updated 6/27/20
I recently did a series of stories on my Instagram, responding to a number of questions in the Medical Medium community about alkaline water. This spurred a whole bunch of questions about water in general, so I thought it would be best to address the questions about water on a blog post.
Water is so important to our bodies since 80-90% of our cells are made of water. The problem is that in spite of so many of us chugging away at our daily water intake, most of us are still chronically dehydrated. So this presents us with a couple of issues: a) finding a source of clean, poison-free water and b) finding water that will hydrate us on a cellular level.
These days poison-free or toxin-free water is hard to find naturally. So most likely to obtain that, you will have to filter and purify your water.
Water Filters & Purifiers
There are many ways to clean water and a whole slew of water purifiers on the market that you can go a little crazy trying to figure out what is right for you.
- The number one filter that Medical Medium recommends using (it is what I personally use at home as well) is the Berkey Filter. The Berkey filter is known to filter out 99.9% of all toxins and poisons including heavy metals and fluoride, which very few filters do to that degree. The Berkey is a counter top filter and I recommend using it to clean your drinking water. Anthony William, Medical Medium always recommends adding some lemon/ lime juice to your drinking water to structure it and make it ‘living’ water and more hydrating for our cells.
- If your tap water is from the city main water then you also need to be cleaning the water coming into your home. I recommend that you use a Pur2O filter (we use this at home) or Aquasana. The problem with city water is that it is chlorinated and fluoridated. It may also carry a toxic load you are unaware of – traces of birth control, antibiotics, chemotherapy and rocket fuel are some of the pollutants that have been found in tap water. Both the filters suggested here are Reverse Osmosis filters and actually remove everything from the water, including all the minerals and any structure the water may have from minerals. This is clean water, but not healthy to drink. It is ok to shower or bathe with this water and to wash fruits and veggies and to cook with. Aquasana has a system to add back minerals but I prefer to add them back with fresh fruit and veggies.
- Distilled water is also really clean and pure water, but not mineralised. Minerals should be added back in the form of lemon/ lime/ cucumber to make it living water.
- If you cannot afford a whole house filter, I recommend getting a Berkey shower filter (we have these on all our showers as well for additional filtration) so that the water your shower with is filtered of chlorine and some of the fluoride. Note, that the shower filter is not as powerful as the countertop water filter at removing all heavy metals and toxins from your water. However, I have used this filter when traveling and it DEFINITELY reduces the chlorine from the water, which I react to. If you have kids who do not take showers, you can use the shower to fill their bathtub, so they are still getting cleaner water.
Living or Structured Water
In nature, water always has a beautiful structure that is recognised by our cells when we consume it. Anthony William, Medical Medium shares with us, in his book, Life Changing Foods, about the fact that fruits and vegetables contain two types of living water. The first, is hydrobioactive water that hydrates our cells. The second is co-factor water that heals our souls. Yes, you read that correctly. A similar hydrating water structure is found in breastmilk and it is found in true spring water that gushes out of the earth, say on the top of a mountain. The problem with natural springs is that we have to be sure that they are not picking up contaminants after the water comes out of the earth, or picking up unusual levels of Radon, for example. You also have to be careful of bacteria levels in the water and if you are going to choose to harvest your water from a fresh spring, make sure that the water is lab tested. We go to a beautiful spring in Roxbury, Connecticut and the water there has been tested and is clean and tastes really sweet. These are some of the qualities of fresh spring water: it is highly mineralised and structured so it tastes sweet, it is SUPER hydrating (you don’t need to drink 8 – 10 glasses a day to be truly hydrated) and it comes out of the ground at about 32 – 34 degrees no matter how hot it is outside. Spring water has a similar structure of water to that found in fruits and veggies. This is why when I started to eat a mostly raw foods diet, I did not need to drink as much water and I was less thirsty overall, because my body was getting a ton of structured water all day long.
pH of Water
Most natural spring water is about 6.8 – 7.2 pH. It is the recommended pH for our bodies. Medical Medium does NOT recommend drinking alkaline water as this weakens our digestion by weakening our stomach acid (one of our main lines of defense for our immune system). When we have weak stomach acid, this also weakens our bile which we need for better digestion. He also says that the body will go to WAR before it allows alkaline water to leave the stomach as it is. The body has to do a lot more work for the alkaline water to be neutralized before it will be allowed to leave the stomach and the intestines for the bloodstream. Our blood pH is around 7.365 and drinking water as close as possible to that is the point at which our bodies have to do the least work to convert it, to make it OK to enter the bloodstream. Also it does not matter HOW the water is made alkaline – one of the arguments I keep hearing is that, for example, the Kangen machine (see Ionized Alkaline Water below) produces water that is a different process than that of other bottled alkaline waters. It doesn’t matter how it is produced. If it is alkaline, don’t drink it.
Ionized Alkaline Water – update added 6/27/20
Ionized water should be avoided. Anthony calls it vampire water because it takes from you versus giving to you.There are several issues with this water, but the most important is that you end up drinking dead, mutated water that has oxidized and more antagonistic metals with free radicals. Click here to watch Anthony’s live on water where he goes into great detail regarding this water.
Where to find spring water:
There are springs all over the country. For us, searching for and harvesting fresh spring water is a such a beautiful devoted practice. However, it is not for everyone.
There are examples of clean spring water you can find bottled:
- Mountain Valley Spring Water – this comes from a spring in Arkansas and is bottled in glass.
- Fiji Water (from artesian aquifer) – Anthony has recommended this to me when traveling through airports, even though it is bottled in plastic. I always carry lemons / limes with me and add some to my Fiji water when traveling. (Another brand recommended by Anthony while traveling is Volvic Water.)
- Mount Shasta Spring Water bottled in glass (this is available mostly on the West Coast).
I have just shared a few examples here. However, not all bottled spring water is really from a natural spring. And you have to be very careful when doing your research to look for clean spring water.
The reason Anthony recommends the Berkey filter because its much less work to put your water through a Berkey and get a good filtration result and add a squish of lemon/ lime juice to it for making it living water than to figure out a good, clean spring water. In the long run, the Berkey filter is also really cost effective.
My kids have only ever drank spring water or Berkey water. They have a couple of times tasted other water and basically spit it out saying it tastes disgusting. They can also taste chlorine in the water when it has been tap water and could not drink that either. In those cases, we have gone with fruit or apples in particular to hydrate.
I hope this blog has clarified some of your concerns and given you a clearer direction on the kind of water to drink and why.
**References: Anthony William interviewed by Dr. Deanna Minich: https://youtu.be/SNYmcj2rZXM (starts at around 56 minutes)
**Hay House Radio podcast by Medical Medium: Debunking Health Fads (starts at around 9 minutes)
80 thoughts on “Water, water everywhere – yet, what to drink?”
Hello ! I know you can’t advice what filtration I can use. I just have questions & I’ll make my own decision. From my understanding from the guy I spoke to from pur2o is that the whole house filters out Chlorine & pharmaceuticals ect. But not fluoride so he says to also get the kitchen filter to filter that out too. I just would love to know what kind of system you got for ur family. If you did the kitchen system as well. Where I’m moving to we need to add a softener so he explained that’s y u need the kitchen filter to filter out the salt and fluoride. But from what I read we can’t use water softener water in the berkey? I’m just so confused what’s the best option. Thank you!
Nicole
I do have the kitchen system, and it filters out all fluoride. Berkey filters say not to use softened water in their filters.
I also have a Berkey filter. So I have both. Not sure if this helps you but ask more questions if you have them.
So generous to share this great info with us all. Thank you!
John you are most welcome!
Hey Muneeza, I was wondering what your opinion is on this because I’m quite perplexed as to why this happens. Whenever I drink only high quality bottled spring water, after a few days I begin to feel more thirsty and dehydrated, even slightly shaky. The water doesn’t seem to be quenching my thirst only exacerbating it. I thought this could be due to it causing an electrolite imbalance for some reason. I have to switch back to regular filtered tap water and I begin to feel better. have you got any thoughts on this? Thank you!
It depends on what you mean by ‘high quality’ – what you may think is high quality may not be!
The water I’m referring to is Highland spring water, Buxton water and Harrogate in the UK, they’re the best options I’ve found here that I’ve drank, but I don’t understand why they make me so thirsty after a few days of only drinking them, they all seem good on paper, but I just don’t know. I am saving for a Berkey, but wanted to stop drinking filtered tap water and had the same issues come up with thirst and feeling off, so strange! Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question.
I’m just watching one of Anthony’s lives on water now, I’ve been searching high and low, I think the water I’m getting might have salt added, it does kinda feel like it might. The Buxton one is quite high in sodium!
pure spring water from the earth is the best water to drink.
Hello Muneeza what about the kangen water ? I heard a lot of good think about it
Shirley Medical medium says that Ionized alkalized water is very dangerous to us because it essentially electrifies the water and loads it up with heavy metals. He advises strongly against it.
Hi Muneeza, is the plastic Berkey preferable over the metal ones?
Monica, We drink the HMDS every day so whatever metals we come into contact with that will help remove. The plastic one does not have as much capacity as the larger ones. I personally prefer the metal ones because they have more durability and will last longer and from a practical standpoint are easier to use long term. And I am not so worried about the metal because we do the HMDS every single day. It is impossible to remove ourselves from ALL metal exposures and that is why the HMDS is important. Yes, plastics are easier to remove than the metals, but you have to measure that against the practical aspects of a bigger berkey (you don’t need to fill it as often) and what else you are up against.
Hello. I didn’t know it wasn’t good to drink RO water. I’ve been doing it for a while. If I have a whole house water softener, and RO for drinking, I’m confused about what yo really drink . Becky isn’t good for softener so what can I fo or get?
Rena, please do add some lime/ lemon juice to the water to make it living water. Berkey still OK to use with hard water and another option is to get fresh spring water or mountain valley spring water.
I’ve been drinking mountain lvalley spring water for a year now. I really love the water but it’s not cost effective. Is the Berkey is decent alternative? The water in Los Angeles is incredibly contaminated. I’m looking for the freshest option.
Bree, yes! Berkey is a very decent alternative.
Anthony mentioned that he doesn’t recommend bottled water with minerals added to it. Since the Aquasana under the sink RO system adds minerals back in, is this water still healthy to drink?
Maggie, you can make it truly living water by adding in the juice or a lemon or lime. If you already have this filter this is how you can still make it work. It may not be perfect but it will still work.
Thank you for this Muneeza! I read the article throughly and the comments. May I ask:
I always have read RO water gets the fluoride out, or maybe not that well? I’ve read Distilled also takes out fluoride. In terms of a water without minerals, is RO or Distilled better regarding containments getting taken out?
I’ve been lugging water bottles to the local store for distilled water (to drink) for years until I could finally afford a Berkey. I just recently bought a Berkey and the water just takes so much worse through the Berkey than Distilled… almost hard to get down (not as thirst quenching). Do you think it’s because I’m so used to Distilled? I do live in AZ with hard water. Thank you + blessings!
Yes, Christina, R.O. water is thought to be free of fluoride, but it is actually Berkey that has that track record. Distilled water should never be drunk on its own. We should be drinking water that contains minerals. This is why we don’t drink our RO water without a squish of lemon juice in it to make it living again.
Thank you so much, Muneeza. This is confirming for me and my family moving forward. I very much appreciate your time to respond!
Christina – you are most welcome.
1) So I should get a whole house Pur2O system with the water softener (mixed bed system) and a fluoride filter for everything including an ice maker but not for drinking?
2) I know I can’t use my Berkey with the softener so should I not get the softener? Is it better to have a softener or not?
I’m looking into mountain valley spring water for drinking.
Please advise. Don’t want to spend a lot of money and get the wrong system. Thank you!!!
Christina Lee, I cannot unfortunately advise people on what systems to purchase for their own homes. This depends on the water in your home and what your personal needs are.
Hi, I’m very confused.
I have a water softener in my home – and am based in the UK where whole house water filters are in-line and not available as RO.
How can I keep my water softener, add a in-line whole house water filter and use Berkey for drinking water all together?
Thanks
Luke, I think it is best to talk with Berkey about that directly
Hi. In Cleanse to Heal Anhony writes that the optimal pH for drinking water is 7.7, 0.3 higher than blood pH. Please clearify. Thanks a lot.
Johnny he is saying that specifically about people who have the ability to control the pH on their water machines. Natural spring water that is CLEAN (poison free) coming out of the earth is often around 6.8 – 7.4 generally speaking. This is some of the best water to drink. Anthony has even said on a live if water is NATURALLY alkaline – there are some springs that have water at 9 pH. He says this is safe for us to drink but not if it is coming out of an alkalizing ionizing water machine.
Hi! Please help me with this: Why AW recommends not to drink alkaline water but Berkey’s site says the filter system ends up with alkaline water?
Thank you very much!
I have checked my Berkey and that is not the case! The correct pH for your body is water that is slightly acidic. 6.2 range.
Can I boil water and drink it ? Its supposed to kill all bacteria and viruses
Boiling will remove pathogens, but not poisons. Filtering removes poisons.
Hello Muneeza!
Thank you very much for the information and answers!
1. Could you please tell me if it is ok not to drink water altogether, but drink lots of fresh juices instead (like 32 oz of celery and 32 oz x 3-5 cucumber, cucumber + parsley, orange, watermelon, etc) AND being raw vegan?
I am too afraid of the water quality (even after filters) and prefer to drink lots of juices instead (and have actually practiced that for over two years now).
2. At the moment I am thinking of doing the Advanced 369 and it starts with daily 32 oz of lemon water and then some more throughout the day as well as the teas. So now I’m wondering if I will be missing out without the lemon water, the water and teas? Or would it be ok to substitute it with cucumber or orange juice?
Thank you in advance!
Assel
1. You can be raw vegan, but some water in the form of lemon water (to make the water living) is important for flushing as juices don’t always cut it.
2. You can be assured of the quality of Berkey water as it is clears 99.9% of all toxins in the water.
3. Yes, you will definitely miss out without the right liquids. But if you CANNOT do the teas and lemon water only then avoid.
Thank you for the answer, Muneeza! In fact since posting the question, I bought Berkey and started drinking lemon water and hibiscus tea.
That’s great! Good to hear, Assel.
Is it ok to have distilled water and add lemon juice to make it alive again. Is it true then that this method still will not have any minerals we need for our body? Can you recommend a company that has a good mineral replacement? Thank you Linda
yes, you can add lemon juice to make the distilled water come alive. The lemon contains a lot of minerals.
Hi Muneeza,
Thanks for this article. I’m planning on installing a whole house filter and am wondering is this is the model you have installed at your home: https://www.pur2o.com/product-page/mixed-bed-system ?
If not, can you link the exact model you’re using?
I have read that the Berkley fluoride filters use alumina which would put aluminium into the water, this surely cannot be healthy?
I found this system which is similar but does not use Alumina:
https://www.osmiowater.co.uk/osgh1.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwi_b3BRAGEiwAemPNU_97s0ZMrptyUSqdZCoc9255f4qXklP__0Owt4Y3WREemNO99ogZ1BoCmisQAvD_BwE
there is also the Epic Pure which removes 99.99% of contaminants:
https://www.epicwaterfilters.com/products/epic-pure-water-filter-pitcher
There is also distilled water of course which would need some kind of restructure/minerals adding back in…
Thank you for your blog. it is hard to find good information of something as important as pure water!
Much Love & Light
Namaste
Hi could you please help me to better understand a few things I am confused :
I live in a nyc condo building so I cannot install something for all of our water since it supplies the whole building – if I install a RO system for under the kitchen sink, then run the RO water through the Berkey system, is it ok to drink? Or is it better to run the tap water, without the RO system, through the Berkey for drinking? what would the benefit be to install an RO system under the sink for kitchen sink only? also , you are saying RO water is not ok to drink, but if I run the RO water through the Berkley then it is ok to drink?
I’m trying to figure out if just the Berkley is enough for drinking, cooking water and washing fruits and veggies – or if I need both a RO system under the kitchen sink for kitchen faucet only, plus the Berkey, living in a condo in nyc –
I’m planning on installing the Berkley shower filter too since this is the only way for me to filter our shower water – thanks for your help and guidance here!
In your situation, I do not see a benefit to installing an RO system under your kitchen sink. My first recommendation for drinking water is spring water. (See “Where to find spring water” above.) Because finding clean spring water is not an option for everyone, Anthony recommends using the Berkey to filter your tap water. The RO system is recommended to clean the water you use for showering, etc. But, if you use your Berkey water for drinking, cooking, and washing your produce and you use the Berkey filter for your shower, you are taking the right steps.
Hi Muneeza,
Just want to clarify that it is not safe to drink RO water? I thought I heard MM say it was ok as long as we add lemon to it? Can you clarify?
Also – My Berkey is not large enough to produce water for cooking and washing my veggies. Would you recommend I install a RO system under my kitchen sink only (I live in an apartment so I cannot do whole house) or buy a larger Berkey? I could also buy RO bottled h20 from the store to wash and cook with. What would you recommend?
Thank you!
For drinking water, I would say that spring water is your best option, followed by tap water filtered through the Berkey, then RO water. Adding lemon to your water does make it living and helps to remineralise it. But it is better when all the minerals are not stripped from the water in the first place. You have to go with the option that works for you based on what you have access to. If you are able to buy a larger Berkey, I think that would suit your needs better than installing a RO system under your kitchen sink.
Thank you for your article! Please help me understand…
If I buy a whole house system (for bathing and washing food), does that mean I can’t then put that purified tap water into a Berkey system to use as drinking water? It seems like I have to choose between bathing/ washing food and drinking water. Or does adding the citrus make it okay to drink?
You can as long as you aren’t using a softener. The softener messes with the Berkey filtration. If no softener, you can use it in the Berkey and do add lemon.
You do not have to choose between the two. Using both filters and the fruit juice to replace the mineral content of the water is best.
Hello Muneeza, Thank you so much for this info! We have been using the berkey water system for a few years now.. the black filters w/the white fluoride filters.. But I did not realize bc we live in the city that we needed an additional pre filter system.. omg! We live in an apartment and I found the pureo2.com “Alkalize” under the counter system.. but it alkalizes the water a bit too I believe. Is this the product that would work well or are you only referring to the whole house systems by pureo2? Thank you!
Hi Jess. I do not recommend alkaline water. For more info on why, read the “pH of Water” section in the blog post above.
Hello, I believe I may have worded that incorrectly. I live in LA and use a berkey (both black and white filters) for our drinking water.. I thought that was ideal.. are you recommending to use a pre-filter on the tap/city water before running it through the berkey (for drinking?) Would that make the water suitable to drink? Or is tap to berkey only suitable for washing and we need to be drinking spring water?
Thank you!
Hi Jess. If you are able to drink spring water for your drinking water, and then have a house filter to clean the water you use for other purposes, that is the ideal situation. But, clean spring water is not an option for everyone. So using the drinking water from your Berkey is an excellent next option. When using the Berkey for drinking water, you should fill it with water straight from your tap. You can also use this water for washing your produce.
Rhis is great inf, thank you… My husband gets spring water every week, if you go to findaspring.com they show them all over the world.
You are welcome! Glad to hear it.
I live in AR and Mountain Valley Spring Water has been calling my name for years!
Thank you for the push forward.
You are welcome! Thank you for reading and commenting!
Do you know if the Berkley Filetr also filters lime?
Hi Karin. I do not know the answer to your question. I suggest writing to Berkey to ask them.
Thanks for this! The only thing stopping me from getting a Berkey is what i read about flouride removal. Apparently, it only removes high amounts of flouride at a certain PH (i cant remember if it was 5.5). At higher PH levels (like that coming from our tap), flouride removal is much less. I cant remember exact quantities, but this was brought up in an MM facebook group and the company themselves explained the PH connection and flouride removal. I guess its still the best filter around, and I should just get one, but wanted to know tour thoughts on that.
Berkey is the best filter available.
Do you also have the water softener along with your whole house filtration system?
Yes, exactly.
Thanks for all the information that you share with us!! I’m still new in the MM community and I’m a bit confused, hoping you can help me….
I’m moving to a new house next summer, I’m planing to install a water softener system and then use berkey system for drinking. If I use the water softener do I need the water filtration along for the whole house and them the berkey system for drinking. Is that the best way to go??? I’m very confuse with how those two systems works. Thank you so much for your help!!!
Hi Silvia. If you install a water softener, you will want to find another source of drinking water other than filtering your tap water. (See the “Where to find spring water” section of the blog post above.) The softener messes with the Berkey filtration. If no softener, you can use your tap water in the Berkey and add lemon to make it living and mineralize it.
Hi Neeza,
Thank you for this post – it is one of the most helpful I have come across. We had our son tested for toxin load and he came back high on a number of contaminants which is why I rushed ahead with a RO system before fully realising the implications of removing all the beneficial minerals. Would you be able to clarify for me if using to RO water to prepare herbals teas/ broths would be ok to use? I read some articles saying RO water can leach nutrients from food when cooking but I’m thinking that would only be in a situation where the water is drained off. Sorry for such a long winded post and thank you for all the advice and information you provide.
With your pur2o whole house water filter do you then put the put the water from the tap through the Berkey to drink?
Another good question! We do not drink the RO water in our house. We put it through the Berkey to remove the fluoride and then use it for washing and steaming. For drinking, we use pure harvested spring water OR mountain valley spring water.
Ro wastes a lot of water. Do you recycle it? Why would you put ro water through berkey for washing? That seems bit extreme.
Let me clarify. When I said washing, I meant washing food. We do the rest of our wash directly with RO water.
I didn’t understand. You have a full house water system, so all water is osmosis? With osmosis water you’ll take a shower, wash the closes and put it into the berkey for cleaning vegetable and cooking?
Yes, that is correct.
This information is SO helpful! I know I will be referring to this post often. Quick question, though. If you get a whole house system, why do you still need to a get countertop system? Just confused. Thank you for all of your help and wisdom.
I’d love to know this too!
Great question, Renee. Berkey removes fluoride, which no other system does as thoroughly.
1.The whole house water filtration systems you mention “clean” the water, yet it is still not suitable for drinking? Is this because all of the the good minerals are removed in the process or another reason?
2.Are there any whole home filtration systems that yield drinkable healthy water?
3.Along with removing fluoride, does Berkey replace the good minerals taken out during the whole house filtering?
Thank you!
1. That is correct, Denise. 2. None that I am aware of. 3. No, it does not.
Hi Muneeza. It says on the Pur20 website that the filter creates alkaline water. Aren’t you and AW against alkaline water?
You can ask them to turn off the alkalizing off.
Thank you so much!
You are very welcome!