Why Copper Vessels Were Used In India

2016-06-07 09:43:29

Credit: timesalert.com

Credit: timesalert.com

Copper is not a poisonous heavy metal. It is recommend by National Academy of Sciences to eat 700 micrograms of Copper each day. Copper is usually found in meat, lobster, or supplemental vitamins. Drinking from a copper cup won't really affect you too much anyway. 

For thousands of years, the people of India and many other Asian countries have known the benefits of drinking from copper vessels.   According to Ayurveda, water stored in a copper vessel has the ability to balance all the three doshas in your body, (vata, kapha and pitta)and it does so by positively charging the water. The water stored in a copper vessel is known as ‘tamara jal’ and is supposed to be consumed after storing the water in a copper vessel for at least eight hours.

Sudha et al 2012 reported  the antibacterial effect of copper pot against important diarrhoeagenic bacteria, including Vibrio cholerae O1, Shigella flexneri2a, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, enteropathogenic E. coliSalmonella enterica Typhi, and SalmonellaParatyphi is reported. When drinking-water (pH 7.83±0.4; source: ground) was contaminated with 500 CFU/mL of the above bacteria and stored in copper pots for 16 hours at room temperature, no bacteria could be recovered on the culture medium. Copper content (177±16 ppb) in water stored in copper pots was well within the permissible limits of the World Health Organization. Copper holds promise as a point-of-use solution for microbial purification of drinking-water, especially in developing countries.

A study from University of South Carolina researchers explored the purifying power of copper, finding that “Antimicrobial copper surfaces in intensive care units (ICU) kill 97 percent of bacteria that can cause hospital-acquired infections,” resulting in “a 40 percent reduction in the risk of acquiring an infection.”

In another study published in Nature Chemical Biology on 6 June 2016. Copper play  Key role in burning of fat. Copper’s reputation as an essential nutrient for human physiology. A research team led by a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and at the University of California, Berkeley, has found that copper plays a key role in metabolizing fat.

Long prized as a malleable, conductive metal used in cookware, electronics, jewelry and plumbing, copper has been gaining increasing attention over the past decade for its role in certain biological functions. It has been known that copper is needed to form red blood cells, absorb iron, develop connective tissue and support the immune system.

Copper is essential for breaking down fat cells so that they can be used for energy. It acts as a regulator. The more copper there is, the more the fat is broken down. We think it would be worthwhile to study whether a deficiency in this nutrient could be linked to obesity and obesity-related diseases

Too much copper can lead to imbalances with other essential minerals, including zinc.

Why do you need copper: Copper is an essential micro-nutrient and plays a role of many things happening inside our body - development of body organs, RBCs, absorption of iron, anti-oxidant defense.

Source: Sudha, V.B. Preethi et al. “Storing Drinking-Water in Copper Pots Kills Contaminating Diarrhoeagenic Bacteria.” Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition 30.1 (2012): 17–21. Print. quora.com, thehealthsite.com, ishafoundation.org, reuters.com/article/us-copper-antimicrobial-idUSTRE76031820110701