There have never been more options to stay hydrated. When you walk through any grocery or convenience store, you’re bombarded with new and interesting forms of hydration. Even if you’re like us and happy with your Lipsey Mountain Spring bottled water delivery for its fantastic taste and environmentally friendly packaging, you can’t help but be curious about some of these new waters that claim to provide extra benefits. And we’re realistic: we know that you’re not always at home and can’t always access your Lipsey Mountain Spring bottled water. So when you find yourselves out and about and in need of a bottle of water, use this handy guide to figure out which one is the healthiest bottled water of 2021.
Three Main Types of Water
Aside from the seemingly endless options of bottled water, let’s take a minute to explore the three very basic types of water most people have access to and how they contribute to the choice of which water to drink (or purchase). Bottled water might give you lots of options to put you in seemingly more control of your hydration and health, but there are also downsides to bottled water consumption.
Bottled Water
Probably the most convenient option, it’s also the option that contributes the most to environmental waste. In addition to potentially ingesting microplastics from soft plastic bottles, there are little to no regulations about what goes into bottled water, so you’re never fully sure what you’re drinking.
Tap Water
Tap water is an incredibly environmentally friendly option as you’re able to use refillable glasses and water bottles when you drink it. But what keeps it from being the best water to drink is that it will always contain contaminants, and those contaminants will vary depending on where you live.
Filtered Water
Filtered water can come already bottled, or it can refer to tap water that has passed through an at-home filter like a Britta filter or a more customized water filtration system.
What Makes the Best Bottled Water?
Bottled water isn’t just bottled water anymore. Every bottle of water promotes some sort of enhanced performance or ability. But how can you pick the healthiest bottle of water from the crowd of dozens of bottled water options?
The first thing to keep in mind when looking for the healthiest bottled water is to understand the terminology behind some of the claims that water bottles make. Let’s take a look at some of the most common types of bottled water so you can choose which you prefer to keep you hydrated.
Distilled Water- Distilled water is water that has been boiled to a vapor to remove impurities. This type of water can be helpful in areas where tap water is particularly bad. While distilled water does remove impurities, it also removes healthy minerals.
Mineral Water
Mineral water encompasses any water sourced from a mineral spring. Mineral waters come from specific geographical sources and must contain at least 250 ppm of total dissolved solids (minerals like magnesium, calcium, sodium, etc.). Mineral water is, as its name suggests, high in minerality, which is a more distinct flavor than typical filtered water.
Alkaline Water
Alkaline water means that ingredients have been added to water in order to change the pH level of the water, making it more basic and less acidic than other waters. There are many health claims of alkaline water, but you should make sure you’re not consuming so much that you’re changing the pH of your stomach’s natural acidity.
Electrolyte Water
A sub-category of mineral water, electrolyte waters are popular with athletes because they claim to aid in a number of recovery functions. Electrolytes like potassium or magnesium are added to water, whereas in mineral water, these are found naturally.
Reverse Osmosis Water
The reverse osmosis filtration method is similar to distillation, in which all minerals and impurities are removed through a filtering process involving a special membrane that catches these particles. Unlike distilled water, reverse osmosis water often has minerals added back in for health reasons.
Spring Water
Spring water is defined by the FDA as “derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth at an identified location, may be collected at the spring or through a borehole, tapping the underground formation that feeds the spring.” Spring water is like mineral water in that it goes through very little filtration. Many people think spring water is pure, but it’s as pure as its source.
Sparkling Water
Sparkling water is just water, carbonated. The water used in sparkling water could come from any source.