Water, Water, Water, and more water… Our Life Source! - PART 2

Tap Water

Tap water is an absolute disaster for health and fertility. In recent years, media reports have raised concerns about reproductive health and possible pregnancy risks from the by-products of chlorinated drinking water. Chlorine is added to drinking water to kill disease-causing microbes. However, when chlorine combines with other materials in water (often added to balance its pH), it forms chloroform and related chemicals called trihalomethanes. Certainly not something you should be drinking even in minimal quantities—would you willingly drink poison? Tap water can also become contaminated with fluoride, pesticides, lead, copper, PCBs (plastics) from pipes or other poisonous substances such as heavy metals. These substances have all been shown to be toxic and carcinogenic, and inextricably linked to thyroid function problems, infertility, miscarriages, embryonic malformations and abnormalities, behavioural and developmental problems in children, and much more. Toxic chemicals and industry by-products found in tap water make it dangerous for human consumption, unless filtered by a good quality purifier. So do not be fooled by claims that tap water is good for you, or that it makes children grow big and strong, whilst protecting their teeth! Absurd. It does no such things—it does however decrease your health, vitality and chances of having a healthy baby.

It is essential that you NEVER, ever, ever, ever (EVER) drink hot water from the tap, or use it for cooking or making tea and so on. The heat helps to leach extra toxins from pipes into the water (no matter of kind of pipe you have) and increases the volatility of chemicals that disrupt hormone balance. This makes hot tap water even more toxic than, normal temperature tap water, which is already toxic enough!

The message is loud and clear—DO NOT, under any circumstances, drink, make tea, cook or wash your foods in tap water—hot or cold. Always use filtered water for anything you are going to be ingesting. A shower filter is also desirable as hot showers open pores, which enables increased absorption of toxins through the skin.

Filtered Water… The Many Options Available.

You must have a good quality water filter for drinking, washing fruits and vegetables, cooking, and making tea, etc. Whether you choose a bench top or under sink option depends on your circumstances but you will need a filtration system allowing particles no larger than 1 micron to pass through. Nowadays some systems are as fine as 0.1 micron.

It’s important to know some cheaper ‘filter’ jugs and systems, especially some purchased from supermarkets and department stores, simply do not do the job to the level required for safeguarding your health and maximising your fertility. The number of harmful chemicals they leave in the water is infinitely greater than the number they filter out. Price dictates quality—don’t save money on a cheap water filter that will damage your health in the process.

On the other hand, a reverse osmosis system, which completely de-mineralises the water is overkill, and may even be unhealthy. De-mineralised water is not a natural occurrence. In nature, all fresh water contains traces of natural minerals like calcium‚ magnesium and potassium. There are several very credible studies that stress the current opinion that long term consumption of de-mineralised water can in fact be dangerous, resulting in the development of mineral deficiencies and increased acidity in the body, which forces minerals to come out of our bones and teeth as a system buffer. In addition, reverse osmosis or distillation processes do not filter synthetic chemicals out of the water. Therefore a more balanced solution to water filtration is ideal.

Water filters of all types require proper maintenance and it is very important to replace filter cartridges when, or even before, the manufacturer specifies. Failure to do this means you will be consuming an extra load of dangerous toxins, chemical and heavy metals.

Ultimately, you need to make sure the water filter you have or choose to purchase makes it easy for you to use filtered water for washing your fruits and vegetables as well as cooking. Finally, be aware that boiling unfiltered water does not make it any safer for drinking, cooking or even for making tea. Boiling does nothing more than kill bacteria and concentrate other toxins present in the water. So, if you want peace of mind and superior health, invest in a good quality water filter immediately. This is one of the most important things you can do to boost your fertility and safeguard the health of your family.

Water Tanks & Ground (Well) Water

Water tanks are a great idea and it makes sense to use their water for general cleaning and sewerage purposes. However, chemical pollution travels far via cloud formation, and is released in rain—straight into water tanks. In addition, the material used to make the tank can leach into the water causing toxicity concerns for general health and fertility.

Groundwater can be heavily contaminated by naturally occurring sources of pollution including toxic heavy metals, radioactive elements (including uranium and radium), nitrates, and micro-organisms such as viruses and bacteria. There are also dangers from human activities such as farming—leading to contamination from pesticides and fertilisers—and contamination from landfills, mining, septic tanks, industrial by-products, wastes and more.

The answer is to fit a proper water filter at the point at which water enters the house (or on any drinking tap)—no matter where your water supply is coming from. This is the best way to safeguard your health and fertility because it is almost impossible to know which naturally occurring or man-made toxins are entering your water supply.

Bottled Water

At the very least, consume bottled water. It is often not ideal because many spring locations are becoming polluted and unless you get every water bottle tested before use, there is no real way of knowing (across different brands and company cultures) which are good and which are not. But it’s better than tap water (unless that is what is being sold!).

However, bottled water is generally sold in plastic containers and bottles, which means toxic compounds (particularly PCBs, other synthetic chemicals and by-products of industry) are entering your body along with the water. This can be very damaging to your fertility and hormonal balance due to the stimulation of oestrogen dominance, which is linked to conditions such as endometriosis, fibroids, cancers, poor sperm health, male infertility and more.

In instances where the option is tap water and/or unfiltered tank water or bottled water, the latter would of course be your best choice. However, equipping your home and work with the right kind of water is ideal. You may find that you will need to take filtered water from home to work in a glass bottle as many work places have plastic bottle water coolers, inappropriate filtration systems or, worse still, no water filters at all. Remember, it is not good enough to be drinking water only before you go to work or after you get home—your cells will be constantly dehydrated, which inhibits their optimum functioning and at some point have a negative impact on your health and fertility.

Article extracted from ‘Eat Your Way To Parenthood: The Diet Secrets of Highly Fertile Couples Revealed’ by Gabriela Rosa (GoKo Publishing 2008). Available from Amazon.com and www.boostyourfertilitynow.com