Living Water: The Secret Key to Health?

With the hidden potential dangers in both tap water and bottled water, you may be tempted to switch to buying distilled water or even distilling your own. For a long time this was considered the best method for purifying water, making it clean and safe for drinking and other uses requiring sterile water. But with advances in water filtration and purification systems and our increased understanding of how filtered water affects our bodies, many now believe that distilled water may actually be harmful to your health.

Purified or distilled water has had all the naturally occurring minerals in it removed. Because of its extreme purity, this water absorbs carbon dioxide from the air, making it acidic and even more aggressive at dissolving alkaline substances it comes in contact with. When consumed internally, this water makes your body acidic, leaches vital minerals from your teeth and bones, and does not hydrate your body as well as “living” water. Distillation essentially robs the water of its life, while the water inside your body, by definition is “living.”

The notion of “living” water is supported by the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto, which is summarized in his books Messages from Water and the Universe and The Hidden Messages in Water. His ongoing research demonstrates that water has distinct reactions to both positive and negative energies, including those associated with verbal expressions and human thoughts. In his studies, water exposed to positive words and prayers formed beautiful crystalline structures, but water exposed to negative thoughts, chemicals, or bad bacteria was greatly deformed in appearance, and in many cases didn’t even form crystals. This phenomenon was documented by freezing samples of water after being exposed, then photographing them through a microscope to observe the crystals or other shapes that formed. One startling revelation: with the exception of New York City’s tap water, none of the other major U.S. cities’ tap water even formed crystals, placing them on the low end of his classification scale.

Tap Water vs. Bottled: How Do They Compare?

While I was watching The Story of Bottled Water on (where else?) You Tube, I stumbled across this other video of a 20/20 news story that John Stoessel did in 2005 about the bottled water hoax. When you watch the “man on the street” interviews they do to find out why people like drinking bottled water so much, you can really see what I was talking about in my last post –how easily and almost blindly we are influenced by the marketing and advertising messages we hear. Bottled water manufacturers have done an amazing job of convincing people (in this case even small children are bamboozled!) that bottled water is safer and purer than tap water.

While tap water certainly has its problems, as the results of the tests 20/20 conducted for this piece clearly demonstrate, in mot cases bottled water is no better than tap water and in some cases it’s actually worse! Check it out …

Safe Drinking Water: Is Our Quest for Purity Leading Us On?

drinking water glassThe summer travel season is underway which always makes me think about the stress that goes along with it. Whether its difficulty sleeping in unfamiliar or uncomfortable places, erratic eating or overindulgence, over-exposure to the elements, unexpected colds or allergies, rashes and hives, chafing, heat stroke, insect bites, or minor burns, cuts and scrapes –it seems like there’s always something you need to be prepared for. And of course there’s always a concern about the ready availability of clean drinking water –especially when traveling abroad or camping in the deep wilderness.

So I’ve finally decided to write about something that’s been on my mind for a long time … the importance of clean drinking water –not just to your health but to the health of the environment as well. Water comes in many forms: lakes, streams, de-salinated ocean or sea water, rain water, the tap in your bathroom or kitchen sink, your shower head and pre-packaged water in plastic bottles from the store.

There’s no surprise that drinking or even showering in unfiltered water, can compromise your health. According to the National Tap Water Database, tap water in 42 states is contaminated with more than 140 unregulated chemicals. Is it any wonder that so many people now choose to drink bottled water over tap water?

Unfortunately, bottled water is not without its safety concerns. There’s little real evidence that most bottled water is any cleaner or safer than tap water. The National Resources Defense Council spent four years investigating the quality of bottled water. Twenty-five percent of those tested had chemical contaminants that were higher than the concentrations allowed by many state regulations. From fecal coliform bacteria (bacteria from animal intestines that can contaminate waterways as a result of farm pollution) to Arsenic and Lead (known carcinogens), in many cases, bottled water rated just as poorly.

Health concerns aside, the rabid consumption of bottled water creates serious environmental issues too. It’s estimated that each year, 1.5 million tons of garbage is generated from drinking bottled water and as much as 47 million gallons of petrol goes into the production of plastic bottles! Phew! Who knew?

If the old axiom “you are what you eat” is true, then it follows that you are what you drink as well. Your body is made up of at least 60-70%% water, and the chemical reactions that support life in all plants and animals take place in water. Given that simple reality, it would be wise to consider how the quality of the water you drink and how much you drink of it fit into the bigger picture of your health and well being. But some of the water purification systems we’ve come to rely on for clean water may have hidden trade-offs. Are you using a water purification system? If you are, share your experiences and recommendations with us.