Tap water is often shunned in favor of bottled water, especially because of its slight taste of chlorine.
However, as Professor Deray specifies, Friday on Europe 1, tap water is clean, contains the minerals we need and preferring it to bottled water helps to preserve our planet.
What water to consume on a daily basis to hydrate us properly?
Rather tap water or bottled mineral water?
In the program
Sans rendez-vous
, Friday, Europe 1 takes stock with Professor Gilbert Deray, head of the nephrology service at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital.
For the latter, there are several reasons for preferring tap water.
>> Find all of Sans rendez-vous every day from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here
"Bottled water has no health benefits"
Does tap water always have that unpleasant taste of chlorine? Does it contain all the minerals we need? What about bottled water? First of all, Professor Deray recalls that water is a vital element, our body being made up of 60 to 70% water. "This is considerable, and this is what explains why we can fast for 40 days without dying, but that one cannot live more than four days without drinking water ", explains the nephrologist. As for the average daily intake, they are of the order of 1.5 L.
But then bottled water or tap water?
"Very clearly, tap water," replies Professor Deray, recalling that tap water is the most controlled food in the world.
"In tap water, we will have removed all the impurities and all the bacteria, while bottled water has absolutely no interest in terms of health", he adds, specifying that the Bottled water does not in any way help to lose weight and does not provide anything in particular that tap water cannot.
"Plastic will destroy the planet"
“The majority of bottled mineral waters have no minerals. Some sell a lot for magnesium, but what's the point of buying mineral water, paying for it 300 times the price of tap water? whereas with a small portion of spinach you will have more magnesium than in your liter of bottled water? "asks the doctor.
What's more, he adds, the big downside to bottled water is the plastic. "We consider that about 90 billion plastic bottles are made each year for water, so that means 90 billion bottles found in nature. However, it takes 500 years to degrade a plastic bottle ", deplores Professor Gilbert Deray. "Plastic is the most important waste at the moment, that's what will destroy our planet."
Conversely, in tap water - which is very clean - "you have on average 80 milligrams of calcium per liter, which is highly recommended for your health". But downside of tap water: some people don't like its slightly chlorinated taste. However, specifies the nephrologist, "there is approximately one drop of chlorine for 200 to 300 liters of water, it is really very little and it is there precisely to avoid that there are bacteria". His solution to eliminate this taste that some find unpleasant: put tap water in the fridge for an hour before drinking.