Toilets. We simply cant do without them. One of the necessary evils of our lives is that apparatus in the bathroom that sooner than later will start to develop problems.
So when problems crop up, what are you going to do?
You have two choices. One, hit the yellow pages and find a plumber. Two, tackle the job yourself. Hint the first choice will cost you dearly. However, there may be repairs that should be left to the experts simply because they involve heavy lifting.
Toilets are not high tech machines.
Toilets have very few parts. There is the bowl and the tank, that sits on the back of the bowl. First lets take a look at the bowl.
The bowl sits directly on the floor. On the bottom of the bowl there is a drain hole. That hole sits right inside the drain pipe on the floor. The drain pipe has a brass ring surrounding the lip. The ring has two flat head brass bolts that fit into slots in the ring and stick upright waiting for the bowl to be placed over the drain pipe. The slots allow for the bowl to be positioned over the bolts upright. To seal the pipe and the hole there is a wax ring that is in the shape of a large donut. The toilet bowl is set on its back or side, the seal is pressed around the drain hole with your fingers and it is ready to go. All that needs to be done is to place the bowl over the drain hole, line up the bolts, press down the bowl, place the washers and nuts on the bolts and lightly tighten them down.
The tank sits on the tank. A rubber seal sits in the joint. Two bolts with fiber washers hold the tank and bowl together.
Now for the tank. Inside the tank is a filler pipe in the center. Fitted on that pipe is a rubber flapper that covers the drain hole. There are a few different flappers but basically they do the same job. The flapper is attached to the flush handle with a chain. Turn the handle, the chain lifts the flapper, it raises up allowing water to flush the toilet. The flapper can be easily replaced because it has two ears that fit over two fingers on either side of the ring that is fitted to the filler pipe.
The float system on the left of the tank is there for the job of filling the tank with water and stopping the water when the tank is filled. To replace the float system, turn the water off with the shut-off located under and behind the toilet bowl first. Drain the tank as much as possible and then dry up the rest of the water with a sponge or rag until there is none left in the tank. With a wrench, back off the nut under the float system where it is connecting the small pipe connecting the tank to the water supply shut-off. The small pipe should be now free from the float system. Now there is only one more nut fastening the float system to the tank. Back that one off. You need to get your head down so you can see the nut under the tank.
You should follow the directions that accompany the float system for the placement of the two rubber washers and adjusting the height of the float. Now you should attach the filler tube to the float system, fit the filler tube clip onto the filler pipe and trim the filler tubing and fit it onto the clip.
Now you should turn on the water but only a little. Check for leaks. Tighten things up so that all fittings are dry. Now fill the tank
, check by flushing and see that the flapper does its job. Place the tank cover on top of the tank and flush it again a couple of times.
You now have completed your first toilet repair job. Congratulations.
If you live in the USA it is likely that you have
been exposed to advertising suggesting that 90%
of the vitamin tablets that you are taking are
going down the toilet. Because these claims are
so wide-spread I feel that is appropriate to address
the issue of bio-availability and sort out the
fact from the fiction.
Is this claim true or not? The answer is not a
definitive yes or no because there is no benchmark
given in which to base the claim on. I’ll try to explain.
Supplements are a bit like cars. For example, at one
end of the spectrum you may have a Russian built Lada
which are cheap, utilitarian and very unreliable
(at least they used to be) and cost a few thousand
dollars or you may have a Rolls Royce which is the
ultimate in luxury motoring and reliability and will
set you back around a half million dollars. There is
no comparison between the two vehicles.
The same principle applies to supplements
You can buy cheap supplements at the supermarket and
what you get is a product which is manufactured to a
price. This means that the cheapest possible ingredients
are used as well as the cheapest excipients which bind
the ingredients together. To give you an idea of just
how big the difference of ingredient costs can be I will
quote an example of one nutrient… Beta Carotene.
The overwhelming majority of manufacturers use synthetic
beta carotene (even those producing the more expensive
brands). The cost of synthetic beta carotene to a
manufacturer is around $60 per kilo.
However, the 98% pure natural crystalline beta carotene
that we use in our Total Balance costs over $2,400 per kilo.
The same differences can apply with Vitamin B12 which is
generally 3% pure and costs $340 per kilo versus the
99% pure that we use at $12,000 per kg. The differences
do not stop at the active ingredient level but can also
apply to the excipients as well. Some cheaper excipients
bind the ingredients together so well that after swallowing
the tablet a large proportion of it passes right through
your system and does indeed end up in the toilet.
To make matters worse those ingredients that are released
are done so in the stomach and are largely destroyed by
your stomach acids. When using these types of cheap
supplements as the ‘yard stick’ the statement of 90% of
the supplement ending up down the toilet is indeed true…
But, that is like trying to compare apples with oranges…
The difference between some supplements are as great as the
example given earlier about the motor vehicles, not only in
the quality of the ingredients used but also the delivery
system employed or in most cases the lack of it. When I am
talking about a delivery system I am referring to how the
active ingredients get into your blood stream where they
are needed to do their work.
There are only four effective ways in which nutrients can
get into your blood stream.
1. By injection.
2. Through the mucous membranes of the mouth. (Only some nutrients)
3. Via the lining of the walls of the upper intestine.
4. Via the lining of the walls of the colon.
The methods which are used are as follows:
1. Injection with a hypodermic syringe… only practical via
a clinic or physician. B12 injections for example.
2. Through the mucous membranes of the mouth by a sublingual
tablet or liquid. Note: This has limitations because many
nutrients cannot be absorbed through these membranes.
(However, for those ingredients that can be absorbed it
is a very good method which is why we use it for our male
and female sex rejuvenator products.)
3. Via the lining of the walls of the upper intestine. This is
how our Total Balance is absorbed through the use of a
special delivery system within the excipients.
4. Via the lining of the colon walls using suppositories which
are prescription items and do not apply to supplements.
Sadly the overwhelming majority of supplements do not have
any ‘delivery’ system. They are simply made into a tablet or
capsule and if they dissolve within a reasonable time in water
that’s OK… but, because of this solubility the majority of
the active ingredients are destroyed by the stomach acids.
As a result only about 10 – 15% of the active ingredients
actually get into the blood stream.
This percentage number is what is considered to be the
bio-availability of the product as is quite standard for
average supplements. In comparison the bio-availability of
our Total Balance is around 80%.
Why don’t all supplements have higher bio-availability?
This can be summed up in two words… cost and know how. It
is surprising how few supplement companies have the technical
know how to incorporate effective delivery systems into their
products. And, often the will to spend the extra money in
production costs.
OK, so you may now be thinking to yourself … what about
these companies that are ‘knocking’ ordinary supplements …
are their products as bio-available as they claim?
The short answer is NO! I’ll expand on this:
The companies that are making these claims are generally
those that are selling liquid supplements. Not sublingual
liquids because as I mentioned earlier that is not practical
for many nutrients and certainly not for a general health
supplement. The liquid products that are being sold are
taken by drinking straight or mixing with water. Many of
the companies selling these products are multi level
marketing companies and rely more on hype than good science
to sell their products.
So, what happens when you drink these products?
Very simply the greatest bulk of the nutrients are destroyed
by the stomach acids which mean that the bio-availability of
these liquids is no greater than an ordinary capsule which
dissolves quickly in the stomach. Granted there are no tablet
remains to pass through your digestive system intact but the
greatest percentage of the active ingredients of the liquids
are destroyed in the stomach.
Unfortunately these companies take advantage of the fact that
people do not understand the principles behind the
bio-availability and as such can manipulate their presentation
to make it appear that the efficacy of their product is much
higher than it is in reality.
Just a final comment on these liquid products! Many of them
are very weak. If you are currently using them or considering
doing so, make sure you find out the amount of ACTIVE
ingredient per dose and what the ingredients are. As a
consumer you are entitled to know that, so ask for it and if
you don’t get the information you can be sure that the potency
is very low and you should avoid it as your money is better
spent elsewhere. Some of these products are little more than
water with a few nutrients thrown in.
In good health,
Warren Matthews
Chairman
Xtend-Life Natural products