What’s In Your Water?

"The first step of good nutrition is to know the origin, processing and contents of anything we take into our bodies. Without clean water we cannot experience optimal health. Drinking enough contaminate-free water is likely our most significant health factor." ~ Elson Haas, M.D.

Nutritional bandits gum up our body signals, confuse our internal conversation, create a toxic overload in the body, and rob us of our health when consumed regularly. Today we take a look at Nutritional Bandit #1: Unfiltered Water.

Our body is made up of 70% water… so obviously we can’t live without it. But these days, our water is causing conditions that can kill us.

If you think the water you are drinking is just H2O, think again! Unfiltered tap water is toxic due to both known and unknown contaminants. According to some studies, a staggering 75,000 chemical compounds have been found in our water. Many of these chemicals are harmful and can create health problems. The most commonly known are chlorine, fluoride, lead, industrial waste, pesticides, and microbiological diseases.

Unfortunately, bottled water may not be clean either. Since bottled water is largely unregulated, many are nothing more than tap water even when they say “mountain” or “spring” water. Additionally, the plastic bottles it comes in are really toxic to us AND to the environment.

Chlorine is a dangerous poison and was used as a chemical weapon in World War 1. The purpose of chlorine is to kill living organisms, and even in small amounts in our drinking water it builds up and causes harm. Chlorine is also acid-forming in the body (which is the basis for all disease), and when it interacts with naturally occurring organic matter it forms byproducts that are extremely carcinogenic.

Fluoride is highly toxic. The synthetic fluoride that’s added to drinking water is actually an industrial waste byproduct of the phosphate fertilizer industry. This poison contributes to musculoskeletal, thyroid, brain, kidney, hormone and immune issues. In fact, the health dangers of fluoride are so numerous that more and more medical and science professionals are pressuring the government to remove it from our water supply. 

Lead makes its way into tap water through corrosion of the pipes in a home's plumbing system. Ingestion of lead can result in severe developmental delays and/or learning disorders in children.

A host of other pollutants such as pesticides, herbicides, toxic waste from landfills, chemical and oil spills, acid rain and more find their way into our water supplies.

UNFILTERED WATER AND YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

With Covid and other viruses affecting all of our lives right now, it’s especially important to keep our immune system strong and functioning optimally. Some contaminants found in unfiltered water (PFC’s, Cryptosporidum, and Chlorine) can be damaging to our immune systems, and exposure to these contaminants can impair our bodies’ ability to fight off illness and disease.

Be sure to check out your own water, whether from a municipal source or a well, to see what is needed to adequately purify it. The best way to prevent immune system damage from unfiltered tap water is to install a whole house water filtration system. Personally, since I'm a renter with well water that is “less than desirable” (even a 5-stage faucet filter doesn’t do the trick), I’ve purchased several 2 gallon BPA-free water containers (usually about $20 each). I fill them with water from a vending machine that has been filtered through a reverse osmosis water treatment system (approx. 80 cents for 2 gallons) and use a glass, stainless steel, or BPA free plastic water bottle to carry it with me when on the go.

While it might not always be possible (or even desirable) to avoid nutritional bandits all of the time, it’s what we do MOST of the time that counts. When we arm ourselves with knowledge, we can then intentionally make healthier choices!

What’s in YOUR water???

As a Certified Diet Counselor and Holistic Nutrition Educator, I offer education and guidance about health factors that are within our own control — the use of nutritious foods, dietary supplements, and lifestyle choices — and, by optimizing these factors, restore, develop, or maintain optimal  health, life quality and well-being. It is always my intention to present these basic principles of health in a way that is easy to understand and incorporate into your life. 

Happy, Healthy Living!

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