Distilled Water

Shortly after my last HealtheMail, Steve wrote to me regarding the comments on distilled water in the book "Solving the Interstitial Cystitis Puzzle".
Here's what Steve had to say:

"Hi Ian
Happy New Year.

Just a comment that I disagree with A K Willis’ when she says, “Never drink plain distilled water because it draws minerals from your body.” There’s split opinion about this but I have yet to see any evidence or even a coherent explanation as to how this would happen.
A typical site talks about the dangers of commercial beverages and of too much acidity in the body and by association incriminates distilled water.
Dr Andrew Weil rebuffs these myths (but only by say-so, no evidence either). It’s another of those experts argue subjects (fluoridation, global warming or even alkaline water etc) that can make my head spin.

I, for one, am happy to keep guzzling distilled water at the rate of litres per day. At least it’s better than drinking coke, beer or chlorinated/fluoridated tap water. Enjoyed your account of the Xmas yacht trip. Sounds like you had an amazing time.

Cheers
Steve"

Steve, you are so right about the paucity of hard evidence in this field. David Suzuki points to another problem for the would be researcher when he calls the Internet the 'Super-Hype-Way". It's a sad fact that nothing (including my raves) can be trusted on the net, and the seeming abundance of information serves to confuse as much as it educates unless we possess a strong sense of discrimination.

I'll add a link here to two doctors who did write about distilled water in the negative, but I'll also give you my take on it.

(You may also not be aware that Dr Weil has given alkaline water systems a tongue lashing. Although his website says he answers all emails, six of my emails questioning the source of his opinion piece were never answered.)

I'm not qualified like Dr Weil or Dr Rons, but this makes sense to me:

If the fluid in which our cells are bathed (interstitial fluid) has certain 'preset' attributes, it makes sense to me to attempt to support the supply of that fluid with aspects similar to this fluid. So what are these characteristics?

1. Saline
2. Mineralised
3. Alkaline

My feeling is that if you drink 'pure' water like distilled water, the body must by necessity seek salts, minerals and alkaline minerals elsewhere, or it will lose its unique properties so essential for transport, nutrition and electrolytic energy exchange. Fundamentally, you can't add pure water to a concentrated solution without diluting it. That's basic schoolday science.

Sure, Steve obviously looks after himself, and unlike most 'who-mans', his body can probably get what he needs from good organic food or supplements.

For the rest of us, already permanently lacking a ready supply of essentials for this purpose, yet overloaded with acids, it's quite another picture.

So Steve, good for you, but I just can't for the life of me envision any time in our history when we drank 'pure' water. Lakes, springs, rivers.. they were all mineralised and often alkaline. I'd even suggest that we have never drank 'pure' water.

There's another little known fact about distilled and R.O. water. Whilst it seems logical that such water would be pH neutral, what actually happens is that as soon as this form of water is exposed to the air, it begins absorbing CO2, which in turn acidifies it. Your 'pure' water becomes a net negative energy source when compared to alkaline ionized water.

Hope that helps.

Ian