Mineral water?

[boxcarguy07]

What are your thoughts on mineral water?
I know Tyler recommends it for beginners trying to get used to the taste of organs, but what about as a drink in general?
The past week I've been drinking a liter of mineral water per day...
Some places I've read say it's about as good as taking a mineral supplement, and others say the minerals are completely worthless.
Thoughts?

[TylerDurden]

All I can say re mineral-water is that tap-water and a raw animal food diet do not mix, in my own case. On the few occasions I  added in (London-) tapwater in the past, because I was too lazy to get mineral-water, my appetite and sense of taste would go down - and I'd have a (very slightly) lower sense of wellbeing/energy. This effect is less than it used to be, though. I don't drink mineral-water while on holiday as the tapwater is 99% of the time mineral-water from mountain-streams up above - it's just London that provides me with chlorinated tapwater that's been through c.8 other people's bladders by the time it reaches me.

I recommend alkaline mineral-water - the PH7.0 or below mineral-waters just don't have the right taste, and PH 7.2 to PH 8.4 is roughly what one would more commonly find in rivers and lakes. I would also strongly suggest that you buy them in 5-litre bottles(or whatever that is in gallons?), as that is a great way to cut down on costs. Here in the UK, 1.5 litres will cost c.89 pennies, while a 5-litre mineral-water bottle costs 1 pound and 49 pence.

*Thanks for reminding me re this topic, I'll include a mention re including mineral-water in one's diet if one's in an urban environment where they adulterate the water.*

[boxcarguy07]

Yeah, I never buy tap water. I buy spring water by the gallon.
I haven't seen mineral water in 5L bottles ever... you'd probably have to order those online, huh?

Do you recommend alkaline mineral water for taste reasons only? I just checked and the kinds I've been drinking are less than 7.0 pH. I think they taste fine, but is there another reason why alkaline would be better?

[TylerDurden]

Yeah, I never buy tap water. I buy spring water by the gallon.
I haven't seen mineral water in 5L bottles ever... you'd probably have to order those online, huh?

Do you recommend alkaline mineral water for taste reasons only? I just checked and the kinds I've been drinking are less than 7.0 pH. I think they taste fine, but is there another reason why alkaline would be better?

I gather that alkaline mineral-water is what we mostly get from mountain-streams and lakes which is what palaeo hunters would have drunk, most of the time.

Re 5-litre bottle:- No, I get them from any of 1,000s of corner shops around London. Even the supermarkets now stock 5-litre bottles of mineral-water in some cases(either that or they put 6 bottles of 1.5 littres together, wrapped in one plastic case, and sell the water at a discount).

[seesawsemiology]

could anyone give me any brand-names of alkalinic mineral waters?

[TylerDurden]

could anyone give me any brand-names of alkalinic mineral waters?

Go to this website:-http://www.mineralwaters.org/

and click upper left area on waters, list by country, check under "USA", and you'll find 183 brands listed. Only go for those mineral-waters from natural springs. Avoid the sparkling mineral-waters as well, as they cause digestive upset.

[seesawsemiology]

wow, awesome...thanks so much tyler!

[coconinoz]

wow, fabulous, yet another real eye opener & great learning experience

i'm sorry to be parochial, please excuse me

it would seem that not 100% of the forum members on this board have a british flag icon under their name
here in the us (please see the flag icon under my name) what in the uk appears to be referred to as "mineral water" is simple & plain bottled spring water
wow!
bottled spring water in the us is totally ubiquitous -- from the supermarket to the convenience store to the hair dresser... you name it: the water bottle is there; perhaps a multi-billion dollar industry

but, yes, not all bottled water in the us is spring water
yet plain spring water is pretty ubiquitous nevertheless in this country
moreover, in the us, bottled spring water comes in jugs of all sizes, including the 1 gal/4 liter & even larger

now for my personal anecdote:
~ i use crystal geiser (not calistoga), which is definitely alkaline, in a way that no mineral water sold in the us -- which "mineral water" in the us is always carbonated, naturally or otherwise -- is: it seems that all mineral waters sold in the us, regardless of source, have a ph below 7

~ since i kept reading on this forum that bolting + mineral water is the ideal eating style for all raw paleo eaters/devotees/experts/connoisseurs in the know, i, naive as i am, decided to give it a try
my result?
for the 1 entire month that i used it, the naturally carbonated, bottled at source in germany, high in magnesium, bottled in green glass, expensive mineral water i was drinking produced, in me, the following results:
bloating, belching, farting
please excuse my low-class language!

~ since all water bottled in the us for human drinking consumption is, by law, ozonated for years i've been structuring & mineralizing my bottled spring water by letting it sit at room temp inside a closed glass jar away from light sources with an added small amount to taste of the diluted version of a brine i make with celtic salt -- this is just my own whimsical concoction, of course (& that's my 'daily salt', which i only drink within 2 timeframes in the day)

[Satya]

Pelligrino, sparkling mineral water from Italy, sold in the US, registers pH 8 on sensitive incremental litmus paper, and is thus a slight base (or alkaline).  I just tested it.  I am glad, cuz it's some good stuff!

[boxcarguy07]

I like Gerolsteiner... I don't think it's alkaline, but it is low in fluoride and high in magnesium

[Satya]

I like Gerolsteiner... I don't think it's alkaline, but it is low in fluoride and high in magnesium

Me too.  test it and find out.  It is pretty similar to Pelligrino ime.

[seesawsemiology]

thanks to tylers link ive discovered a water called mountain valley spring water,it alkalitic tastes awesome and isnt carbonated...

[TylerDurden]

thanks to tylers link ive discovered a water called mountain valley spring water,it alkalitic tastes awesome and isnt carbonated...

Well, I did find it rather hard to believe that there was no non-carbonated mineral-water in the US.

[Satya]

Our tap water is very alkaline.  More than Pellegrino is!  It has a sediment filter from the water tank (we are on a well).  We soften it for showers, but have a valve to cut out the softener as desired (thanks to my handy DH).  Then we have a carbon block filter for under the sink.  We, filtered unsoftened water is the least basic.  DS did 4 different samples for each case.  I will post his results soon.  Vedy vedy interesting though.

[Nicola]

I just had the filter replaced on my alkaline water ionizer (every 9 months - 1 year) and now have EM's in my water as well; this means that I get effective microorganisms with every glace of water too!

I told the person who did it for me that most people believe in bottled water from natural springs and that this has a pH as mentioned on the bottle. He told me that by the time you drink that water it has been standing on the shelves or in some other storage place for quite a while and that the pH goes way down. On top of that the plastic bottle is not healthy on you or the environment and that some waters are more unnatural than tapwater!

All I would like to say is think and do what you feel is your best in the situation you are in - I am glad to have this little machine; it has helped me a lot and we don't all want/can/should eat fruit just because the body needs water!!!

Nicola

[TylerDurden]

Somehow I doubt that the PH value goes down if one leave bottled water out there for years. As for the whole plastic issue, only a few RPDers give that any credence.

[Raw Kyle]

I give the plastic issue plenty of credence. You can go and test for pthalates in the water yourself if you don't believe the already done studies. And also like Nicola said there is nothing worse for the environment as far as shipping is concerned than shipping water in plastic. Water is one of the heaviest things shipped in the entire economy and it's the one thing that most of all shouldn't have to be, and of course plastic is made of non-biodegradable petrochemicals which people rarely even recycle.

[TylerDurden]

I would agree that there are some microscopic amounts in mineral-water, but I just don't view them as being an issue. Besides, from what I've read elsewhere on the subject, the mineral-water bottles have to be left out for years before it becomes an issue re contamination.

As for the environmental issue, I agree that importing mineral-water from very far away, like Fiji, is a bad idea, but I'd much rather be drinking mineral-water from more local areas(in my case, Wales and Scotland) is far preferable to drinking the fluoridated/chlorinated London tapwater - though tapwater-quality when I go abroad is so good in certain areas that I can drink that, instead, fortunately.

There are a few 1-litre glass bottles of mineral-water , found here and there, but, needless to say, there are no glass-bottle equivalents of the 5-litre mineral-water (plastic) bottles that I normally get. It would be hellish for me to lug heavy glass bottles all over the place.

[Raw Kyle]

I think the best option is to filter your tap water. It's about 3,000 times cheaper than buying bottled water, better for the environment, and probably less contaminated. Even spring water can have pharmaceutical, pesticide and fertilizer residues. The only water that will not have chemical residues is mountain water from melting ice caps, but that doesn't have any iodine in it either.