There are some folks out there who believe that it is safe to drink distilled and reverse
osmosis water, claiming there are no potential health risks - although there is never any
supporting data associated with these claims, only to the contrary. These same few folks
also claim that distilled water has a neutral pH... even though anyone with litmus paper
or a pH meter can see the pH is usually between 5.2 - 6pH, and drops lower as it sits exposed
to open air. Why then would anyone with any reputation at all (or, half a brain) say that it
is safe to drink distilled and R.O. water, even though basic chemistry tells us differently? 
"Alternative agenda", is what I like to call it. You'll notice that most of these supporters of
distillers and R.O. systems usually have some government or alternate agenda - the government
wants you to stay sick to keep the disease-mongering health system afloat... so why would they
want you to avoid the potentially hazardous effects of drinking unnatural water that does not
exist anywhere on the planet? Simple... greed.

If you want to do a cleanse for a week or two, and want to drink distilled water to help you out
with that... fine. Do not drink distilled or R.O. water for any length of time - unless, of course,
you enjoy arthritis, bursitis and gout.

The following two articles are the most popular on the internet describing the damaging effects
of drinking distilled and R.O. water.  They are for educational purposes only (what other purpose
is there for words on a page, other than educational?)
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Early Death Comes From Drinking Distilled Water
by Zoltan P. Rona MD MSC

During nearly 19 years of clinical practice I have had the opportunity to observe
the health effects of drinking different types of water. Most of you would agree
that drinking unfiltered tap water could be hazardous to your health because of
things like parasites, chlorine, fluoride and dioxins.

Many health fanatics, however, are often surprised to hear me say that drinking
distilled water on a regular, daily basis is potentially dangerous.

Paavo Airola wrote about the dangers of distilled water in the 1970's when it first became a fad
with the health food crowd.

Distillation is the process in which water is boiled, evaporated and the vapor condensed. Distilled
water is free of dissolved minerals and, because of this, has the special property of being able to
actively absorb toxic substances from the body and eliminate them.

Studies validate the benefits of drinking distilled water when one is seeking to cleanse or detoxify
the system for short periods of time (a few weeks at a time).

Fasting using distilled water can be dangerous because of the rapid loss of electrolytes (sodium,
potassium, chloride) and trace minerals like magnesium, deficiencies of which can cause heart
beat irregularities and high blood pressure. Cooking foods in distilled water pulls the minerals out
of them and lowers their nutrient value.

Distilled water is an active absorber and when it comes into contact with air, it absorbs carbon
dioxide, making it acidic. The more distilled water a person drinks, the higher the body acidity
becomes.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, "Distilled water, being essentially
mineral-free, is very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is in contact.

Notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed, making the water acidic and even more
aggressive. Many metals are dissolved by distilled water."

The most toxic commercial beverages that people consume (i.e. cola beverages and other soft
drinks) are made from distilled water. Studies have consistently shown that heavy consumers of
soft drinks (with or without sugar) spill huge amounts of calcium, magnesium and other trace
minerals into the urine.

The more mineral loss, the greater the risk for osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, hypothyroidism, coronary
artery disease, high blood pressure and a long list of degenerative diseases generally associated with
premature aging.

A growing number of health care practitioners and scientists from around the world have been advocating
the theory that aging and disease is the direct result of the accumulation of acid waste products in the
body.

There is a great deal of scientific documentation that supports such a theory. A poor diet may be partially
to blame for the waste accumulation. Meats, sugar, white flour products, fried foods, soft drinks, processed
foods, alcohol, dairy products and other junk foods cause the body to become more acidic. Stress, whether
mental or physical can lead to acid deposits in the body.

There is a correlation between the consumption of soft water (distilled water is extremely soft) and the
incidence of cardiovascular disease. Cells, tissues and organs do not like to be dipped in acid and will do
anything to buffer this acidity including the removal of minerals from the skeleton and the manufacture
of bicarbonate in the blood.

The longer one drinks distilled water, the more likely the development of mineral deficiencies and an acid
state. I have done well over 3000 mineral evaluations using a combination of blood, urine and hair tests
in my practice. Almost without exception, people who consume distilled water exclusively, eventually
develop multiple mineral deficiencies.

Those who supplement their distilled water intake with trace minerals are not as deficient but still not
as adequately nourished in minerals as their non-distilled water drinking counterparts even after several
years of mineral supplementation.

The ideal water for the human body should be alkaline and this requires the presence of minerals like
calcium and magnesium.

Distilled water tends to be acidic and can only be recommended as a way of drawing poisons out of
the body. Once this is accomplished, the continued drinking of distilled water is a bad idea.

... Disease and early death is more likely to be seen with the long term drinking of distilled water. Avoid
it except in special circumstances.

REFERENCES
Airola, P. 1974. How To Get Well. Phoenix, AZ: Health Plus Publishers.
Baroody, Dr. Theodore A. Jr. Alkalinize or Die. California:Portal Books, 1995.
Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy with Nutrition. The Complete Guide to Diet & Nutritional Medicine.
Berkeley, California:Celestial Arts, 1992; p. 22.
Rona, Zoltan P. and Martin, Jeanne Marie. Return to the Joy of Health, Vancouver: Alive Books, 1995.
Rona, Zoltan P. Childhood Illness and The Allergy Connection. Rocklin, California:Prima Books, 1996.

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Distilled Water and RO Filtered Water
by Sang Whang

Water is a strong solvent; therefore, it carries many invisible substances: minerals,
oxygen, nutrients, waste products, pollutants, etc. Pure water without any substance
is as un-natural as a pocket of vacuum within a normal atmosphere. A pocket of vacuum
will suck in any and everything around it until the pressure becomes equal to the surrounding.

Likewise, pure water will leach out any and every substance that it can dissolve from the
substances that it comes into contact with, until its content is homogeneous with its
surrounding or the water is saturated with substances so that it can no longer dissolve
anymore substances.

Since the creation of this planet, rainwater has been washing down minerals from the
mountains into the ocean. Ocean water has been saturated for a long time with specific
minerals, yet rivers continue to carry down the minerals. The result is that at the bottom
of the ocean there are tons of mineral deposits precipitated. If we knew how to recover
the minerals from the bottom of the ocean, we would be very rich.

Distilled water and RO (reverse osmosis) filtered water contain no minerals, simulating close to pure water. This pure water
should be neutral with a pH value of 7. However, it measures acid pH! The reason for this phenomenon is that pure water
sucks in carbon dioxides from the atmosphere. Although it measures acid pH, there are no acid minerals in that water. If
pure water is stored in a plastic bottle, the water smells plastic.

For this reason, distilled water or RO filtered water should be stored in glass bottles or special plastic bottles that can block
carbon dioxide penetration. Coca Cola was bottled originally in glass bottles only. Then came the plastic bottle and it lost
the fizzles. Then better plastic bottles came out that didn't lose carbon dioxides; still plastic-bottled Coca Cola has to have
expiration dates. Carbon dioxides penetrate through plastics, making pure water acidic.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the health food industry recommended that people eat certain types of healthy food and exclude
other types of unhealthy food. Initially, people noticed a marked improvement of their health. However, staying with this
healthy diet for several years, people suffered from nutritional deficiency syndrome, which the health food industry
concluded as a sickness caused by pollutants in the drinking water. The health food industry began to sell distillers and
RO filters to protect people. To me, this is a case of arriving at an erroneous conclusion because they totally misunderstood
the facts.

In the 1950s distilled water was sold in drug stores with the label "Not for drinking!" Distilled water was used to fill car batteries
and steam irons. Distilled water is not healthy because it will leach out valuable alkaline minerals from our body. However, I
realize that I cannot change some people's mind. I am often asked if it is OK to add AlkaLife to distilled water. I wish people
would not drink distilled water; however, if one must drink distilled water, it is better to add an pH booster product, like AlkaLife. 

The question is how many drops of AlkaLife to add to distilled water. For a glass of ordinary drinking water, I recommend two
drops and typically, the pH value increases from 7.5 to 10. However, two drops of AlkaLife in distilled water does not bring
the pH value up to an alkaline value. Sometimes, one may have to put more than 10 drops to make distilled water alkaline.
This is caused by the presence of carbonic acid in "pure" water, so, how many drops should one put in? My answer is 2 drops.

In two drops of AlkaLife, the number of hydroxyl ions (OH-) is 1 followed by 20 to 21
zeros, and they are mated with potassium and sodium. In the presence of carbonic
acids (H2O + CO2 = H2CO3 = H+ + HCO3-) the hydroxyl ions combines with H+ ions
(H+ + OH- = H2O) and potassium+ and sodium+ ions combine with HCO3- ions and
become potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) which are alkaline buffer. When CO2 are removed
from these bicarbonates by the lungs, the original KOH and NaOH in AlkaLife are restored. When we are dealing with carbon
dioxides, the pH value can be confusing. What is important is the number of OH- ions in the water that will neutralize H+ ions
in the body acid. For this reason I recommend 2 drops of AlkaLife in a glass of distilled or RO filtered water and ignore the pH value.

What is distilled water? Are you drinking distilled water?
Golden Illumination has articles on distilled water health, that define distilled water.