Health Benefits of Negative Ions (Anions)

Researchers believe that through control of the electrical charges in the air we breathe, our moods, energy level, and health can be markedly improved!

Today, our modern homes and offices seal out negative ions. Computer terminals, fluorescent lighting, forced air ventilation systems, and modern building materials generate an over abundance of positive ions. Positive ions make us feel tired, depressed and irritable.

Balancing the ionization in your home may help to combat the ill feelings associated with our stressful lifestyles. The worlds most tranquil and refreshing regions are loaded with billions of negative ions. Air near waterfalls, mountains, beaches and forests are among those places where ionization levels are in complete and natural balance.

After a lightning storm, most of us feel invigorated and refreshed. This is because the electrical storm has generated trillions of gloriously tranquilizing negative ions that ease tension and leave us full of energy. Note that ozone and negative ions are different things. 

Scientific studies have shown that atmospheres charged with negative ions relieve hay-fever and asthma symptoms, seasonal depression, fatigue and headaches. It's also been shown that negatively ionized atmospheres improve performance of voluntary movement, increase work capacity, sharpen mental functioning, and reduce error rates.

Studies at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute have demonstrated that High Density Negative Ionizers appear to act as a specific antidepressant for patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Remarkable as it may seem, a room charged with negative ions was shown to stem bacteria growth and precipitate many airborne contaminants including pollen, dust and dust mites, viruses, second-hand cigarette smoke, animal dander, odors and toxic chemical fumes.


Benefits of Negative Ions

"Negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain; resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness, and more mental energy," says Pierce J. Howard, PhD, author of The Owners Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind Brain Research and director of research at the Center for Applied Cognitive Sciences in Charlotte, N.C. "They also may protect against germs in the air, resulting in decreased irritation due to inhaling various particles that make you sneeze, cough, or have a throat irritation. And for a whopping one in three of us who are sensitive to their effects, negative ions can make us feel like we are walking on air.

You are one of them if you feel instantly refreshed the moment you open a window and breathe in fresh, humid air. You may be one of them if you feel sleepy when you are around an air-conditioner, but feel immediately refreshed and invigorated when you step outside or roll down the car window," Howard says. "Air conditioning depletes the atmosphere of negative ions, but an ion generator re-releases the ions that air conditioners remove."

Negative ions are created in nature with air molecules broken apart from sunlight, radiation, and moving air or water. In"The action of the pounding surf creates negative air ions and we also see it immediately after spring thunderstorms when people report lightened moods," says ion researcher Michael Terman, PhD, of Columbia University in New York.

In a study conducted by Columbia University, 25 people with SAD (Seasonal Affective Depression) sat in front of a negative ion air purifier for a half hour every morning for a month. Half the subjects were given a low level of negative ions, and the other half a high level. The higher level of negative ion treatment proved to be as effective against SAD as antidepressants, such as Prozac and Zolof, and without the side effects of these drugs. Negative ions are odorless tasteless molecules that are breathed into our respiratory system. High concentrations of negative ions can be found in nature in mountain forests, waterfalls, and beaches where people feel energized and invigorated, which helps relieve stress, alleviate depression, boost energy.


How Negative Ions Purify the Air

Most all particles in the air have a positive charge or are positively ionized, while negative ions have a negative charge. Negative ions are drawn to these positively charged particles by magnetic attraction to one another. When there is a high enough concentration of negative ions in the air, they will attract to floating particles in large numbers. This causes the particle to become too heavy to remain airborne. As a result, the particle will drop out of the air, keeping them out of the breathing zone and out of the respiratory system where it can trigger breathing and health problems.

Then the pollutant particles can be collected by normal cleaning activities, such as dusting or vacuuming. If the particle are forced back up into the air it will again be ionized and quickly settled out of the breathing zone once again.

In nature, negative ions are generated by processes such as sunlight, lightening, waves from the ocean, and from waterfalls. "Concrete Jungles" minimize the natural production of negative ions by disrupting the delicate electrical balance between the atmosphere and the earth. Most ionizers recreates them with electrode pins ("needlepoints") to electrically produce negative ions. This method produces a density that is many times higher than the negative ion level found at Niagara Falls, the highest natural producer of negative ions and one of the healthiest environments in the world.

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