Pellegrino, Apollinaris (which he described at one point as his favorite water), Ramlösa (sometimes rendered as "Ramusa" or "Gil Steiner" in transcripts), Perrier (with significant caveats, discussed below), and San Faustino.

Even within this category, his guidance was to drink very little, perhaps half a cup as a normal amount on a given day, and in many circumstances no water at all, obtaining all H2O from raw foods instead. He said of himself: "In the summer and the fall and winter I may drink one cup a week. During the summer and spring and summer I may drink a couple liters of water a week which makes about a cup of water a day." And: "This last week I've had about two ounces of water."

The elevated status of naturally sparkling mineral water within this context of general water avoidance rests on several specific biochemical properties that Aajonus identified: it increases nitrogen in the digestive tract, it increases oxygen in the blood, it contains natural hydrogen peroxide, it contains naturally balanced electrolytes, it helps neutralize toxins and alkalinity that would otherwise interfere with digestion, and, crucially, it does not produce the same radical and free radical damage that synthetic carbonation causes.

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Aajonus was precise about the physiological mechanisms he attributed to naturally sparkling mineral water, distinguishing them clearly from the effects of plain water or artificially carbonated beverages.

Increased Nitrogen in the Digestive Tract

One of the central properties he attributed to naturally carbonated water was its ability to increase nitrogen levels in the intestines. He stated: "In the digestive tract, it causes more nitrogen." This nitrogen increase, in his framework, improves digestibility. He said: "It helps neutralize a lot of alkalinity and other toxins that could interfere with digestion." He also noted: "It increases nitrogen in the intestines, which helps digestibility."

When asked to explain the mechanism, how carbon dioxide from the water transforms into nitrogen, he explained: "When it goes into the intestines, it turns into nitrogen and the nitrogen when it goes into the blood turns into oxygen." He confirmed this sequence: "By the time it gets to the blood it turns into oxygen."

Increased Oxygen in the Blood

The transformation from carbon dioxide to nitrogen to oxygen was a consistent theme across multiple seminars. He stated: "It causes more oxygen in the blood when that kind of water is consumed rather than just the water." And: "It increases the oxygen in the blood." In his account of using Perrier water with a patient (Jeff), he explained directly: "Natural carbonation somehow increases nitrogen in the digestive tract and oxygen in the blood."

This oxygen-increasing property was important enough that he explicitly contrasted the experience: a person sensitive to synthetic carbonation would get a headache, brain cloudiness, and impaired thinking from artificially carbonated water, whereas naturally carbonated water produced the opposite effect. As one workshop participant noted of themselves: "When it's carbonated, I get a headache like that. My brain shuts down, if I get that synthesized oxygen." Aajonus responded by directing them specifically toward the naturally carbonated brands.

Natural Hydrogen Peroxide

Aajonus identified naturally sparkling mineral water as containing natural hydrogen peroxide, which he considered a beneficial and safe form distinct from food-grade or commercial hydrogen peroxide. He stated: "On a physical level, on an outside property, it has natural hydrogen peroxide. That's why if you use sparkling mineral water to clean something, a stain, it'll take the stain off very quickly and easily." He also noted: "Just use the naturally sparkling mineral water. That's a natural hydrogen peroxide without any side effects."

He extended this to blood oxygen: "Just like hydrogen peroxide it will increase the oxygen level of the blood."

He used the bleaching power of sparkling water on fabrics and tiles as a demonstration of the hydrogen peroxide activity: "If you don't rinse that sparkling water out of there, it will bleach your clothes. It will put a bleach spot no matter what it's on. It can be on tile. It'll create a bleach spot in untreated tile."

Binding and Neutralizing Toxins

Aajonus described the mineral content of naturally sparkling mineral water as able to bind with toxic substances and neutralize them. In the clinical scene with Jeff: "The high natural mineral content will bind with toxic substances and neutralize them. It will reduce water-on-the-brain." In his book he wrote: "Balanced minerals in natural unadulterated waters help dissolve and bind with toxins in the body. Then blood fat or protein, if available, binds with the mineral/toxin mass and are eliminated from the body. Balanced minerals in natural unadulterated waters help dissolve and neutralize toxins, cleanse and soothe."

Calming the Adrenal Glands

Naturally carbonated waters were identified as having an adrenal-calming effect. This was noted both in the index and in the main text: "Naturally carbonated waters help relax adrenal glands. Therefore, if you are an individual with low energy, it would probably be better to drink naturally sparkling water only when needed in a remedy." This is an important qualification, the adrenal-relaxing effect is beneficial for people with excessive adrenal activity but potentially counterproductive for people who already have low energy, who should therefore limit their use of naturally sparkling water to specific remedial contexts rather than routine consumption.

Headache Relief

Naturally carbonated water, particularly in combination with unheated honey, was identified as a remedy for most headaches. "In combination with unheated honey, naturally carbonated waters relieve most headaches." In a workshop context he elaborated: "If you go to the book under headaches and follow the formula you put some little honey and a little lemon juice in there and it usually will arrest the salts lime juice will do it too and that will take away the headaches usually within 10-20 minutes."

What It Does NOT Do, Mineral Absorption

A critical limitation Aajonus placed on naturally sparkling mineral water was that its minerals are not absorbable as nutrients by the human body. He stated: "Water is relatively deficient in nutrients. It only has trace amounts of minerals and adding another trace relatively does nothing because the minerals are non-absorbable in humans. They may attract and chelate with toxic minerals such as free-radicals and other over-acidic minerals but they cannot be absorbed for nutrient value. Plants digest rock and that is what minerals in water are. When it rains, rock minerals are dissolved to the extent that plants can digest, absorb and assimilate them but we cannot."

This means the value of naturally sparkling mineral water lies not in its mineral nutrition but in its cleansing, oxygenating, nitrogen-increasing, and toxin-binding properties. For actual mineral nutrition, he directed people to raw milk, raw cheese with honey, and raw meat.

Leaching, The Core Problem of All Water Including Mineral Water

Despite the advantages listed above, Aajonus never abandoned his fundamental position that mineral water still leaches nutrients: "All water leaches nutrients, not just calcium. That is why I suggest that people drink very little water. I suggested naturally carbonated waters because they have natural cleansing and dissolving properties and increase nitrogen in intestines and oxygen in blood." He warned in a newsletter: "On my raw PD, drinking more than about ½ cup water daily leaches and dilutes nutrients in our digestive tracts and dehydrates cells rather than hydrates them."

Electrolyte Balance

Aajonus lists naturally sparkling mineral water under "electrolyte balance," indicating that Aajonus associated the naturally occurring mineral content with supporting electrolyte function. It is also listed under "calming adrenals."

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This distinction is the most critical determination in Aajonus's framework for this subject. He was entirely explicit: there is a categorical difference between naturally carbonated water and artificially carbonated water, and the difference in effect on the body is correspondingly large.

He explained the geology and production process in detail across multiple workshops:

"In the naturally sparkling waters, you have an aqua table, which is the water, and you have the gas, the carbon dioxide that's in the well. So you put two tubes down, and they shoot them both into the bottle at the same time. The water in a well is not carbonated. The natural gas in there, they're combined but not together. When they shoot them together in the bottle, it creates the naturally sparkling water."

In another session: "Those are where they take the gaff, the carbon from the well, the upper part of the well and the water and shoot them into the bottle at the same time."

He also described it this way: "You have an aqua table, which is the water, and you have the gas, the carbon dioxide that's in the well... They run a pipe out for the water and a pipe out for the gas the carbon and they shoot them both together back into the bottle."

And in discussing Gerolsteiner specifically: "It means they use the carbon layer, the carbon dioxide layer in the well along with the water and they pump them in together. It's not a synthetic carbon."

So the key elements of naturally sparkling water in his framework are: - The carbon dioxide originates from the same geological formation as the water - The CO2 and water are extracted separately from the well and recombined in the bottle - The carbon is not synthesized through any chemical process - The label reads "naturally sparkling," "naturally carbonated," or "natural carbonation added"

"If a label reads 'carbonation added' or 'carbonated' it means that the carbonation is synthetic. Synthetic carbonation causes radicals and free radicals, resulting in mineral and oxygen deficiencies, sometimes resulting in headaches. If a label reads 'naturally carbonated', or 'natural carbonation added' or 'naturally sparkling', the carbonation is natural from the well and highly charged with healthful electrolytes."

He identified artificially carbonated water and beverages as definitively harmful: "Coca-Cola and the other water companies that add carbon dioxide to it is from a laboratory. All your sodas, even soda water for alcoholic beverages, that's an unnatural, chemically derived carbon dioxide. It is not natural." He specified: "Synthetic carbonation causes radicals and free radicals, resulting in mineral and oxygen deficiencies, sometimes resulting in headaches."

The contrast in personal experience he cited was stark. A workshop participant described: "When it's carbonated, I get a headache like that. My brain shuts down, if I get that synthesized oxygen. All of a sudden I get cloudy; I can't think straight." Aajonus responded by directing them to the naturally carbonated brands as alternatives.

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Gerolsteiner was Aajonus's self-described "favorite" for many years. He spelled it out: "G-E-R-O-L-S-T-I-E-N-E-R." He described it as a genuine naturally sparkling water and recommended it in bulk purchasing. He said: "I stopped buying Perrier and bought Gerolsteiner in bulk."

However, his recommendation of Gerolsteiner came with a significant caveat that emerged over time: the company switched to plastic bottles in the United States. He stated: "Gerolsteiner is now, was bought up by another company, and they're putting everything in plastic. I won't drink Gerolsteiner now." A newsletter subscriber confirmed: "Gerolsteiner recently switched to using plastic bottles in my area. It used to be my favorite water for the occasional drink, but does not seem to taste the same in plastic containers." Aajonus acknowledged the taste change and confirmed his cessation of use.

His reasoning against plastic was specific: "Perrier is now putting out plastic, you know, plastic leaches, phthalates, and PCBs and other toxins. They claim it doesn't." His response to the question "Does the harm of plastic bottles outweigh the less than true naturalness of water bottled in glass?" was: "Yes, the plastic BPAs and other toxins outweigh the health value negative."

The newsletter correspondent wrote: "I sent Gerolsteiner a message stating that I will no longer use their product because they switched to plastic bottles in the US. They have an online form on their website that anyone can use." Aajonus apparently endorsed this kind of consumer pressure.

Apollinaris was named in several formulas and at one point described as his favorite: "Pour that mixture into three ounces of sparkling mineral water Perrier, San Pellegrino Apollinaris. Apollinaris is my favorite, it's a better water." It was also listed alongside the other naturally sparkling brands in the context of providing the same benefits, increased nitrogen in the digestive tract, increased oxygen in the blood, natural hydrogen peroxide content.

San Pellegrino was listed repeatedly among the naturally sparkling brands Aajonus recommended and used in formulas. He named it alongside Gerolsteiner, Perrier, Apollinaris, and Ramlösa in multiple workshop contexts: "like Gerolsteiner, Pellegrino, San Pellegrino, Apollinaris, Romulus." It appeared in his water-pick dental formula (paired with Gerolsteiner).

However, he raised a significant concern about label changes at San Pellegrino: "San Pellegrino and Perrier in the last few years have changed their label. It now says 'sparkling natural water.' And I'm trying to get letters from them saying, hey, are you putting synthetic carbon dioxide in your water now because you've changed the wording on it. And they haven't answered. But better believe that they are." This was a red flag in his framework, the change from "naturally sparkling" to "sparkling natural water" was enough for him to suspect synthetic carbonation had been introduced, and the companies' failure to respond to his inquiries confirmed his suspicion.

Perrier had a complex and changing status in Aajonus's recommendations. Initially, he included Perrier among the naturally sparkling waters he recommended. He described using Perrier with a severely ill patient (Jeff): "I pour some Perrier water into a cup... He needs as much oxygen to his brain as possible. Natural carbonation somehow increases nitrogen in the digestive tract and oxygen in the blood. Also, the high natural mineral content will bind with toxic substances and neutralize them. It will reduce water-on-the-brain."

However, he later concluded that Perrier had shifted to artificial carbonation and stopped recommending it: "I used to drink Perrier, but you stated before that Perrier was artificially carbonating their water and that their natural sparkling water was no longer natural. So, I stopped buying Perrier and bought Gerolsteiner in bulk." This is a subscriber's account of what Aajonus had told them.

Subsequently, he reported that Perrier had corrected the situation: "Yes, Perrier began buying natural carbon dioxide from another mineral spring company whose wells had excessive gases. That was about 2 years ago." This implies that Perrier was at some point using synthetic CO2 but returned to natural sources, though from a different geological well than their own, raising the question of whether that still meets the standard of the carbon dioxide coming from the same well as the water. Aajonus apparently accepted this as sufficient to restore Perrier to acceptable status, but the timeline of these changes is complex and brand trustworthiness was clearly a moving target.

He also noted the plastic bottle problem for Perrier: "Perrier is now putting out plastic, you know, plastic leaches, phthalates, and PCBs and other toxins. They claim it doesn't." This was an additional concern beyond the carbonation question.

Ramlösa was named among the naturally sparkling brands: "There is Ramlusa. There is San Pellegrino. There are quite a few of them that are naturally carbonated." It was also listed in a formula context: "the natural ones like Gil, Steiner, Ramusa, San Pellegrino, San Faustino, Perrier."

San Faustino was listed alongside the other naturally sparkling brands in a formula context: "the natural ones like Gil, Steiner, Ramusa, San Pellegrino, San Faustino, Perrier."

A consistent requirement across all brands was that the water must be in glass, not plastic. He stated: "You'll almost only find those waters in glass." When brands shifted to plastic, he stopped using them regardless of their carbonation status. This is because plastic leaches phthalates, PCBs, and Bisphenol A (BPA) into the water, which he described as definitively more harmful than whatever benefit the water might provide.

He stated in a newsletter: "I continue to advise that if drinking water, the safest (chemical-free) water is naturally sparkling mineral water in glass."

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Aajonus did not identify a required fat buffer for naturally sparkling mineral water in the same way he did for some other foods. However, several critical pairing principles emerge from the sources:

Never drink it alone in formulas, in virtually every therapeutic use he described, naturally sparkling mineral water was combined with fats (coconut cream, dairy cream, butter, olive oil, coconut oil), acids (lemon juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar), and sweeteners (honey). These combinations were designed to ensure that the water did not simply leach nutrients but was incorporated into a nutritionally active medium.

Sipping protocol is mandatory, Aajonus treated the manner of consumption as essentially a form of pairing with time. He stated: "You sip it. You don't gulp any fluids, no matter what. What happens when you gulp fluids? Water rushes to the kidney, and you discharge your H2O, and then your nutrients have no H2O to carry to your cells." And: "Do not gulp it. You have to take 20-25 minutes to drink it or else you get nauseous and vomit or have diarrhea." This protocol applied regardless of which formula the sparkling water was part of.

Pour formula into water, not water into formula, he specified this order in multiple contexts: "You don't pour the water into that mixture, you pour the mixture into the water. Why? Because if you pour the water into the mixture, it's going to separate and not distribute evenly and everywhere. If you pour that mixture into the sparkling water, it's going to react and mix in pretty evenly."

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Aajonus described a water-pick application using naturally sparkling mineral water:

Ingredients: - 1 tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar - 1 tablespoon of lemon juice - 1 tablespoon of coconut cream - Naturally sparkling mineral water (brands specified: Gerolsteiner and San Pellegrino)

Method: Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, and coconut cream. Strain through a "thoroughly rinsed, clean and damp white t-shirt" to remove all particles (otherwise they will jam the water-pick). Stir into naturally sparkling mineral water. Use in water-pick device aimed at teeth and under gums.

Purpose: Removes fresh plaque.

Frequency: "Plaque usually becomes difficult to remove after 3-7 days. Therefore, it would be wise to water-pick with that mixture once every 3-7 days."

Note: This formula was also described in a toothpick variant: "put a little coconut cream, lemon juice, and vinegar together. Sift it through a cloth so you get all the particles out so it won't jam your toothpick. And then put a naturally sparkling mineral water in there."

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Though not a therapeutic topical application per se, Aajonus documented the hydrogen peroxide activity of naturally sparkling mineral water on surfaces: "If you use sparkling mineral water to clean something, a stain, it'll take the stain off very quickly and easily. But if you don't rinse that sparkling water out of there, it will bleach your clothes. It will put a bleach spot no matter what it's on. It can be on tile. It'll create a bleach spot in untreated tile." This was offered as evidence of the natural hydrogen peroxide content, not as a recommended use.

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Normal daily amount (if drinking water at all): approximately half a cup per day

He stated: "On my raw PD, drinking more than about ½ cup water daily leaches and dilutes nutrients in our digestive tracts and dehydrates cells rather than hydrates them."

Aajonus's own personal consumption: - Fall and winter: approximately one cup per week total - Spring and summer: a couple of liters per week, which he calculated as approximately one cup per day - During a specific week described: approximately two ounces of water total

When in Asia without access to milk: Up to two cups per day (more latitude due to absence of raw milk)

In athletic formulas: Half a cup in the sport drink formula; up to a quart total in the full athletic blend if building up to that volume

In therapeutic formulas: 2 to 4 ounces (most formulas), up to 16 ounces in the bladder stone remedy

Consumption rate: Always sipped, never gulped. No more than two sips every 10 to 15 minutes in some formulas. 20 to 25 minutes minimum to finish most formulas. In the acute clinical case (Jeff), "just a little at a time."

Absolute prohibition: Gulping any fluid, including naturally sparkling water. "What happens when you gulp fluids? Water rushes to the kidney, and you discharge your H2O, and then your nutrients have no H2O to carry to your cells."

Frequency of therapeutic formulas: Some formulas (fungal, anti-parasite) were to be done no fewer than three days apart. The sport drink could be done daily. The dental water-pick formula every three to seven days.

Bottle material requirement: Glass only. No plastic regardless of brand.

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Aajonus incorporated naturally sparkling mineral water into several recipe and culinary contexts beyond purely medicinal formulas:

Sport Drink / Daily Hydration Blend

He described a combination of whey or tomato puree, cucumber puree, sparkling mineral water, vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice, honey, coconut cream, dairy cream, and raw eggs as a sport drink that was "highly acidic and works for athletes better" when it included tomato, or more purely hydrating when tomato was omitted.

Smoothies

He referenced 2 to 4 ounces of naturally sparkling mineral water added to blended drinks containing eggs, honey, lemon juice, lime juice, tomato, and vinegar: "It tastes absolutely phenomenal especially with the vinegar and the lemon and tomato."

Citrus-Coconut Formulas as Drinks

The fungal and parasite formulas, lime juice, honey, lemon juice, coconut cream, dairy cream, sparkling water, he described as "quite delicious" and resembling a float in texture and appearance. These had culinary as well as medicinal character.

The Oil-Lime Float

Butter blended with lime juice poured into sparkling water: "It's going to foam up like a float and it's going to be delicious."

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Aajonus placed the promotion of high water consumption in explicit commercial and political context: "Water consumed is less than 10% cellularly absorbable... Eight glasses a day. Everybody needs eight glasses a day. The water industry needed you to drink eight glasses a day to pad its pocket." He traced this back to the advent of bottled water: "Bottled water came into existence. And it was eight glasses a day. Do you remember as a kid at the water fountain, maybe you took two sips a day. You had milk, you had Coca-Cola and other soda pop, mainly milk. That was through the 50s, most of the 60s. And then all of a sudden bottled water hit the late 60s, early 70s. Eight glasses a day."

Gerolsteiner, his longtime favorite, was "bought up by another company" and subsequently shifted to plastic bottles in the United States. He ceased using it as a result: "I won't drink Gerolsteiner now." This was documented in a newsletter (May 23, 2008) and confirmed by subscriber correspondence. He encouraged subscribers to send messages directly to Gerolsteiner via their website's online form to pressure the company.

Perrier underwent a shift to artificial or purchased carbonation at some point, which Aajonus identified through label changes. He wrote letters to the company to determine what had changed. He stated the company had not answered. Subsequently he reported they resumed purchasing natural CO2 from another mineral spring company with excessive gas in their wells, approximately two years before the correspondence in which he mentioned it. This restored Perrier to acceptable status in his framework, though the situation demonstrated how the reliability of branded "naturally sparkling" water was subject to quiet corporate changes not announced to consumers.

Both San Pellegrino and Perrier changed their labels in ways Aajonus found suspicious: "They now say 'sparkling natural water'" instead of "naturally sparkling water." He noted he was trying to get written confirmation from them about whether they were now using synthetic carbon dioxide, and that neither company had responded. He stated: "Better believe that they are", meaning he was confident the label change indicated a switch to synthetic carbonation. The distinction in wording appeared trivial on the surface but was in his framework highly significant, as "naturally sparkling" meant the gas came from the well, while "sparkling natural water" was ambiguous enough to cover synthetic carbonation added to otherwise natural water.

He documented the categorical difference between natural and synthetic carbonation in commercial production: "Coca-Cola and the other water companies that add carbon dioxide to it is from a laboratory. All your sodas, even soda water for alcoholic beverages, that's an unnatural, chemically derived carbon dioxide. It is not natural." He was consistent across multiple workshops that all commercial sodas and soda waters use synthetic CO2 and therefore cause free radicals, mineral deficiencies, and oxygen deficiencies, opposite to the effects of naturally sparkling water.

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