Yesterday, it was no food-no water fasting for Somavati Amavasya. And by God’t grace, my RO water purifier broke down. My husband called the company for repairs. Meanwhile, we started boiling water for the daily drinking and cooking use.
At night, after breaking the fast, I drank the boiled water and it tasted so mild and sweet, much better than the normal RO water. The main difference was that water had some taste. RO purification method is an artificial method of water purification and as usual, it has some side effects.
Health Problems with RO Purified Water
- RO water is devoid of almost everything. It contains no bad bacteria, but the RO system also removes the good bacteria present in the water.
- Besides, RO system makes water completely de-mineralized. It removes essential trace metals like Mg, Ca etc from the water. Drinking such water for a long time can bring deficiency of many important trace minerals in the body.
- Lack of these important minerals in the body can lead to muscle cramps, head ache, and tiredness. Not only this, it may lead to cardiac disorders, kidney problems, hormonal imbalance, degenerative disorders, low bone mineral density, low birth weight and many more.
- Besides, metal ions present in the water like MG, or Ca make it alkaline water. This alkaline water is more hydrating to the body and prevents acidic internal environment. However, RO system eliminates this natural advantage of water.
You can find more scientific evidence here https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutrientschap12.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223198/
So, what should we do? buy some other technology for water purification. However, I believe is that simple boiled water is the best for our consumption. According to Ayurveda, boiled water is laghu or easy to digest, probably because body has to spend less time to kill the microbes present in it. But at the same time it also retains all its important minerals.
Also, I have been adding pieces of alum and khus to my drinking water and it makes a lot of difference to the taste, fragrance and overall health effects of the water.
Besides, let’s put a mantra machine near the water :), it might bring incredible results, better than any high end technology.
I suggest that you also look at the water purification system that you are using at home and swap it with plain boiled water, esp if you are suffering from any of the disorders mentioned above.