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It is quite possible that a few months ago I would have said that tap water was better than or at least as good as spring water. That would have been before I attended a seminar by a certified nutritionist/chiropractor who has studied this issue intensely. He verbally illustrated things that would never have occurred to me, and probably would not cross the minds of most people.

Our water purification plants do an excellant job of removing bacterial substances, algae and other fungi; however the process does not filter the medicines that pass through our bodies unabsorbed, hormones in particular. We are a people that thrive on medicinal drugs, and nutritional supplements as well as hormonal supplements. Often these are ingested but they are not digested or properly processed in our systems and anywhere from 50% to 80% passes right on through in the form of waste, headed straight from our sewer lines to our water purification plants.

At first this sounded far fetched to me, though I have many times heard doctors say that our bodies do not absorb everything we take medicinally, hormonally or in the form of nutritional supplements. Suddenly his message began to sound completely rational when he began asking when we last saw a seventeen year old boy with facial hair - or whether we have noticed the early development of young ladies these days, perhaps around ten or eleven years old. I began to think of youths that I know, including my own grandchildren. I recognized it to be fact. This, he pointed out, is the result of large amounts of estrogen in our tap water.

No one tests for this. We assume that if it has flouride (which is a whole separate issue) and doesn't have bacteria, it is safe and even healthy. We should also consider the chlorine that is used as a purification tool. Chlorine should not be ingested either. It destroys the good bacteria in the digestive system, resulting in multiple problems with digestion of the good things we swallow. No one intentionally drinks swimming pool water, yet the chemical makeup of our tap water is often dangerously close to the same thing.

He readily admits that not all bottled water is what it is purported to be. He recommends reading labels carefully, and getting any other information you can on the brand you want to purchase. Googling on the web often produces the information you need, especially if the water is a well-known brand.

I previously mentioned flouride, a mineral that has been added to our tap water to keep our teeth strong. This is not a mineral that was ever intended to be ingested and absorbed into our systems. It could be one of those intruders that causes many of the "new" physical disorders that have sprung up in this country in the last decade or so, for instance acid reflux. Did you hear of this disorder when you were growing up, at least those of you over thirty years old? I didn't either, but now newborn babies can even have it.

My drinking water is provided by a utility coop. They test the water periodically and send out a report. To be perfectly honest, I have never read the entire thing to see exactly what they test for - I just look to see if it was approved. You can bet that I will be looking more closely from now on.

Learn more about this author, Linda Burleson.
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