Distilled Water - Good or Bad?

Distilled water has been coming under attack by many health professionals as of late; at the same time these professionals are all agreeing that distilled water is the cleanest (meaning it has nothing in it). Many authors against distilled water give credit to distilled water and use-distilled water for detoxification. Which is it? Good for detoxification or bad for life?

Reading many articles of the negative effects of distilled water I felt inspired to ask common sense questions about the validity of the research presented in their arguments against distilled water.

What is distilled Water?

Distillation is nature's way of purifying water. When the sun heats water, this causes evaporation, an example of distillation on the grand scale. Vapor rises from the surface of water, leaving behind all its impurities. These water vapors rise and cool as air temperature in the upper atmosphere drops, and the vapors change from gas to liquid, becoming water, ice or snow. If our atmosphere were not polluted, each drop of rain or snow would be pure H2O.The production of distilled drinking water is man's attempt to copy nature's form of water purification. As with evaporation in nature, distillation actually removes water (in the form of steam vapor) from the heavier materials that are its impurities. Other types of water treatment attempt to remove contaminants from water, rather than removing water from the contaminants.

In the boiling chamber of the water distiller, tap water is heated to 212 degrees, killing bacteria and viruses. The heat produces steam, which rises, leaving behind inorganic minerals, chemicals and other contaminants in the boiling tank. As the water temperature rises, the light gases boil off and are discharged through the gaseous vent. A stainless steel condenser cools the steam, turning it into distilled water. This water passes from the condenser through a post carbon filter, and the purified distilled water is collected in a reservoir. (Michael Dye from god’s solvent to keep our bodies cleans inorganic minerals vs. organic minerals).

Problems with the research against distilled water.

In the health industry confusion or partial truths are so common that the overall health of the population or lack there of is the result. As I was reading articles against distilled water I began to laugh, not because the articles did not pose questions but because there were so many unanswered questions in the information presented. For example in his article Chet Day stated that mineral loss can cause hair to fall out, and on his advice some of his clients stopped drinking distilled water (Went to bottled water) and they noticed their hair improving. Now after reading this I asked myself why did he see those results? Quite simply when your body is being polluted with inorganic material distilled water is always going to help remove crap from the body, thus making the organs flush more requiring more minerals and fuel from food not water, and maybe slowing down the detox allowed the body to match mineral intake with the current the demand of the body, there by showing a minimal improvement in hair restoration, this might not mean health is restored because the end does not always justify the means. It is important to note that we are always in a state of detox because of the lack of sleep we get, the poor food we eat, and even our emotional states can cause us to be toxic and minerals to be lost. Think of detox as an exercise for your organs, and like any other exercise a detox process can require allot of minerals, vitamins and energy to complete, this is why some people experience harsh detox effects. If one’s diet is inadequate for the demand put on the body the body will or compensate by stealing nutrients from other parts of the system. So the fact that Chet Day noticed an improvement in his clients does not mean distilled water caused hair to fall out, or mineral loss, Further more for the sake of survival the body will try to use inorganic materials to offset the mineral deficiency all ready in the system, so drinking bottle water might be a toxic band aid do to the unknowns in the water itself.

Another question I have is, did he collect the information in controlled study relative hair loss? There are a lot of reasons other than minerals that cause hair loss. These include cholesterol, lack of sleep and known allergens. The article goes on to quote Dr. Gabriel Cousins, a living foods advocate who writes on page 509 of his book "Conscious Eating," "distilled water is dead, unstructured water so foreign to the body that one actually gets a temporary high white blood cell count in response to drinking it." This is true white cells would rise upon drinking distilled water, white cells would be elevated during any detox program. This is because distilled water pulls inorganic materials out of the hiding places of the body mainly fat, joints and tissues. What was not in the circulation is now in the circulation and an allergic reaction has taken place. This has nothing to do with the water being bad for you. Every living thing has oxygen to it so I can’t see distilled water being dead.

Chet also made reference to another paper written by Dr. Zoltan P. Rona. Dr. Rona writes “Distilled water has no dissolved minerals. Because of this, distilled water has the ability to pull toxic substances form our body and eliminate them (Death comes early from drinking distilled water). “ The last time I checked organic minerals are not toxic to the body so how could distilled water pull them out of the body? Dr. Rona continues by saying when distilled water combines with air it pulls carbon dioxide out of the air making it become acidic. All the ph testing I have performed on distilled water has always come out neutral. However while in the body the water in question detoxifies the blood by helping the organs get rid of inorganic material like carbon dioxide. Finally my favorite part of the article, is where Dr. Rona states that soft drinks are made with distilled water and that even without sugar they still cause Osteoarthritis, high blood pressure etc. because of their so called association with distilled water.

This is inaccurate information. It takes four hours to distill one gallon of water. Based on simple supply and demand a soft drink company could not make enough distilled water in a given day to meet their cola demands. Even if they could, distilled water in not cost effective because of the energy, time and carbon filters they would go through making distilled water. Furthermore, many types of cola are made with aspartame, phosphoric acid, and carbonation. Aspartame is a known neurotoxin that stores in the fatty tissues of the body, phosphoric acid prevents mineral absorption and carbonation binds oxygen and prevents it from circulating around the body making the body acidic. These three ingredients will lead to all the conditions mentioned in Dr. Rona’s article against distilled water.

Other problems with the studies on Distilled Water

How do people measure Mineral loss? Typically mineral loss is measured with hair analysis, urine tests and blood tests. The studies that were done on mineral loss used hair analysis predominately however all tests have inaccuracies. These studies showed a mineral loss in all the participants that were drinking distilled water and therefore the conclusion was distilled water is bad. However none of the writers explain the parameters of those tests and the influences on the results.

The Problem with Hair Analysis

Hair analysis is a benchmark tool that gives information on the mineral status of the body. The hair is a good indicator of how toxic a body is due to the fact that the hair is the second biggest store of minerals in the human body, the first being the skeleton. Hair analysis is interpretive to a point because it cannot indicate why the person lost minerals in the first place. Here are a few factors that affect this test that will be discussed later.

·       Poor sleep

·       Poor air quality

·       Exposure to cancer causing chemicals like chlorine (shower), fluoride. Propylene Glycol and other forms of petroleum based products.SLS (Sodium Laurel Sulphate- shampoo, soaps, bubble bath soap) and one of many more chemicals that are introduced into the environment (Samuel Epstein the Cancer Coalition, Philip Day author of Cancer, Why We are Still Dying to Know the Truth.)

·       Poor supplementation not enough food

·       Poor absorption of food – history of leaky gut, parasitism

·       Poor body mechanics

·       Poor emotional State

And of course genetics always plays a role on the demand for nutrients.

Blood Test discrepancies

It is a known fact that 99.95% of all nutrient chemical transactions happen within the cell and to date we do not have the technology to measure inside a cell. When a blood test is performed it is measuring the intercellular fluid (plasma) for nutrients, if a nutrient is in the plasma it is lost because it is not in the cell. Most blood tests are inaccurate, for the same reasons hair analysis is -too many variables.

Urine Analysis

All tests created by man have the same flaw – they are interpretive. Now urine analysis is more complicated, because to keep the urinary tract healthy a certain amount of minerals and vitamins must pass through it. The question is, how much is too much?

In short, the arguments against distilled water using information from the above mentioned tests could be misleading.

Mineral Loss and Distilled Water

Quite frankly the argument that distilled water causes mineral loss is absurd for two main reasons:

·       The arguments are not based on true biochemistry/physiology

·       Everything we do causes mineral loss it is called aging.

·        

The Physiology of Distilled Water

According to Doctor Michael Colgan, author of Optimum Sports Nutrition, as water comes into body it mixes with the contents of the stomach and moves to the bowel. As a nutrient is absorbed by the bowel wall it cannot be taken out especially with water.

Inorganic material has a positive charge on it and cannot be absorbed, however if the particles are small enough 50,000 – 250,000 units per inch they can pass through the intestinal wall and go right into the liver. The body will chemically try to change inorganic minerals/ materials into what it needs, By doing this it may displace multiple minerals in the process. Inorganic material will cover all receptor sites of the cells as wet band aid but not as well as the real organic counter part. Inorganic minerals/material will set up mineral deposits in the body creating gallstones, kidney stones and artery placking. It will also make it impossible to absorb organic minerals making the body acidic. Distilled water has a negative charge thus distilled water “detoxifies” the body very easily attracting any positive charge inorganic junk out of the body including the material that is compensating or covering the receptor sites of a cell are removed. The body appears to be mineral deficient and distilled water is blamed. The true systemic mineral deficiency was always there it is just being ‘expressed’ now. If a diet of does not contain enough organic minerals the body will become even more deficient. This deficiency is not due to distilled water it is due to a poor diet.

Everything We Do Causes Mineral Loss

As I mentioned earlier there are many reasons a person may lose minerals, I now want to take time to elaborate on a few of the more common ones that have direct effects on the argument against distilled water.

·       House hold chemicals, cosmetics, cleaners – since the common evaluation of mineral loss is hair analysis and most opponents of distillation use the data from this test to support their point, one has to point out that daily contact with cancer causing chemicals would affect this data. For example Sodium Laurel Sulfate is a chemical used in engine degreasers, car soaps, floor cleaners etc. This chemical is also found in most shampoos, soaps, toothpaste, bubble baths (even organic ones) and will cause a variety of problems from hair loss, cataracts in adults, malformation of children’s eyes and skin dryness. It strips the fat membranes or the cells making it impossible to absorb nutrients. (Phillip Day, author of Cancer, Why We are Still Dying to Know the Truth.)

·       Poor supplementation – There are vitamins that are not worth the bottle the are in. In fact some of them are made with shellac or titanium dioxide. Both are cancer causing and will tax the immune system making the body acidic and more importantly cause mineral loss.

·       Leaky Gut or Parasitism- According to Dr. David Rowland, after the age of 35 people lose 50% of the hydrochloride acid in their stomachs which will most likely lead to parasites and a bacteria overgrowth. This in turn will lead to mineral loss due to the weakening of the bowel wall (poor absorption of minerals) and acidity build up in the tissues associated with the waste products produced from the parasites themselves. the fact is we are feeding parasites with our minerals.

·       Biomechanical Compensation – My final example of why mineral loss is a poor argument against distilled water is nothing more than mechanical injuries. Having Cerebral Palsy I spend about 8-10 times more energy than an able bodied person to and I require a lot more food nutrients because of it. This is because not all my muscles are working 100% so the ones that are working are working harder. This type of compensation happens to everyone when the stub a toe or get injured. An illustration of this is an assembly line of five people all doing 50 pounds of work. If three quit the work does not disappear it gets divided up among the remaining people (or muscles) there by placing more energy demand on the system. Relative to an injured body this is probably the most common source of mineral loss. Since mineral loss is a fact of life as evident in the examples used in this paper it is impossible to blame distilled water for mineral loss.

In Summary

The debate on the cleanest water is over. Distilled has nothing extra in it so clearly it is the winner. The debate on the most functional water or safest water will continue well after I have left this planet.

·       Distilled water has no chemicals or other unwanted materials in it.

·       Distilled water is perfect for Detoxification

·       We are always in a state of detox based on the chemicals and stress we go through every day.

·       There are to many variables in blood tests, urine tests, and hair analysis to blame distilled water solely for the mineral loss that occur with in the body.

·       Distilled water ph is neutral - it has nothing in it.

·       Distilled water does not cause hair to fall out.

My Recommendation

Since everyone on this planet has some form of stress due to toxic chemicals in their food, water, air, household products and emotional/physical trauma we are always in a state of detox and require distilled water ONLY. We need to make sure that our organic minerals are adequate for the on going battle with stress. So eat at least 10 servings of fruits and vegetables (preferably organic). Take a reputable multivitamin (Juice Plus, Creative Nutrition Canada, Reliv.) to name a few good companies. Change your skincare/hair/household products to products that have no harmful ingredients (such as Sodium Laurel Sulphate).

Minerals to Fortify Water?

I do not think minerals in water work for two reasons:

·       Minerals can only be absorbed when protein/fat/carbohydrates are available, and the ratios between the minerals are appropriate.

·       If minerals were in our water what would be the need for vegetables and fruit in a diet?

Now if you want to add minerals to your water, use a trace mineral complex that has some form of amino acids in it. The other way is to drink an electrolyte drink mix (not Gatorade) such as Endurolyte from Genestra, and eating some form of essential fat or protein with the drink.

To keep minerals in your body you need to monitor your sleep pattern and have joy in your life. Go to bed by 10 pm by 6 or 7am. You should be fully rested, getting up without coffee or a need for a stimulant. A stimulant means you did not have a restful sleep and probably lost minerals.