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

[calicojack60]

Yeah, it's very confusing ever on the very surface by testimony. For instance while Allmymarbles said distilled water made her sick over time, I have read quite a few or more testimonies of people who claim to have drank it for 20, even 30 years. They claim to not only be healthy but some claim their bone mass is still as dense as a 20 year old kid. Yeah, that sounds like BS but I have read quite a few various types of claims which leads to believe they are not all crazy or telling fibs. Indeed, obviously some people have been drinking distilled water for many, many years without any problems. No one from the other side would care to explain that, except to build a wall of defense of testimonies from those who claim distilled water made them sick or wrecked their health after a few years. Since we don't know enough about distilled water, this is what we get, one side fighting the other and neither has enough solid research to explain why their conclusions about distilled water might be true. It's a shame something as central and key to our lives as water would be lumped in with the herbs and natural foods supplements industy as far as serious research goes, but you are right that the money is being made in in cutting edge drugs and not researching water. It appears even as a 4 billion dollar water industry, those people who sell filters, bottled and distilled water, have only parroted old findings, and they are not spending money on new research. I guess their lawyers told them they don't have to, and it would hurt the bottom line. How sad, cause in 10, 20 years times we are going to wish that research was done. It['s quite possible someday that distilled water might be the only water which we can drink.

Food for thought.

[Paxiled]

I don't think they actually know, but I too have wished for years we devoted more money to basic research.  Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical industry has eaten up most of the research money because of that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Studies on natural supplements, water, and food are usually spotty, short-term, not double blinded, and use too few people.  It's a pain.  But there's no lobby for money to find out something as basic as what you're asking.  We don't even know what a human diet should best consist of.  This is the downside of greed unfettered -- it crowds out people such as you who are looking at alternatives.  I spent 18 years managing health food stores, and was amazed at how little good quality research is done on our basic needs.  Just frustrates the hell out of me.

[calicojack60]

That why solid reseach should of been done by the govenment years ago. The research out there today is old and short sided. In the years to come, both from pollution and lack of water, more people will use distillers to obtain water. It's a good option to obtain water, but it's just that we need to know for sure how to adjust it if needed. I'm pretty sure most people don't eat a balanced diet. Reason is because it would be very expensive to do so. You would need a good cook, or to eat out every day. For most people, I believe distilled water perhaps aggravates their lack of minerals from a balanced diet. More then likely, distilled water would not effect most people who ate very well everyday, but most don't. For most, perhaps their metabolism has adjusted to absorbing minerals from regular water over time, and taking that away might be a shock to their systems. Of course that is conjecture, no proof, since it goes against basic biology about how our body uses organic minerals versus inorganic. But, a lot of people are moving that way cause its cheaper then buying filters. Filters are a big pain, and they are expensive. I buy them every month, and its expensive. I have no choice but to find other alternative like distilled water, but perhaps adjusted to whatever my body chemisty demands. I am surprised that more bio chemists and scientists have not been forthcoming in these forums. It's always the little people who are grasping as straws looking for answers, and the people who know, won't speak up.

[allmymarbles]

It takes a long time to build up a mineral deficiency and a long time to correct it, so the effect on sailers may not be immediately obvious.

When we started adding trace minerals to our water in our home, we did not see any changes it produced for a long time. An ear condition related to the skin in my middle ear cleared up after three years, for instance. The liver spot disappeared in about six months. And,  I hesitate to mention this because I am  unable to prove it is related to minerals, but the very serious varicose veins in my ankles were cured after about three years. I can find no other explanation for these changes since I had not altered my diet or the minimal supplements I took - with the exception of the addition of minerals. In short, there is no way I would ever drink distilled water - unless I laced it with minerals.

[calicojack60]

On the Navy, my Dad with others were on various ships for many years. In fact he was on ships mostly the 8 years before and after the war. He was on Cruise ships, Destroyers and various other navel vessels. I've got photos of him with Eisenhower on the ships during the war. The fact is they spent many months out to sea on the ships. They would come back to port for a short stay to stock up on supplies and see medical personal and take care of various other obligations before they went back out to sea. However he often spent more time at sea then he did on land during those years. They drank mostly distilled water onboard. However, my point is the Navy has said from their research and records that nobody was known to have health problems from drinking distilled water.

[Paxiled]

Don't care if you're disagreeing with me, that's not rude.  When I said nobody cares, I meant nobody cares to do much research on it.  I wasn't clear on that.  That's the problem with food, natural remedies, water, etc.  There's very little money to do the kind of research you're looking for because there's little money in it.  The big money is in patented products, so that's where the research money goes.  That's what I meant.  As for the materials you keep referring to, they're fine but they don't have anything to do with your question here, which is what we're all trying very hard to answer and have all answered the same way.  And no sailor is on a ship for years -- you'd die.  You'd run out of food.  In WWII people didn't serve overseas that long.  We had a draft, and plenty of people to fight with.  Not like now, where people are on their fourth and fifth rotations.  Land soldiers were rotated back and forth as well.  So no, they didn't just drink distilled water for years, only when on shipboard.  So that study isn't the long-term study you want, and it probably doesn't exist, which is what I meant by nobody cares to learn about food, water, and such.  It's a profit-driven society here.  You'll probably find some good research in foreign countries that do more general research than the US does now, particularly regarding water-short parts of the world and desalinization studies on what to do when we run out of potable water in parts of the world.  And again, I said spring water that is commercially sold, and therefore inspected and certified by state agencies and that lists the dissolved solids, not just any old spring lying around, though some of those are probably fine and some aren't.  Given that the entire world is polluted, you won't find pure water anywhere without distilling it.  My worry is that over the long term, given the property of water to absorb whatever is there to absorb, you will leach minerals, but you can replenish them.  Perhaps you can find studies on those people who have mineral sensitivities and have to drink distilled water and what they do to compensate.  As I said, I had a few customers who were like that.  Now I'd again like to finish this thread, as nobody here can answer your question sufficiently, and again wish you good luck.