Reverse Osmosis Water

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MisoSoup79
MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
in Food and Nutrition
So... I was watching this guy online, Sean Croxton from "Underground Wellness." He made a YouTube video about how much water we should be drinking. Nothing new there. However, he mentioned that distilled water should not be consumed on a regular basis because our bodies need the sodium and hard minerals normally found in water. However, I am wondering if anyone can provide any more data about this, and if someone knows if water that is purified by a Reverse Osmosis system (a home unit that comes with the household softener) takes away all the minerals and/or sodium in the water... Basically, I want to know if RO water is the same as or very similar to distilled water.

I LOVE :heart: LOVE :heart: LOVE my RO water and I would be very sad to find out that it is not doing my body good. It has no taste or odor at all, which was the primary reason I could NOT drink the local tap water (tasted and smelled like chlorine and sulfur). Should I be drinking my RO water all day, every day?

Here is the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcgXKpXNyvs&feature=related

His other videos are pretty good, and informative. This one seems to be leaving out some information.

Replies

  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
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    So... I was watching this guy online, Sean Croxton from "Underground Wellness." He made a YouTube video about how much water we should be drinking. Nothing new there. However, he mentioned that distilled water should not be consumed on a regular basis because our bodies need the sodium and hard minerals normally found in water. However, I am wondering if anyone can provide any more data about this, and if someone knows if water that is purified by a Reverse Osmosis system (a home unit that comes with the household softener) takes away all the minerals and/or sodium in the water... Basically, I want to know if RO water is the same as or very similar to distilled water.

    I LOVE :heart: LOVE :heart: LOVE my RO water and I would be very sad to find out that it is not doing my body good. It has no taste or odor at all, which was the primary reason I could NOT drink the local tap water (tasted and smelled like chlorine and sulfur). Should I be drinking my RO water all day, every day?

    Here is the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcgXKpXNyvs&feature=related

    His other videos are pretty good, and informative. This one seems to be leaving out some information.
  • bbogart
    bbogart Posts: 113
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    From everything I have heard or read, RO water is the best water purification method you can find. I don't know if it takes out NECESSARY minerals, but I know that it is the cleanest water. Keep us updated if you get more info.
  • MTGirl
    MTGirl Posts: 1,490 Member
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    I used to work in a water testing lab. R/O water is essentially the same as distilled water. Yes, it can lead to problems with an unbalance of minerals in your body, if that is the only water you drink. You can solve the problem by either drinking part of your water as regular water or by taking some supplements. There some available at health food stores (I think - they used to be anyway!) called Minimal & Essential - it has minerals that you may not get and will balance out what is lacking in the R/O or distilled water. :flowerforyou:
  • stylistchik
    stylistchik Posts: 1,436 Member
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    my mom asked our dentist about this as a kid when we got a water system in our house because she was worried our teeth wouldn't get the minerals. He said drinking filtered water was fine but we should use tap water for cooking when we could and also when we brushed our teeth.
  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
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    Thanks for the replies.

    I no longer have true "tap" water in my home, unless I run the garden hose (which then tastes like plastic... unless I take the time to unscrew it and then screw it back on when I'm done). The household water is softened, which adds salt and strips away a lot of the corrosive elements, like chlorine, calcium and lime as well as foreign objects. Our "tap" water here is very, very hard and unpleasant to smell or taste.

    Why is there so much conflicting information on this topic when I search the web? I guess I'm going to do some more research.
  • MTGirl
    MTGirl Posts: 1,490 Member
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    Your tap water sounds really unappealing! I would just take some supplements, in your shoes. Or buy a gallon or two of water from the grocery store a week. A gallon of water from WalMart or wherever should only be a buck and change and drinking a glass or two of that a day along with your regular water intake of your filtered water would be plenty to keep you in balance. If you get plenty of foods rich in potassium and calcium you probably don't have much to worry about. But to play it safe . . . some water that has minerals in it once in a while wouldn't hurt. :flowerforyou:

    Just a note - there is a lot of conflicting "research" on this. The only time we saw problems that could be truely pinned on the R/O water were in older people who didn't eat as much vitiman and mineral rich foods and had been drinking r/o water for a long time. Their system would get out of balance and there would be more minerals inside their cells than in the fluid surrounding the cells and the cells would start rupturing. So your probably not in any "serious" danger. Because I know you eat lots and lots of vitamin and mineral rich foods - being a member of MFP and all :wink:
  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
    Options
    Your tap water sounds really unappealing! I would just take some supplements, in your shoes. Or buy a gallon or two of water from the grocery store a week. A gallon of water from WalMart or wherever should only be a buck and change and drinking a glass or two of that a day along with your regular water intake of your filtered water would be plenty to keep you in balance. If you get plenty of foods rich in potassium and calcium you probably don't have much to worry about. But to play it safe . . . some water that has minerals in it once in a while wouldn't hurt. :flowerforyou:

    Just a note - there is a lot of conflicting "research" on this. The only time we saw problems that could be truely pinned on the R/O water were in older people who didn't eat as much vitiman and mineral rich foods and had been drinking r/o water for a long time. Their system would get out of balance and there would be more minerals inside their cells than in the fluid surrounding the cells and the cells would start rupturing. So your probably not in any "serious" danger. Because I know you eat lots and lots of vitamin and mineral rich foods - being a member of MFP and all :wink:

    You know it! :drinker: :flowerforyou:

    Thanks for the advice :flowerforyou:

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