The Dangers of Bottled Water

Recently on the evening news there was a promo for a news item on the dangers of drinking bottled water.  You know the kind of short blurbs that keep you watching an otherwise negative and unenjoyable program until you get to the segment that you want.  I watched because I really wanted to know the dangers of bottled water.  Might it be that some dangerous chemical was leaking into natural spring water?  It did not seem like there could be too many things wrong with bottled water.  It has no cholesterol, it is not addicting and 85% of our body is made up of it.  Well, they finally got to the bottled water segment and the danger that it was causing.  It seems that the five-billion-dollar industry is starting to cause a greater incidence of tooth decay, as children are drinking bottled water instead of municipal water which in most places in this country has fluoride added to it.  During a brief interview with representatives from the American Dental Association a number of interesting issues arose.

            The assumption is that this is creating a real danger, however, dental cavities are not exactly a life-threatening malady.  Whether the increase is significant and whether it is a result of bottled water is open to discussion.  But notice that the answer to the problem is not better oral hygiene which involves brushing regularly, avoiding between-meal snacks and doing other things that are important to maintain good health for the entire body.  The answer to this problem according to the medically-oriented community is to put a strong chemical, actually a poison, into the body in an effort to make the teeth stronger.  That represents a philosophy that addresses the expedient or temporary solution at the sacrifice of what is right.  A wrong thing (putting sodium fluoride in the water) done in a wrong way (outside-in) cannot have a right result (a healthier body).  It may temporarily reduce cavities in children but it will not make them healthier.  On the contrary, it has to have a negative effect on their bodies.  Further, our children need to be taught good oral hygiene and the other aspects of health rather that thinking a drug or chemical can be a substitute.  The major problem with health today is the idea that every health problem has a quick fix in the form of a drug or surgery or even a vitamin.  Too often the nutrition industry is prone to promote quick cures through food supplements.  Herbs, vitamins and fluoride just perpetuate that myth.

            Perhaps the greatest irony, actually bordering on stupidity, was the response by the bottled-water industry.  A spokesman said in effect, “Okay, if tooth decay is a problem, we can remedy that.  We’ll just add fluoride to our bottled water.”  Hey, wait a minute!  Isn’t the whole idea of drinking bottled water avoiding all the garbage the water company knowingly or unknowingly is pumping out of the spigot in your kitchen sink?  Why pay all that money for water that is going to have the same thing in it.  But you know what?  The average American will buy fluoridated bottled water because they believe that is what is best for them. The medical/dental profession has missed the real idea of what health is all about.  A bottled-water industry that is really only interested in selling products and does not care whether it is pure or not (you have to wonder if they are so quick to agree to put fluoride in their bottled water how concerned they are with the purity of it in the first place).  Lastly, we, as consumers, have a public that really do not understand the need for avoiding harmful substances and keeping the body healthy.

            People are drastically in need of some clear thinking when it comes to matters of health. More and more it appears that with few exceptions only the chiropractic profession has that perspective.

The major problem with health today is the idea that every health problem has a quick fix in the form of a drug or surgery or even a vitamin.