Are you becoming dehydrated and you do not know why? Here is what may help you solve that problem:
Many people love their reverse osmosis or distilled water for various reasons. However, both of these can lead to dehydration and worse.
The question is: Are people receiving all the benefits they think they are getting as a result of making these choices? You can decide the answer for that yourself once you have read this article.
With so many sellers quoting “facts” from various sources, it seems it may be best to turn to a reliable source to obtain an unbiased and well-researched opinion.
Editor's Note: The flowing information was gleaned from The World Health Organization Position Paper in 2004 titled 12 Health Risks from distillation by Frantisek Kozisek, National Institute of Public Health, Czech Republic.
To read the original, please visit: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutrientschap12.pdf
We will now turn to the Position Paper from the World Health Organization 2004.
WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM THIS INFORMATION
If the water you drink is sourced from distilled or reverse osmosis, or you live in a geographical area where there is low mineral content in it (also called "aggressive" or "soft"), then you are running the risk of not having enough minerals in your body to do important functions.
HISTORY
People in ancient India wrote in the Vedas about the importance of minerals contained in the fluids that people drink. It is only more recently that distillation and reverse osmosis has become popular. However, both of these are demineralized and were originally intended mainly for industrial, technical, and laboratory purposes as well as where there was scarcity such as ocean-going ships and spaceships.
For the purposes of discussion, demineralized water has low Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) (as low as l mg/L and electrical conductivity is less than 2 mS/m.
ILL EFFECTS OF LOW MINERAL WATER
This prompted researchers to see what might be the ill effects of it being demineralized. In 1980, the first report published showed how ill effects on animals and humans.
The following ill effects were noted.
1. Effects on body functions
It does not quench thirst as well.
Even though animals in a year-long study had adequate minerals in their diet, this did not compensate. Such conditions were noted as less dense bones and an increase in cortisol (the flight or fight hormone). Human experimentation confirmed the animal studies and in addition found excretion of sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium ions from the body.
(Author's insertion: These minerals are important for electrolyte balance or in other words the electrical charge of the body.)
The intestines had to "spend" electrolyte reserve in order to be able to absorb it. Thus this robs the body of needed minerals.
This can quickly lead to such symptoms as tiredness, weakness, and headache. More severe symptoms would be muscle cramps and changes in heart rate. This was further confirmed by a study by Robbins and Sly [1] that showed how it caused the body to eliminate minerals.
2. Low mineral water is low in Calcium and Magnesium
In industrial countries, most people's diets are insufficient in calcium and magnesium. This makes the absence of calcium and magnesium in water even more serious. Recent studies have shown that this can be associated with an increased risk of sudden death.
Even over a short period of time, this consumption may be enough to cause serious problems. This was shown in the Czech and Slovak populations who began using reverse osmosis-based systems in 2000- 2002. The following complaints were noted after only a few weeks: cardiovascular disorders, tiredness, weakness, or muscular cramps. [2]
3 Lack of essential elements
Food has the elements contained within it, in a form that is bound which makes the elements less available. In contrast, minerals and microelements contained within liquids consumed are more easily absorbed.
A Russian study [3] showed that low-mineral drinking water may be a risk factor for hypertension and coronary heart disease, gastric and duodenal ulcers, chronic gastritis, goiter, pregnancy complications, and many complications in infants including growth disorders.
4. Loss of minerals in food prepared with low-mineral water
When used for cooking, we see the effect of significant losses in all essential elements of food.
This includes vegetables, meat, and cereals. This may be as high as 60% for magnesium and calcium or even more for other microelements such as copper 66%, manganese 70%, and so on. Since many people's diets are already deficient in minerals, this loss may be especially significant.
Photo by Le Creuset on Unsplash
5. Increased uptake of toxic metals
Calcium and magnesium help to protect from absorbing toxins including such toxins as lead and cadmium, therefore calcium and magnesium can be a good thing.
Because of its “aggressive” nature, it tends to dissolve metals and such from pipes, coatings, storage tanks, and containers. From 1993-1994 there were 3 cases of lead poisoning of infants in the USA. All three cases involved lead being leached from brass fittings and lead-soldered seams in drinking water storage tanks.
6. Low-mineral water is more likely to have bacterial contamination
This occurs since the reverse osmosis treatment removes any residual disinfectant. This was confirmed in the Czech National Institute of Public Health in Prague in 2003. [4]
CONCLUSION
We have now been shown numerous concerns regarding demineralized water. That includes certain geographical areas, reverse osmosis, and distilled water. As a better-informed health consumer you now have some tools to decide whether or not you want to make some changes, and if so, what those changes might be.
We hope you have enjoyed this presentation and invite you to read the full report here (link) for additional details.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION
This article has been written in the interest of being a type of public service announcement.
I do not make any monies from any types of sources as a result of these articles. This is strictly coming from a well-intentioned motive, and NOT from any financial incentives.
Sources
[1] Robbins DJ, Sly MR. Serum zinc and demineralized water. Am J Clin Nutr 1981; 34-962-963. [2] National Institute of Public Health. Internal data. Prague: 2003 [3] Mudryi IV. Effects of the mineral composition of drinking water on the population's health (review). (In Russian.) Gig Sanit 1999; 1:15-18 [4] National Institute of Public Health. Inernal data. Pr
The article was written by Doris Morissette
Retired nurse after a 23-year career as a Registered Nurse
Certified Emotion Code & Body Code Practitioner
SRT Global Coach Subconscious Release Technique
Inner Healing Fundamentals from Bride Ministries
How to Minister To The Human Spirit from Bride Ministries
Credit for the cover photo goes to Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash