One question led to a bigger picture.

Where he comes from

Glen describes himself plainly: a high-school dropout who has been studying the world around him since the dawn of the internet, reading across a very broad range of disciplines and teaching himself how the planet’s systems relate to human health.

The turning point

At 49, Glen got sick. He was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and arthritis in his lower back and neck, told he would be in pain for the rest of his life, and prescribed pain pills. He had done everything he believed was right — no drinking or smoking, raw fruit and vegetables, a gallon of distilled water a day, surfing, yoga and the gym.

“I do not believe anything I have previously learned about water, food, vitamins, protein powders, supplements, etc. I erased the slate… and began a new search for truth, knowledge, wisdom, science, and medicine.”

— Glen B. Caulkins, from his earlier About page

The work that followed

That search led him to build PristineWellness, PristineHydro and LivePristine, and to develop the GC Method — his own spinal decompression and bodywork protocol, which grew out of the “GC Life Center 4 Health.” PristineHydro describes its water work as beginning in 2005. Glen writes that, years later, he became pain-free; that is his personal account, not a treatment claim.

The writing

Glen has written for decades: essays on acid rain, hard water, magnesium bicarbonate and industrial waste; earlier manuscripts such as Water: The Essential Nutrient and Waste Lands; and now the two volumes of Dire Straits, which ask what industrialization changed — and carefully separate that question from claims of proof.

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” — Confucius

The line Glen chose to close his earlier biography, where he also wrote: “This website is a work in progress; it is humbling to realize how little I knew yesterday.”