Drinking pure H2O isn’t good for you. As far as I know it could even be deadly. But what if you had a pill with all the minerals usually dissolved in water and washed it down with a nice big glass of distilled water? Would it be more or less the same as drinking tap water? Or would you need more time to dissolve the minerals? What if you threw the pill into the H2O and stirred?
Or am I missing something entirely? I think someone on Lemmy even explained to me the other day what is so bad about distilled water. But I’m stupid today and forgot.
Ok, it’s a little less intuitive to come at it from the opposite direction, but it’s exactly the same argument: A liter of distilled water “sucks up” just 20mg more salt from the body than a liter of tap water. It “takes” that 20mg of salt from the 42 liters of water in the body.
The effect of the “physics based reasons” you are talking about is 20mg of salt from the entire body. Less than half a milligram of salt per liter of body fluids.
The normal range of serum sodium levels is about 15mg of salt per liter, or 30 times the difference caused by switching from tap to distilled.
In other words, this is an entirely theoretical risk that has zero practical effect on your neighbor’s hyponatremia.
Alrighty then. And I’ll trust what the WHO and Neil DeGrasse Tyson have to say on this topic as its within their field of expertise. The WHO are experts on health and Neil DeGrasse Tyson would be expected to have a better understanding of the physics of equilibrium compared to the average internet forumer.
A
snake oil salesman wouldmineral water salesman did have you fooled.You presented your neighbor’s hyponatremia as a result of drinking distilled water; the WHO did not mention hyponatremia being a risk of distilled water.
I have no idea what Tyson said on the subject. I suspect you’re citing him about as accurately as you cited WHO.
From page 152
“Regular intake of low-mineral content water could be associated with the progressive evolution of the changes discussed above, possibly without manifestation of symptoms or causal symptoms over the years. Nevertheless, severe acute damage, such as hyponatremic shock or delirium, may occur following intense physical efforts and ingestion of several litres of lowmineral water (10).”
“The “intoxication” risk increases with decreasing levels of TDS.” (Bolded for emphasis.)
TDS is an acronym for Total Dissolved Solids. In plain English, the purer the water, the higher the chances of developing water intoxication, also known as hyponatremia. Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s statements are in accordance to what the WHO said.
Bolded the relevant bit for emphasis. It’s the “several liters” part that damages your argument. You also conveniently omitted the very next sentence:
Turns out that ingesting “several liters” of just about anything is going to affect homeostasis faster than the kidneys can correct it.
Go ahead and quantify that risk. When you do the math, you’ll find that 1 liter of chemically pure water poses the same risk of hyponatremia as approximately 1.002 liters of tap water. Which makes the WHO statement technically true, but definitely misleading.
That’s likely true, but you’ve misrepresented WHO, so I’m assuming it likely you’ve misrepresented Tyson as well.
It is recommended by Mayo Clinic that men drink 3.7 litres of water a day and for women that recommendation is 2.7 litres per day, which constitutes “several litres”. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256#:~:text=About 15.5 cups (3.7%20liters,fluids%20a%20day%20for%20women
That isn’t my job and neither is it yours. If the WHO says that the risk of water intoxication is greater the purer the water is, then I’m inclined to believe that what they are saying is true, especially given that the topic in which those statements are said in concerns the health risks of drinking demineralized water. The additional risk is significant enough to warrant a mention. The difference between the percentage of H₂O of tap water and ultrapure water is very small and seemingly insignificant, and yet ultrapure water can do things that normal water cannot, such as dissolving metal. So I’m not sure I understand the notion that because there’s a tiny difference chemically, that would translate to a tiny difference in how the solvent behaves physically.
What did I misrepresent?
They also recommend 2300mg of sodium, maximum. The average American consumes 3400mg a day.
I’ve replaced too many galvanized pipes for you to tell me that tap water cannot dissolve metal.
We aren’t talking about galvanized pipes. We’re talking about distilled water in large amounts being bad for you. If you feel that what the WHO and Neil DeGrasse Tyson said is inaccurate or misleading, then I’m sure there are various ways to contact them and see what they have to say. There’s only so many ways I can explain things to people before it gets tiring. Have a good day.
You’re talking about a carbon steel wrench that rusted away on the bottom of a stainless steel tank due to Galvanic corrosion. It is an extremely common problem for submerged metals. It is usually mitigated by sacrificial zinc anodes, which are slowly dissolved byb the water, protecting submerged structural and mechanical conponents of boats, ships, pipelines, and structures.
The claim from that article is bogus. It was written by someone who does not understand what they are talking about, for an audience that doesn’t care.