I don’t blame you. It can all get a little confusing with all the healthy drinking water marketing terminology being thrown around lately. So-called health experts are encouraging you to open your wallet but terms like ‘pure water’, ‘ionized alkaline water’, ‘distilled water’ or ‘antioxidant water’ can leave those new to the health market a little dazed and confused.
But let me clear one thing up right now – those four terms mentioned above are essentially describing two products only: ionized alkaline water and distilled water. And it is these two types of drinking water types that is going to be focus as I try to define why you should be putting one above the other where your health is concerned…
Also known as ‘pure water‘ or ‘zero water’, there are a lot of distilled water products on the market like Aquafina, Dasani and the Pure Water Store. All of these firms promise us the health benefits of drinking water that has been through a heavy distillation process, as the name suggests.
But it may surprise you to know that distilled water was first created for laboratory purposes. Using reverse osmosis or other similar methods of distillation, this type of water was created so that it wouldn’t leave behind residue. Lab equipment like microscopes and centrifuges are very sensitive, so when you clean them, you don’t want alkaline minerals like calcium and magnesium that are present in water left behind. So distilled water is great if you are a scientist looking to effectively and efficiently clean your equipment as the water is essentially empty. One type of water where this is not the case, and where there are minerals still present inside, is ionized alkaline water.
Ionized alkaline water was created to replicate super healthy and nutritious water from glacial streams and natural springs; water that has been energised by the sun and has acquired a number of things inside of it, including minerals that give it antioxidant properties.
If ionized alkaline water has stuff inside of it at a microscopic level, then it is the opposite of ’empty’ distilled water. These properties are given to the water by replicating the natural process that gives spring and glacial stream water it’s mineral content and antioxidant properties by a water ionizer machine with an alkaline water filter.
The ionizer uses a process called electrolysis to ionize the water in a special chamber that separates the water into an alkaline antioxidant product and an acidic waste product. Before it comes out of the tap an ionizer will also filter the water to remove impurities.
Knowing distilled water was originally created for lab cleaning purposes whilst ionized alkaline water was made to replicate the curative antioxidant properties of spring and glacial stream water, you’d be right to be dubious about the former.
Even though the idea that water that is pure from all ‘impurities’, and even minerals, may sound like a good idea, believe me it isn’t. Unless you are a scientist, I wouldn’t recommend drinking distilled water for any kind of health benefits.
Water should not be essentially empty as it needs things inside of it to make it nutritious for our bodies. Ionized alkaline water is given the minerals and properties that make it just this – antioxidants that help lower the oxidative stress on your body and an alkaline pH that helps us detox from an unhealthy diet. And that latter point leads me to another reason why you should choose ionized alkaline water over pure water…
Because distilled water has been stripped of all of it’s minerals through distillation and reverse osmosis, it can be very acidic. And you don’t need to be a health expert to work out that drinking acidic liquids is not good for your health. Especially when most Americans are suffering from chronic acidity in there diets in the first place.
Alkaline water from an ionizer machine with alkaline water filters can neutralize this acidity AND heal your body with antioxidants, so choosing it over distilled water is, in the end, common sense. Something we should all stick to when we are bombarded by the dubious marketing behind distilled water as a health product.
To your health,
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