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Break the bottled water habit?
By Dr. Jonathan Wright on 03/20/2012
Question: What's your stance on bottled water? Some people tell me I shouldn't drink it because the plastic bottles are poisonous. Others tell me I should steer clear of tap water because of fluoride and chlorine. What should I do?
Dr. Wright: Most municipal water supplies do contain fluoride and chlorine, which have both been implicated in numerous health concerns. So bottled water does seem like the wise alternative.
However, the plastic bottles holding that water often contain a substance called bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that mimics estrogen activity in both humans and animals. Bisphenol A is a potential carcinogen and may also increase your risk of Type II diabetes.
Unfortunately, avoiding it isn't as easy as boycotting bottled water: Bisphenol A is one of the 50 top-produced chemicals in the world. And in addition to being the building block of most plastic products, it's also one of the primary ingredients in the resins used to line over 100 billion different canned products.
Of course, Bisphenol A has been in the news lately--and people are finally starting to catch on to its dangers. But who knows how long it will be until it's wiped out from the supermarket shelves?
In the meantime, invest in a high-quality water filter that will eliminate the potentially harmful chemicals from your tap water (and make sure to use only filtered water to make ice cubes).
Related articles of interest:
The not so mysterious "mystery" of BPA exposure
BPA's brutal build up in the body
Are Toxic Chemicals on YOUR Menu Tonight?
Printer-friendly versionAbout the author
Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. has degrees from both Harvard University (cum laude) and the University of Michigan. More than any other doctor, he practically invented the modern science of applied nutritional biochemistry and he has advanced nutritional medicine for nearly three decades.
As of today, Dr. Wright has received over 35,000 patient visits at his now-famous Tahoma Clinic in Washington State.
To learn more about Dr. Wright, and to sign up for his free Health e-Tips eLetter, please visit www.wrightnewsletter.com.
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Comments
Alan8
A few comments...
All "bottled water" isn't the same; some is just TAP WATER from another city's water supply.
"Distilled water" is pure, and avoids the many contaminants of tap water.
The worst plastic for BPA is #7, which I've never seen with distilled water. It's mostly used to make rigid, clear plastics, and the distilled-water bottles I see are generally soft plastic.
Distilled water clears impurities out of your system faster than tap water, but it also clears out beneficial minerals, so it's good to take a multi-mineral supplement when drinking distilled water.
James Edward
It's good to take a multi-mineral supplement when drinking distilled water.
pand43
Buy a REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER FILTER which removes everything out including the minerals . Then take PINK HIMALAYAN SALT to replace 76 vital minerals .
Michelle1954
I drink distilled water all the time, I buy it in 2 1/2 gallon bottles.
Our water here is just awful. How harmful are the BPA s?
Theo
I paid for the Douglass Report more than one year ago (perhaps from the Douglass official site) because I wanted to find the way to remove easily the fluoride from my tap water. This easily-removing-fluoride-way should be inside the Douglass Report as the promotion of the Douglass Report had said so. Unfortunately after I received the Douglass Report I could not find it. Could somebody tell me where to find it? Or tell me the easily-removing-fluoride-way per se? (I want the easily-removing-fluoride-way which is advocated by Dr Douglass.)
Ms Mara Ponce de Leon
There is no danger in drinking bottled water unless the bottle had been frozen or exposed to intense heat. extreme temperatures cause the chemicals to leak out into the water.
Anonymous
Ms Mara you are living in a fool's world if you think that only intense heat and freezing temps cause chemicals in plastics to leak into the foods that are contained in them. Even the FDA is now willing to admit that there are concerns with BPAand provides some guidelines for parents of infants to help reduce their exposure. And they BANNED the use of the chemical in sippy cups and baby bottles. Seems they are convinced enough of the exposure dangers.
A study last year showed how BPA levels of those who ate canned soup were staggeringly high. And another study this year found a link between BPA in the urine of kids and obesity. That BPA found it's way into those kid's bodies through the foods and drink they consumed that were stored in BPA laced containers.
And this excerpt from a USA Today article sheds some important light: "The Endocrine Society, whose members include doctors who study the hormone system, said BPA and other chemicals in plastics pose a "significant concern for public health," possibly causing infertility, cancer and genital malformations. Scientists such as Hugh Taylor, of the Yale University School of Medicine, is concerned about BPA's ability to interfere with the hormone system, especially in the embryo and fetus. He's concerned that BPA could permanently rewire the way the body responds to hormones, making people more susceptible to cancer."
Yeah, fools world.
catheri123
Hi
In my opinion when we drink bottled water, it contains poisonous within the plastic bottle.That poisonous will lead to the cause of cancer.It is more danger situation .
Thanks.
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