Water
I used to drink water all the time before starting Primal Diet. Then for Aajonus' recommendation I switched completely to milk and fruit. And drank water very very rearly. Now as I'm starting to doubt about the goodness of milk, I've started drinking water again.
And it's not that bad. My fellow savanger Geoff suggests drinking high pH waters. Min 8 pH. Tastes better. I have a half litre bottle in front of me, pH 7.3. And I bought some Scottish water from Tesco's today that claims it's pH is 7.8.
My pee looks much darker now. And my lips are often dry. But I had a nasty detox couple of days ago as well so it's too soon to conclude anything.
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An interesting survey I read about water (by Buckinghamshire County Council):
pH Values
The pH value is a measure of a solutions acidity or alkalinity, with a value of 7 being neutral – neither acidic or alkaline. Pure water is neutral and therefore has a pH value of 7 ( but carbon dioxide soon dissolves in the pure water making it more acidic ). Acidic solutions have a pH of less than 7, while alkaline solutions have a pH of greater than 7.
The proposed amendments to The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999, seek to increase the range of allowed pH values to :-
Minimum 4.5 pH
Maximum 9.5 pH
The potential problem here is that acidic drinks can damage teeth. This is a recognised problem for children who consume fizzy soft drinks, and are therefore encouraged to drink water instead. But what if they drink sparkling bottled waters which are themselves acidic?
The artificial carbonation of bottled waters can decrease the ph to levels of 4.5 or lower. While helping to keep the water bacteriologically pure, it does make the water aggressive and can lead to problems such as leaching of minerals from teeth if drunk regularly. Drinking water with low pH levels could therefore cause concern for Dentists.
Natural Mineral Water (NMW) is a statutory name for a specific type of water. A NMW must be officially recognised through a local authority after a qualifying period of two years, during which time it is repeatedly analysed. It must also be registered with the Food Standards Agency. It must come from a specified ground water source which is protected from all kinds of pollution. The water may not be treated in any way to alter its original chemical and microbiological composition. In addition NMWs must provide certain information on their labels such as a statement of the analytical composition, which is required to indicate the characteristic constituents of the water. There is, therefore no control over which mineral levels are labelled – so long as they are characteristic of the water. As of November 2004 there were 98 recognised Natural Mineral Waters from the UK.
Spring Water is a statutory name for water which comes from a single non-polluted ground water source. Unlike NMW there is no formal recognition process required although it must still be registered with the local authority. Many NMWs begin their lives as Spring Waters trading as such during the two year testing period. Unlike NMWs, Spring Waters may undergo permitted treatments but like NMWs must meet microbiological criteria.
Tap Water is treated in order to remove bacterial and algal colonies living in the water. Public Analyst doesn’t find “bugs” in tap water unless there is a local problem with storage on site.
