Spilling the truths about water

These days, you can’t be too careful when it comes to the water that you drink. We know for a fact that a lot of Manilans would rather not drink tap water if they had a choice. Thus, the bottled water business is enjoying such brisk sales. But do you really know what you’re drinking?

First there’s distilled water, that’s been the subject of many a controversy. In the 1970s, somebody warned the public against what he said were the dangers of distilled water at a time when health faddists were drinking distilled water by the gallons. Dr. Z.P. Rona writes, "Distillation is the process in which water is boiled (yes, you can do it at home), evaporated and the vapor condensed. Distilled water is free of dissolved minerals and, because of this, has the special property of being able to actively absorb toxic substances from the body and eliminate them. Studies validate the benefits of drinking distilled water when one is seeking to cleanse or detoxify the system for short periods of time (a few weeks at a time). Fasting using distilled water can be dangerous because of the rapid loss of electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and trace minerals like magnesium, deficiencies of which can cause heart beat irregularities and high blood pressure. Cooking foods in distilled water pulls the minerals out of them and lowers their nutrient value."

Here’s more: "Distilled water is an active absorber and when it comes into contact with air, it absorbs carbon dioxide, making it acidic. The more distilled water a person drinks, the higher the body acidity becomes ... A growing number of health care practitioners and scientists from around the world have been advocating the theory that aging and disease is the direct result of the accumulation of acid waste products in the body."

These arguments are contested by Dr. Andrew Weil, who writes: "For reasons I don’t understand, any number of myths – some quite extreme – have grown up over the years about distilled water. A quick Internet search today will take you to sites that put forth such views as ‘distilled water leads to early death.’ Nonsense. One claim holds that distillation removes all of water’s beneficial minerals. While it’s true that distillation removes minerals as well as various contaminants from water, we don’t know that the human body can readily absorb minerals from water. We get our minerals from food, not water. By one manufacturer’s estimate, you would have to drink 676 eight-ounce glasses of tap water to reach the RDA for calcium."

Dr Weil has this to add about the kind of water he drinks, "As to whether distilled water leaches minerals out of the body reflects another persistent myth. While pure water helps to remove minerals from the body that cells have eliminated or not used, it does not ‘leach’ out minerals that have become part of your body’s cell structure. Neither does distilled water cause your teeth to deteriorate, a false claim made by a filter manufacturer looking to boost sales. As far as acidity goes, distilled water is close to a neutral pH and has no effect on the body’s acid/base balance."

Revealing some unwatered-down truths about water, nutrition expert Earl Mindell cautions everyone to think before they drink. According to Mindell, "pesticides, hazardous waste dumps and industrial dumping of untreated garbage into rivers and landfills, as well as chemical additives used in the treatment of drinking water, are just some of the contributors to the increasing pollution of our drinking water."

Mindell warns against tap water with the wrong pH (due to improper water treatment of acid rain), which he says can dissolve lead from pipes and could lead to lead poisoning especially in young children. Thus, those living in older homes with lead pipes should have their water analyzed.

Then there are the hazards of home water filters. Mindell spills some facts:

• The Reverse-Osmosis System – used for years by industries to remove salt from seawater to produce drinking water – will remove a large range of chemicals, but it is not that effective in processing inorganic contaminants. Caution: A filter can also be loaded with bacteria.

• An activated carbon filter can trap some low-level bacteria that are present in all purified water. But if the filter is left unused for any period of time, these small amounts of bacteria can multiply into potentially harmful numbers.

And here’s the message on the bottle (bottled water, that is): Water that comes in a bottle is not necessarily pure. Except for distilled, all water is mineral water and contains impurities (but not necessarily the harmful kind), says Mindell.

According to the FDA official definition, only bottled water with a ppm (parts per million) of 500 or more of TDS (total dissolved solids) can be called mineral water. Fact is, some that claim to be mineral water may have fewer TDS than many city water supplies, according to Mindell.

And what’s natural mineral water? Simply defined, it’s water, sparkling or still, that comes from a spring and contains only the minerals present in that source. On the other hand, mineral water without the word "natural" on its label may have had some minerals removed or added.

Thus, people watching their sodium intake (like those suffering from hypertension or those trying to lose weight) should read (the label) before they drink. An eight-ounce glass of mineral water could contain 397 mg. of sodium, which is more than one needs per day.

Some like it sparkling. Sparkling water gets its bubbles from dissolved carbon dioxide gas, which can occur naturally in subsurface water or added later. On the other hand, still water can be carbonated with either natural carbon dioxide or manufactured carbon dioxide.

So, what would you like to drink?