Unfortunately tap water contains common heavy metals such as arsenic, fluoride, cadmium, lead and selenium. Not only does this put extra burden on your children’s liver (all heavy metals have to be metabolised and excreted by the liver) but tap water also causes health issues. Tap water also causes health effects on adults although it is more detrimental to children as their bodies are not yet developed – for example their liver cannot metabolise heavy metals as quickly as an adult liver, nor can their kidneys. A child’s brain is also not fully developed and heavy metals can cause detrimental mental effects. I am going to go through each heavy metal contained in tap water one by one so you can see the effects each heavy metal causes. These health effects are all evidence based and back by studies which I have linked in the references.
Fluoride is added to tap water in Australia and impacts human health. Fluoride has found to affect thyroid health and lead to hypothyroidism, affect cognitive development in children, intellectual deficits, skeletal fluorosis, arthritis, cause nutritional deficiency’s (magnesium and calcium) and cancer. If children are consuming tap water they are consuming enough fluoride daily to cause a health risk! Arsenic which is found in tap water can lead to cancer such as skin, lung, liver, prostate and bladder cancer. It also increases chances of diabetes, reproductive issues such as infertility and neurological effects. Cadmium is retained in the human body and once absorbed it continues to accumulate. Cadmium leads to bone demineralisation, increases the risk of lung cancer and impairs lung function, and also causes renal dysfunction. Lead which is found in tap water leads to headaches, sleeplessness, vertigo, renal dysfunction, hypertension, arthritis, birth defects, autism and dyslexia. Selenium which is also found in tap water causes dermatitis, hair loss, liver dysfunction, gastrointestinal issues, neurotoxicity (due to the degeneration of motor neurons) and an increased risk of cancer.
Crazy right.. water which is vital for our functioning can be so deadly if it isn’t filtered adequately! A proper water filtration system will remove all heavy metals and hopefully remineralise the water along with pH balance (for more health benefits). Upon research I have found 90% of fridge and integrated counter top water filtration systems do not remove all heavy metals (specifically fluoride). Therefore ensure when you are picking a device it is removing ALL heavy metals. We use the zazen water system (this post is unsponsored).
What are the other benefits of an adequate filtration water system?
- Water which has been remineralised contains essential minerals for health. Remineralised water also contains electrolytes. Drinking water that hasn’t been remineralised has also been found to affect urine output as it affects mineral homeostasis and can cause magnesium or calcium deficiency.
- Water which is pH balanced slows down the ageing process, decreases the chances of various chronic diseases and improves cardiovascular health.
References Please note I have left them in link form so you can easily click and access the studies I used for this post.