Why You Shouldn't Drink Straight From the Tap

There's a story out there that tap water is clean, high-quality water, and so most people drink straight from the tap.

In the best case, the average home has a filtration system that mostly improves the taste of the water and screens out debris.

When most people buy these systems, they don't know what to ask. The company tells the story that helps sell the product, and we drink the water.

A few years ago, while I was living in New York, I flew to Mexico for a vacation. This was right at the peak of the period when I was deep into the process of healing from the colitis I'd suffered from through most of my twenties.

In Mexico I felt amazing, and I remember it being the first time in my life I felt I'd healed myself.

When I got back to New York, things suddenly changed. My gut started behaving in a strange, unpleasant way.

I started asking myself what had happened. What was the difference between Mexico and my apartment in New York? I was eating mostly the same things.

And then I remembered the water. In Mexico you can't drink the tap water because it isn't clean, so I'd been drinking mineral water from bottles.

The next day I went to the grocery store and, for the first time in my life, brought home bottled water. My digestion immediately went back to normal.

That was the first time I understood that tap water isn't necessarily quality water.

I've researched the topic ever since and discovered quite a few things, some basic, some disturbing.

The basics: if a city or a building has a water system or pipes that have been in place for years and nobody cleans them, what are the odds that those pipes don't contain toxic substances?

We all know what happens to a kettle that goes a month without being cleaned.

What about fluoride?

Beyond that, we're all familiar with the fluoride narrative, which says they add fluoride to our water to protect our dental health.

In recent months, papers released by American health organizations like the NIH have reported the danger of cognitive harm in children due to synthetic fluoride.

But what actually protects dental health is not eating processed foods.

The fluoride in water and toothpaste isn't the natural fluoride that exists in nature, it's synthetic fluoride, and it's been linked to cognitive damage, thyroid damage, lowered IQ, and damage to the pineal gland.

The pineal gland is one of the most important glands in the brain, because it's responsible for critical thinking, and spiritual thinking too.

Another thing they add to our water is chlorine, to clean the water of toxins.

And that's probably important, especially given the state of the pipes.

But honestly, there are plenty of ways to clean or filter water without using a harmful substance.

Chlorine is a substance designed to kill bacteria, and what do you think happens to our gut bacteria when they're fed that same chlorine?

On top of that, chlorine is a carcinogen, meaning it's been classified as a cancer-causing substance.

I'm not saying drinking tap water leads to cancer, but why put a substance like that into our bodies?

In addition, lab tests in the U.S. found a substance in the water called atrazine, an herbicide, and lab tests revealed that when frogs are exposed to it, they change their sex.

Other lab tests around the world have found traces of birth control pills and various medications in tap water.

Convinced? Okay.

So what do you do? You filter the water.

There are two good options I'd recommend:

1. A reverse osmosis system. A system installed under the sink with its own small dedicated faucet. You can buy it cheaply and install it yourself, or look for a company that does it. With a company it costs around the price of the unit plus the secondary faucet, while installing it yourself runs roughly a third of that. 2. A water distiller. A device you can order online for somewhere between 100 and 200 dollars, but it's important to add minerals back to the water. 3. A water-cleaning fixture like a pitcher with a filter, as long as you confirm with the manufacturer that it filters out chlorine and fluoride.

With reverse osmosis and the distiller, since the water ends up with no minerals, it's best to "revive" the water or add minerals back to it.

The easiest way to revive the water is to add a fruit or vegetable, like lemon or cucumber, for a few hours (or overnight). That way you're not drinking mineral-stripped water that would deplete your body of its natural salts.

To go deeper on nutrition, the Gut Rules course will give you the broadest picture.