Reverse osmosis water, really healthy?

What is reverse osmosis water?

Reverse osmosis water is ultrapure water. It is produced by filtering with a reverse osmosis membrane, allowing almost only the H2O molecules to pass through.

This membrane is so fine that it traps all substances larger than 0.0001 micrometers. A pore size of 0.0001 micrometers corresponds to a pore size of 0.0000001 millimeters. This is so fine that it filters out virtually all types of contaminants. These include bacteria, viruses, pesticides, nitrate, fertilizer residues, lime, salts, asbestos fibers, microplastics, and more. Reverse osmosis even filters out dissolved lime.

Water this pure can only be obtained through steam distillation. All other filtration methods, even the best activated carbon filters, fall far short of this high level of purity.

Is reverse osmosis water unhealthy?

There are occasional concerns about drinking such pure water. Limescale and all other minerals are removed along with the impurities. Some people fear that such water is unhealthy because of a lack of minerals and trace elements. Water primarily serves as a transport medium and solvent in our bodies. The inorganically bound minerals in water cannot be utilized as well by us as the organically bound minerals in food. Therefore, our drinking water should be as low in minerals as possible. Only in coffee or tea are certain minerals needed to develop flavor and aroma. Reverse osmosis water also tastes unusual. In this case, a lightweight mineralization cartridge can be installed. However, this is not necessary for health reasons.

Reverse osmosis water is slightly acidic because carbon dioxide from the air dissolves in the water, forming small amounts of carbonic acid. Some people fear that slightly acidic osmosis water will negatively impact our body's acid-base balance. This fear can be refuted, as everything we drink and eat comes into contact with our stomach acid, which has a pH of 1.5-2. Reverse osmosis water, with a pH of around 6, has no effect on this.