4 ms·

My filtered water didn't taste good after a couple of days of intermittent fasting. Also, I grew up with distilled water being around, my dad would bring it bac

My filtered water didn't taste good after a couple of days of intermittent fasting. Also, I grew up with distilled water being around, my dad would bring it back from the lab. To many people it tastes "off", but I am used to it. Can't get any more "pure" than distilled water. (I know there's likely still stuff in it, but close enough)

nikolay 9y ago
Distilled water is unhealthy for regular intake. Not only it's more acidic that spring/mineral water, but it also leads to mineral depletion.
- JoeAltmaier 9y ago
  Distilled water comes to atmospheric normal pH - 5.8 - after any exposure to the air. Is that different from any other water?
  - nikolay 9y ago
    Well, google why it's not good - there are tons of resources. Anyway, we humans have been drinking water not only because of its H2O but also because of the plethora of electrolytes in it.
    - RobertRoberts 9y ago
      Isn't rain distilled water? My understanding is that it has a single dust like particle that turns it into a rain drop. (generally speaking, grade school weather knowledge here) Doesn't it seem reasonable that distilled water's lack of electrolytes can be balanced quite easily from other sources? (a quick google search seems to indicate 'yes') Scientific questions: 1. How much electrolytes are there in a single bite of any particular food, compared to a gallon of water? (anyone have a real number?) 2. How long do electrolytes stay in the body (being usable) after being ingested? 3. How much water will a certain amount use after being ingested. (ie, the difference in electrolytes in distilled vs other sources. Do they even get "used up"?) 4. What is the effects of low electrolytes? (is it pain, body deterioration, something we can feel and detect?) I am sure I could google this, but I suspect the answers are really hard to find with any true accuracy because they would vary greatly by diet, body size, composition, health, age and many other factors. And I'd argue that it's possible we can tell our electrolyte levels by how we feel? (this seems reasonable) Edit: Did some research on distilled water, in a previous comment, some interesting finds. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16432024#16449986 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16432024#16449986
      - nikolay 9y ago
        Obviously, there are enough minerals given pH changes from 7 to almost 9 pH with some popular spring waster brands. Also, rainwater is not distilled water - you oversimplify things, which is the root of many evils! Unless you have no other water source, drinking rainwater has never been a practice.
        RobertRoberts 9y ago
        >you oversimplify things How can you oversimplify something by asking questions?
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  This is interesting, that water absorbs carbon dioxide after being distilled. I didn't know that. (source google stuff) Doesn't this mean that distilled water re-mineralizes itself? Hard to call it out on not having minerals if it does... So either it's acidic and has minerals, or it's neutral and doesn't. Either way it doesn't seem bad at all and seems self correcting... (which is very interesting) But is it still safe to drink? Evidently it's still the closest to ph neutral as water can get, says this source at least. >"According to doctors like Andrew Weil, distilled water is generally as close to a neutral pH as people can get, and it is perfectly safe to drink." https://www.reference.com/science/ph-distilled-water-7-0-46e8de626badfb31 https://www.reference.com/science/ph-distilled-water-7-0-46e...
  - cyphar 9y ago
    > So either it's acidic and has minerals Carbon dioxide isn't a mineral. When water absorbs CO2 there is an equilibrium reaction where (H2CO3) carbonic acid is produced (the percentage depends on things like the concentration of CO2 and the temperature of the water, among other things). > But is it still safe to drink? It's safe to drink, but it's more acidic than normal water (which is slightly alkaline). Not to mention it's missing a bunch of minerals (and things like Fluorine which is a good idea to have) which could negatively impact your health -- there are a lot of minerals your body needs that come from "trivial" sources like tap water or table salt. > Evidently it's still the closest to ph neutral as water can get, says this source at least. This doesn't make sense -- if something is acidic you can always add a base (like NaOH) to make it more alkaline (or neutral). Not to mention that the quoted pH of 5.5 is considered "strongly acidic", as opposed to tap water which is in the 6-8 range that is between "neutral" and "mildly alkaline". Which means that according to their own information, distilled water is not the "closest to pH neutral water can can". Reference.com isn't a particularly good source either.
    - RobertRoberts 9y ago
      >Carbon dioxide isn't a mineral. When water absorbs CO2 there is an equilibrium reaction where (H2CO3) carbonic acid is produced (the percentage depends on things like the concentration of CO2 and the temperature of the water, among other things). Fair enough, my point wasn't clearly stated. It seems the single opposition to distilled water is that it's "acidic". 1.) Do you believe ingesting anything slightly acidic is inherently bad? (is distilled water worse than fruit juice?) 2.) Is there more carbonic acid in distilled water vs soda water or coke/pepsi? I would certainly agree that Reference.com is not a good source. My father is a chemist, he's the one who brought home the distilled water we all drank from as our daily drinking water my entire childhood... he didn't seem to think it was an issue.

nikolay 9y ago

Distilled water is unhealthy for regular intake. Not only it's more acidic that spring/mineral water, but it also leads to mineral depletion.

JoeAltmaier 9y ago
Distilled water comes to atmospheric normal pH - 5.8 - after any exposure to the air. Is that different from any other water?
- nikolay 9y ago
  Well, google why it's not good - there are tons of resources. Anyway, we humans have been drinking water not only because of its H2O but also because of the plethora of electrolytes in it.
  - RobertRoberts 9y ago
    Isn't rain distilled water? My understanding is that it has a single dust like particle that turns it into a rain drop. (generally speaking, grade school weather knowledge here) Doesn't it seem reasonable that distilled water's lack of electrolytes can be balanced quite easily from other sources? (a quick google search seems to indicate 'yes') Scientific questions: 1. How much electrolytes are there in a single bite of any particular food, compared to a gallon of water? (anyone have a real number?) 2. How long do electrolytes stay in the body (being usable) after being ingested? 3. How much water will a certain amount use after being ingested. (ie, the difference in electrolytes in distilled vs other sources. Do they even get "used up"?) 4. What is the effects of low electrolytes? (is it pain, body deterioration, something we can feel and detect?) I am sure I could google this, but I suspect the answers are really hard to find with any true accuracy because they would vary greatly by diet, body size, composition, health, age and many other factors. And I'd argue that it's possible we can tell our electrolyte levels by how we feel? (this seems reasonable) Edit: Did some research on distilled water, in a previous comment, some interesting finds. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16432024#16449986 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16432024#16449986
    - nikolay 9y ago
      Obviously, there are enough minerals given pH changes from 7 to almost 9 pH with some popular spring waster brands. Also, rainwater is not distilled water - you oversimplify things, which is the root of many evils! Unless you have no other water source, drinking rainwater has never been a practice.
      - RobertRoberts 9y ago
        >you oversimplify things How can you oversimplify something by asking questions?
RobertRoberts 9y ago
This is interesting, that water absorbs carbon dioxide after being distilled. I didn't know that. (source google stuff) Doesn't this mean that distilled water re-mineralizes itself? Hard to call it out on not having minerals if it does... So either it's acidic and has minerals, or it's neutral and doesn't. Either way it doesn't seem bad at all and seems self correcting... (which is very interesting) But is it still safe to drink? Evidently it's still the closest to ph neutral as water can get, says this source at least. >"According to doctors like Andrew Weil, distilled water is generally as close to a neutral pH as people can get, and it is perfectly safe to drink." https://www.reference.com/science/ph-distilled-water-7-0-46e8de626badfb31 https://www.reference.com/science/ph-distilled-water-7-0-46e...
- cyphar 9y ago
  > So either it's acidic and has minerals Carbon dioxide isn't a mineral. When water absorbs CO2 there is an equilibrium reaction where (H2CO3) carbonic acid is produced (the percentage depends on things like the concentration of CO2 and the temperature of the water, among other things). > But is it still safe to drink? It's safe to drink, but it's more acidic than normal water (which is slightly alkaline). Not to mention it's missing a bunch of minerals (and things like Fluorine which is a good idea to have) which could negatively impact your health -- there are a lot of minerals your body needs that come from "trivial" sources like tap water or table salt. > Evidently it's still the closest to ph neutral as water can get, says this source at least. This doesn't make sense -- if something is acidic you can always add a base (like NaOH) to make it more alkaline (or neutral). Not to mention that the quoted pH of 5.5 is considered "strongly acidic", as opposed to tap water which is in the 6-8 range that is between "neutral" and "mildly alkaline". Which means that according to their own information, distilled water is not the "closest to pH neutral water can can". Reference.com isn't a particularly good source either.
  - RobertRoberts 9y ago
    >Carbon dioxide isn't a mineral. When water absorbs CO2 there is an equilibrium reaction where (H2CO3) carbonic acid is produced (the percentage depends on things like the concentration of CO2 and the temperature of the water, among other things). Fair enough, my point wasn't clearly stated. It seems the single opposition to distilled water is that it's "acidic". 1.) Do you believe ingesting anything slightly acidic is inherently bad? (is distilled water worse than fruit juice?) 2.) Is there more carbonic acid in distilled water vs soda water or coke/pepsi? I would certainly agree that Reference.com is not a good source. My father is a chemist, he's the one who brought home the distilled water we all drank from as our daily drinking water my entire childhood... he didn't seem to think it was an issue.