Distilled Water and Its Effect on Mineral Intake
- Published:
- Updated: January 2, 2025
Summary
Distilled water, while exceptionally pure, lacks essential minerals due to the distillation process. This absence may impact daily mineral intake, crucial for bone health, nerve function, and heart health. In contrast, mineral water contains various minerals and contributes to hydration and nutrition. Maintaining a balanced diet rich in mineral-rich foods is essential when relying on distilled water. While distilled water offers purity, its long-term consumption may pose risks of mineral deficiency and pH imbalance. Choosing alternatives like mineral water, spring water, or filtered tap water can help maintain mineral intake and overall health.
We are all born with water – not because it’s thirst-quenching, but because it provides us with minerals. But not all waters are created equal. Distilled water is pure water. It’s made by distillation – boiling water to make steam, then distilling that steam into liquid. It removes the bacteria, viruses, and chemicals. But it also removes minerals from nature.
The result is water that is very pure, but without the mineral salts found in spring or mineral water. As purest as they get, in some cases that is a good thing, but take note of the nutrition impact.
The Mineral Content of Distilled Water
Distillation is meticulous in purifying it. But it works just as well at flushing minerals. These are minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium, common minerals that are present in fresh water sources.
They are important minerals for all kinds of body processes. For instance:
Calcium: The bone and nerves require calcium.
There are more than 300 enzymatic processes in the body involving magnesium, from the metabolism of food to the formation of fatty acids and proteins.
This potassium helps keep your heart healthy and your body well hydrated.
Distilled water is depleted of these minerals, so it does not count towards your daily mineral requirements.
Distilled Water vs. Mineral Water
Mineral water is not like distilled water. It comes from mineral springs and rock wells in the underground, and it is made of various minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and so on. They’re minerals, but they make the water nutritionally rich and tastey.
Purified water is loved for its purity; mineral water for its minerals. Whether or not to go for either can depend on your health needs, taste and hydration requirements.
Does Drinking Distilled Water Affect Your Mineral Intake?
Drinking distilled water doesn’t impact your mineral intake, since it has no minerals in it in the first place. But if you’re using it as your go-to hydration and aren’t making up for the mineral deficiencies elsewhere, your mineral intake could be skewed.
The important thing to remember is that water can make your daily mineral requirements, but a majority of our minerals require us to get from a varied diet that includes fruits, vegetables, grains and protein. Distilled water (or bottled water) shouldn’t be your first and only mineral source.
What is the Role of Diet in Mineral Intake?
Minerals come from food. The leafy greens, fruits, nuts, seeds, dairy foods, and lean meats are full of minerals. Even if you’d prefer distilled water, by eating a well-rounded, varied diet, you can be sure to get the right dosage of these essential nutrients.
For instance, if distilled water doesn’t have enough calcium in it, you can drink milk and cheese or broccoli and kale, which are calcium-rich foods. Magnesium – Eat more nuts, seeds, and whole grains. And potassium: bananas and oranges are wonderful sources.
Potential Health Implications of Drinking Distilled Water
It may also have some health risks if you consume distilled water frequently. And for one thing, because distilled water is so clean, you won’t accidentally drink contaminated bacteria, viruses, or chemicals in your water.
If you’re getting your minerals elsewhere, the alternative of only drinking distilled water to hydrate might be to create mineral deficiency. Distilled water, according to some research, could be detrimental to the body’s natural pH level because of mineral deficiency as well.
These aren’t health risks that come right away, however, and typically come into play only if distilled water is your main hydration option for the long haul. In life as in everything, moderation is key.
Using Distilled Water for Cooking
Cooking with distilled water is another place this comes into play. When you cook with distilled water, for example, and particularly when it is cooked by boiling or steaming, you don’t be imparting extra minerals to the food. This is unlike using mineral or spring water which may add some minerals to your dish.
But much like distilled water, using it to cook with won’t do much to help your total mineral count if you’re eating a balanced diet. All the minerals we consume come directly from food, not the water we cook with.
Alternatives to Distilled Water for Hydration
You don’t want to drink distilled water if you are concerned about minerals.There are a few other distilled water alternatives for hydration. Mineral water is the obvious answer because it naturally contains lots of minerals. You can also go with spring water which is more mineral-rich and less processed than mineral water.
A good tap water is safe as well, though it can still be minerals — and they can be quite large, so it depends on your municipal water supply. Other people prefer filter tap water as well which removes a lot of the dirt but retains minerals that can be healthy.
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