Why drink distilled water?

The human body is made up of over 50% water, so it is important to choose the type of water you drink carefully. Tap water and bottled water both contain chemicals that are out of your control; the only way to really know what you’re putting into your body is to use a water distiller. Water distillers provide water purity superior to any other method, beating bottled water and reverse osmosis methods, along with a host of additional benefits.

Protect your family from chemicals

By using a water distiller, you will be avoiding potentially harmful chemicals in tap water such as pesticides, nitrates, fertaliser and contamination from your copper or lead pipes.

Protect your family’s teeth

This method will also remove the fluoride from your water, which is now found in 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. By distilling your water you can protect your children’s teeth.

Cheaper and more convenient than bottled water

It is commonly thought that water distillers are expensive and use up a lot of electricity. However, a typical distiller costs approximately 84p for four litres of water, equating to 21p per litre, much cheaper than bottled water brands!

Improves bodily functions

Medical professionals say that tap water contributes to arteries hardening and blood vessels calcifying, which can lead to great damage within the body as your brain is made up of many small and delicate arteries, veins and capillaries. Distilled water benefits your body as distilled water takes out the impurities of the water, so your body receives pure water, rather than water it has to filter itself.

Prevents kidney stones

In addition to calcification in the brain, tap water can also contribute to hard masses of urine crystals, calcium, phosphate and oxalates forming in the kidneys. Tap water and bottled water can contribute to kidney stones forming when they contain too much calcium. Distilled water is free of these minerals, so the risk is avoided.

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Some people exclaim, “what about the minerals!?” when confronted with the prospect of mineral-free water. In a previous article I have explained why the whole mineral argument is not relevant because water is a poor source of minerals. But let’s start with a recap and then talk about some replacement options.

We get minerals from food. Not only is water a poor source of minerals - even mineral water - it often contains minerals we are over-supplied with also, mineral content in tap water varies.

I live in Wiltshire, the water comes from an aquifer in limestone bedrock. As a consequence it has a relatively high mineral content, mainly calcium carbonate. But people living in granite or slate areas of the UK will actually have very low mineral content in their water.

I work in a hospital and I spend a lot of time looking at blood test results for patients. The only people who are ever mineral deficient are either old people or people with an illness. I cannot recall the last time I observed mineral deficiencies in a person under 70 without any major illness. Almost certainly, if you are the kind of person who is worrying about mineral deficiencies you will not have any mineral deficiency.

Even a high quality mineral water is a poor source of minerals

Let’s look at the mineral analysis of a typical mineral water. I have selected Evian because it is a well-known mineral water and is typical of a quality mineral water. Something like Badoit has a much higher mineral content and you can taste it, but few people drink it because it has such a strong taste.

 

Mineral	Quantity in 1L of Evian	Daily Requirement	Daily Volume of Evian Needed
Calcium	76mg/L	700mg	9 litres
Potassium	1.1mg/L	3500mg	3182 litres
Magnesium	25mg/L	270mg	11 litres
Sodium	6.8mg/L	6g	882 litres

 

Let’s take each of these in turn.

Calcium 

Essential for the normal functioning of muscles in the body and we all get told as kids to drink milk to supply calcium for our bones. I challenge anyone to drink 9 litres of Evian every day. If you achieve this not only will you spend a lot of time urinating you will also end up diluting your electrolytes and probably end up in hospital where an Endocrinology Consultant will diagnose you with hyponatraemia (low sodium) secondary to hypervolaemia (high volume). You will then be sent home after being told to drink less in future.

Most people are pretty well supplied with calcium but if you feel the need to boost calcium try any or all of the following:

• milk,
• cheese and other dairy foods;
• green leafy vegetables – such as cabbage, curly kale, okra and spinach;
• soya drinks with added calcium;
• bread and anything made with fortified flour;
• fish where you eat the bones – such as sardines and pilchards.

All of these sources are richer and more effective than mineral water.

Potassium

Useful for blood pressure control, nerve conduction and muscle contraction. Also, this is a mineral that some people have a deficiency in. However if you wanted to use mineral water to supply you with potassium you would need to drink three cubic metres every day. An impossible task.

So drinking mineral water is never going to help with potassium, but here are some alternative sources: 

• bananas, oranges, melon, apricots, grapefruit (some dried fruits, such as prunes, raisins, and dates, are also high in potassium),
• spinach, broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, peas, cucumber, courgette,
• leafy greens,
• also juice from oranges, tomatoes, prune, apricot and grapefruit,
• milk and yoghurt,
• tuna, halibut, cod, trout,
• kidney beans, lentils, soya beans, salt substitutes,
• molasses,
• nuts,
• meat and poultry,
• brown & wild rice,
• whole wheat.

Magnesium 

Is another important electrolyte with a role in energy production and bone health. Most people are still going to end up in hospital if they attempt to drink eleven litres of mineral water each day but spinach, nuts and wholemeal bread are good sources.

 

Sodium 

Is used by the body to maintain fluid balance so it is an important mineral. The most common source is salt (sodium chloride). However most people are oversupplied with sodium and it is a leading cause of high blood pressure (hypertension) because high sodium hardens arteries.

The average individual in the UK consumes over 10 grams of sodium (in the form of sodium chloride or salt). It may be necessary to up salt intake if you are exercising and sweating a lot but this is a mineral which few people need to supplement. Generally most people need to reduce sodium intake.

The current government guideline is six grams a day. Biologically we only need one gram a day but the guideline is six grams simply because they don’t think the UK population is capable of achieving one gram a day.

 

Eat healthy or try specific supplements

In summary: distilled water is a poor source of minerals, but we get minerals from food, so to get minerals simply eat healthy food. If you do want to add minerals back into distilled water then a product like Formula 56 which is a low sodium mineral supplement for distilled water can be used. If you are exercising and therefore sweating a lot then Formula 78 is a supplement you can use to create isotonic drinks from distilled water.

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Britain has some of the cleanest tap water in Europe, but that does not mean that many of the additives and impurities present in tap water may well be doing you long-term damage.

So what is wrong with regular tap water?

There are up to 79 polluting chemicals that can get into the drinking water system. A lot of these are obviously very rare, so let's focus on the five most common contaminants in tap water. These are found in almost all UK water.

1. Hardness

Hardness is caused by the presence of metal ions in the water. These can be ions like Calcium, Magnesium and Sodium. Now, your body does need some of these but typically the ones present in most hard water (Calcium and Sodium) are those which most UK people already have too much of.

As a result they can contribute to kidney stones and a hardening of the arteries. Hard water is also associated with skin problems such as irritation, wrinkles, rosacea, acne and enlarged pores. I myself was woken one night about ten years ago with the most incredible pain in my back. I was concerned it might be an appendix burst. I made my way to the local hospital where I was informed it was not quite a kidney stone but a “kidney sludge”. The doctor said it was “as common as muck in a hard water area like this”.

This image illustrates the residue left after distilling normal tap water from rural Wiltshire. It is worse in urban areas.

2. Fluoride

I could write volumes about Fluoride. Fluoride. was originally added to drinking water as a health promotion measure designed to promote healthy teeth. There is very little evidence that adding Fluoride. to drinking water has any benefit on the rates of tooth decay and indeed there is a condition called Fluorosis which is caused by too much Fluoride. But more than that I object to being medicated by water companies. In principle it is wrong.

In addition Fluoride. is implicated and associated with: lowering IQ, neuro-toxic effects on the nervous system, it affects thyroid function, is associated with arthritis, potentially damages bone and is even associated with bone cancer, it is linked to reproductive problems and there is evidence it promotes the body's uptake of lead in children. What is more, most of the Fluoride. used is not even pharmaceutical grade, it is basically agricultural fertiliser.

If you live in an area with Fluoridated water you need to remove it from your drinking water.

3. Chlorine and Chloramines

Chlorine and Chloramines are used to kill off bugs in drinking water. And both Chemicals (which are similar) do this very well. Chlorine was used in the First World War as a weapon. Water companies argue that you simply fill a glass of water, leave it to stand for half an hour and all the Chlorine just turns to gas and disappears. This is right on one level but wrong on another. Any pure Chlorine will evaporate off but 1. most people do not let their water stand for half an hour before drinking it and 2. it is the products of Chlorine reacting with other chemicals in the water that cause long-term health problems. Chlorine is incredibly reactive, it reacts with just about anything it is combined with. The chemicals produced, some of which are called Chloramines are associated with cancer and genetic damage.

As you age your DNA slowly gets damaged. At one level it is unavoidable, even sunlight will damage your DNA but the more damage you sustain the faster you age and the greater the likelihood of diseases like cancer.

Chlorine and its associated compounds are chemicals which you do not want to ingest in a sustained way over a long period of time.

4. Nitrates

Most arable farms use fertilisers like Ammonium Nitrate. As rain falls, Nitrate fertilisers get washed off the land and into rivers. Nitrates then make their way into drinking water. When Nitrates from this source are ingested they turn into Nitrites in the body and these affect the blood's ability to transport oxygen. In children under six this can lead to what is termed Blue Baby Syndrome which can lead to death. One of the problems with Nitrate pollution is that it is difficult to remove Nitrates in any large industrial scale. Processed like reverse osmosis or distillation are really the only options.

The scandal of water testing

One of my colleagues from university went to work as an environmental consultant and one day she was working for a British nuclear energy company on a well-known nuclear power station. She was working alongside the company's own environmental officer. Her Geiger counter showed a significant radiation reading. His did not. He was a well-meaning scientist who had apparently had his Geiger counter “recently tested” but it simply did not work. No one was to blame but obviously by not working the company was able to claim there was no nuclear contamination and everyone's consciences were clear.

Additionally, another colleague was working for a very well-know food producer at the height of the genetic modification debate. They had recently imported some “GM-free” soya from America for use in their food products. One executive decided to have it tested and discovered that it did contain GM. He duly received a disciplinary because the company wanted to label their product as GM-free. Ignorance is bliss, or at the corporate level, ignorance = freedom to do whatever you want.

Water testing is the same. It is actually very difficult to find a water-testing lab in the UK that is not owned by a water company. Can you really trust the results? Also, the UK water system servicing 21 million households is vast, no one can say that one small sample taken in one location is going to be representative.

And water does vary across the country. Some remote rural areas do have genuinely good water but does any Londoner really think his/her tap water is acceptable?

So what are the benefits of drinking pure distilled water?

Distilled water is pure water. Rainwater is distilled water that has evaporated off the oceans, and condensed in the clouds to form rain. This process is the process of distillation.

Scientific research reminds us time and again that the healthiest lifestyle in terms of diet and exercise is that which most closely resembles what we as human beings evolved to eat and drink. We did not evolve to drink chlorinated water loaded with hardness and nitrates. We did not evolve to eat takeaway burgers, chips, processed foods, sugary drinks and sit around all day. We did evolve to consume pure water (collected from rain), fruit, vegetables and animal protein. And by and large this is the healthiest diet you can consume because it is what you are evolved to live on.

When you start to consume lots of additional chemicals, even at low doses you start to age your body. Your body ages when your DNA ages. Chemicals like nitrates and the products of chlorine damage your DNA and age your body. Long-term they lead to diseases like cancers which are the product of defective DNA.

So the first benefit of drinking pure water is that you are not prematurely ageing your body. That does not mean you stop ageing. It just means that you cut out chemicals from your body which might otherwise be contributing to the rate at which you age.

Recently I was talking to a man called Wayne Helmore. In April 2013 he was diagnosed with Metastatic Carcinoma which is basically cancer in both lungs, the right adrenal gland, T8 vertebra, spleen and pancreas. He was given six months to live. He went about making a number of dramatic lifestyle changes, one of which included drinking distilled water. His March 2014 scan showed showed no new cancer and a reduction of over 90% in all existing cancer (since April 2013 diagnosis). Plus cancer in his left lung, adrenal gland and spleen had completely gone. He is still alive today in 2016. (Sadly Wayne passed away a couple of years ago - his lifestyle changes extended his life but his cancer came back eventually.)

Anecdotally people who regularly drink pure water also report that their skin and hair looks healthier. This is difficult to test scientifically but it is what people say.

The great bottled water rip-off

People sometimes ask me about bottled water. Is it better than tap water? Honestly, I'd say, “fractionally”.

But there are certain problems.

1. All bottled water is, is water that someone has put into a bottle. Some tap water is actually better quality. It is incredibly expensive, more expensive than petrol in fact. And the bottle is actually worth more than the water inside. Distilled water works out at about 10p/litre. The cheapest bottled water is about 65p/litre.

2. It's been kept in plastic. And not always good plastic. It's been kept for a long period of time in a warehouse somewhere getting alternately hot and cold. That is not good for water.

3. All bottled water in plastic bottled contain microplastics which your body does not know how to dispose of.

3. Many of the “minerals” in water are actually those which people already consume too much of. For example sodium and calcium. Most of the UK population consume far too much salt (sodium) and most consume far too much Calcium (in hard water). So the idea that the minerals in mineral water are going to help you is completely false. Your body gets minerals from food not water.

There is only one way to get absolutely pure water

There are three main ways to “purify” water but only one of them actually works.

Traditional carbon filters are cheap but they do very little to purify your water. They only really remove the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The next step up is Reverse Osmosis, this is quite a sophisticated method but it is expensive and still does not actually give you pure water. The only method to give you absolutely pure water is to use a water distiller. For example, like those produced by Megahome, the world's leading manufacturer of domestic water distillers. Distillers like the Megahome Deluxe Distiller remove 99.9% of all contaminants in water. The Megahome also carries a carbon filter to remove Volatile Organic Compounds from the water that has passed through the distillation process. Distillers like this are remarkably easy to use because you simply fill it with water, press a single button and it automatically distils 4 litres of water over a 6 hour period.

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There is a lot of chatter on the Internet about a link between aluminium found in drinking water and Alzheimer’s disease. In this article, we will examine the evidence.

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia.

It affects 1 in 14 people over the age of 65. It starts with memory loss and ends with death. It is a terrifying and destructive illness that affects more than simply the sufferer as friends and family bear the brunt of the side effects. And there is concern that aluminium may be associated with Alzheimer’s.

Why people are worried Alzheimer’s is linked to drinking tap water?

There are lots of metals that are used by your body - for example, iron, potassium, zinc, copper, sodium and magnesium. At the moment, there is no evidence to suggest that aluminium causes Alzheimer’s but there is some evidence to suggest a link to the progression and development of the disease. In fact, no one knows exactly what causes Alzheimer’s.

Metals like aluminium and lead are not used by the body and in small amounts can be removed by the kidneys. However, when larger quantities are ingested, these can end up being deposited in the brain with potential neurological effects. Lead is well-known to affect the brain development of children, for example.

Alzheimer's is associated with the build-up of amyloid plaques and Tau proteins in the brain. Iron, zinc and copper are associated with the development of these plaques and proteins but zinc is also shown to reduce their toxic effects.

In the 1960s, Laboratory experiments on animals injected with high levels of aluminium did develop toxic tangles of tau proteins in their brains, leading to speculation that aluminium from cooking utensils or water sources could do the same.

These studies used extremely high levels of aluminium and no subsequent studies have confirmed that aluminium is associated with the development of Alzheimer’s.

When ingested, most aluminium is excreted by the kidneys although some can make its way into the brain. And one recent study did find that a high dose of aluminium in drinking water did contribute to the progression of the disease, however, multiple other studies have failed to find a link.

To date, drug trials of medications designed to remove metals from the brain have had some success at removing metals and improving patient brain function, however, they have all experienced significant adverse side effects.

In summary

Aluminium may well be associated with the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in existing sufferers, there is, as yet, no causal link. Research is ongoing, there are no treatments available to remove aluminium or other metals from the brain. Zinc may have a role in reducing the effects of Alzheimer’s. A water distiller removes all metals from drinking water.

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Everything you ever wanted to know about Hydration, Rehydration and Dehydration

Water is important for overall health. Rehydration means having enough water for your body to function normally. If you do not have enough water your kidneys get under stress and you can suffer an Acute Kidney Injury which can lead to permanent kidney damage and death.

Rehydration prevents dehydration, which occurs as a result of during breathing, sweating and excretion. Your body makes use of a combination of eating and drinking to remain sufficiently rehydrated.

Rehydration is important for optimal athletic performance. Water distillers eliminate contaminants in water and keep the body free of water-borne diseases. They are easy to use and the only way to create absolutely pure water. It is also a lot cheaper than bottled water.

When you feel thirsty, your body indicates that it needs rehydration. Dehydration makes your muscles fatigued. You may experience a lack of coordination and muscle cramps. Dehydration means your body may also lose its ability to cool itself during physical work or sports. Consequently, the body may undergo heat exhaustion or stress.

Studies have shown that drinking two glasses of water at the start of a meal can help people lose weight. Although this may simply be to do with the water filling the stomach rather than any digestive reason.

Pregnant women and new mothers are encouraged to stay rehydrated if they want to have healthy bodies and babies. Rehydration enables the body organs of the mother and child to function to an optimum level. Pregnant women also experience less constipation when they drink plenty of water.

Rehydration can assist with preventing or mitigating the effects of such health conditions as bladder infection, kidney stones, vomiting and diarrhea. Rehydration enables your body to recover the water lost through excessive bleeding as well.

A simple way to know whether your body needs rehydration is looking at the color of your urine. If your urine appears too concentrated, it may indicate dehydration.

Drink more water and stay healthy.

Each Summer, many of us like to head outside to play sports, catch a tan, swim or take a hike. When you’re having fun in the sun, keep an eye on your water intake, otherwise you face the threat of dehydration.

What is dehydration?

Dehydration is the effect on your body when it loses more fluid than it takes in. This can upset the balance of minerals (salts and sugars) within your body which can have serious repercussions. Those minerals are needed to keep your body functioning normally and healthily. About three quarters of your body is made up of water and it plays a big part in the proper functioning of your body by lubricating joints, aiding digestion, flushing out toxins and keeping your skin healthy. Plus your blood is mainly water - when you dehydrate your blood becomes stickier and it is harder for the heart to pump.

What causes dehydration?

Dehydration is much more of a threat in the summer, as hot temperatures cause us to sweat in order to lower our body temperature. However, this water needs replacing and if you do not drink at least as much water as you are losing, you will start to dehydrate. Higher levels of activity, such as playing sports or running in the summer also mean that our bodies are losing more water, but diet also plays a part too. You can also become dehydrated when you are ill or after drinking alcohol, which will make you feel a lot worse so be sure to refill those water supplies!

What are the symptoms of dehydration?

When you start to become dehydrated, your body is going to let you know about it. These symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe, depending on how much fluid your body has lost. Here are a few tell-tale signs that you may be suffering from dehydration:

·         Feeling very thirsty, with a dry mouth, lips or eyes

·         Dark coloured urine

·         Infrequent urinating, passing only a small amount each time

·         Tiredness and light-headedness

·         Headaches

·         A loss of strength and stamina

If you are experiencing these symptoms, you may well be suffering from dehydration. It is wise to tackle the problem sooner rather than later, before severe dehydration kicks in which can cause more serious problems such as fits, confusion and even death.

What to do if you become dehydrated this summer?

Fortunately there is a very easy solution to prevent and reverse the effects of dehydration; simply drink more fluids! Drink more water and possibly mix it with a fruit juice and a salty snack to replace the lost sugars and salts. You could also purchase oral rehydration solutions to mix with your drink, which are especially helpful when a large amount of fluids have been lost due to illness such as diarrhoea. It is suggested that adults drink around two litres of water on an average day. 

Without water, we die, quickly, dehydration is far worse than from starvation. Water is probably the single most important substance in our bodies. We are around ¾ water, it is in our blood and most of our cells, it transmits nutrients round the body and helps flush the bad stuff away.

We lose water through sweat and through our urine and it is important that we replace it.

Thirst is, in fact, a lagging indicator. It is like an emergency signal to our body that only kicks in when we have lost around 5% of our body’s water. If you feel you are already drinking plenty of fluids and are still regularly getting thirsty it may be worth investigating this with your doctor.

None of us are the same and different conditions call for different measures. Our size, and the amount of exercise we take all affect the amount of water we need to take on board.

How much should we drink? (Generally speaking)

The UK’s Department of Health has recommended – as a guide – a daily intake of 1-2 litres of fluid.

This fluid is supplemented with water contained in the food we eat. Like us, plants and animals are mostly made up of water and we usually get quite a lot of liquid from our foods.

Dehydration can make us unwell. Thirst is a danger sign, as are headaches, faintness, lethargy and dark urine (our urine should be a pale yellow).

The Department of Health guidelines come down unequivocally in favour of water as the best thirst quencher. Milk comes next, but can make us fat, and fruit juices are high in sugar and should be restricted to meal time drinking. You can read more about the healthiest drinks here.

Water has no calories, no sugar, no fat – in fact, if you use a water distiller it won’t add to your waistline, rot your teeth or make you feel jittery.

As a rule, we should all be drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day. More (often much more) if exercising or it's a hot day.

For a precise measure of hydration, you can take your weight in Kg x 30ml. This equation gives a precise figure based on your size and is what doctors use to calculate fluid needs.

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