Do you know that distilled water has a lot of health benefits ? If you have reached this page you have probably been researching water distillers and distilled water drinking. You have probably read conflicting arguments. Or read about distilled water having almost magical properties – like being able to cure cancer or flush out toxins from the body. Or even about the “negative” effects like distilled water lacking minerals or “leaching” minerals from your bones. This article sets the record straight.
What is distilled water?
Distilled water is the purest water you can drink. It contains no bacteria, pesticides or other contaminants. Distillation is the single most effective method of water purification and can be used throughout the world on all types of incoming water. Unlike other treatment methods such as carbon filters and reverse osmosis, distillation are effective on virtually all contaminants and are not dependent on water pressure, water temperature, pH, or chlorine and can even be used on water containing bacteria and parasites and still produce safe, 99.9% pure water.
Distilling process removes all those impurities. Distillation also removes minerals, but you can get these from food. We have a great article about minerals and how to replace them if you drink distilled water here.
Drinking distilled water
Distilled water is not magic water – it does not cure cancer, or leach minerals from the body. Distilled water is simply PURE water. Rainwater is pure water. Human beings evolved in rainforests where the main water source is rainwater.
Can you drink distilled water?
Yes, it is natural and normal for us to drink distilled water.
Benefits of distilled water
The main health benefit of distilled water is that you are avoiding the nasty contaminants that end up in tap water. A lot of these contaminants are actually unwanted minerals as well as complex chemicals like pesticides and herbicides and potential biological contamination like viruses and bacteria.
Distilled water also helps to:
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prevent kidney stones
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improve your bodily functions
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help to protect your teeth from too much fluoride which can cause tooth discolouration
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reduce the risk of disease – distillation removed waterborne pathogens. Most of the waterborne diseases don’t survive distillation.
It is important to choose the type of water your drink carefully as our human body is made up of around 70% water. Tap water and bottled mineral water both contain chemicals that are out of your control.
You avoid unwanted chemicals
By using a water distiller, you will be avoiding potentially harmful chemicals in tap water such as pesticides, nitrates, fertiliser and contamination from copper or lead pipes.
Many of the contaminants and chemicals in our tap water can cause harm to the human body if we are exposed to them over a long period of time (this process is called bio-accumulation). So it is important to prevent exposure.
Protect your teeth from excess fluoride
Distillation removes fluoride from your water; fluoride is now found in most toothpaste. Fluoride was originally added to local water supplies to help strengthen teeth, however too much exposure leads to fluorosis, which leaves a brown staining effect on young teeth. There is also a link between Fluoride and cancer.
The problem with drinking Fluoride in wateris that it is being added to your entire body. Your teeth need fluoride to maintain hardness and the easiest way to do this is with a toothpaste with Fluoride in it.
In this way it is being added just to the teeth where it is needed and not to the whole body system. There is also a civil liberties issue – is it morally right to medicate a population via the water supply? By distilling your water you remove any fluoride and you have a choice about how and in what way you use fluoride.
Drinking Pure water also prevents teeth discoloration! Distillation removes minerals from water, thus protecting your teeth from too much fluoride exposure, responsible for teeth discoloration.
Prevents Kidney Stones
Kidney stones are hard deposits of minerals that form in the kidney and are painful when passing. Drinking distilled water prevents mineral build-up that can lead to kidney stone formation.
In addition to calcification in the brain and arteries, tap water can also contribute to hard crystalline masses commonly called kidney stones. Kidney stones do not generally pose a risk to life but they can be excruciatingly painful. Distilled water is free of these minerals, so drinking distilled water reduces the risk of the most common types of kidney stone forming.
Cure Arthritis
Cure Arthritis: Drinking water purified by distillation is believed by some to cure arthritis by washing out calcium and other minerals deposits in joints.
Reduce risk of Heart Disease
Reducing the risk of heart diseases: Observational epidemiological studies have linked water hardness and cardiovascular disease risk. The hardness or softness of water is determined by the mineral content of both calcium and magnesium. When distillation eliminates these two, and the result is soft water.
Medical professionals say that tap water (particularly hard tap water with a lot of calcium carbonate in it) contributes to arteries hardening and blood vessels calcifying. This calcification of the veins and arteries causes all sorts of problems including high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks.
Cleanses the body
Cleanses the body: Because distilled water is pure, it can detoxify the body and improve your health.
Distilled water benefits your body by removing the chemicals that contribute to this process. If your body receives contaminated water, it is your body that ends up having to do the filtration/removal.
In summary: the main health benefits of drinking distilled water are that you avoid any nasty chemicals present in tap water. You also kill off any bacteria or viruses. Distilled water helps to improve bodily function and helps to prevent kidney stones.
What the Experts Say About Distilled Water
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“The body’s need for minerals is largely met through foods, not drinking water.” American Medical Journal
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“The minerals which the human body needs that are in the water are insignificant to those in food… and anyone simply eating a varied diet, not even a balanced diet, could hardly suffer a mineral deficiency.” Dr. Henry A. Schroeder, Dartmouth Medical School
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“Water hardness (inorganic minerals in solution) is the underlying cause of many, if not all, of the diseases resulting from poisons in the intestinal tract. These (hard minerals) pass from the intestinal walls and get into the lymphatic system, which delivers all of its products to the blood, which in turn, distributes to all parts of the body. This is the cause of much human disease.” Dr. Charles Mayo, world-renowned Mayo Clinic
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“The only minerals that the body can utilize are the organic minerals. All other types of minerals are foreign substances to the body and must be eliminated. Distilled water is the only water that can be taken into the body without any damage to the tissues.” The Choice is Clear…by Dr. Allen E. Banik
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“The greatest damage done by inorganic minerals – plus waxy cholesterol and salt – is to the small arteries and other blood vessels of the brain (75% water). Hardening of the arteries and calcification of the blood vessels starts on the day you start taking inorganic chemicals and minerals from the tap water into you bodies.” The Shocking Truth About Water by Dr. Paul Bragg, ND.Ph.D .
Sources: https://www.megahome-distillers.co.uk/health-benefits-of-distilled-water & https://www.worldofwater.ca/doctors-say-drinking-distilled-water/