• Ragdoll X@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Tap water tastes different from bottled water, and the bottled water from Brazil tastes different from the bottled water I had in Chile, which came from glaciers.

    And yeah it’s the minerals that give taste to the water, but I don’t think you’re supposed to drink completely distilled water in the first place.

    • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 months ago

      but I don’t think you’re supposed to drink completely distilled water in the first place.

      It’ll harm you a bit over time if you’re not getting those minerals elsewhere in your diet, but otherwise it’s not that big of a deal.

      I have some on hand for other stuff and I’ve drank it in a pinch when I didn’t have other water (my tap tastes horrid and purifiers that don’t cost shit tons of money don’t filter out the reason why) and I’m still hydrated as fuck

      Distilled water tastes empty, like the flavor is being removed from my mouth. Quite odd

      • felbane@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        The reason I’ve heard repeatedly is that distilled water isn’t just harmful because it doesn’t provide minerals, it’s that it strips needed minerals from your body.

        I don’t know the exact mechanism and can’t be bothered to look it up, but there was a WHO study years ago that reported this finding.

        • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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          7 months ago

          It’s because of osmotic pressure, the cells try to reach equilibrium with their environment so if the difference is too big then it leaks from one side to the other (in this case out of the cells which needs the minerals). It’s similar to how salt hurts snails but in the reverse direction, it seeps in when there’s so much more on the outside of its membranes.

          This doesn’t happen just from drinking one glass of water.

        • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          7 months ago

          Googled it before commenting to make sure I wasn’t forgetting something and that’s not really what happens.

          Common consensus is that you’re fine drinking it so long as you get the minerals you lose through sweat elsewhere in your diet

    • lad@programming.dev
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      7 months ago

      Reverse osmosis filters produce pretty much distilled water that usually goes through remineraliser to add back some minerals. Fun fact is many of those remineralisers are sold as “improving water taste and smell”, probably because they do improve taste and smell, but also not to make users too suspicious about adding back minerals after they just filtered the minerals out 😅

    • spicy pancake@lemmy.zip
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      7 months ago

      supposedly the only downside to drinking distilled water is lack of electrolytes and taste

      https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317698#risks

      I drink predominantly distilled water at home since I have a tabletop distiller. Makes custom mineral water easier to mix up since you’re starting from ~0 total dissolved solids. I’m often too lazy to add the minerals though, and the straight distilled water doesn’t cause any digestive discomfort or anything

      I have prescription fluoride toothpaste so I’m not too worried

    • Dojan@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      When I visited Massachusetts and tried tap water, I couldn’t even drink it because it tasted evil.