Distilled water can be harmful to your health. How much do you know about distilled water? We’ve outlined five reasons to stop drinking distilled water and explain why you should make the switch to drinking water that supports your health instead.
What is Distilled Water?
How Is Distilled Water Produced?
Top 5 Reasons to Never Drink Distilled Water
What is Distilled Water?
We’ve all heard of distilled water, but what is it and how is it produced?
Broadly speaking, distillation is the process of purifying a liquid substance. Assume you have a jug of water that contains toxic elements. You need to separate the water from the contaminants in order to make it safe to drink.
Distilled water is water that has undergone a filtration process. There are several methods of distillation, which share the same aim of separating the water from any impurities.
The water must be heated to boiling point, so that it becomes steam. The steam rises, and enters some form of condensing chamber, where the steam is cooled until it returns to liquid form again.
When the water changes from liquid to steam and rises, any impurities are left behind. The heat/evaporation/cooling/condensing process successfully separates the liquid from the contaminants. The result? Completely clean, contamination-free distilled water.
So what’s the problem? Why are there so many reasons never to drink distilled water?
The danger lies not in the process itself, but in the effect of the process on the liquid, which makes distilled water a dangerous beverage.
How Is Distilled Water Produced?
Distillation is a water purification process that involves boiling and cooling water.
Water has a low boiling point. When exposed to heat, it transforms into vapor; or steam, as we often refer to it.
The boiling water kills viruses and bacteria, and as the steam rises, the contaminants are left behind.
Steam distillation can remove chemical impurities and soften hard water by removing mineral deposits such as calcium and magnesium.
Here, we start to see the big problem. Distillation of water doesn’t just eliminate the bad stuff that you don’t want to drink – chemicals and other harmful substances. The rub is that distillation cannot differentiate between ‘bad’ and ‘good’ elements. It means that distillation also robs the water of essential minerals needed for a healthy body.
Top 5 Reasons to Never Drink Distilled Water
Why should you avoid drinking distilled water? These reasons may convince you:
1. Distilled Water is Acidic
Acidity and alkalinity are measured in pH values. The scale ranges between 1 and 14 (pH value of 7 is neutral). If a substance measures anywhere between 1 and 6.9 on the pH scale, it is acidic. A substance with a measurement between 7.1 and 14 is alkaline.
It is widely recognized that a slightly alkaline state is far healthier for the body. We should all be mindful of what we eat and drink, in order to encourage a slightly alkaline state – particularly as the modern diet tends to be highly acidic.
Distilled water has a pH of less than 7.0. In other words, it is acidic – primarily because immediately upon exposure to the air, distilled water will absorb the available carbon dioxide. The longer it is exposed to the air, the more carbon dioxide it will accumulate, and the more acidic the water becomes, with the potential to fall below 5.5 pH.
The distillation process is a thorough one. Because all minerals and ionic substances are removed, the water has no buffering capabilities (the ability to maintain stable alkalinity) and is considered molecularly unstable.
As the US Environmental Protection Agency says:
“Distilled water, being essentially mineral-free, is very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is in contact. Notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed, making the water acidic and even more aggressive.”
2. Dissolved Minerals Are Absent
The process of distillation removes all the beneficial electrolytes and trace minerals from distilled water, leaving it essentially neutral.
Remember, many nutrients found in water in small quantities are vital to human health, and mineral deficiencies can cause health problems over the long term.
Some common effects of mineral deficiency can include:
- Dehydration – ironic, but true. Electrolytes in water are vital for regulating the distribution of water in the body. Distilled water contains no electrolytes
- Magnesium deficient fatigue – lack of magnesium can also cause weakness, stiff joints and spasms.
- Headaches – calcium and magnesium deficiency can trigger headaches
- Muscle cramps – magnesium deficiency can lead to muscle cramping and tremors
3. Soft Drinks Are Made from Distilled Water
Soda is seriously bad news for health.
Terrifying facts swirl around the manufacture and consumption of soft drinks. They are a risk factor for obesity, osteoporosis, and diabetes and can also lead to high blood pressure.
A part of the reason is soft drinks use distilled water, which can sap the body of healthy minerals.
4. Acid Build Up & Lactic Acid Causes Aging and Disease
Aging is a natural biological process. No number of supplements or treatments can stop it. However, acid buildup can result in the natural aging process accelerating.
Lactic acid is a buildup of acid which then causes an imbalance of the body’s pH level. As we mentioned earlier, the human body’s ideal pH level is slightly alkaline as opposed to acidic.
According to medicalnewstoday.com: “free radicals are unstable atoms that can damage cells causing aging and illness.”
Acidity can create free radicals and disrupt the way the molecules in your cells work. Free radicals can damage mitochondria and even your DNA.
When you know how acidity works inside your body, it seems that distilled water is the perfect substance to speed up the process of harming and damaging healthy cells. Why would you want to drink something that does this?
5. Alkaline Water Is a Readily Available Substitute
Distilled water has its uses – primarily in a medical setting when absolutely pure water is required for vulnerable patients, and crucially – the deficiencies of the distilled water can be monitored and controlled. It’s also useful for sterilizing medical equipment.
However, drinking distilled water on a regular basis is not recommended.
The reality is that there is a far more beneficial alternative: alkaline water. Tyent alkaline water is bursting with bioavailable minerals and therapeutic molecular hydrogen to help support a healthy, strong body.
Tea & Coffee Made with Distilled Water? You’ll Wish You Hadn’t Bothered
There are clear risks associated with drinking distilled water. Your body needs water-borne minerals and to starve your body of them is counterintuitive.
Your health is everything – drink clean, safe, mineral-rich alkaline water and avoid the potentially harmful effects of drinking distilled water.
One final point – and it’s an important one. The taste of distilled water reflects everything about it. It tastes flat, featureless and – some say – metallic. The lack of natural minerals and healthful ionic substances renders the taste of distilled water into a bleak nothingness.
“Distilled water is too soft (low in minerals) and will brew into flat-tasting tea.”
The Spruce Eats
Tea and coffee made with distilled water will also taste flat. It’s the minerals that coax the nuanced flavors out of other substances.
“In the case of coffee water, pure doesn’t mean delicious. If you use distilled water to make coffee, it won’t taste the way it normally does. This is because the minerals in tap water contribute positively to the coffee flavor!”
Coffee Affection
Would You Drink Distilled Water?
With these facts, would you still drink distilled water, when there is a healthful, delicious alternative out there? We’d love you to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
If you are interested in antioxidant-rich alkaline water and all the health benefits it provides, visit the Tyent Water Ionizer Buyer’s Guide for more information.
Watch this video below and check out some surprising facts about distilled water!
This post was originally published on May 20, 2016, and has been updated in 2023 for quality and relevancy.
Distilled water doesn’t seem so great anymore… Thanks for raising awareness.
Hi, Cooper. We’re happy to help! There are much healthier alternatives to distilled water out there, like Tyent’s hydrogen-rich alkaline water. If you’d like to give it a try, contact our water ionizer experts at 855-893-6887.
Hi, so does your alkaline water come in plastic bottles?
Hi, Brody. We don’t package our alkaline water in bottles because that’s costly and dangerous for the environment and our health. Instead, our water ionizers are machines that you can install in your own home to purify and remineralize the tap water that you already have.
Hmmm this seems like marketing. I mean distilled water is available everywhere. So why change?
Hi, Franco. We understand why you’d feel that way. While we are aware that distilled water is the more readily available option, what we want to point out is that there is a much healthier kind of water that is a long-term investment for your health and pocket. That water is Tyent’s alkaline water. Unlike regular distilled water, our water ionizers are able to filter over 200 contaminants in our tap water system and fill the produced water with antioxidants and minerals, including molecular hydrogen, which is one of the smallest and most powerful antioxidants on the planet.
If you’d like to know more about our machines and water, we’d love to talk to you! Give us a call at 855-893-6887 to get in touch with any of our water ionizer experts.
This is promotion, equivalent to the unreferenced info throughout this article. I suggest readers to do more research about this topic.
Hi, Nina. We understand your sentiments about us trying to sell our alkaline water. However, our article is based on research and studies from a multitude of very reputable sources, such as this 2016 study on the effects of demineralized water and this 2014 article on demineralization. What we want to point out in this article are the harmful health effects of relying on distilled water so our readers know what to avoid. It’s true that you get most of your essential minerals and nutrients from food. However, the good kind of water helps supplement those while hydrating your body. Since distilled water is lacking in mineral content, it won’t replenish minerals that you lose after sweating. Distilled water is thus especially dangerous to rely on if it’s the only kind of liquid you’re drinking, which is why it’s not a good choice for a water fast.
Even WHO advises against drinking distilled or demineralized water. The organization emphasized that the modern human diet may not be enough to give us all of the minerals and nutrients that we need, which is why it’s beneficial to drink mineral-rich water so that we can easily absorb these minerals. Distilled water could also mess with water distribution in your body and thus “may compromise the function of vital organs.” Additionally, you are putting yourself at risk of consuming toxic metals as this aggressive water more readily dissolves those in the places it’s stored in and passes through (ex. pipes, tanks).
If you’d like, we would be happy to talk to you about this over the phone. Please give our water experts a call at 855-893-6887.
Add a pinch of pink himalayan salt to distilled water and you have all the correct minerals in a balanced format and none of the toxins in tap water.
Hi, Michael. Thanks for the comment. Adding Himalayan salt might be a temporary solution to cleanse your bottled water and fill it with essential minerals that distillation gets rid of. However, too much salt isn’t good for our bodies. Ingesting too much salt, even Himalayan salt, can lead to illnesses. It’s better and more cost-effective to switch to drinking alkaline water, especially Tyent’s. Our water ionizers not only fill your drinking source with the essential minerals that distilled water lacks, but they also produce molecular hydrogen, the most powerful antioxidant on the planet.
A pinch of salt in a gallon will not cause health affects. While drinking too much water can lead to illnesses, in fact it can kill. One can also buy mineral drops if they fear salt.
STEAM distillation removes toxic fluoride from the water. That is all the reason I need to drink distilled water, made with my own distiller at pennies a bottle..
Hi, Nod. Thanks for your comment. We want to point out the harmful health effects of relying on distilled water so our readers know what to avoid. All water should be consumed in moderation, which is why we advise our customers to drink six to eight glasses of alkaline water per day. Mineral-rich water supplements the health benefits you get from a balanced diet while hydrating your body. Since distilled water is lacking in mineral content, it won’t replenish minerals that you lose after sweating. Distilled water is thus especially dangerous to rely on if it’s the only kind of liquid you’re drinking, which is why it’s not a good choice for a water fast.
Even WHO advises against drinking distilled or demineralized water due to its low or nonexistent mineral content. Distilled water could also mess with water distribution in your body and thus “may compromise the function of vital organs.” Additionally, you are putting yourself at risk of consuming toxic metals as this aggressive water more readily dissolves those in the places it’s stored in and passes through (ex. pipes, tanks).
Our alkaline water also helps you remove plastic bottle waste, as you won’t need to buy multiple bottles of water just to get a healthy drinking source. It’s a far more eco-friendly choice.
At Tyent, our water ionizers bring you clean, mineral-rich, and hydrogen-filled alkaline water. We also have filters that can remove over 200 contaminants, including 99% of fluoride (with a specialty 2- or 4-bank pre-filter). If you have further questions, we’d be happy to talk over the phone. Please give one of our water experts a call at 855-893-6887.
Watch out! Tyent water can be very addicting! I can’t stop drinking it as it taste great and very refreshing! The best beverage you can possibly have! Makes me feel like a teenager again and I’m 67!!
Hi, Gary. This is wonderful! We’re so happy to know that our hydrogen-rich alkaline water helps keep you young and refreshed. We’d love for you to share a picture with us, and we can feature your testimonial on our testimonials page.
What a good article! Tap water or spring water only provides maybe 15% of minerals for the body, but they do provide chlorine and heavy metals which is very dangerous to the body. Distilled water helps detox’s your organs
Hi, Nicole. Thanks for the comment. While distilled water is readily available everywhere, it’s a terrible thing to drink because it has no beneficial minerals. We recommend our hydrogen-rich alkaline water instead, which boosts your body’s immunity, energy levels, and overall hydration.
You can learn more about Tyent water by calling us at 855-893-6887 so that our water ionizer experts walk you through the benefits of drinking our water.
What a shock! Someone selling mineralized water says distilled water is “dangerous”. Been drinking it for 30 years and immediately get dehydrated if I drink water loaded with worthless minerals that the body cannot absorb from water. The body digests minerals from food (fruits & vegetables) not from water. Water is used to hydrate and detoxify. You should be ashamed for this bogus, non-scientific junk article.
Hi, Jonny. Thanks for your comment. We want to point out the harmful health effects of relying on distilled water so our readers know what to avoid. It’s true that you get most of your essential minerals and nutrients from food. However, the good kind of water helps supplement those while hydrating your body. Since distilled water is lacking in mineral content, it won’t replenish minerals that you lose after sweating. Distilled water is thus especially dangerous to rely on if it’s the only kind of liquid you’re drinking, which is why it’s not a good choice for a water fast.
Even WHO advises against drinking distilled or demineralized water. The organization emphasized that the modern human diet may not be enough to give us all of the minerals and nutrients that we need, which is why it’s beneficial to drink mineral-rich water so that we can easily absorb these minerals. Distilled water could also mess with water distribution in your body and thus “may compromise the function of vital organs.” Additionally, you are putting yourself at risk of consuming toxic metals as this aggressive water more readily dissolves those in the places it’s stored in and passes through (ex. pipes, tanks).
a pinch of Himalayan salt or a small bottle of mineralization drops debunks your story.
As to the WHO ? Who cares?
Hi, Nod. Adding Himalayan salt might be a temporary solution to cleanse your bottled water and fill it with essential minerals that distillation gets rid of. However, too much salt isn’t good for our bodies. Ingesting too much salt, even Himalayan salt, can lead to illnesses. The salt content that you consume will accumulate if you keep using Himalayan salt to remineralize each glass of water that you drink. It’s better and more cost-effective to switch to drinking alkaline water, especially Tyent’s. Our water ionizers not only fill your drinking source with the essential minerals that distilled water lacks, but they also produce molecular hydrogen, the most powerful antioxidant on the planet. Please check out the 1,000 studies on the benefits of molecular hydrogen.
Me too started a few days ago drinking reverse osmosis carbon-hepa filtered water (or distilled and carbon-filtered) which makes the water hungry for the inorganic mineral buildup in the body which the kidneys have trouble eliminating. I feel refreshed and healthy. I drink one-two glasses of distilled water per day, rest is just carbon-filtered water.
Hi, Fred. It’s good that you filter your water, but we want to point out that drinking distilled and RO water means that you’re consuming water that lacks essential minerals and antioxidants that your body needs to function well. Both methods get rid of the good and bad stuff in your source water, and they may not necessarily flush out the inorganic mineral content in your body either.
Plus, since distilled water is lacking in mineral content, it won’t replenish minerals that you lose after sweating. Distilled water is thus especially dangerous to rely on if it’s the only kind of liquid you’re drinking, which is why it’s not a good choice for a water fast.
Even WHO advises against drinking distilled or demineralized water due to its low or nonexistent mineral content. Distilled water could also mess with water distribution in your body and thus “may compromise the function of vital organs.” Additionally, you are putting yourself at risk of consuming toxic metals as this aggressive water more readily dissolves those in the places it’s stored in and passes through (ex. pipes, tanks).
On the other hand, hydrogen-rich ionized alkaline water from a Tyent water ionizer is full of essential minerals and antioxidants, like molecular hydrogen, to keep you energized and hydrated. Our ionizers get rid of over 200 contaminants from your water (check out this filter report for the full list). Tyent water also helps flush out toxins in your body and keeps your gut healthy and functional, keeps your gums and teeth healthy, and promotes good memory and concentration, among numerous great benefits.
Feel free to call our water experts at 855-893-6887 if you’d like to find out more!
You would have to drink a bathtub of water to get your mineral intake from water alone. Ridiculous reason not to drink pure water. Food works great, and add mineral supplementation to the water if you are paranoid. And baking soda adjusts the PH of distilled water just fine.
We drink distilled water, to get the chlorine out of the water, and most importantly to get the genotoxic, mutagenic, EPA designated class 4 developmental neuro toxin called fluoride out of the water.
Our kids are stupid enough with piss poor educations, without poisoning them stupid. As for the grown ups? keep drinking that fluoride, and soon enough you will have the dementia…
Hi, Nod. Thanks for your comment. You’re right when you say that fluoride – and any other contaminants – is not a good or healthy thing to have in your water. That’s why we offer a 4-bank filter that removes fluoride and Chromium-6.
If you want to deep clean your water and then ionize and remineralize it, instead of relying on distilled water, we recommend that you hook up a reverse osmosis machine to a Tyent water ionizer so that you get healthy antioxidants and minerals in your water. What you don’t want to do is take out all of the minerals in your water and then drink it because your body needs these minerals, and water is a big part of where your body gets these minerals from. You face that risk when you drink distilled water, which lacks mineral content. We get a lot of our minerals from our diet, but having a mineral-rich water source supplements the supply and absorption of these minerals. Also, owning a water ionizer more environmentally friendly since you won’t need to buy and recycle hundreds of plastic bottles. Plus, it’s better for your health in the long term.
If you still want to drink distilled water from a bottle, then you can ionize it by hooking up a FloJet. Ultimately, what your body really needs is clean and healthy water that’s filled with both essential minerals and antioxidants.
At Tyent, our water ionizers bring you clean, mineral-rich, and hydrogen-filled alkaline water. We also have other filters than can remove over 200 contaminants, including 99% of lead. If you have further questions, we’d be happy to talk over the phone. Please give one of our water experts a call at 855-893-6887.
A pinch of salt in a gallon of distilled water, will not cause me health problems. It isn\t too much. And as I said, there are also drops.
I use a pinch of salt in every gallon I drink. That is all I need. I get most of my minerals from food, as I have for the 30 years I have been drinking distilled water. I take no medicine, I am almost 60 years old with no health issues at all.
I use distilled water. And I have all the antioxidants I need.
Hi, Nod. It’s good that you have a water option that works for you and that you’re staying healthy. However, distilled water doesn’t let your body reach the optimum state of alkalinity since it has a neutral pH level. This could lead to headaches and even effects on organ function. Also, it’s true that the majority of our minerals come from the food that we eat, but drinking the right kind of mineral-rich water supplements the nutrients you get from your diet. Drinking mineral- and antioxidant-rich water is especially helpful when you’re not able to eat healthy food all the time.
If you want to continue drinking distilled water but are interested in ionizing it, you can look into hooking up your bottle to a FloJet. We want to emphasize the importance of drinking mineral- and antioxidant-rich water, which our water ionizers give you with no added equipment.
We would be happy to explain more about how the FloJet works and answer any other questions you may have over the phone, so please call us at 855-893-6887.
I recently purchased a water distiller and use it intermittently to detox. I have also purchased a Hydrogen Water Maker Machine, my question is can distilled water be put through the Hydrogen Water Maker and would this improve the PH level ??
Hi, Amigo. Thanks for your question. We’re glad that you’ve taken the steps to purify your own water at home. However, please note that distilled water isn’t the best kind of water to drink because it strips away all the essential minerals in your water along with the contaminants. This means that you’re left with water that has no mineral content, so your body has one less major source of nutrients (it gets the majority of those from your food).
Using a Hydrogen Water Maker will add extra hydrogen molecules to your distilled water but will not ionize it or make it alkaline, so the pH level will not necessarily increase. Plus, the hydrogen machine won’t add the minerals that were lost in the distillation process.
If you want the benefits of mineral-rich alkaline water that’s filled with molecular hydrogen, we recommend looking into getting a Tyent water ionizer instead. Our water ionizers remove over 200 contaminants from your tap water, ionize it, and fill it with essential minerals and molecular hydrogen to give you the healthiest water available. Plus, if you’re still interested in running distilled water through a machine to get alkalinity and molecular hydrogen, then we could provide you with re-mineralizing filters, and you can do that with a Tyent ionizer. Should you have any questions, our water experts would love to discuss the awesome features of our ionizers with you, so please give us a call at 855-893-6887.
Great, this article helped me a lot.
Hi, Su. We’re happy to hear that! If you want to know more about a healthier kind of water than distilled water, read up on hydrogen water. Tyent’s water ionizers produce hydrogen-rich alkaline water, which gives you essential minerals and antioxidants without the chemicals and contaminants from unfiltered tap water. Our water ionizer experts are happy to talk to you if you have more questions, so please call us at 855-893-6887.
If i cant distill my water il take the rain.
Hi, Martin. Drinking rainwater can be risky. While it’s generally clean, the water can become contaminated with pollutants and toxins as it falls to the ground or touches other organisms and objects in the environment. Plus, rainwater is acidic and low in minerals. You would still have to filter, purify, and remineralize rainwater if you want it to be completely safe for drinking.
On the other hand, Tyent’s hydrogen-rich alkaline water is filled with essential minerals and antioxidants (like molecular hydrogen, the smallest and most powerful antioxidant on the planet). Also, a Tyent water ionizer is connected to your tap water system at home, which makes it very convenient for you to use.
If you want to learn more about our hydrogen-rich ionized alkaline water, give us a call at 855-893-6887. Our water ionizer experts will be happy to discuss this with you.