MYTHS ABOUT DISTILLED WATER
Distilled water is the purest water you can drink. That should surely make it the healthiest fluid you can drink.
However, some myths have persistently hung around drinking distilled water and help put some people off this wonderful, pure drink.
1 – Distillation makes water “useless”
Water is the foundation of all life on this planet. Without it, you will die very quickly.
Distillation removes all the contaminants that can make water dangerous, so will it also take out many beneficial minerals.
The answer is yes, but the question is framed incorrectly.
The minerals in water are so dispersed that to gain any real health benefits from them you would have to drink gallon upon gallon of ordinary water every day. For example, to get enough calcium from your water to meet the recommended daily allowance set by the authorities in Boston, you would have to drink nearly 2,000 glasses of water.
2 – Distilled water will remove beneficial minerals from your body
Distilled water will not remove anything useful from your body. The minerals you need are safely stored inside the cells of your body; nothing is going to take them out of there.
Distilled water may, however, help remove minerals that have been rejected by your cells as surplus to requirements. That’s why it’s so useful in detoxes.
3 – Drinking distilled water is bad for your teeth
Distilled water is pure. It will not do you any harm. The tiny kernel of truth behind this rumour is that if your water has fluoride added, then distillation will remove it. Whether fluoride in water actually does any good for teeth is hotly disputed, but distilled water will not do your teeth any harm.
4 - Distilled water tastes boring
This rather odd myth seems to relate to the removal of minerals, leading to‘flat’ tasting water. As we have seen, the minerals in water are in such tiny amounts they will do little for your health and have even less effect on taste.
Some older distillers, without carbon filters, may have produced slightly odd tasting water, but that is no longer the case.
We’re also creatures of habit, and if you’re used to drinking tap water you will become accustomed to its taste. The purity of distilled water can be a shock.
5 – Distilled water leaves organic chemicals behind
Distilled water is boiled, and gases will be vented off in the distillation process. Carbon filters will deal with any organic chemicals that escape this process.
6 – Distillers are costly to run
American figures estimate the cost of one gallon of distilled water from a typical home machine at around 30 cents. That’s around 22 cents, European. Particularly if you’re accustomed to shelling out for bottled water, you’ll soon be saving money while enjoying the purity and taste of water as nature intended it to be.