January 28, 2010 (895 words)
Is Distilled Water Dangerous To Your Body?
by Art Kunkin
In previous Living Longer columns I stated that the inorganic minerals found in the earth, and therefore in ordinary city tap water, are dangerous to health because they cannot be absorbed by the human body (i.e. are not biologically available). These inorganic minerals in tap water actually clog up the arteries and do much to prevent a long and healthy life, an important health fact that most people do not seem to know.
I also wrote in those columns that the best biologically-available water for the human body was that found in vegetables and fruit juices. This is because plants, when absorbing inorganic minerals from the earth, change the electronic nature of those minerals (i.e. ionize them) and thus transform them into organic minerals that were biologically available.
However, since the body needs water in amounts not available from vegetables and juices, I advised that people should also drink as much distilled water as needed while avoiding city tap water as much as possible.
However, several readers have objected to my recommendation of distilled water. They claim that distilled water itself leaches necessary minerals from the body. Although I felt that I had already answered this objection by making available a long statement from the well-known medical doctor Andrew Weil, (see my web site below where Living Longer columns are archived), I am reproducing here as an additional answer most of Chapter 14 from the authoritative health book, “Alkalize Or Die” by Dr. Theodore A. Baroody. Unfortunately, for reasons of space, I have had to edit Dr. Baroody’s observations.
I also want to report that I have learned it is useful to add four or five grains of uncooked rice into a gallon jug of the distilled water I recommend for drinking. This simple method restores to the distilled water the organic minerals needed by the human body. Following are Dr. Baroody’s observations with minor editing. (And I want to thank Elaine Wallace for being of great assistance with this column).
Water – Healing Elixir or Deadly Poison
From “Alkalize or Die”, Chapter 14, by Dr. Theodore A. Baroody
“In my opinion, distilled water is the only safe water at this time of our earth’s toxic exploitation. Yet, I encounter more resistance to the idea of drinking it than to almost any other recommendation for enhancing health.” (Emphasis added).
“These are the myths commonly believed:
1. Distilled water leaches valuable minerals out of your body
2. It leaches minerals out of your brain and softens it
3. It deprives you of important minerals that you need from spring water.
“However, I can not find even one reputable source who speaks of distilled water leaching valuable minerals from the body.
“How do you think any researcher would be able to differentiate if chemicals were being leached out of your little toe or your brain? And since every individual has a different level of tissue acid wastes in the system, how can there be consistency on what is excreted?
“Only distilled water produces a completely negative ion reaction in the system. And negative ions are alkaline-forming. All other forms of water contain varying amounts of positive (acid-forming) ions.
“Tissue acid wastes that lead to an unwholesome death are positively charged. Distilled water, being negatively charged, draws to it the positively charged waste products and flushes them into the elimination channels…
“All other types of water must be compared to this. Is the water you drink closer or further from the ideal of being distilled? Ordinary spring water is excellent if you compare it to a major city’s water that has been flushed and recycled at least four times before you drink it. However, it is still below the norm of what is ideal, because of the acid reaction that spring water produces.
“For years toxic wastes have been buried in the earth. Our ground water is heavily contaminated. There is evidence of detergents, farm chemicals and even radiation in our spring sources. Factories in all states are dumping toxic wastes that exceed E.P.A. standards and, from my viewpoint, E.P.A. standards are extremely lenient.
“It is not advisable to drink city tap water. It is nauseating to see what can be precipitated out of an apparently clear glass of tap water. The chlorine in it breaks down to form chloroform. The fluoride is an agricultural waste product. The aluminum used to make water sparkle has been linked by reputable researches to many illnesses including Alzheimer’s disease. And acid water leaches copper and other substances from the pipes as it runs through them.” (Emphasis added).
“Fortunately, there are still some spring waters that contain wonderful mineral properties… These are usually well-known and well-tested sources. I drink them myself. However, I do not drink water that I am not very sure of.”
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Art Kunkin is the journalist who founded the alternative weekly newspaper, The Los Angeles Free Press, 1964 to 2010. Art’sbook, “Immortality: The Secret Finally Revealed” is available through his web site www.alchemyrevealed.com. A free introductory report about his own research into stopping aging published in the English magazine, Fortean Times, can be obtained at www.immortality-is-possible.com . These Living Longer columns, including the statement by Dr. Weil mentioned above in the column “Water: The Shocking Truth That Can Save Your Life,” Sept. 4, 2009, are all archived at his blog www.artkunkin.com. Contact Art directly by emailing artkunkin@gmail.com).