10 ms·

I started aggressively filtering my water (Berkey black + white filters) during my last pregnancy, and I was amazed how much better I felt and how much more wat

by Dove 4y ago

I started aggressively filtering my water (Berkey black + white filters) during my last pregnancy, and I was amazed how much better I felt and how much more water I wanted to drink. I was trying very hard to drink lots of water to support the pregnancy, and found it difficult. When I started filtering it, it became really easy and I felt a lot better to boot. I still get pretty low key dehydrated if I try to subsist on tap water. I suspect my body is balancing my need for water against something in the water it doesn't like. Fluoride is a prime suspect, but any number of other things are possibilities and I wouldn't really have any way to know. But I do often wonder if I'm far from the only one with such an issue, and most people never find it. I didn't for a long time. It is an easy guess for me that if there's something in the water that's bothering you, and you need to dramatically increase your intake to support two people, biological problems and tradeoffs might ensue. And nursing in particular does require an awful lot of water. I ultimately started filtering all of my water, and it seems like an obvious thing to do in retrospect -- like having a firewall for your home network. It seems silly to me now that I ever assumed that any old pipe sludge that found its way into the system at any point was something I would necessarily want in my body.

tbonesteaks 4y ago
Berkey for the win! It has been so useful for my family. During and after pregnancies. If you can get one, I highly recommend it.
boringg 4y ago
Can you attach those filters to a faucet or are you required to have a separate device where you put the water?
spoiler 4y ago
I had a similar issue of always forcing myself to drink water, not liking it very much and ended up not drinking enough anyway. This lead me to have all sorts of "symptoms" (I was probably bordering being dehydrated). Then I bought a filter jug (Brita) and I love water now.
etrautmann 4y ago
I'm with you until the fluoride bit. Do you have any medical evidence to suggest there's any issue with fluoride? Also why Berkey? They're extraordinarily expensive relative to alternatives, primarily for aesthetic gain.
- snapcaster 4y ago
  I don't know why everyone just accepts uncritically the water fluoridation stuff. It seems like as a culture we're re-examining so many things we incorrectly thought was "safe" but water fluoridation seems to still be a "sacred cow". I'm guessing it's hangover from Birch Society people being against it, but seems weird to just assume it's fine (especially when looking into the somewhat shady origins of the program)
  - KoftaBob 4y ago
    1. Is it actually "accepted uncritically", or has there just been no meaningful evidence that the risks of water fluoridation outweigh the benefits? If there has been quality research showing the risks outweigh the benefits, care to share? 2. What are the shady origins of the program?
  - Spivak 4y ago
    What shady origins? It was done because because of the horrible state of dental health in the US. "To join the armed services, men had to have six opposing teeth in their upper and lower jaws; in 1941, almost 10% of recruits were rejected for this reason alone" Like it doesn't even matter if army recruits is a skewed sample, young men not having 6 pairs of teeth that touch is insane. "In the early 1950s, two public health researchers stated that on average young men between the ages of 20 and 35 years had already lost an average of 4.2 teeth and that 90% of them were in need of bridges or full or partial dentures." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504307/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504307/ The authoritative source of water fluoridation is https://www.york.ac.uk/media/crd/crdreport18.pdf https://www.york.ac.uk/media/crd/crdreport18.pdf which, broadly concludes that there isn't any strong evidence of harm.
pvaldes 4y ago
Some worrying Orthorexia vibes in your post. Could mean nothing, but keep an eye on them. Distilled water is not good to drink. It dehydrates the body, so you could feel the need to drink more. Being devoid of salts can cause also an entire set of undesirable problems if you are pregnant and drink it for too long. The concept of osmosis is very important in biology and disrupt it can cause undesirable effects. Of course context matters. Heavily filtered water is better than drinking biologically contaminated stuff or water with heavy metals but at long term will hit you.
- nugget 4y ago
  Your reference to orthorexia is extreme. There's nothing in the parent comment that would take my mind there. It's true that relatively few people realize how polluted drinking water has become - lead and other metals, PFAS, plastic particles - take your pick. I have a hard time understanding why any knowledgable person who can afford to do so wouldn't filter all or almost all of the water that they drink and cook with at home. OP also didn't mention distillation as a filtration method. A reverse osmosis filter with a remineralization stage is vastly more popular and a no brainer to install in any kitchen. If you do drink distilled water then you can supplement with an extra pinch or two per day of salt and minerals in your food and you will be fine. Orthorexia and OCD tendencies are real and destructive but I'd be equally wary of normalizing the oftentimes highly toxic exposure of modern life to the point where anybody who express tangible concerns and takes meaningful countermeasures is pointed to as a potential basket case.
- Dove 4y ago
  I appreciate the concern! I actually salinate and mineralize my own water, and agree that it's a necessity. I don't trust the pipes to keep my water clean, and I don't trust the local rocks to mineralize it properly either. I agree this take is unusual, but I don't think it's paranoid. On the contrary, I think it's realistic. Lots of pipes and rocks have documented problems. Is it Orthorexia to worry about tap water? At least in my case, I don't think so. I'm a very unusual case in a lot of ways, but I'm very sure what I am doing helps me. Looking at broader society? I mean, I know we as a society have problems with chronic and widespread dehydration. I know relentless messaging to people to drink more water doesn't seem to help. I know in my case, the problem certainly wasn't in the motivation, but in the filtering. Maybe I'm weird, but wondering if this is more widespread doesn't seem like an unnatural guess to make, particularly when it comes to a water-heavy activity like nursing. None of this seems paranoid to me. Eccentric, sure, inconvenient, sure, unpopular, sure. But if this is all crazy, I don't see how.
artificialLimbs 4y ago
We moved to a place with excellent well water a few years ago. When I drink water in a restaurant now... well, I don't. 99% of the water I've tried in restaurants tastes disgusting.
jelliclesfarm 4y ago
Diet and water intake is very important for new mothers. Soupy foods with less fiber and that are easily digestible also make a big difference. I am going to look up the Flouride part. Thanks for sharing.
DevopsQuestions 4y ago
Stop using the white filters, they leech aluminum into the water.
water-your-self 4y ago
Out of curiosity, what municipality do you live/ where does your tap water come from?
blahblah1234567 4y ago
On the topic of Water Filters, I recommend ClearlyFiltered-- https://www.clearlyfiltered.com/pages/technology https://www.clearlyfiltered.com/pages/technology I bought mine because I saw it filters both Fluoride and Chlorine, as well as approximately 360+ other chemicals
- Dove 4y ago
  Oh yeah, thanks! I have one of those I was going to try out for travel, and never got around to giving it a serious test.

by Dove 4y ago

tbonesteaks 4y ago

Berkey for the win! It has been so useful for my family. During and after pregnancies. If you can get one, I highly recommend it.

boringg 4y ago

Can you attach those filters to a faucet or are you required to have a separate device where you put the water?

spoiler 4y ago

I had a similar issue of always forcing myself to drink water, not liking it very much and ended up not drinking enough anyway. This lead me to have all sorts of "symptoms" (I was probably bordering being dehydrated). Then I bought a filter jug (Brita) and I love water now.

etrautmann 4y ago

I'm with you until the fluoride bit. Do you have any medical evidence to suggest there's any issue with fluoride? Also why Berkey? They're extraordinarily expensive relative to alternatives, primarily for aesthetic gain.

snapcaster 4y ago
I don't know why everyone just accepts uncritically the water fluoridation stuff. It seems like as a culture we're re-examining so many things we incorrectly thought was "safe" but water fluoridation seems to still be a "sacred cow". I'm guessing it's hangover from Birch Society people being against it, but seems weird to just assume it's fine (especially when looking into the somewhat shady origins of the program)
- KoftaBob 4y ago
  1. Is it actually "accepted uncritically", or has there just been no meaningful evidence that the risks of water fluoridation outweigh the benefits? If there has been quality research showing the risks outweigh the benefits, care to share? 2. What are the shady origins of the program?
- Spivak 4y ago
  What shady origins? It was done because because of the horrible state of dental health in the US. "To join the armed services, men had to have six opposing teeth in their upper and lower jaws; in 1941, almost 10% of recruits were rejected for this reason alone" Like it doesn't even matter if army recruits is a skewed sample, young men not having 6 pairs of teeth that touch is insane. "In the early 1950s, two public health researchers stated that on average young men between the ages of 20 and 35 years had already lost an average of 4.2 teeth and that 90% of them were in need of bridges or full or partial dentures." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504307/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504307/ The authoritative source of water fluoridation is https://www.york.ac.uk/media/crd/crdreport18.pdf https://www.york.ac.uk/media/crd/crdreport18.pdf which, broadly concludes that there isn't any strong evidence of harm.

pvaldes 4y ago

Some worrying Orthorexia vibes in your post. Could mean nothing, but keep an eye on them. Distilled water is not good to drink. It dehydrates the body, so you could feel the need to drink more. Being devoid of salts can cause also an entire set of undesirable problems if you are pregnant and drink it for too long. The concept of osmosis is very important in biology and disrupt it can cause undesirable effects. Of course context matters. Heavily filtered water is better than drinking biologically contaminated stuff or water with heavy metals but at long term will hit you.

nugget 4y ago
Your reference to orthorexia is extreme. There's nothing in the parent comment that would take my mind there. It's true that relatively few people realize how polluted drinking water has become - lead and other metals, PFAS, plastic particles - take your pick. I have a hard time understanding why any knowledgable person who can afford to do so wouldn't filter all or almost all of the water that they drink and cook with at home. OP also didn't mention distillation as a filtration method. A reverse osmosis filter with a remineralization stage is vastly more popular and a no brainer to install in any kitchen. If you do drink distilled water then you can supplement with an extra pinch or two per day of salt and minerals in your food and you will be fine. Orthorexia and OCD tendencies are real and destructive but I'd be equally wary of normalizing the oftentimes highly toxic exposure of modern life to the point where anybody who express tangible concerns and takes meaningful countermeasures is pointed to as a potential basket case.
Dove 4y ago
I appreciate the concern! I actually salinate and mineralize my own water, and agree that it's a necessity. I don't trust the pipes to keep my water clean, and I don't trust the local rocks to mineralize it properly either. I agree this take is unusual, but I don't think it's paranoid. On the contrary, I think it's realistic. Lots of pipes and rocks have documented problems. Is it Orthorexia to worry about tap water? At least in my case, I don't think so. I'm a very unusual case in a lot of ways, but I'm very sure what I am doing helps me. Looking at broader society? I mean, I know we as a society have problems with chronic and widespread dehydration. I know relentless messaging to people to drink more water doesn't seem to help. I know in my case, the problem certainly wasn't in the motivation, but in the filtering. Maybe I'm weird, but wondering if this is more widespread doesn't seem like an unnatural guess to make, particularly when it comes to a water-heavy activity like nursing. None of this seems paranoid to me. Eccentric, sure, inconvenient, sure, unpopular, sure. But if this is all crazy, I don't see how.

artificialLimbs 4y ago

We moved to a place with excellent well water a few years ago. When I drink water in a restaurant now... well, I don't. 99% of the water I've tried in restaurants tastes disgusting.

jelliclesfarm 4y ago

Diet and water intake is very important for new mothers. Soupy foods with less fiber and that are easily digestible also make a big difference. I am going to look up the Flouride part. Thanks for sharing.

DevopsQuestions 4y ago

Stop using the white filters, they leech aluminum into the water.

water-your-self 4y ago

Out of curiosity, what municipality do you live/ where does your tap water come from?

blahblah1234567 4y ago

On the topic of Water Filters, I recommend ClearlyFiltered-- https://www.clearlyfiltered.com/pages/technology https://www.clearlyfiltered.com/pages/technology I bought mine because I saw it filters both Fluoride and Chlorine, as well as approximately 360+ other chemicals

Dove 4y ago
Oh yeah, thanks! I have one of those I was going to try out for travel, and never got around to giving it a serious test.