What are Minerals?
Minerals are naturally occurring inorganic compounds that are essential for maintaining the overall health and well-being of living organisms. These compounds can be found in many different forms, including rocks, soils, and, most importantly, water. Having minerals in water is generally considered to be a good thing, as they provide a variety of health benefits when consumed in appropriate amounts. Minerals are essential for the basic functions of the human body to take place. They help to control bone growth, regulate fluids, normalize nerve and muscle functions, keep up metabolism, grow connective tissues, and so much more.
What are the Minerals Found In Drinking Water?
There are several common minerals that are considered to be beneficial when found in water, including:
- Calcium: Calcium is an essential mineral that plays a vital role in the development and maintenance of strong bones and teeth. It also helps to regulate muscle function and blood clotting.
- Magnesium: Magnesium is another important mineral that is essential for maintaining healthy bones and teeth. It also helps to regulate blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and muscle and nerve function.
- Potassium: Potassium is an essential mineral that helps to regulate fluid balance in the body, as well as maintaining healthy blood pressure and heart function.
- Sodium: Sodium is a mineral that helps to regulate fluid balance and blood pressure in the body. It is also essential for proper nerve and muscle function.
- Chloride: Chloride is a mineral that helps to maintain the body's acid-base balance and plays a role in the digestion of food.
- Fluoride: Fluoride is a mineral that helps to prevent tooth decay and promote healthy teeth and bones.
However, a big misconception is that we obtain enough of these beneficial minerals in bottled water or drinking water. While drinking water may be helpful in boosting beneficial mineral intake, in reality the main source of minerals is always from our food and diet. In order to receive enough minerals for our bodies, we would need to drink a full bathtub amount of water every day, which is not very reasonable. This is why it’s important not to rely solely on drinking water to supply you with vitamins and minerals, but to also make sure you are maintaining a nutritious diet.
Are There Harmful Minerals In Drinking Water?
Some minerals in the water can be harmful to human health, such as:
- Arsenic: Arsenic is a naturally occurring mineral that can be found in water, soil, and air. Long-term exposure to arsenic can lead to cancer, skin lesions, and other health problems.
- Lead: Lead is a toxic mineral that can be found in water, soil, and air. Long-term exposure to lead can lead to developmental problems in children, as well as kidney damage, high blood pressure, and other health problems in adults.
- Mercury: Mercury is a toxic mineral that can be found in water, soil, and air. Long-term exposure to mercury can lead to neurological damage, including tremors, memory loss, and numbness in the hands and feet.
Keep in mind that most minerals in tap water only contain inorganic minerals which can actually be detrimental to human health. Our bodies have a hard time processing inorganic minerals and what we cannot absorb may be stored in our tissues and organs and eventually become toxic to the body.
The primary culprits are calcium salts and over time they can cause gallstones, kidney stones, bone & joint calcification, arthritis, and hardening and blocking our arteries. Organ failure and cancer could also occur from long term exposure to certain types of toxic or radioactive minerals found in tap and natural spring water. Organic minerals that are abundant in food are much easier to absorb and preferred by our bodies because they do not contain toxic minerals.
Water Sources That are Rich In Beneficial Minerals
There are several sources of water that are rich in vital minerals, such as:
- Groundwater: Groundwater is water that is found underground and can be accessed through wells. This water is often rich in minerals, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
- Spring water: Spring water is water that is sourced from natural springs and is also rich in minerals, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
- Mineral water: Mineral water is water that is sourced from natural springs and is rich in minerals, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Do Water FIlters Affect Minerals In the Water?
Water filters are designed to remove impurities from water, such as bacteria, viruses, and chemicals. However, depending on the type of filter, some good minerals may also be removed. Therefore, it is important to check the specifications of the water filter to ensure that it does not remove beneficial minerals. Water filters are often necessary to ensure that the harmful minerals and contaminants don’t make their way into your home and body. To make up for the lack of beneficial minerals in the water that may come from using water filters, it’s important to make sure to include fruits, vegetables, and proteins that are rich in beneficial vitamins and minerals to your daily diet.
What can APEC Whole House Water Filters do For You?
Having minerals in water is generally considered to be a good thing, as they provide a variety of health benefits when consumed in appropriate amounts. However, some minerals found in water can be harmful to human health. Explore APEC’s expert quality whole house water filtration systems.
Iron – Plays an essential role in the production of the body’s white blood cells and immune system.
- Apricots, blackcurrants, figs, prunes, raisins, nuts
- Beans, lentils, eggs
- Broccoli, kale, peas, cabbage, spinach, watercress
- Lean red meat, liver, kidney
- Mackerel, oysters, sardines, tuna
- Wholegrain cereals and wholemeal bread
Magnesium – Helps regulate potassium and sodium which control your blood pressure. It also helps absorb and breakdown vitamins and minerals.
- Apricots, bananas, figs, prunes, raisins
- Brown rice, granary bread, wholemeal bread, whole-wheat pasta, nuts
- Green leafy vegetables, okra, parsnips, peas, sweet corn
- Lean meat, milk, yogurt
Zinc – An antioxidant and important for the maintenance of a healthy immune system.
- Brown rice and wholegrain breads
- Cheese
- Crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, sardines, duck, goose, kidney, lean red meat, turkey
Also watch out for the water products which claim that they can take out ALL of the bad contaminants and leave you only the good stuff (healthy minerals) in the water. There is no real purification method that can be selective and leave you only the "good" stuff. When filters leave you the "good" stuff, they actually leave you "most" of the stuff in the water. "Most of the stuff" meaning besides calcium and magnesium, they also leave magnesium, arsenic, chromium, perchlorate, heavy metals, radioactive materials, bacteria, viruses, and pharmaceutical drugs. These are all harmful contaminants that can cause illness, cancer or death. In this era of pollution where water contains much more disease-causing contaminants than beneficial minerals, it makes sense that the water we drink should be as pure and clean as possible.
So remember to eat healthily and enjoy a variety of vegetables and grains every day which will provide you with the beneficial organic minerals to stay healthy the natural way.