Now that bottled water has surpassed soda as the most popular drink, bottled water producers are looking for ways to increase the prices people will pay for it. The most common way is to add something to the water so the seller can claim it has some type of superpower.
The truth is, “plain” water already has superpowers…it is life-sustaining to us and refreshing.
Nevertheless, bottled water producers are adding a number of vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes to water. They then try to outcompete each other on which hydrates you faster and better, which has the most minerals, and which can make you run faster and jump higher.
The truth is that bottled water companies add things to the water for the following reasons:
- Taste and Flavor Enhancement: Minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium enhance the taste of water, making it more appealing to consumers. Water with a certain mineral content has a more refreshing and pleasant flavor compared to completely demineralized water, which tastes flat or unappealing to some people.
- Nutritional Value: Some minerals are essential for human health. Bottlers may add minerals and then claim that their water is a source of these nutrients. For example, calcium and magnesium are important minerals for bone health and overall well-being. By fortifying water with these minerals, bottlers can offer a more health-conscious product.
- Balance and pH Control: Adding minerals can help maintain the pH balance of the water. Water that is too acidic or alkaline does not taste good and could have a corrosive effect on packaging materials. By adjusting the mineral content, bottlers can achieve the desired pH level for their product.
- Brand Consistency: Bottled water brands often aim for consistency in taste and quality across different batches and sources. Adding specific minerals help achieve this consistency, ensuring that consumers recognize and trust the product’s taste and quality.
Let’s focus on #2: The nutritional value of the minerals added to bottled water. We all want to improve our health, so we make sure to get the vitamins and minerals we need. Bottled water producers feed on this desire by adding minerals and claiming that their products are healthy. But are they?
One of the answers to this question rests on the difference between organic minerals, found naturally in water but removed by the reverse osmosis process, and inorganic minerals, which the bottled water producers add back into the water after filtering.
What are Organic Minerals?
You may ask yourself, “How can a mineral be organic?” In this context, when we refer to a mineral as organic it is because the specific element (mineral) is bonded to a carbon atom. Carbon is also an organic element, and all living creatures are carbon-based lifeforms.
We do know that our bodies are composed of 70% water, our mineral sources in nature have always been water-based and sourced from the water we drink and the food that we eat. Organic minerals were once or are still alive, and their electrons (like those in a human body) spin in a clockwise direction. The cells in an organic mineral form ionic bonds with the body, and our bodies break them down to assist in bodily functions, including tissue repair.
What are Inorganic Minerals?
An “inorganic mineral” is a material that was never alive; it is not bonded with carbon, and it could never bring life to a cell. Our bodies treat inorganic minerals as if they are a toxin. An inorganic mineral is tightly wound, and it cannot easily break down to assist the body. The electrons in this material spin in a counterclockwise.
Humans and animals cannot use inorganic minerals.
The Dangers of Inorganic Minerals
Inorganic minerals and chemicals harm us because our body cannot absorb them as a source of nutrition in our cells like organic minerals. But, these unusable materials have to go somewhere, so they get deposited elsewhere in our bodies. Inorganic mineral deposits cause a variety of health-related issues depending on where they end up, including but not limited to clogged arteries, arthritis, gallstones, kidney-related issues, and joint pains. A common inorganic mineral added to bottled water producers is lime or calcium carbonate… the same material found in cement. People that ingest large quantities of calcium carbonate suffer from disfigured hands and fingers that are extremely painful.
An expert in this field, Dr. Norman W. Walker, wrote a book on this subject. Dr. Walker discovered that a person drinking one (1) liter of water each day over a seventy-year period would ingest 90-136 kg of rock, which would include materials, such as magnesium and lime, that a human body simply cannot use. A great deal of this inorganic mineral material would be eliminated via excretory means, but some would still remain, and they could be a source of some of the health problems we mentioned earlier.
So, do you really want inorganic materials in your drinking water?
The Amount of Minerals Added to Water are Insignificant.
One bottled water company that touts the health benefits of its minerals adds the following to 8 ounces of its water:
2.5 mg of potassium = to the potassium in 1/500 of a banana;
2.5 mg of calcium = to the amount in a few drops of milk
3.75 mg of magnesium = to the amount in 7 or so pumpkin seeds
It would not matter even if the bottled water produced increased the amounts because everything added by them are inorganic minerals and not useful to the body.
So, what is Our Best Source for Useful Minerals?
A healthy, diverse diet is the best source of vitamins and minerals. We should also avoid things like bottled water with added inorganic minerals, which have little to no beneficial mineral and nutrient content.
