Are you drinking dead water? Live Water founder Mukhande Singh claims that filtered and bottled spring water is sterilized – a process that destroys probiotics. He’s now marketing unfiltered “raw water” – but Mayo Clinic doctor Donald Hensrud cautions that untreated water can contain E.coli bacteria, viruses, carcinogenic compounds, and parasites.
According to Singh (né Christopher Sanborn), sterilizing water demolishes at least five probiotic strains not found in other food sources that are important for absorbing nutrients from food. His company offers an alternative: untreated mountain spring water – available for $36.99 for a 2.5 gallon glass jug and $14.99 for refills. The company says of spring water: “We celebrate this ancient life source that humanity flourished from, since the beginning of our existence. We trust it’s perfect just the way it is.”
Hensrud, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Healthy Living Program, told The New York Times, “Without water treatment, there’s acute and then chronic risks . . . There’s evidence all over the world of this, and the reason we don’t have those conditions is because of our very efficient water treatment. There are people, just like with immunizations, that don’t accept the status quo.”
Related: Swiss resident peddles jars of Alps mountain air
Live Water points to a 2015 article published in Biomedical Reports as evidence for the healing abilities of raw spring water. Singh told The New York Times, “Tap water? You’re drinking toilet water with birth control drugs in them. Chloramine, and on top of that they’re putting in fluoride. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it’s a mind-control drug that has no benefit to our dental health.”
The New York Times pointed out scientific evidence of fluoride as a mind-control drug is entirely lacking – but there is plenty of evidence it supports dental health.
The Verge points out that water from the wilderness can make humans sick, as it can be contaminated with bacteria or viruses. Further, harmful chemicals like arsenic or metals like uranium can leach into the groundwater springs.
