You probably haven’t noticed, it’s insidious, but when we talk about mineral water, we praise the virtues of minerals, while in the marketing of filtering carafes, we talk about ugly limestone.
I am going to tell you the wonderful story of this underground rock, up to our glasses of water, then our organisms.
What is the purpose of calcium?
So, we told you, but without calcium, we die, rather quickly, it is used to control the muscles, to form our skeleton, our nails, our teeth etc…
It is a very present element on the planet, the fifth of the earth’s crust with 3%. It is also an important part of our body, accounting for 2% of our weight. Several mechanisms ensure its balance, but what is certain is that it isnecessary to absorb sufficient quantities to let the body do its job.
So, for the past 60 years, people have been telling you that you have to drink milk or eat cheese for this purpose, I have to tell you that this is not true!
Why is that? It’s very simple, every time you drink milk or eat cheese, you absorb calcium, no mistake, but also animal proteins, which greatly reduce its bioavailability.
A false rumor: mineral water would provide calcium better for health than that found in tap water…
This is obviously completely false, imagine the nice scientific study that would be available if this were true. Not long ago, the WHO recommended three dairy products per day (it still recommends two to this day…)
So, with all this complex data in front of us, mainly from marketing, it’s not easy to see clearly.
But let’s continue on the calcium ion, often collected by groundwater in calcium carbonate rocks.
Tap water provides us with an average of 25% of our daily intake, you can find the rest in spinach, broccoli, cabbage, salad, almonds etc…
Preserving trace elements in tap water with LaVie
LaVie® UV-A water purifiers operate without filters or maintenance and allow you to purify your tap water in 15 minutes.
They use an innovative, patented technology exclusive to LaVie®: the photolysis of chlorine by UV-A radiation.
This treatment allows the removal of chlorine and its by-products, chemical compounds such as certain pesticides or traces of medication, tastes and odors that can be found in tap water, while preserving 100% of the trace elements.
The result, very qualitative, allows to draw a definitive line on the consumption of water in plastic bottles.
The carbon footprint associated with the manufacture of the UV water purifier’s aluminum tube is neutralized in a few days of use compared to the equivalent consumption of water in plastic bottles.
What about limestone?
More misinformation: hard water contains limescale.
Of course not, in tap water, there are only dissolved salts (calcium and magnesium ions), no “rocks” (tartar, aragonite, limestone), you risk nothing, absolutely nothing to drink it, on the contrary.
So, yes, but how come you see scale/calcite/aragonite in your water heater, kettle or other coffee maker?
This is due to the acid-base balance: when you heat water that naturally contains C02 (acid), it expels it into the air in an open environment, or forces it to micro-bubble on the walls in a closed environment, while increasing the internal pressure.
At this point, the medium becomes slightly basic (pH greater than 8), and the dissolved calcium begins to mutate into a solid crystalline form, such as aragonite. The phenomenon accelerates rapidly above 60°C.
This will not happen in your 38°C body!
All these phenomena can be avoided by an intelligent design of household appliances and water heaters, which would cost only a few euros more, and would make them unbreakable, or almost. For the curious and geeks, simply use stainless steel bowls or balloons, and stick a heating film on the outside surface. This decreases the power density by a factor of 10 to 100 times, and no longer creates the one-time thermal shock that is favorable for starting the reaction. Look carefully, there is already a water heater on the market and soon a kettle.
Come on, you should also know that shellfish use this process to build their shells: they use a phenomenon called bio-mineralization, thus pushing calcium and CO2 from the oceans to combine into calcite.
I hope that after reading this article, you will have understood that calcium is one of the pillars of our health, probably one of the most important. We must stop buying polluting devices to reduce trace elements and then try to take a glassful of them in dairy products, which are just as heavy in environmental terms. Let’s be pro-active, let’s analyze what’s going on within us and around us, let’s use our common sense, that’s what allows us to make good decisions.
Our sources (no pun intended…)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium
http://www.noreade.fr/info-eau/leau-au-quotidien/leau-contient-du-calcaire
Want to stay up to date on our articles around water?
Subscribe below to our Newsletter
and get -5% on your first order!