Poll of the Day > Is it safe to drink distilled water

(+) Yeah! (+)

Its all I could find on the shelf. Many say it washes out nutrients. What say you?

no, you will probably die.

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hungrymike posted...

Its all I could find on the shelf.

As opposed to what? Are there actually jerkasses selling tap water?

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Its perfectly safe but lacks minerals your body needs.

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It has no salt or electrolytes like other drinks would have, so it could lower your electrolyte levels, most importantly salt, iron, and potassium

Should be just fine for a while, maybe just consume a bit more salt and veggies.

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Lokarin posted...

Are there actually jerkasses selling tap water?

Uh, yes. Most bottled water is just filtered tap water.

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I thought that was its intended use.

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Distilled water is just water without the minerals. It may taste a bit different without them, but it is still perfectly safe.

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Tastes gross. Make Koolaid or something

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It's water that is too damn pure because there are no minerals in it, as people have mentioned already. It might hydrate you long enough for it to pass to your bladder, if that, but your body needs more than that, and thus will crave more water than you are giving it.

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There's nothing in it that will harm you, the problem is that there's nothing in it that will help you either. It's not that it washes out nutrients, it's that it doesn't have any itself. It's perfectly safe as a temporary alternative, but try to get something better if/when you can.

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Entity13 posted...

It's water that is too damn pure because there are no minerals in it, as people have mentioned already. It might hydrate you long enough for it to pass to your bladder, if that, but your body needs more than that, and thus will crave more water than you are giving it.

Pure water won't cause any harm. I think people forget they get minerals from their food as well. Or they could just take a multivitamin. Maybe lick a few rocks.

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Some people do drink it.

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y'all too sensitive to drink tap water?

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To make distilled water, you boil regular water to turn it into steam, leaving behind any impurities like minerals. The steam is then cooled so it condenses back into liquid water.

You would normally use distilled water for things that are sensitive to mineral buildup like steam irons, wet-cell lead-acid batteries, engine coolant, and humidifiers. You can drink it, though it may increase how often you have to urinate and may leach minerals the body and over time weaken your teeth and bones. You may also find that it tastes funny because the taste of water is due to the minerals dissolved in it.

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VeeVees posted...

Uh, yes. Most bottled water is just filtered tap water.

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In theory you can drink your own piss. I wouldn't recommend it though.

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It's safe, but it's pretty bland, even by water standards. The concerns about not having enough electrolytes in it are pretty minor; the vast majority of your electrolytes are usually going to be coming from food (otherwise different neighbourhoods would have different nutritional requirements to account for variations in water mineral content).

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We drink reverse osmosis water, which Im guessing it pretty similar to distilled in terms of dissolved solids content. I usually add some mineral drops to improve the flavor though.