Drinking "Pure" Water

[Solid Lifters]

OK, here's a question that should have been posted in the "Ask GTPlanet" area, but it's no longer there. So, here it goes.

What happens if you drink "pure" water? That is, water with no sodium, salts, minerals, nutrients, etc. Just pure H2O.

I say, it would kill you, if you only drank this and nothing else. I say, the pure water would act too much like a solvent, which water is, and would leach essential nutrients, such as sodium, from your body and would kill you over time. How long, I don't know? But, I do think it would kill you.

I think it would kill much like drinking only ocean water. Ocean water has too much sodium and that would leach all the water from your body, killing you from dehydration and too high sodium levels.

What do you think? Would drinking only 'pure' water kill you?

 

[Blitz187]

Well according to this source you cant die from water that is too pure because of reasons explained below... but you could die from drinking too much!

Source: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2339/can-water-be-too-pure-is-too-much-water-bad-for-you

Can water be too pure?
Define pure. If (a) an organism requires a nutrient normally found in water and (b) filtering eliminates said nutrient, then sure, water can be too pure. Humans aren't dependent on water for any essential constituent of their diets other than H2O itself. However, a household water-filtration system can eliminate a lot of the fluoride added by your local waterworks to fight tooth decay--in systems using distillation, as much as 99 percent. Some people claim extra-pure water will cause vital minerals to be leached out of the body. Nonsense: under normal circumstances, you get all the minerals you need from food. But see next item.

Is it possible to drink too much water?
Several comedians found it necessary to comment: Sure, you could drown! But the fact is, in extreme circumstances too much water can kill you, even if all you do is drink it. Kelly Barrett, a 43-year-old pediatric dentist from Littleton, Colorado, died of a condition known as hyponatremia after drinking too much water during the 1998 Chicago marathon. Hyponatremia, AKA water intoxication, occurs when the body's salt and water levels get dangerously out of balance, leading to swelling of the brain and leakage of fluid into the lungs. It can occur when athletes, hikers, etc., sweat heavily, losing both salt and water, but replace only water. Diagnostic signs: dizziness, disorientation, headaches, extreme fatigue, death. Prevention: salty snacks and sports drinks. So pass the taco chips and Gatorade, bubba, and let's get healthy.

 

[homeforsummer]

Interesting 👍 I'd wondered the same thing before, actually. I knew about the salt/water balance thing - they reckon that's a mistake people make when they've taken Ecstasy and the like, find themselves dehydrated, so tank down a load of water but don't take any salt to go with it.

 

[Solid Lifters]

OK, he adds "...you get all the minerals you need from food." But, what if there isn't food for several days? Normally, you'd be OK, since the human body can go several weeks without food. But, what if you drink only 'pure' water and consume nothing else for several days?

 

[Blitz187]

OK, he adds "...you get all the minerals you need from food." But, what if there isn't food for several days? Normally, you'd be OK, since the human body can go several weeks without food. But, what if you drink only 'pure' water and consume nothing else for several days?

Well, using my logic I would think that in a case like this only consuming "pure" water and no food. You would die in a matter of days... The second point in my previous link about drinking too much water can confirm that line of thought...

EDIT:

I found something more relevant to this subject

Source: http://www.purewatersystems.com/faq.php#leach

Q: Will pure BEV water leach minerals from my body?

A: This question reflects one of the common myths that are found in the water industry. It has no basis in fact or physiologic science. Pure water does perform a valuable function by helping the body eliminate wastes and unused minerals that have been excreted from cellular tissues, but it does not "leach" minerals out of the cells. This false claim was probably first made by companies wanting to boost sales of filters incapable of removing dissolved minerals.

One role of the kidneys is to maintain the balance of electrolytes in the blood. If the levels of calcium, magnesium, or potassium, for example, are dropping, the kidneys will reabsorb these from urine, not allowing them to be excreted. If someone were to be difficient in these minerals, a medical expert will look to diet, enzymatic activity, or kidney function.

Comment from the president & founder of Pure Water Systems...

One can find a number in interesting articles on the internet stating consumption of mineral free water (e.g. distilled water, de-ionized water) leads to mineral deficiencies, with one article going on to state “Early Death Comes from Drinking Distilled Water” (Zoltan P. Rona, MD).

This article is found on the web site of Dr. Joseph Mercola. Dr. Mercola's site offers a lot of valuable information, but also contains a great many inaccuracies and sensational comments. (Tufts University reviewed Dr. Mercola's site with respect to his newsletter, and scored it with a 15 out of 25 possible points. This amounts to a “Not Recommended” overall rating due to “Unacceptable Accuracy.&#8221

There are a number of other web sites that have re-published Dr. Rona's article, and the great majority use this article to promote their own products, usually alkaline water machines.

While I respect the education required to obtain a medical doctorate, Dr. Rona's article lacks any scientific credibility. One of the most important questions any scientist ever asks is “What else can explain that?” Applying even the smallest amount of scientific method when looking at Dr. Rona's conclusions begs us to look for further evidence, evidence that will either support or conflict with the findings.

If we assume Dr. Rona is correct, then we could simply look for any instances of large populations that drink mineral free water. One such community comes to mind: Vancouver, Canada—a city with well over a 2 million inhabitants, and a water supply containing the least amount of naturally occurring minerals I have ever measured. In fact, the amount of calcium and magnesium naturally occurring is less than 2 ppm. (This is lower mineral content than most typical reverse osmosis systems are capable of producing.)

If Dr. Rona is correct, we should expect to see the entire population of Vancouver suffering from mineral deficiencies and having a mortality rate significantly different from areas with very hard water (see the reference to Lubbock, TX in the previous answer). Unfortunately for Dr. Rona's assumptions, the population of Vancouver does not suffer, as a whole, from any increased mineral deficiency, associated conditions, or lowered mortality.

Dr. Rona goes on to state water passed through a solid charcoal filter is slightly alkaline, but this depends totally on the pH of the water entering the filter and the type of carbon used. He also states reverse osmosis water tends to be neutral, but RO water is usually slightly acidic since RO does not remove carbon dioxide, and even the smallest amount (4 ppm) of CO2 in extremely pure water can move the pH as low as 4.5. (In high purity water, this would be considered an extremely weak acid.)

Further, if hard, alkaline water is indeed superior to other waters, we should see increased longevity and improved overall health scores for any population that consumes this water. In fact, one would expect to find measurable differences in disease tendencies between the residents of Vancouver and any city with hard, alkaline drinking water, given the huge differences in mineral content. There is no evidence supporting such a correlation. (Keep in mind that Prof. Vincent's original research did find statistical evidence—but the evidence contradicts Dr. Rona's assumptions. Prof. Vincent's research suggested the populations with water supplies that were alkaline and oxidized had greater incidence of cancer, thrombosis, coronary heart disease, and viral infections.)

Dr. Rona is wrong to suggest drinking mineral free water is detrimental to your health.

— Robert M. Vineyard, President

 

[niky]

You can survive on nothing but water for a few days. The only big issue is possible electrolyte imbalance... but if you're dying of hunger, you're not going to be exercising hard enough to have that happen...

 

[TB]

OK, here's a question that should have been posted in the "Ask GTPlanet" area, but it's no longer there.

When you start a new thread, use a "Questions" prefix.

 

[FoolKiller]

What happens if you drink "pure" water? That is, water with no sodium, salts, minerals, nutrients, etc. Just pure H2O.

I say, it would kill you, if you only drank this and nothing else. I say, the pure water would act too much like a solvent, which water is, and would leach essential nutrients, such as sodium, from your body and would kill you over time. How long, I don't know? But, I do think it would kill you.

Well, I have drank distilled water, which is probably as close as you can get without lab created water. I use distilled water for my C-Pap machine, and during a boil water advisory once I drank a glass of it. No harm done, no funny feelings. Just completely and totally tasteless moisture in my mouth.

I imagine it would take a very large amount of drinking just this to create a problem like the imbalance water intoxication can cause.

Part of me wonders though, does it leach minerals only to be absorbed into your body and filtered in the kidneys, giving you the minerals back?

 

[Blitz187]

Part of me wonders though, does it leach minerals only to be absorbed into your body and filtered in the kidneys, giving you the minerals back?

You do raise quite a good point there.... something to think about... 👍

 

[Der Alta]

One of the most aggravating questions in my life.

I drink nearly two gallons of water daily. Yes, two gallons. Up until this past week, it was R.O. water. Water purified by Reverse Osmosis. Hyperfilterd water. I also eat 6 meals a day totalling 2600 calories a day of very clean food. very low sodium, low salt, high in nutrients. Chicken, Brown rice, oatmeal, spinach, sweet potatos and regular potatos. I also workout very hard.

In the last week, I have switched over to Distilled water. With the amount of food that I eat, I need to get it into my body as quickly as possible. The more water I drink, through out the day helps carry all the nutrients in the food to my muscles and organs. Thats the most important function of water. It irrigates my body and gets an overabundance of nutirents to my body.

Tap water contains excess additives. Some placed in there by man, others by nature. None that I don't get from my food and vitamins already.

Distilled water is solely Hydrogen and Oxygen. It does not contain anything other than that.

Think about the "Minerals" that are "leached" from your system. The path that water follows through your body starts with your stomach and intestines. It picks p all the nutrients in your stomach and intestines and carries it to your organs and muscles. Dropping off the nutrients, it picks up any toxins and impurities and heads for the exits (Kidneys, skin, lungs, lower intestines).

Provided that you are suppying your body with proper nutrients in your food and supplemental vitamins/minerals, you don't need the "extras" in the water. In fact, the more "extras" in your water, the less nutrients it can carry.

Drinking Distilled water is not bad for you, if you have a good healthy diet. How many of you have a good healthy diet?

 

[FoolKiller]

How many of you have a good healthy diet?

I have a good diet. As in it tastes good.

 

[Der Alta]

I have a good diet. As in it tastes good.

nice!

 

[homeforsummer]

Drinking Distilled water is not bad for you, if you have a good healthy diet. How many of you have a good healthy diet?

I have a healthy diet but I'm not even one tenth as fit as you are. I could probably drink distilled water without any ill effects but I also have no good reason to, unlike yourself.

 

[kikie]

if you have a good healthy diet. How many of you have a good healthy diet?

I have, really!

The only thing I eat/drink is organic food/beverages. A lot of herbal teas, vegetable juices. I also take probiotica because I think that the antidepressant I still have to take , somewhat destroyes my intestinal flora. And I also have a reversed osmosis filter.

So, distilled water is good for your health, if you get enough minerals from food?

I know that distilled water can kill you if you only drink distilled water without eating/drinking things that containes minerals.

Drinking distilled water

Drinking distilled water is quite common. Many beverage manufacturers use distilled water to ensure a drink's purity and taste. Bottled distilled water is sold as well, and can usually be found in supermarkets. Water purification, such as distillation, is especially important in regions where water resources or tap water is not suitable for ingesting without boiling or chemical treatment.

Water filtration devices are common in many households. Most of these devices do not distill water, though there continues to be an increase in consumer-oriented water distillers and reverse osmosis machines being sold and used. Municipal water supplies often add or have trace impurities at levels which are regulated to be safe for consumption. Much of these additional impurities, such as volatile organic compounds, fluoride, and certain other chemical compounds are not removed through conventional filtration; however, distillation does eliminate some of these impurities.

Distilled water is also used as drinking water in arid seaside areas which do not have sufficient freshwater, by distilling seawater.[6]

It is quite common on ships, especially nuclear powered ships, which require a large supply of distilled water as coolant. The drinking water is produced in desalination plants, needed to boil water. Alternative technologies like reverse osmosis are becoming increasingly important in this regard due to their greatly reduced costs.

 

[Horde_R35]

Calcium too right?

 

[Der Alta]

I have, really!

The only thing I eat/drink is organic food/beverages. A lot of herbal teas, vegetable juices. I also take probiotica because I think that the antidepressant I still have to take , somewhat destroyes my intestinal flora. And I also have a reversed osmosis filter.

Congrats!

So, distilled water is good for your health, if you get enough minerals from food?

Its not good, its not bad. Its just water.

I know that distilled water can kill you if you only drink distilled water without eating/drinking things that containes minerals.

I love this quote. Its touted often by many websites, but its about as vague as vague gets. Much like "Drinking Diesel fuel won't kill you, if its in small amounts and not often."

Distilled water/RO water/spring water/tap water, are nothing more than a way to get the nutrients in your food into your body. The cleaner the transfer of nutrients, the more efficient and prodctive it is for your body.

Do I think that everyone should drink it? No, because some people forget to rbush their teeth, or take their vitamins, or eat at McDonalds too much. If you've got a good, clean, healthy diet and want to take it one step further, yes, Drink it up.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

I heard you can get high from water and that there are actual people that will inject it into their veins. What kind of water would get you higher? Distilled or tap?

 

[Solid Lifters]

When you start a new thread, use a "Questions" prefix.

Ahhhhhhhh, OK. 👍

Think about the "Minerals" that are "leached" from your system. The path that water follows through your body starts with your stomach and intestines. It picks p all the nutrients in your stomach and intestines and carries it to your organs and muscles. Dropping off the nutrients, it picks up any toxins and impurities and heads for the exits (Kidneys, skin, lungs, lower intestines).

Provided that you are suppying your body with proper nutrients in your food and supplemental vitamins/minerals, you don't need the "extras" in the water. In fact, the more "extras" in your water, the less nutrients it can carry.

OK, I understand that the pure water has no 'osmosis' powers to leach the water already in our bodies. However, I do understand it has a 'infusion/diffusion' role, like you just stated with, "It picks p all the nutrients in your stomach and intestines and carries it to your organs and muscles."

But, it sounds like it to me pure water would infuse all the nutrients and then eventually never diffuse it, unlike the role of regular water. Again, this is only if no other nutrients were being consumed into the body such as other liquids or solids. It has to have a 'reason' or opportunity to diffuse the nutrients, but when no other nutrients are being ingested, how could the pure water perform this function? After a few days, there are no nutrients, again not delivering any and the person soon dies.

Now the question about would the kidney deliver them back to body if needed raises a whole new set of question to me.

 

[Der Alta]

The Muscles and organs create the "reason". When you use your muscles, you burn up the fuel and create waste. Water carries the nutrients in, your muscles accept the fuel, and releases the toxins to be carried away to your kidneys.

To delve abit deeper, into this and help explain it, we should take a look at our blood. When I refer to "Water" transporting the nutrients to our muscles, its really blood doing the transporting. Human blood is made up of 4 things: red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma.

Plasma is the relatively clear liquid water (92+%), sugar, fat, protein and salt solution which carries the red cells, white cells, platelets, and some other chemicals. Normally, 55% of our blood's volume is made up of plasma. About 95% of it consists of water. As the heart pumps blood to cells throughout the body, plasma brings nourishment to them and removes the waste products of metabolism.

Take Bicep Curls for instance. You do a few sets of heavy curls, and get a "Pump" going. This is in fact, more blood being pumped into the muscle, than it is letting out. The purer the water, which is 50% of our blood (+/-), the more nutrients and less waste it is carrying to the muscle. Therefore, it can carry more nutrients in, and more waste out.

I'm really over simplifying the process as it can get really complicated fairly quickly.

Think of the water as more of a Dump Truck carrying firewood. The Fire wood is the nutrients, Your muscles are the furnace that burns the wood. If the dump truck shows up to the site dirty from the previous job, you can't put as much wood in the bed. If its sparkling clean, you can really pack the wood in there. Now... go a bit further with this analogy, you can consider the different types of wood as well.

 

[mafia_boy]

I love my minerals, so I don't care if it's in my water, and thanks to our government putting flouride in the water in Sydney, it helped our mouths.

Not to mention, the demineralised (distilled) water is in the washing detergent aisle of most local supermarkets here in Australia. So I say to myself, "Hmmm, do I want the spring water in the drinks aisle near the Coke and soft drinks or the demineralised water that's been next to the bleach, washing detergents and soap powder for months??"

 

[Public'sTwin]

I heard you can get high from water and that there are actual people that will inject it into their veins. What kind of water would get you higher? Distilled or tap?

Brackish.


Try it.

 

[Solid Lifters]

The Muscles and organs create the "reason". When you use your muscles, you burn up the fuel and create waste. Water carries the nutrients in, your muscles accept the fuel, and releases the toxins to be carried away to your kidneys.

To delve abit deeper, into this and help explain it, we should take a look at our blood. When I refer to "Water" transporting the nutrients to our muscles, its really blood doing the transporting. Human blood is made up of 4 things: red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma.

Plasma is the relatively clear liquid water (92+%), sugar, fat, protein and salt solution which carries the red cells, white cells, platelets, and some other chemicals. Normally, 55% of our blood's volume is made up of plasma. About 95% of it consists of water. As the heart pumps blood to cells throughout the body, plasma brings nourishment to them and removes the waste products of metabolism.

Take Bicep Curls for instance. You do a few sets of heavy curls, and get a "Pump" going. This is in fact, more blood being pumped into the muscle, than it is letting out. The purer the water, which is 50% of our blood (+/-), the more nutrients and less waste it is carrying to the muscle. Therefore, it can carry more nutrients in, and more waste out.

I'm really over simplifying the process as it can get really complicated fairly quickly.

Think of the water as more of a Dump Truck carrying firewood. The Fire wood is the nutrients, Your muscles are the furnace that burns the wood. If the dump truck shows up to the site dirty from the previous job, you can't put as much wood in the bed. If its sparkling clean, you can really pack the wood in there. Now... go a bit further with this analogy, you can consider the different types of wood as well.

Running with your analogy, and fixating on the part I highlighted, I ask you this:

When we haven't consumed any nutrients for several days, of any kind, except pure water which has none, where is the "wood pile?" Is it our stored fats? If so, which fat is used? Is it the 'storage fat' or the 'essential fat' that's used?

 

[Omnis]

I use distilled jugs for my water cooler in my kitchen. It can't kill you or anything... the only thing that could happen is a fluctuation in the osmotic pressure of your system. You'd have to drink a TON of water to die from it though. Like that lady who died trying to win a Wii from a radio station with their stupid whoever-drinks-most-wins game.

 

[Der Alta]

Running with your analogy, and fixating on the part I highlighted, I ask you this:

When we haven't consumed any nutrients for several days, of any kind, except pure water which has none, where is the "wood pile?" Is it our stored fats? If so, which fat is used? Is it the 'storage fat' or the 'essential fat' that's used?

If you haven't consumed any nutrients for a few days, that's called starvation. There is no wood pile. In terms of going a few days without food, the body begins to cannablize itself. First Muscle tissue, and then fat tissue will be used to power the body. Stored Fat is the last fat to go, as the body will use everything else first. The reason for that is the essential Fat is the easiest to convert and burn to power the body.

At this point of starvation, it doesn't matter how many nutrients are in the water, as its no where near enough to power the body for a few days.

If you don't have water, your blood cells shrink. Another functino of your blood is to carry oxygen. When the cells shrink they can't carry enough oxygen. which is why your body will shut down quicker when it doesn't have water, as opposed to food.

I heard you can get high from water and that there are actual people that will inject it into their veins. What kind of water would get you higher? Distilled or tap?

And you get a quote from the AUP:

» You will not post messages that are clearly outside of the stated topic of any Forums nor disrupt a forum by deliberately posting repeated irrelevant messages or copies of identical messages (also known as “flooding&#8221. Spam – wasteful comments and posts, as judged by our moderators, will be removed and the member warned or banned.

 

[Bram Turismo]

What a weird thread. You'd have to drink massive amounts of water to kill yourself. Just drink the bloody stuff all day long! Nothing unhealthy about water unless it's bacteria containing water. Otherwise water is the best thing you can give your body, simple as that.

 

[Max Powers]

And you get a quote from the AUP:

I didn't realize jokes were considered spam now.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

I didn't realize jokes were considered spam now.

Well atleast someone understood that I wasn't being serious.

 

[Keef]

OK, here's a question that should have been posted in the "Ask GTPlanet" area, but it's no longer there. So, here it goes.

What happens if you drink "pure" water? That is, water with no sodium, salts, minerals, nutrients, etc. Just pure H2O.

I say, it would kill you, if you only drank this and nothing else. I say, the pure water would act too much like a solvent, which water is, and would leach essential nutrients, such as sodium, from your body and would kill you over time. How long, I don't know? But, I do think it would kill you.

I think it would kill much like drinking only ocean water. Ocean water has too much sodium and that would leach all the water from your body, killing you from dehydration and too high sodium levels.

What do you think? Would drinking only 'pure' water kill you?

Distilled water is hydrogen and oxygen. Two things your body just happens to need to survive. Seems to me like you're not actually supposed to get other nutrients from water--that's what food is for--but then again distilled water doesn't occur naturally.

There's so many salts in seawater that you'd get severely dehydrated, go crazy, and die. You might just get sick after a glass, but it would kill you pretty quickly.

Tree'd by everyone.

 

[Nicksfix]

Is bottled water all it's cracked up to be ? 💡

Look at some of these prices ..... for a bottle of water ?

I like water,but not @ $10.00 + per bottle.

 

[wfooshee]

I've refused repeatedly to buy bottled water. My wife says, "It's better for you. It's cleaner. It's better for the environment." All the crap people hear "that my friends said."

Just a simple comparison to the price of bottled water vis-a-vis the price I pay to the city for clean, safe water from the tap. Consider that a bottle of Aquafina might be a buck and a half at a convenience store for 20 ounces, and it's tap water! Run through a filtration system, yes, but municipal water available at the plant where it's bottled.

So I can spend a dollar or more for a tad over an eighth of a gallon, or I can use my tap water at the rate of a penny for every hundred gallons or so. And I don't produce non-biodegradable garbage with tap water, either.

Bottled water instead of water from your kitchen faucet is just . . . . . stupid.

Nothing wrong with picking up a bottle at the store while travelling, but getting a case at the grocery store to put in the fridge . . . Even that is at least a hundred times the cost of tap water.