Mineral Water Healthy Benefits – Myth Or Fact?

September 2, 2011 | Posted by David

Mineral Water Healthy Benefits Myth Or Fact?

Wess Palmer asked:

I am not sure why there is even a debate, but there is: is mineral water healthy for you, or is it OK to drink really “pure,” but demineralized water? We can all agree that tap water is far from beneficial, since it’s contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides and herbicides, even traces of tranquilizers and antibiotics. But just how far can we go in cleaning our water? Is the “purest” water — water with absolutely nothing in it– really healthy? I have a short answer for you: there is such a thing as “natural mineral water H2O.” Water without minerals simply does not exist in nature, it’s a human invention. And here is what that means for you.

Naturally occurring water contains traces of minerals like magnesium, calcium, and potassium. There is a reason for that: minerals are absolutely necessary to keep our bodies functioning right. Sodium maintains the fluid balance in our body; magnesium de-stresses us and relaxes our muscles; sulfate and silica keep our bones strong, and so on.

Keep in mind that it is much easier for our bodies to simply absorb these minerals from water than it is to extract them from the food we eat. So not only is mineral water healthy, it is absolutely essential for the proper functioning of our bodies. As a matter of fact, no lesser authority than the The World Health Organization concluded, based on a long-term study they did, that all drinking water should contain minerals in certain amounts.

So what happens if your water doesn’t contain minerals, because rather than using natural mineral water H2O, you use distilled water, or water purified by reverse osmosis? Nothing good, according to many scientists. Deficiencies can develop over the long run, where your tissues start “stealing” minerals from each other to keep working. Even worse, demineralized water is more acidic than alkaline. Acid substances force your body to extract minerals from your teeth and bones, to produce bicarbonate and neutralize the acid that way. This can mean weak teeth and bones. Additionally, this acidic state promotes the formation of free radicals– and free radicals contribute to aging and even diseases like cancer.

And don’t even think that just because we consider mineral water healthy, we can get its benefits from bottled water. Even city tap water must meet standards for certain chemicals– bottled water doesn’t have to. Let’s just say that, despite the billions of advertising dollars trying to convince us that this is not the case, bottled water is most often no better than city tap water.

So what’s the solution here? It’s easy: make sure you take the bad stuff out of your tap water and leave the good stuff in. Try multi-media block water filters, which, despite the fancy name, are actually really reasonably priced and very easy to install. Technology they use relies on mechanical filtration, absorption, as well as ion exchange to purify your water. Put simply, these filters are the best way I know to remove contaminants we don’t want and leave in the minerals we need..

If you can, get the whole house kind, so you can make sure that you get that mineral water healthy for you everywhere in your house. If you don’t want to go that far, install some point-of-use filters directly on your faucets or shower heads, or under the sink.

So there you have it: the question is not really is mineral water healthy, but rather what’s the best way to make sure you get all the natural mineral water H2O benefits from your tap water. So do some research and find out which filter answers your needs best. It can make all the difference for your and your family’s health.