Does Our Water Need Minerals?

Does Our Water Need Mineral in It

IT is true that minerals are essential for the human body, no one can dispute this. They assist in controlling bone growth, regulating fluids, normalizing nerve and muscle functions, metabolic functions, growth of connective tissues, and much more.

Nevertheless, a misconception that we obtain minerals from drinking water is just that a misconception. First of all what is water in its purest form? It is H2O. Two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen. There are no minerals included in this molecular make-up of water. The main source of minerals is always from our food and diets, and supplements, not from drinking water. For a human to receive enough minerals from water (should the water be mineralized) you would need to drink a bathtub full everyday! Not likely and not feasible. I have never heard of any doctor prescribing a bathtub full of water if you are deficient in minerals….have you?

Which means you should probably watch out for water products that claim that they contain only the good (healthy minerals) in the water. Like some of the vitamin waters on the market today. There is no water purification method selective enough to leave you only the “good stuff.” “Most of the good the stuff” meaning besides calcium and magnesium, they also leave fluorides, arsenic, hard metals, radioactive materials, bacteria, viruses, chemicals, and pharmaceutical drugs. Let us not forget the fact that many natural minerals found in water are actually toxic and radioactive in nature and are known to cause cancer. In this era of pollution where water contains much more disease-causing contaminants than beneficial minerals, it makes sense that the water we drink should be pure and as clean as possible.

Eating healthy and including a wide variety of good vegetable and fruits (along with supplements) everyday is a good way to ensure that you have all the beneficial organic minerals necessary to stay healthy. Also, many reports come out that supplements don’t help that much and that most are excreted from the body. I would be wary of any such reports and pay close attention to whom did the report. Most drug and pharmaceutical companies aren’t into preventative health measures. You can’t sell drugs that “treat” a condition if diet prevents a condition from occurring in first place. Most causes of illness, sickness and disease are caused from poor diet (lack of certain vitamins and minerals) and a lack of access to clean water. Fifty percent of hospital beds filled world wide are due to some type of water borne illness.

According to many recent news and reports, most tap and well water in the U.S. is not that safe for drinking due to heavy industrial and environmental pollution. There is a great deal of toxins in the water we are drinking from municipal water systems, well, lakes, rivers, and unfortunately even glaciers, as air pollution is subsequently polluting the glaciers (which by the way contain 75% of the worlds 3% fresh water supplies). Only 3% of the water on earth is fresh water, the rest is salt water and unfit for consumption in its present state. There are methods available to clean that water but once again it becomes for all intents and purposes distilled water.

Increased human activities in manufacturing, agriculture, etc, are generating toxic bacteria, chemicals, and heavy metals in our natural water supplies. People get sick from this all the time after long term exposure. (Watch the Movie Erin Brocovich.) Unfortunately, that is the price we are paying for increased productivity levels. Even some brands of bottled water have been found to contain some level of contamination in addition to plastic chemicals leaching from the bottle.

Even if some of the minerals or vitamins from the water do make there way into your body most of them are too large to pass through your cells and be absorbed on a molecular level. So consider this. If you have the option of drinking water that is free of any chemicals, bacteria, viruses, metals, contaminants, and pollution that can adversely affect your overall health what is your choice going to be. Argue over whether a very tiny amount of vitamins and/or minerals may be reaching your cells that is contained in your drinking water? The other option take measures to completely eliminate all that filth and garbage from your drinking water, eat more fruits, vegetables; eat less processed foods, get a little exercise, and even take a good multi vitamin and live a healthier life. The fact is any way you cut it, that you can easily get the vitamins you need from food, and vitamins. But prolonged exposure to harmful chemicals and pollutants is going to take its toll on your health

A good water filtration system installed in your home is the only way to proactively monitor and ensure the quality and safety of your drinking water. Reverse osmosis water purification systems can remove 90-99% of all contaminants from city and well water to deliver healthy drinking water for you and your family. Another very good option but one less well known is an atmospheric water generator. Atmospheric water generators not only deliver 99.9% pure drinking water, but they are a sustainable source of water, meaning that if your water supply is some how disrupted, polluted, or contaminated you have the ability using the hydrologic cycle to harvest water from the air on a daily basis. A.W.G’s also server another useful purpose. In addition to generating pure water they dehumidify the air, and purify the air as the air is thoroughly cleaned, filtered and purified prior to making water.

Water contains only inorganic minerals which can actually be detrimental to human health. Our bodies have a hard time processing inorganic minerals and what we cannot absorb will be stored in our tissues and become toxic. The primary culprits are calcium salts and over time they can cause gallstones, kidney stones, bone & joint calcification, arthritis, and hardening and blocking our arteries.

For your reference, below are the most common minerals which can be found both organically in our food supply and inorganically in natural water sources.

Magnesium

Magnesium controls muscle contraction, protein metabolism, blood coagulation, and energy production, among other vital tasks. Failure to take in enough magnesium over time leads to high blood pressure and osteoporosis.

That said, not only does this mineral aid in body functions, it can also help prevent disease. Studies show that magnesium in drinking water protects against the deaths of patients with diabetes mellitus, and prevents the development of cerebrovascular disease. Magnesium also lowers the risk of fatality from acute myocardial infarction (heart disease), particularly in females. In high-risk patients, magnesium is recommended to protect against gastric cancer.

Calcium

Adults should consume 1000-1200 mg of calcium per day. The human body needs calcium to develop strong teeth and bones. With that, calcium can combat osteoporosis and other bone disorders. It also helps in regulating nerve transmission, blood coagulation, and muscle contraction.

Sodium

Sodium naturally occurs in water supplies in varying amounts due to underground salt deposits and sea water. It is also added to water supplies in some areas to make it "soft" (or through home water softeners), and used for water purification in the form of sodium hypochlorite.

Necessary for transporting nutrients throughout the body and balancing fluid levels, sodium is best known for its negative effects—namely raising blood pressure. So, those with high blood pressure may want to avoid water with high levels of sodium. However, in moderate amounts (under 3000 mg daily), sodium is perfectly safe.

Fluoride

There has been some controversy about fluoride being added to our water and whether it is detrimental to your overall health?

While not absolutely necessary, fluoride is proven to protect against cavities when consumed in moderate amounts (under 4 mg/L). Fluoride is partially responsible for the rapid decline in tooth decay seen in the United States since the mid-1980s.

Special care should be taken when fluoride is ingested by children—levels over 2 mg/L can damage developing adult teeth before they break through the gums.

Most water systems add fluoride to their water supplies, but not all; check with your local provider for additive levels in your area.

In August 1989 , the Almaden Times carried an article by the undersigned entitled "Bottled Drinking Water---What the Labels Mean". Dozens of individuals visited or called and thanked us for this timely information.

The article was technically accurate in all regards. But, it always amazes me when individuals such as Dr. Moller-Racke complain when such facts reach the public's reading tables and popular consumer products become subjected to closer scrutiny.

Mineral water is a billion dollar a year industry and when you dubunk the myth, it hits their pockets.

Many individuals(mostly the bottlers) extol the curative and nutritional values of mineral water. Others (mostly nutritionists and internal medicine specialists) caution against the drinking of such water.

The California Department of Consumer Affairs, when carefully surveying the problems with the state's drinking water systems a few years ago, went on record stating that

"Highly mineralized water is associated with the formation of (kidney) stones in the urinary system".

The noted medical pioneer Dr. Charles Mayo(of Mayo Clinic fame), has stated that

"Water hardness(excessive minerals) is the underlying cause of many, if not all, of the diseases resulting from poisons in the intestinal tract."

Certainly Dr. Mayo, who had no monetary interest in water products of any nature---but who had considerable experience with internal medicine--- would not point accusatory fingers at mineralized drinking water unless he had not personally seen the trauma, physiological disorders, suffering and illnesses which were caused by such materials.

On the other hand, scores of studies have underscored the importance of mineral-free drinking water which life-extension specialists have determined has been a major factor in longevity. The Hunza people in the remote Himalayas are a classic example of individuals living well beyond one hundred years of age using water so pure it resembles single-distilled water.

Those who have traveled to Europe and the Mediterranean encounter a near universal consumption of bottled and mineralized water. The drinking water quality in that area of the world rates very poorly and the use of readily available, heavily mineralized water(and wines) was fostered more by necessity than of habit or affluence.

The minerals in high-priced mineral waters (domestic or imported) are chemically no different than those which are found by elementary analysis of soil (dirt) samples

If you like the taste of the water---that's great. Just remember that you are drinking water mixed with copious amounts of dissolved dirt, stone and rocks---and that's it!

We need minerals to maintain a proper balance of electrolytes in our body fluids---but we need minerals which our body can easily metabolize. Would you rather obtain calcium from natural sources such as milk, butter, cheese and other dairy products--or try to obtain it from sucking on a piece of lime (same as calcium bicarbonate in water)?

other dairy products--or try to obtain it from sucking on a piece of lime (same as calcium bicarbonate in water)?

How about iron(rust in water versus natural iron in spinach)? And the list goes on and on.

Just imagine all the money your wife could save by not buying expensive fruits and vegetables for the family dining table. If we believed what the mineral water people tell us about the nutritional value of highly mineralized water, one could get terrific nutrition by pouring a few ounces of California adobe (dirt) and ground up rocks over their family's foods.

The human body can tell us which minerals, liquids, foods or other materials it will accept, and those which it recognizes as alien or foreign matter--and thus proceeds to reject.

The pathological character of inorganic minerals such as those found in highly mineralized water is easily demonstrable. Take your white corpuscle(blood cell) count about six hours after you've last had any food or water. It should be about 6,000 per milliliter.

Then, drink a normal glass of hard, mineral water. The white blood cell count will shoot up until it often more than doubles!

Inorganic chemistry doesn't lie.

This phenomena is called Leucocytosis and is our body's defense mechanism responding(via an increased white cell count) to an invading organism, germ, infection or foreign material. When pure water, fruits, vegetables and other naturally-grown materials are eaten, the white blood cell count stays level.

However, when materials such as processed or junk foods, and heavily mineralized drinking water are consumed, the body's defense mechanism springs into action, increasing the white blood cell count which prepares the body to do battle with and subsequently dispose of or dispense with the unwanted "invader"---in the present case, heavy doses of inorganic salts and minerals from drinking water.

Water is a cleansing agent, foods are nutrients. Dr. Moller-Racke's statement that "water is probably our most valuable nutrient" is therefore complete nonsense as any fourth grade life science textbook tells us. Water is our most valuable cleansing agent, flushing toxins and byproducts of metabolism from our body while furnishing pure hydrogen and oxygen to cells and tissue.

The cleansing attributes of pure water are impaired when it contains large doses of dissolved dirt and stone(mineral water)---and the body organs which must eliminate these unwanted materials are continually stressed and unnecessarily overworked.

Many individuals who experience a "rush" when they drink mineral water probably misinterpret this apparent therapeutic feeling as simply the body organs (skin, kidneys, lungs, intestines) working overtime to eliminate excess minerals which the body cannot use.

Health spas the world over rely on heavy use of mineral water(baths and drinks) to kick the patient's eliminative organs into high gear, thus providing the exhilarating feeling when the body organs and skin begin working hard at eliminating unwanted materials(excess minerals in this case).

If mineral water really had the nutrient value that mineral water advocates claim, they would have magically solved the world's massive hunger and nutrition problems. Let's just ship starving people mineral water or just cans and bags of dirt and ground up stone and rocks!

Even the American Medical Journal states that:

"The body's need for minerals is largely met through foods, not drinking water".

Is mineral water good for you? The evidence clearly shows that there is no real benefit---and there may be some adverse effects. Your body needs pure water---steamed distilled water is the purest you can buy or make at home.

Here is a list of some of the potentially harmful chemicals that is often found in tap water. Chemicals and pollutants found in tap water!