Water

[strmanglr scott]

Water that has no minerals in small amounts isn't bad for you. If you're a water drinker as I am, consuming 1/2 to a gallon a day will strip your body of minerals.

 

[caseydog]

I use municipal tap water. No issues.

That isn't, sadly, a universal thing. Here in Texas, water taste varies significantly depending on where is is sourced.

In Central Texas, drinking water comes mostly from underground aquifers, so it is basically spring water. It is hard water, but tastes good.

My water in North Texas comes from man-made lakes. It is safe - rated "superior" - but tastes like lake water, especially in the Summer.

Water around Houston is a mix of lake and ground water, and tastes really bad.

The charcoal filter on my fridge is good enough to clean up the taste of my city water. When I do consume bottled water, I refill the bottle s a few times from my fridge filter, to waste less plastics.

CD

 

[WhateverYouWant]

consuming 1/2 to a gallon a day will strip your body of minerals

There is a lot of discussion on this, but I have yet to see any clear evidence that this is true. Plus the health advantages of mineral and alkaline waters have pretty much been debunked.

Moreover, considering the TDS of the Crystal Geyser spring water I have been drinking for years hovers around 75mg/liter, minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium would each be a fractional percentage of that. I see that as negligible considering:

A single tomato or banana contains 420mg+ potassium.

A single serving of dairy has 320mg+ of calcium. Many veggies, nuts, beans, and seafood are also excellent sources.

Magnesium is also found in many veggies, nuts, wheat, and even chocolate, again many times over what is found in typical drinking water.

So unless you're fasting, consuming pretty much nothing but water, the contribution of minerals from it is negligible.

 

[GotGarlic]

That isn't, sadly, a universal thing. Here in Texas, water taste varies significantly depending on where is is sourced.

In Central Texas, drinking water comes mostly from underground aquifers, so it is basically spring water. It is hard water, but tastes good.

My water in North Texas comes from man-made lakes. It is safe - rated "superior" - but tastes like lake water, especially in the Summer.

Water around Houston is a mix of lake and ground water, and tastes really bad.

The charcoal filter on my fridge is good enough to clean up the taste of my city water. When I do consume bottled water, I refill the bottle s a few times from my fridge filter, to waste less plastics.

CD

Our water comes from a lake, too, but the city has a water treatment plant that cleans it before it's piped into people's homes. It's too bad your city doesn't do that.

 

[GotGarlic]

There is a lot of discussion on this, but I have yet to see any clear evidence that this is true. Plus the health advantages of mineral and alkaline waters have pretty much been debunked.

Moreover, considering the TDS of the Crystal Geyser spring water I have been drinking for years hovers around 75mg/liter, minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium would each be a fractional percentage of that. I see that as negligible considering:

A single tomato or banana contains 420mg+ potassium.

A single serving of dairy has 320mg+ of calcium. Many veggies, nuts, beans, and seafood are also excellent sources.

Magnesium is also found in many veggies, nuts, wheat, and even chocolate, again many times over what is found in typical drinking water.

So unless you're fasting, consuming pretty much nothing but water, the contribution of minerals from it is negligible.

I think what he meant is that if you drink too much water, it dilutes the amount of electrolytes in your blood. That can cause serious problems, including heart rhythm issues.

https://www.healthline.com/health/overhydration

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I think what he meant is that if you drink too much water, it dilutes the amount of electrolytes in your blood. That can cause serious problems, including heart rhythm issues.

https://www.healthline.com/health/overhydration

This!

I spent 8 days in the hospital after my surgery with them trying to regulate my sodium, potassium and magnesium levels.

For every two 500ml of water I drink a day, I need to take supplements to keep my levels up.

Cardiac patient...encouraged to increase sodium levels, DOH!

 

[strmanglr scott]

Water with no minerals does not exist in nature that I'm aware of.

You are much more likely to dilute electrolytes before becoming mineral deficient. Of course taking in nutrients and minerals through food daily keeps the body supplied.

If I buy water though, I will always buy spring water over "drinking water".

Does it make a difference, maybe, maybe not, but when given the choice...

I make no claims alkaline water does anything positive for the body. Although I do have an alkaline/acidic water filtration system. Mainly I needed a filtration system and I happened into it for cheap. I like using the acidic water on my face if I'm breaking out. Really takes the oils off, tightens the pores and kills bacteria. Also removes dead skin off the face.

 

[skilletlicker]

This!

I spent 8 days in the hospital after my surgery with them trying to regulate my sodium, potassium and magnesium levels.

For every two 500ml of water I drink a day, I need to take supplements to keep my levels up.

Cardiac patient...encouraged to increase sodium levels, DOH!

It's a rigged carnival game rigged that can't be won.

Everybody starts out loving sweet, salty, and fat but the older we get the definition of moderation becomes narrower until we're walking a tightrope with a diminished sense of balance.

Best thing to be said is we're all in it together. Nobody gets out alive.

 

[GotGarlic]

Water with no minerals does not exist in nature that I'm aware of.

No, it doesn't. When water companies distill water for bottling, it removes the minerals. They add them back, though, because people evolved drinking water containing minerals and it doesn't taste right without them.

If I buy water though, I will always buy spring water over "drinking water".

Does it make a difference, maybe, maybe not, but when given the choice...

"Spring" water is a marketing term. It doesn't mean anything special.

 

[strmanglr scott]

My understanding is that spring water has minerals and drinking water is pure water/RO water.

We have quite a few water harvesters in Michigan pulling from springs.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...If you're a water drinker as I am, consuming 1/2 to a gallon a day will strip your body of minerals.

Yup, all that water (and don't forget about other liquids like coffee, tea, etc) can literally flush important electrolytes/minerals from your body. I know - see my reply to PrincessFiona.

There is a lot of discussion on this, but I have yet to see any clear evidence that this is true. Plus the health advantages of mineral and alkaline waters have pretty much been debunked...
...So unless you're fasting, consuming pretty much nothing but water, the contribution of minerals from it is negligible.

I think we might have two different discussions going on in this thread. The first is whether or not water can contribute actual nutrients to nutrition? Like you said, it's probably negligible.

The second theme is what kind of effect consuming a high volume of water/liquids can have on the body. In some cases (mine), it can flush out needed body-regulating tools - my blood sodium level dropped below and remained at an unacceptably low level. On to a specialist...

This!

I spent 8 days in the hospital after my surgery with them trying to regulate my sodium, potassium and magnesium levels.

For every two 500ml of water I drink a day, I need to take supplements to keep my levels up.

Cardiac patient...encouraged to increase sodium levels, DOH!

I know, right! I've been taking medication for high blood pressure (runs in the family) for several decade. I've also been seeing a nephrologist for about two years because of low blood sodium levels. His first recommendation (which worked) was to reduce my liquids intake and increase my use of salt.
Before seeing Dr. Magoo (he should have been an optometrist or ophthalmologist ), I was drinking nearly 100 ounces a day between morning tea, early afternoon coffee, more tea and/or water throughout the rest of the day, and my nightly glass of wine. He told me to cut back to about 45 ounces - I begged enough to have him move it up to "no more that 50 ounces, top". Since this worked so good, he's not as restrictive with liquids volume, but I still drink less than a half-gallon liquid each day.

I'd used almost no extra salt since my late teens to limit water retention and resulting discomfort on a "monthly" basis. Since we eat few prepared foods, I ingest very little salt/sodium. It has seem strange to use more salt, but I must confess I enjoy the end results. And, thankfully or surprisingly, my blood pressure has remained stable!

 

[foodiealert]

I cook with regular tap water and have had no issues with it. For drinking I boil water and put it in a jug to cool down. I try not to buy bottled water so much because it just creates so much waste.

 

[caseydog]

Our water comes from a lake, too, but the city has a water treatment plant that cleans it before it's piped into people's homes. It's too bad your city doesn't do that.

Please tell me more about this "water treatment plant" thing. Maybe my city can get one.

CD

 

[skilletlicker]

This is a little off the original topic but ScottinPollock bought his water filter so I guess that problem is solved.

But I was laying in bed wondering.

Folks like me dechlorinate water going into aquariums and aquaponic systems to prevent killing the micro-critters that detoxify fish waste. Why don't brewers and bakers have to dechlorinate water used to make beer or bread? So I eavesdropped on a couple of their forum discussions and found that most kinds of yeast can tolerate chlorine at low levels but chloramine and high chlorine quantities do sometimes sabotage the brewing and baking processes.

What about the microbe colonies in my gut? So looked at that a bit too. The whack jobs that think chlorinated and fluoridated water are vast conspiracies aren't hard to find but water treatment prevents a lot of misery that used to be commonplace. Like typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera and Legionnaires' disease.

As long as Memphis Light Gas and Water is only adding a little chlorine and not chloramine, I'm not going to sweat it. If they start adding chloramine I'll get a filter.

Long as I'm up anyway, I'll add my two cents to the lack of minerals in filtered and RO (reverse osmosis) treated drinking water. A couple of years ago when I was starting my little aquaponics system I looked at the local utility's water treatment report. I don't remember all the details but for example, there was a measurable amount of iron in the tap water. Unfortunately, that amount was only about 2% of what plants need. So I'm counting on getting vitamins and minerals from food, not drinking water.

 

[taxlady]

Skilletlicker, thanks for looking up that stuff.

I think that most of us who filter to get rid of chlorine are doing it mostly for smell and flavour. If the level of chlorine in your drinking water doesn't make it smell or taste of unpleasant, I wouldn't bother trying to filter it out.

 

[4food]

When not drinking wine, I have to admit, I do drink tap water, but NEVER plastic bottles, for 3 simple reasons.


1- The amount of single use water bottles going to the landfill is immense, to the point it disgust me.

2- The price of a 16 oz bottle of water (over $1) compare to pennies on tap.
3- Water bottles quality has NO FDA over site. Tap water on the other hand is very strictly regulated. Hence the regularly recalled water bottles, mainly due to E. Coli contamination.



Yes, depending in your area of the country, tap water can have a taste, so filtering might be necessary.


Chlorine has never harmed my yeast. I have always made beautiful French bread using tap water, but if you are concerned about Chlorine in your tap water when making bread, pour it in an open bottle or container and the Chlorine will evaporate pretty quickly.