Nowadays, many people think that drinking unfiltered water can be damaging for your health because it may contain contaminants, fluoride or parasites. However, many health conscious people are amazed by the fact that drinking distilled water regularly may also be damaging for your health if its consumed long term.

Distilled water is simply water that has been boiled, evaporated and then the vapour condensed and collected. It does not contain any minerals (because they have been eliminated during the process), which makes it actively absorb and eliminate toxins in the body. Some studies have validated the benefits of drinking distilled water for a short period of time (a few weeks) to cleanse or detoxify your body.

However, distilled water can be damaging to your body because being an active absorber, it absorbs carbon dioxide when it comes into contact with air and therefore becomes acidic.

Many bottled beverages such as cola drinks and other soda are made using distilled water. Studies have shown that people, who consume a lot of this type of drink, even without sugar or branded as ‘diet’, pass large quantities of magnesium, calcium and other traces of minerals into their urine.

This can be damaging for your body because the more minerals lost from your body, the higher the risk of osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and other degenerative diseases which are generally related to aging prematurely.

More and more health care practitioners and scientists around the world are supporting the theory that aging and disease is a result of excessive acid accumulation, from waste products, in the body. There is a lot of scientific documentation supporting this theory. Excessive waste accumulation can be caused by the consumption of various foods and drinks such as sugar, alcohol, fatty food, soft drinks, highly processed food, white flour and dairy products.

Another contributing factor is stress, both mental and physical, which increases acid deposits within the body.

There is also a relationship between soft water (distilled water is very soft) consumption and cardiovascular disease. The body responds by trying to balance out this acidity by removing minerals from bones and teeth to compensate. The more distilled water you drink – the greater the risk of your body becoming too acidic and suffering from mineral deficiency.

Ideally, daily drinking water should be slightly alkaline, which means it will have minerals like calcium and magnesium in it. Distilled water is very acidic and should only be used as a method of cleansing or detoxification for a short period of time. Prolonged drinking of distilled water may cause your body more harm than good, as disease and premature death are more likely to occur.be

Water filters such as active carbon filters provide drinking water that is slightly alkaline but still contains traces of essential minerals such as calcium and magnesium. The consumption of hard water (water with a high mineral content) consumption has been linked to longevity and good health.