|
|
TASTE & HEALTH
“It is more important to have an adequate intake of water than it is to have enough calories. Water for drinking should be free of unpleasant odors and flavors in order to make sure the individual will ingest enough to meet his/her requirements.”
|
|
- Dr. Olaf Mickelson, former president of the American Institute of Nutrition
|
|
Why is pure water healthier to drink?
We are all affected by toxic minerals and chemicals found in the air and in our food on a daily basis. Water is the only way the body has to flush out these toxins. The purer the water is to start with, the higher its capacity to collect and cleanse these compounds from the body.¹
Why is it especially important for children to consume pure water?
A child’s immune system and detoxification system are still developing throughout early childhood and teen years. Exposure to even very low levels of toxic chemicals or lead in drinking water at a young age can lead to increased risks of degenerative diseases and learning disorders in later years. Since many of the crucial defense systems that help protect adults from disease and environmental pollutants are not fully developed in children, they are much more sensitive to contaminants. A child consumes 3 times as much water per pound of body weight than an adult does, so they get a much bigger dose of the contaminants in our water. Their developing bodies are simply much more sensitive.²
Currently, the health standards that determine how much and what levels of contaminants we are permitted to consume in our drinking water are all based on the potential effects on adults.
How can water with high TDS be undesirable or harmful?
It may taste bitter, salty, or metallic and may have unpleasant odors
High TDS water is less thirst quenching.
High TDS interferes with the taste of foods and beverages, and makes them less desirable to consume.
Some of the individual mineral salts that make up TDS pose a variety of health hazards. The most problematic are Nitrates, Sodium, Sulfates, Barium, Cadmium, Copper, and Fluoride.
If a person drinks 2 pints of water a day, this will total 4500 gallons of water passing through his body over a 70 year span. If the water is not totally pure, this 4500 gallons will include 200-300 pounds of rock that the body cannot utilize. Most will be eliminated through excretory channels. But some of this will stay in the body, causing stiffness in the joints, hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, gall stones and blockages of arteries, microscopic capillaries and other passages in which liquids flow through our entire body.³
Don’t you need the minerals in your drinking water?
Inorganic Minerals
It is believed that mineral waters help furnish elements for body metabolism. However, there is scientific proof to suggest that most of these minerals are in an inorganic (dead) form. While they may enter the circulation, they cannot be used in the physiological process of building the human cell.
With this in mind, we can see that mineral water may give "dead" or "inorganic" minerals to the body which cannot be properly assimilated.
These inorganic minerals only interfere with the delicate and complex biology of the body. 4
The body's need for minerals is largely met through foods, NOT DRINKING WATER." -The American Medical Journal
Fact: The organic minerals in tap water represent only 1% of the total mineral content of the water.
One glass of orange juice contains more beneficial minerals than thirty gallons of untreated tap water.
Organic, or Bioavailable Minerals
Only after they have passed through the roots of plants do these inorganic minerals become organic (through photosynthesis) and capable of being assimilated into our tissues as ORGANIC Minerals.
Pure water removes the inorganic mineral deposits in your body. Organic minerals are fully absorbed and remain in your tissues.
According to many nutritionists minerals are much easier to assimilate when they come from foods. Can you imagine going out to your garden for a cup of dirt to eat rather than a nice carrot; or drinking a whole bathtub of water for LESS calcium than that in an 8 ounce glass of milk?
SOURCES:
1. Waterwarning.com (Charles Strand)
2. Ibid
3. “Water can undermine your health,” by Norm W. Walker
4. “Your water and Your Health,” by Dr. Allen E. Banik with Carlson Wade
|
|
