Distilled Water for drinking

[calicojack60]

Hi All,

I've have also been seeking the truth about distilled water. I have found the subject to be more then a formidable opponent and also akin to something like who shot JFK! I see the billion dollar water industry has really muddied the waters with this debate leaving average folks in no mans land. With Billions to be made, there would indeed be a war of misinformation between bottled, tap, filtered and distilled water.

If you have anything solid knowledge of distilled water, then read my post that is on this page below. I would be very keen to hear anyone with solid knowledge about drinking distilled water.
http://www.procyclingwomen.com/Distiller/Debate.html

thanks,
CJ

[Paxiled]

Don't forget the common sense application of caution.  Animals including humans were not designed to drink empty water.  Why take the risk unless there's a reason, such as a mineral you can't tolerate?  Find a good reliable bottled water company that sells spring water in 5 gallon jugs, get it delivered to your house, and don't worry about it.  Make sure the company supplies the dissolved solids, and don't buy Deer Park.  Buy from a company that uses one hopefully fairly local spring.  Mine comes from a spring that's been used continuously since American Indians used it.  These springs are regulated, but I prefer certain methods aren't used, such as reverse osmosis, because it takes the taste out of the water.  As long as the water passes inspection, that's the best we can do, whatever kind of water you drink, including tap water.  If they're lying, well, not much we can do about it unless we have our own testing labs.  But as I said earlier, real water tastes really good.  Why not drink good tasting water?  And different springs have different tastes -- like any other beverage.  

[caregiver222]

Distilled water, as Paxiled pointed out, is not appropriate for humans.

It is difficult to locate water what is not fluoridated or chlorinated, yet still contains essential minerals, but this is what you should seek.

[calicojack60]

Hey Guys,

I'm not worried, I am researching this. Obviously you guys are just throwing stuff out there with considering the research I have presented here. I am quite sure you haven't read any of it, and perhaps you don't have the time either, so be it. However what I did ask for orginally was if anyone has anything to add by way of research. Saying Distilled water is not fit for human consumption is just quoting what one side says against the others. Well guess what, the Mayo Clinic says distilled water is safe to drink as well as the US Navy and Coast Guard who drank it for 40 years without any problems. Since we get most of our minerals from food not water, I was hoping for something a little more interesting from this crowd here then the status quo.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

A forum filled with non-scientists will result with non-science related answers.  For your research you really should learn chemistry and biology which suggests getting answers from those with the science background.

  I've always benn interested in astronomy and astrophysics (much like any other idiot). I was lucky in finding the local academy of science with an active astronomy section.  The academy's are all over the US and only cost a couple dollars to join where you can learn many things at your own pace.  Or, you could go to most any collage for a complete education.

[calicojack60]

I took biology and science in high school, and it's common knowledge about inorganic versus organic concerning TDS when it comes to water. It's doesn't require classes per say to understand that stuff. I not arguing in favor of either side cause I am researching this way beyond what most people do. My Doctor doesn't even know this much on the subject and he can't give a straight anwser either on the subject. The fact is there was a decent discussion on distilled water some time ago on this forum, so I thought there might be some new info or thoughts over here. For all the discussions I have seen on distilled water, I have yet to find anything conclusive either way about distilled water. Personally I can't believe how many people know so little about the subject of water, since it's so critical to living.

According to some sources, they say you would have to drink 600 glasses of water a day to get the RDA for what minerals are already provided for by food daily. The main argument stem from inorganic TDS in water provides nowhere near enough minerals to make a difference between distilled water and regular water. Second, the argument goes that these minerals are also not metabolized anywhere as efficiently as what our body does with food. Thirdly, there is the claim about the lack of electrolytes, but being a former athlete, I pretty sure this one is a distraction since its pretty easy to replace electrolytes. On the water being acidic, that one is a non starter since that can be so easily fixed by adding 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to a gallon of freshly made distilled water. I been around the bases with these claims, but if you got something interesting viewpoint that addresses the issues instead or parroting what been repeated by both sides over and over, that's what I was hoping to hear. Some fresh viewpoints on the subject. Surely people are still studying this, cause water including distilled drinking water is a 4 billion dollar industy. There are two camps and one camp is full of it as they both can't be right, because that would defy the laws of science. I offered two of the most compelling pages of research I have seen on the subject here presenting both sides, one from the WHO, and the other from Canada Water Association. They both cannot be right, one side is full of crap. However, I never rush to judgement when researching this, and a few scientists and bio-chemists have given their opinions on various forums, but I have not seem anything that compelling as of yet. I have seen some good debates here and there, but there has been very few really good threads on this issue of water.

[Paxiled]

Look, the reason you're finding disputed info is because people who sell distilled water have put this out there, and because some people must use distilled water, so a lot of the research is directed at them.  People who are sensitive to certain minerals simply have to drink distilled water.  You're not one of them.  You don't have to be a scientist, we all studied this in junior high, or at least we did way back when I was a kid, that water absorbs minerals.  Water starts out fairly distilled, as rain, then goes underground for hundreds of years being filtered by rock and it from these rocks that water picks up the minerals.  That's why natural spring water from different places will have different amounts of dissolved solids, and why it isn't recommended that one drink rain water for very long -- it hasn't been filtered.  As for Navy personnel, they don't drink only distilled water, only when on duty, which isn't very long.  They have to go back to port frequently for more fuel and provisions, so they don't just drink distilled water.  And in wartime, more sailors and all members of the service die and get sick from nutritional deficiencies way more than they get injured or killed from battle.  However, the end result here is obviously that you want to drink distilled water, and since it's a free country, go ahead.  Personally, I managed health food stores for 18 years and in that time read more scientific monographs on more subjects than I care to look up anymore.  Whole Foods put me out of of the business, and I've moved on.  I had customers who drank distilled water, and as far as I know they didn't die of it, but given that water has the natural property of soaking up whatever is around to soak up until it's saturated, what do you think distilled water is going to do in your body?  Now go and drink your distilled water and live long and healthfully, but stop belittling everyone here for trying to answer your question.