Is Evian Water Bad For You?
Also Known As: Evian Natural Spring Water
Short answer
Evian water has high mineral content and is favored by many consumer advocacy groups, both of which are good. While it may be expensive, it's probably not bad for you.
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. A few harmful qualities may be associated, but only under certain circumstances such as an allergic reaction.
View Full Grading System
Category 'A'
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. Side effects are rare. Things rated an 'A+' are typically necessary for survival (for example, water).
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. A few harmful qualities may be associated, but only under certain circumstances such as an allergic reaction.
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. Harmful qualities may be associated, but aren't usually serious.
It is important to note that even the best things in life can become bad in immoderate amounts. So, although something may be rated an 'A+', overconsumption/overdoing can bring unwanted effects.
Category 'B'
Very beneficial to your health. Things rated a 'B+' may have a few harmful qualities to pay attention to.
Overall beneficial to your health. Things rated a 'B' may have some harmful qualities to pay attention to.
More beneficial to your health than not. However, harmful qualities are most likely associated and shouldn't be overlooked.
The main difference between category 'A' and category 'B' is the harmful qualities typically present in 'B' items. Serious side effects are usually uncommon, but are still possible and should be taken note of.
Category 'C'
Both beneficial and harmful qualities associated. Things rated a 'C+' are typically a bit more on the beneficial side. Still, moderation is important.
A fairly even ratio of beneficial and harmful qualities. Moderation is important. Very general topics that can lean towards both sides of the spectrum will be placed here as well. Rice, for example, can be good or bad depending on the type.
More harmful than beneficial. Side effects are common, especially when consumed/done excessively. Moderation is very important.
Category 'C' usually denotes to both good and bad qualities. When it comes to this category, it is important to keep this word in mind: moderation.
Category 'D'
Harmful to your health. Although benefits may be associated, the bad most likely outweighs the good. Moderation is very important.
Harmful to your health. A few benefits may be associated, but the bad outweighs the good. Moderation is extremely important.
Harmful to your health. Very few, if any, benefits are present. Things in this category should be avoided as much as possible.
Category 'D' is typically for things that are more harmful than beneficial. While consuming/doing something unhealthy once in a blue moon shouldn't hurt, we definitely recommend eliminating 'D' items as a regular part of your routine/diet.
Category 'F'
Category 'F' is for things that fail to bring anything beneficial to the table, and are very harmful to your health. We recommend completely avoiding anything in this category. Long-term side effects of 'F' items are usually very serious.
Category 'N'
'N' stands for neutral. Things placed into this category are generally (a) neither good nor bad for you, or (b) lack the necessary evidence to reach any conclusions.
Long answer
Evian Water probably isn't bad for you. The Environmental Working Group - a consumer advocacy group that compares different water bottle brands - gives Evian a C. That may sound low, but it's actually near the head of the pack; EWG gives no water bottle brands an A and only four a B. According to their assessment, Evian is bottled in the Alps and not treated. The company has two water quality reports available on their website - one for Evian sold in California and one for Evian sold elsewhere. Transparency with water quality reports is one of the main metrics by which EWG measures different bottled waters.
What about the mineral content of Evian? The WHO has published standards for mineral content in water; they recommend that you drink water with relatively high mineral content. Your body can't get all the minerals and nutrients that it needs from eating food, and you need some minerals from water in order to function properly. Desalinating or filtering water removes many of those important minerals. Demineralized water isn't just worse for you, however - it's "thirsty" and will actually leach calcium and magnesium from your system to replenish itself. So, when you drink demineralized water, you're depriving yourself not just of the minerals you need from water but also those that you've gotten from other sources.
Evian has relatively high mineral content. One bottle will provide about a tenth of the calcium and a twentieth of the magnesium that you need for the day. That's a good amount - of the various bottled waters on the market, Evian is one of the only brands that makes the cut according to the standards published by the WHO. If you're hurting for calcium or magnesium in your diet, you may want to consider drinking Evian water.
Is Evian purer than tap water? That depends on where you live. In the United States, tap water is overseen by the EPA, and bottled water that's sold between states is regulated by the FDA. The EPA has fairly stringent standards for the content of tap water; the FDA, by contrast, has no authority to regulate bottled water that's bottled and sold in-state, and dedicates relatively few resources to regulating and overseeing bottled water.
Whether or Evian is better than tap water, in short, depends largely on the city that you live in. Despite EPA regulation, there's a range of quality when it comes to tap water - Des Moines, Iowa gets high marks, while Riverside, California consistently makes lists for the worst tap water. Read up on the quality of your local water before making the decision to filter it or switch to a bottled brand like Evian.
We also have a separate article that explores the controversies around dangerous chemicals from the plastics that are used in water bottles. There's not much conclusive evidence that bottles will introduce dangerous chemicals into your water, even when heated or re-used.
Benefits
- high mineral content
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relatively high score from consumer advocacy groups
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