1) Tap Water:
Tap water is clean and safe to drink. It does not contain any harmful chemicals or bacteria.
However, it may have some contaminants such as chlorine, fluoride, etc., which are known to cause cancer. There are many reasons why you should avoid tap water. One reason is because if there is a problem with your tap water, then it will affect the quality of your drinking water. Another reason is that it could lead to other health problems like diarrhea, vomiting, stomach aches, dizziness, headaches and more.
2) Bottled Water:
Bottled water is made from purified water sources. They do not use dangerous chemicals or bacteria.
Some of them are filtered using reverse osmosis (RO). RO filters out impurities such as bacteria and viruses while leaving beneficial minerals intact. These minerals include calcium carbonate, magnesium sulfate and others.
3) Well Water:
Well water is treated with chemical additives such as chlorine, iodine, phosphates and other substances to make it safe for human consumption. Well water is often contaminated with various kinds of bacteria and microorganisms.
These organisms produce toxins that can cause illness or even death. If you choose well water over tap water, you must take precautions when handling the well water. For instance, if possible do not allow children under five years old to handle the well water.
4) Bottled Alkaline Water:
This water type is known to increase the pH level of your blood and cells. This means it can help your body restore its pH levels.
The most common types of bottled alkaline water contain bicarbonate minerals such as magnesium, calcium and potassium. However, the ones containing minerals are not always easy on your digestive system so choose the right brand.
5) Distilled Water:
Distilled water is highly recommended because it is known to be free of any harmful bacteria, chemicals or other toxic compounds. In addition, it is clean, odorless and tasteless.
Most people prefer distilled water over other types of water because it does not leave any residue on your glasses or dishes. It can be used for cooking as well. Distilled water is also easy on the environment because it requires no extra resources or energy to produce.
6) Mineral Water:
This type of water contains high levels of minerals such as calcium, chlorine, magnesium and sulfur among others. It can be obtained from natural underground sources or springs.
While most people believe that mineral water is good for your health, this is still debatable. It contains a lot of minerals and metals but your body may not necessarily need them. In fact, too much of a good thing can be bad. There have been many cases in which people suffer from kidney stones after drinking mineral water due to its high levels of calcium and magnesium.
7) Alkaline Water:
The key ingredient in this type of water is the presence of an alkaline material such as calcium, magnesium or potassium. It is meant to help maintain your body’s appropriate pH level.
Most of these waters have a pH level higher than 7.0 and are often advertised as having cancer-fighting properties.
8) Bottled Diet Water:
Also known as low-calorie or diet drinks, these waters do not have any calories. They are sweetened using a combination of sugar and artificial sweeteners such as saccharin or sucralose.
Most of these waters do not actually taste like water; they usually taste more like fruit juice.
Sources & references used in this article:
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Body fluid changes, thirst and drinking in man during free access to water by PA Phillips, BJ Rolls, JGG Ledingham, JJ Morton – Physiology & behavior, 1984 – Elsevier
You can drag a horse to water but you can’t make it drink unless it is thirsty by BJ Avolio, BM Bass – Journal of Leadership Studies, 1998 – journals.sagepub.com
Neural correlates of water reward in thirsty Drosophila by S Lin, D Owald, V Chandra, C Talbot… – Nature …, 2014 – nature.com
On the psychology of drinking: Being thirsty and perceptually ready by H Aarts, A Dijksterhuis… – British Journal of …, 2001 – Wiley Online Library
Effects of drinks sweetened with sucrose or aspartame on hunger, thirst and food intake in men by BJ Rolls, S Kim, IC Fedoroff – Physiology & behavior, 1990 – Elsevier
Thirst driving and suppressing signals encoded by distinct neural populations in the brain by Y Oka, M Ye, CS Zuker – Nature, 2015 – nature.com
Thirst by AV Wolf – Scientific American, 1956 – JSTOR
Thirst and its inhibition in the stomach by EF Adolph – American Journal of Physiology-Legacy …, 1950 – journals.physiology.org
