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Why Purified Water is Bad For You
By ZOLTAN P. RONA MD. MSc
During nearly 19 years of
clinical practice I have had the opportunity to observe the health effects
of drinking different types of water. Most of you would agree that
drinking unfiltered tap water could be hazardous to your health because of
things like parasites, chlorine, fluoride and dioxins. Many health
fanatics, however, are often surprised to hear me say that drinking
purified water on a regular, daily basis is potentially dangerous. Paavo
Airola wrote about the dangers of purified water in the 1970’s when it
first became a fad with the health food crowd.
Distillation is the process
in which water is boiled, evaporated and the vapour condensed. Purified or
reverse osmosis water is free of dissolved minerals and, because of this,
has the special property of being able to actively absorb toxic substances
from the body and eliminate them. Studies validate the benefits of
drinking purified water when one is seeking to cleanse or detoxify the
system for short periods of time (a few weeks at time). Fasting using
purified water can be dangerous because of the rapid loss of electrolytes
(sodium, potassium, chloride) and trace minerals like magnesium,
deficiencies of which can cause heart beat irregularities and high blood
pressure.
Cooking foods in purified
water pulls the minerals out of them and lowers that nutrient value.
Purified water is an active
absorber and when it comes into contact with air, it absorbs carbon
dioxide, making # acidic. The more purified water a person drinks, the
higher the body acidity becomes. According to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, “Purified” water, being essentially mineral free, is
very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is
in contact notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed,
making water acidic and even more aggressive. Many metals are dissolved by
purified water.
The most toxic commercial
beverages that people consume (i.e. cola beverages and other soft drinks)
are made from purified water. Studies have consistently shown that heavy
consumers of soft drinks (with or without sugar) spill huge amounts of
calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals into urine. The more mineral
loss, the greater the risk for osteoporosis, osteoarthritis,
hypothyroidism, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and a long
list of degenerative diseases generally associated with premature ageing.
A growing number of health
care practitioners and scientist from around the world have been
advocating the theory that ageing and disease is the direct result of the
accumulation of acid waste products in the body. There is a great deal of
scientific documentation that supports such a theory. A poor diet may be
partially to blame for the waste accumulation from meats, sugar, white
flour products, fried foods, soft drinks, processed foods, alcohol, dairy
products and other junk foods cause the body to become more acidic.
Stress, whether mental or physical can lead to acid deposits in the body.
There is a correlation
between the consumption of soft water (purified water is extremely soft)
and the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Cells, tissues and organs do
not like to be dipped in acid and will do anything to buffer this acidity
including the removal of minerals form the skeleton and the manufacture of
bicarbonate in the blood.
The longer one drinks
distilled water, the more likely the development of mineral deficiencies
and an acid state. I have done well over 3000 mineral evaluations using a
combination of blood, urine and hair tests in my practice. Almost without
exception, people who consume distilled water exclusively, eventually
develop multiple mineral deficiencies. Those who supplement their
distilled water intake with trace minerals as their non – distilled water
drinking counterparts even several years of mineral supplementation.
The ideal water for the
human body should be slightly alkaline and this requires the presence of
minerals like calcium and magnesium. Distilled water tends to be acidic
and can only be recommended as a way of drawing poisons out of the body.
Once this is accomplished, the continued drinking of distilled water is a
bad idea.
Water filtered through a
solid charcoal filter is slightly alkaline. Ozonation of this charcoal
filtered water is ideal for daily drinking. Longevity is associated with
the regular consumption of hard water (high in minerals). Disease and
early death is more likely to seen with the long term drinking of
distilled water. Avoid it except in special circumstances.
REFERENCE
Dr. Zoltan P. Rona is a
graduate of McGill University Medical School (1997) and has Master’s
Degree in Biochemistry and Clinical Nutrition from the University of
Bridgeport in Connecticut (1985). He is the author of the Canadian best –
sellers, “ The Joy of Health” and “Return to the Joy of Health”. He is a
past president of the Canadian Holistic Medical Association ands a
consultant on nutritional medicine to the Motherisk Program of the
Department of Pharmacology of the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.
Born 22/2/51 in Budapest,
Hungary, raised in Montreal, Quebec. Canadian citizen.
WARNING
Using distilled;
purified or reverse osmosis can be dangerous and
should always be supplemented with minerals, as they are FREE of dissolved
minerals = taken out.
Untested water puts an extra
burden on the body’s alkaline reserves and interferes with proper alkaline
balance.
Illness is ore likely to be
seen with the long term drinking of water that is free of dissolved
minerals. Avoid it except in special circumstances that are being
monitored by a health practitioner.
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