Why Should Mothers and Pregnant Women Be Concerned about Nitrates?

Hydration is essential in any stage of our life and all the more so during the pregnancy as the water is a key element in the foetal development. As the body is in a special state, the water consumption is different, namely the quantity of water consumed should be increased in order to ensure comfort and the hydration required for foetal development. Moreover, dehydration, even minor, increases the tiredness that any pregnant woman feels to various extents.

Water has a significant role in carrying nutrients for the baby to develop. Everything starts with the water that facilitates the absorption of essential elements in cells and carries the vitamins, minerals and hormones in the blood cells. These enriched cells reach the placenta and then the baby.

It also helps eliminate toxins because it contributes to toxin dissolution and their transport from kidneys through urine. Consuming enough water you reduce the risk of urinary infections, you help the digestion process and avoid constipation.

What kind of water is best for you?

So, water consumption is among the most important habits during pregnancy and ensures the baby but also the mother a healthy environment for development. This is why it is important that the mother and later the child drink water that is pure – with no toxins and no trace of fertilizers – and have a balanced mineral content – especially low in sodium. This is so important because, besides sodium, calcium, magnesium and other salts, e it may contain a component not mentioned on the label: nitrates. Nitrates are undesirable chemicals and toxic elements. They are natural components formed in soil. Nitrates in water are considered inorganic chemical contaminants. The amount of nitrates in drinking water is a problem that mothers-to-be should pay a great deal of attention.

The legislation in some European Union countries says that the maximum limit of nitrate content in water for infants should be less than 2.27 mg/l NO3-N, while the adult limit is 11.3 mg/l. Currently there is no regulation regarding nitrates and infants in the US that differs from the MCL limit for adults of 10mg/L of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N). Especially little babies under 6 months can become seriously ill if exposed to nitrate levels above 10 mg/L.

There is also a proven correlation between birth defects and high nitrate levels in the carrying mother. The researchers at Texas University have released a study that examined the relation between prenatal exposure to drinking-water nitrate and selected birth defects and found out that higher water nitrate intake was associated with several birth defects in infants after birth. Their conclusion was that expecting and nursing women should avoid drinking water with Nitrate levels greater than 2.27 mg/l NO3-N. For further reading, this is a link to the study.

What kind of water is best for your new born?

As children food is concerned, water is at least as important as the infant formula you choose.

As this study shows, new-borns are the most vulnerable as to the nitrate contamination, because their micro bacterial flora is not developed yet to fight them. The nitrates are nitrogen derivatives that can be found in the water natural circuit, and once ingested the nitrates are converted into nitrites – much more toxic than the nitrates, after the contact with the stomach bacterial micro flora. The ingestion of a larger quantity than the one allowed can have the following consequences: from gastric problems, infectious diarrhoea, urticarias and rashes – to methemoglobinemia.

Methemoglobinemia is the most dangerous disorder that the nitrate contamination can cause in infants – also known as “blue baby” syndrome. It manifests by breathing problems caused by blockage of the hemoglobin, the inadequate oxygen flow through blood, leading quickly to asphyxiation and, subsequently, to the death of the baby. This is why it is so important to prepare the baby food using water having the lowest possible nitrate content.

Good for plants but not humans, for you as an adult, nitrates might not be harmful; for your baby, they definitely are! Tasteless, colorless and odorless Nitrates are found in almost any bottled water on the market.

AQUA Carpatica natural spring water has NO NITRATE content, being undetectable at the spring, so it is completely free of nitrates, making it absolutely safe for your baby.

Drinking naturally sparkling natural mineral water during pregnancy is beneficial because it also very rich in calcium and magnesium, the natural bicarbonates it contains will help digestion and ease acidity expecting mothers struggle during pregnancy.

It is important that, during pregnancy, the amount of calcium and magnesium to be increased and that can happen in a natural way, through water, not from artificial supplements.

Calcium is the mineral element most present in the body and is involved in multiple essential metabolic processes. Doctors’ recommendation for adults is to assure a daily calcium amount between 800 and 1200 mg, both from food (dairy products, soy, tofu, hazelnut, walnuts, broccoli, sardines, salmon) and from natural sparkling waters. The persons with hypocalcaemia (like expecting mothers) are recommended to increase the dose up to maximum 1500 mg of calcium per day.

Also, Magnesium is the mineral element essential for the health of the body. It helps maintain both physical and psychological well-being because it plays an important role in the metabolic processes. The lack of magnesium causes hyperemotivity, headaches, trembling, dizziness, insomnia, spasms and numbness of extremities – popularly known as “cramps” – bone pains, allergies and decrease of immunity and the general well-being, The doctors’ recommendation for adults is to assure a daily amount of magnesium between 300 and 320 mg, both from food (cabbage, beet, plums, pumpkin seeds, bananas) and from the natural sparkling waters. The people who have a magnesium deficiency deficit are recommended to increase the dose up to maximum 350 mg of magnesium per day.

AQUA Carpatica spring water and sparkling mineral water are rich in natural calcium and magnesium and can boost your mineral intake to up to a quarter of the daily-recommended dose just from drinking it.

Key Benefits at a Glance

NITRATE FREE
low in sodium (both AQUA Carpatica still and naturally sparkling have very low sodium content)
naturally enriched (not added by industrial means) with electrolytes
Smooth, pleasant taste
natural, not processed or artificially purified water
alkaline pH by nature