How is drinking distilled water bad for you?

Question

I heard in science class once years ago that distilled water is water so clean, it kills you. How?

In: Biology

Answer 1

It won’t kill you (unless you drink nothing else), but it’s also not a good idea. The reasoning is that soluble compounds in your body will readily dissolve into distilled water, thus depriving you of important minerals and electrolytes. The water we drink, whether tap or bottled, already has loads of such minerals in solution, so it has a far lesser capacity to absorb nutrients from your body and thus it doesn’t upset your equilibrium.