We are living in a dangerous era, a time when industrial compounds have proliferated to such an extraordinary degree that literally everyone is exposed to chemicals that cause potential harm to our systems. This includes the perfluorooctanoic acid residues from Teflon in your cooking, restaurant food, or groundwater. It can be caused by triclosan in antibacterial hand soaps and hand sanitizers. It can be due to polybrominated diphenyl ethers from the flame retardant in carpeting and clothing, contaminants in the water supply, and plastics that are everywhere and in everything, from cars to the lining of canned foods to water bottles. They are even in the rainwater and air we breath. Nobody, and I truly mean nobody, alive today has avoided exposure to these ubiquitous chemicals.
It’s unavoidable. Here are the numbers to prove it. The Environmental Working Group tested blood from the umbilical cords of newborns and uncovered 287 different industrial compounds, including mercury, 21 different pesticides, and components of industrial lubricants— this was in newborns, not 60-year-olds who had worked a lifetime in factories or other contaminated environments. Endocrine disruptive industrial chemicals can be detected in hair, urine, blood, liver, kidneys, and just about any other bodily fluid or organ. One recent study assessed individuals for the presence of perchlorates, a residue of synthetic fertilizers. Of 2,800 people tested, all 2,800 had detectable levels of perchlorates in their bodies.
Drinking water straight from the tap is toxic. Yes, most (not all) municipalities and cities do a good job of filtering water, removing most contaminants, but most also add chlorine (or, more recently, chloramine, which is more persistent and resists being boiled off) and fluoride, after filtration. Chlorine and fluoride are antibacterial in water, great for kitchen counters, but not for your gastrointestinal tract, where we want microbes to thrive. Consuming these chemicals reduces or alters the composition of bowel flora.
One way to help lesson this exposure is to drink filtered water. Filter drinking water to remove chlorine, fluoride, and other contaminants. If you use tap water to ferment vegetables, the chlorine and fluoride will block fermentation. Likewise, watering houseplants with tap water can kill off soil flora and thus cause them wither. To remove chlorine and fluoride, filter your tap water using a reverse-osmosis process and/or carbon filters. Filtered water is less likely to contain residues of prescription drugs that are making their way into our water supply. It is also added assurance against water contaminated with atrazine, perchlorates, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, arsenic, and lead from home plumbing. You can’t completely avoid the exposure to chemicals and toxins, but you can filter some out.
Note that water filtration is a modern necessity for full Undoctored health, but this makes it even more important to obtain magnesium by other means, as the good is filtered out with the bad. We will discuss this in further depth next week.
Please recommend filtration systems–there are so many out there, and some are useless.
He shouldn’t. That would make him biased.
Casper Gomez wrote: «He shouldn’t. That would make him biased.»
The blog has numerous instances of endorsements of specific products found to provide value. What it doesn’t have is ads for those products, or any sponsors other than Dr. Davis’ own books, sites and services.
Mentions of specific filtration products might arise here. What’s unlikely is a comprehensive survey of the market.
I might further add, as an addendum to my earlier remarks (which may be above or below, depending on how anyone is viewing the site), that the steps in choosing a system might be 3+1:
1. enumerate hazards
2. understand how candidates mitigate them
3. know the TCO/gallon
4. don’t buy more, or less, system than needed
On #3, filter/cartridge expenses can add up, so figure out your cost (Total Cost of Ownership) per gallon or liter, over the life of the system. A higher initial price system can be cheaper in the long run due to reduced consumable replacement.
On #4, what many of the home improvement retail stores sell are 5-stage systems that do more than you need (and have short consumable lives). If you’re on muni water, you probably don’t need a coarse “whole house” filter stage. But if you are on a well, you do, or you’re going to clog expensive carbon or RO elements pretty quickly.
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Dave H. wrote: «Please recommend filtration systems-there are so many out there, and some are useless.»
Since I’m pondering getting a system for our house, this is basically a two-step process:
1. Identify your hazards.
2. Look for specific credible statement of how any candidate system mitigates those hazards.
3. Extra credit: don’t buy more system than you need.
For anyone on municipal water, your water department can usually provide an analysis of their treated water. They have to do this per EPA, and they often have statements posted on a web site. Statements about chlorine and fluoride content are often fairly prominent, because they nearly brag about them. On many I’ve looked at, chloramine content is specifically stated.
Chloramine is pernicious. It won’t evaporate by leaving the pitcher standing for 8 hours. It won’t boil off. You can’t make fermented food with it. Your gut flora are basically making crucial fermented food for you. Chloramine is relatively recent, and yet another giant uncontrolled experiment on us citizen lab rats. If it turns out to be a major contributor to the ASD pandemic, I won’t be the least bit surprised. That said, muni water systems have a serious sanitation challenge – the water must make it to your tap free of blatant pathogens. Until they all convert to uV treatment, seek self-defense.
In our case, we’re on our own rural well. The main concern is calcium (the water is basically liquid limestone). Trace legacy farm chemicals can’t be ruled out either. Then there’s the matter of where the filter is spliced into the system. If we put it after the water softener, then it needs to deal with sodium as well as any calcium that got past the softener.
When picking a filter system, look for statements of what the system, or what the individual stages/elements of the system remove, and to what extent. I’ve been considering Pure Water Products systems, and their site has a lot of useful background information on the whole topic, such as: What Does a Top-Quality Reverse Osmosis System Remove from Tap Water?
An RO + carbon system is going to deliver something pretty close to distilled water. Running a home still is an alternative, but the energy cost is comparable to buying bottled water, and stills are a maintenance nuisance.
In either of those cases, you end up with a water that is utterly unlike ancestral surface and spring waters. It’s essentially devoid of key minerals (like Mg) and trace minerals. The Mg definitely needs separate attention, and the traces might.
Yet another choice is a commercial bottled water subscription, but this has some considerations that need discussion.
On a personal note, this chloramine issue is sufficiently troubling that I’ve given up on drinking tap water anywhere, which also means avoiding bottled water from muni sources, restaurant table water, and beverages that might have been locally prepared from tap water. Starbucks cafes are all on RO systems, but most establishments are not. Heck, we even had to abandon a regional source of ice after learning that the producer was starting with mini water, and then adding even more chloramine to it!
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Other than chlorine & fluoride, our state-of-the-art municipal water plant produces very clean water and consistently exceeds state & federal quality standards. The main reason for purchasing a Berkey filter a few years ago was to remove the added chlorine & fluoride. We also use a shower filter to minimize breathing the chlorine fumes in a confined space.
Many years ago, we ran a counter-top RO filter. We had to replace the membrane every few months because of breakage. (I don’t recall the brand we purchased, but it was not Pure Water Products.) After a while we got tired of the expense and hassle. We really like our Berkey system. It filters out an impressive list of contaminants while preserving the beneficial minerals. http://www.directive21.com/products/big-berkey-water-filters/
The charcoal filters can last several years, with only occasional minor maintenance. The fluoride filters need replacing about once a year. The Berkey works entirely by gravity so it is not dependent on water pressure or electricity. That could be a big advantage during a prolonged interruption of services when tap water may not be accessible.
Berkey stainless steel water filter
I owned Brita in the past,but seeing a commercial ,I think I will try zero water. It might be marketing,but it embarrassed Brita.
I have zero water and am happy with it except it does not remove fluoride. My next one will be a Berkey.
Thanks for that info. I will check the company out for that info.
I have a Burkey with fluoride filter, I love it, the water tastes really good. Highly recommend it. The carbon filters last up to three years, the fluoride filters have to be replaced more often.
As someone who has had hormone receptor positive breast cancer, endocrine disruptors have been a top concern. I have been quite diligent about avoiding BPA in cans. I don’t eat a lot of canned food but I liked canned fish, like salmon, tuna and sardines, and I was spending a lot of money on BPA-free low-mercury brands. Then not too long ago there was a study that was publicized in the breast cancer world that suggests the BPA-free can linings are no better, and some possibly worse. The alternative compounds are endocrine disruptive and make HR+ cancer grow in the lab as well, but are not as well publicized as BPA. You can’t win, and I am eternally frustrated by the fact that I can’t just go to the grocery store and buy clean, healthy food without a ton of research and breaking the bank.
For water filtration we use the New Wave Enviro 10 Stage Water Filter System for drinking, cooking and washing veggies. It costs a little more than some but a family of four only needs to replace the filter once per year. We use a five stage filter in the shower. Copper from pipes is also a concern for cancer survivors (tumors need it to develop a blood supply), and testing detects zero with these systems.
My situation is similar to yours and yes, I share your frustration! We don’t eat a lot of canned food either, but do use tomato products. I’ve wondered about those “tetra paks” that the Pomi brand is packed in. Well, after a quick search just now, it’s plastic coated paper. Another frustration is that more and more products that used to be packed in glass are now showing up in plastic. I was quite dismayed when they did that to the 26 oz. jars of MaraNatha almond butter. I suppose one could dig the stuff out and pack it into a glass container after purchase. Then at least it wouldn’t be soaking it up during storage.
It’s so hard to know everything. I consider myself more on top of this information than most people, but I missed that BPA-free really never meant endocrine disruptor free. And part of it I guess was wishful thinking.
I can buy tuna in a jar but it’s even more expensive than the BPA-free, low-mercury environmentally conscious variety, and I’m not trusting I won’t end up with more contaminates. For now I’m sticking with Wild Planet and Raincoast cans and just eating it more rarely. Hopefully this medicine I am taking is good for something.
Tomato products you can get in jars but some things I can only find online. Tomatoes are acidic so I worry more about them sitting in cans, but in a pinch if I need some for a recipe I will buy a can. My diet is so restricted already that I have to choose my battles. And I’m not making my own almond butter either!
How true: we must all choose our battles. Thanks for the heads up on copper in your original comment. I’ll look into that.
Another good article, Dr. Davis! Thank you, your books have literally saved my life. On the subject of water – we have been using an RO for several years for this reason. We bought ours from Pure Water but Amazon has many too. Make sure you use a bone char filter in one of the compartments which is the only one that really removes fluoride and chlorine fully. It needs replacing every 6-12 mos. We use a six stage that adds the magnesium in but you can also get remineralizing drops. A Berkey is another great affordable option for fluoride and such. Hope that helps!!
Is the filter in my refrigerator sufficiently filtering the water I drink?
We bought a higher end product, hoping it would meet several of our needs.
I drink at least 50oz of water a day from refrigerator Ice/crushed ice/water dispenser.
Please advise!
Eileen Strong wrote: «Is the filter in my refrigerator sufficiently filtering the water I drink?»
What water source, and where? What brand and model of fridge, and what filter system? And if the fridge is not in current production, there may be no way to guess, short of sending the water out for analysis.
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5 year old “top of line ” Samsung Refrigerator/Freezer. Filter is replaced every 6 months when screen on front panel indicates to do so.
Eileen Strong wrote: «5 year old “top of line” Samsung Refrigerator/Freezer.»
If your Samsung is like ours, the exact model number should be on a sticker inside upper right wall, such as RSG309. Without it, it’s nearly impossible to get useful information from the Samsung site. In any case, 5 years is old enough that promotional material from the period would now be gone, and even for current products, they aren’t providing much detail on the claimed features and benefits of the filter system.
I’m going to guess that yours is using the HAF-CIN filter, which takes a DA29-00020B cartridge. What little I can read of their fuzzy box images claims that it meets NSF/ANSI 53 and removes “cyst, lead, mercury, benzene, carbofuran, turbidity”. Informal searching suggests that NSF53 does not remove non-native halogens such as chlorine, chloramine or fluorides.
And not knowing what water system you’re on, I can’t further speculate on what matters here.
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I have been looking into water filtering and found that if you shower, bathe, brush teeth or wash clothes in unfiltered water your absorbing chemicals through your skin. Also, to my dismay, I found that RO systems waste 4 gallons of water to get 1 clean. I don’t know if that makes any sense at all. Is water on this planet unlimited? I’m not certain what to do now for water that you use other than for drinking. Berkey is a good solution for drinking but, what about all that water we use otherwise.
Neophyte wrote: «I have been looking into water filtering and found that if you shower, bathe, brush teeth or wash clothes in unfiltered water your absorbing chemicals through your skin.»
Yep, and it’s not clear just how big a problem that is. It certainly argues for getting a whole-house system in some scenarios, rather than just a counter-top or under-counter system.
re: «I found that RO systems waste 4 gallons of water to get 1 clean.»
Also true. The total environment consideration there hinges on what becomes of the wastewater. For our farm, for example, the off-load goes into the laterals, back into the ground, and probably makes its way back into the well in another 20 years; so, fully recycled.
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Big Berkey! It removes an extreme number of contaminants INCLUDING fluoride and chloramine, very difficult ones to remove. You can find what all it removes on the website. I have checked out a large number of filters. You get what you pay for in this case.
Dr. Davis also saved my life and health. I had severe catarrh for 35 years, no doctor or medication cured it, one week on “Wheatbelly” the catarrh disappeared. I also filter my water, as l do not trust private water company, or their analysis of impurities in tap water. My advice, listen to Dr Davis’s advice and your health will improve immeasurably.