You may wonder if there are any health benefits from drinking mineral water… The answer is yes there are, but there are also some myths and marketing hypes around this subject.
What is mineral water?
You may know by now that water is the best solvent in nature – if not, read more about this in the “Special Properties of Water“. As it comes from underground, water dissolves various types and amounts of minerals, such as calcium, sulfur and magnesium. We can classify the mineral water in two big categories:
- Water with low mineral content – also called spring water. This is ideal for the daily consumption
- Water with high mineral content – also called “mineral water”. This water contains more than 250 parts per million total dissolved solids, and it’s good for medical treatments.
Myths about the drinking mineral water benefits
There is lot of folklore, and misleading content over internet about the benefits of drinking mineral water.
- “Our body absorbs better the minerals from the water than from food.” – FALSE.
– Our body can only absorb organically processed minerals, which come from our food.
– From water we can barely absorb about 1% of minerals - If we intake too much minerals from water for a long time we can end up with kidney problems and other health issues
* The reverse is also true: Drinking demineralized water can also have severe health effects on us. Our body needs electrolytes in order to function. - “Mineral water detoxify our body” – FALSE.
– Simple plain water helps the body with it’s natural healing process, by flushing out toxins.
Mineral water benefits our body in various ways for medicinal purposes
While your daily drinking water should not be highly mineralized, the medical type of water can be the best choice in successfully healing certain ailments. Water that comes natural mineral springs is often used in spa centers all over the world for drinking bathing and inhaling.
In medical centers mineral springs are often recommended to treat a lot of disorders, including problems with the stomach and small intestine such as gastroenteritis, ulcers and constipation. They have been real “Healing Springs” from historic times
Hi Kate, thank you for asking. Some mineral waters can help in gastrointestinal conditions but only when recommended by a health specialist, and generally from the source. Please ask your doctor before buying anything.
I loved how you mentioned that spring water is recommended for people with stomach issues. My daughter was recently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and we were wondering what would best for her daughter. We’ll have to look into buying spring water for her.