Water for drinking and recipes -- any recommendations?

Comments

• Katie

  Distilled water is best. I just read this so someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that the minerals that distilled water leaches from your system are actually minerals we cannot use, and are therefore toxic and harmful to us… as a result the distilled water is helping you to detox. According to the book I’m reading, minerals the body uses – once they are in the cell – cannot be leached.

  I’m not quoting exactly but I think thats what it said. The book is: Fit For Life, by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond.
• tomwg123

  Thanks for the reply Katie. That’s very interesting, I hadn’t heard about that before. I’ll investigate a bit more and see what other responses come in. I like the idea of a distiller because it would get out everything (I think). When I get my next pay check I might get one.
• Zoe Raw Newbie

  “distilled water is best” I disagree. It seems that it is less harmful than tap water but not as good as water from a narural source like a spring. Buy real mineral water which actually comes from a natural source and has not been tampered with. I use this but mainly cucumber juice for my water.

  From an interview with raw foodist Stephen Arlin:

  “The purest water in the world is the living water in raw plant foods, especially fruit. A raw-foodist has no need to ever drink water as long as there is adequate raw plant food available. We only drink water if we are in the mountains (where fruit doesn’t grow). We eat snow, and drink snow run-off in the spring. The only reason that people need to drink exorbitant amounts of water (the 5-7 glasses that doctors recommend) is because of the cooked-food extracts they eat, which are massively dehydrated. As far as distilled water goes, it is an unnatural human-made creation, and again only serves to dilute denatured food. You want an absolute abundance of the most pure water on the planet? Eat a melon.”

  This is from The World Health Organisation:

  “Low-mineral (distilled) water acts on osmoreceptors of the gastrointestinal tract, causing an increased flow of sodium ions into the intestinal lumen and slight reduction in osmotic pressure in the portal venous system with subsequent enhanced release of sodium into the blood as an adaptation response. This osmotic change in the blood plasma results in the redistribution of body water; that is, there is an increase in the total extracellular fluid volume and the transfer of water from erythrocytes and interstitial fluid into the plasma and between intracellular and interstitial fluids. In response to the changed plasma volume, baroreceptors and volume receptors in the bloodstream are activated, inducing a decrease in aldosterone release and thus an increase in sodium elimination. Reactivity of the volume receptors in the vessels may result in a decrease in ADH release and an enhanced diuresis. The German Society for Nutrition reached similar conclusions, warning the public against drinking distilled water (DgfE 1993). This warning was published in response to the German edition of The Shocking Truth About Water (Bragg and Bragg 1993), whose authors recommended drinking distilled water instead of “ordinary” drinking water. The Society in its position paper explains that water in the human body always contains electrolytes (e.g. potassium and sodium) at certain concentrations controlled by the body. Water resorption by the intestinal epithelium is also enabled by sodium transport. If distilled water is ingested, the intestine has to add electrolytes to this water first, taking them from the body reserves. Since the body never eliminates fluid in form of “pure” water but always together with salts, adequate intake of electrolytes must be ensured. Ingestion of distilled water leads to the dilution of the electrolytes dissolved in the body water. Inadequate body water redistribution between compartments may compromise the function of vital organs. Symptoms at the very beginning of this condition include tiredness, weakness and headache; more severe symptoms are muscular cramps and impaired heart rate.”
• pianissima Raw Newbie

  zoe- i use distilled to soak nuts though… a tip i got from raw food, real world. do you think that is OK? or do you use something else.

  i agree about vegetables and fruits. BUT, sometimes i need to add water to say soups or sauces and it’s just not practical for me to juice a cucumber every time i make a recipe. can anyone recommend a filtration system? i’d like to get away from bottled water (and the plastic leashing and waste of materials that come with it).
• tomwg123

  Zoe, thanks for the info. Hopefully somebody can recommend a good filtration system. I don’t know what to do yet. I guess I could buy bottled water, but I would rather not.

  I like the idea of getting water from produce, but I’m not going to do that for my main water source. It was neat though recently making a smoothie using water from a coconut I opened :)