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While even Science backs the centuries-old Indian tradition of drinking water from copper vessels, lifestyle guru Luke Coutinho warned against excess consumption.
copper plays a vital role in forming red blood cells and maintaining healthy immune function. (Representative Image: Shutterstock)
Lifestyle guru and nutrition specialist Luke Coutinho recently warned against excessive obsession with drinking water from copper vessels, advising people not to blindly follow internet trends.
In a post on Instagram earlier this week, Coutinho shared a story of a young 17-year-old girl who developed stomach issues due to drinking copper water. The problem was not in the water, but the way the girl, named Akira, consumed it.
“Copper is powerful. But like anything powerful, it demands respect and moderation,” Coutinho said.
He explained that while even science backs the centuries-old Indian tradition of drinking water from copper vessels, people need to understand that “more is not better”.
In his Instagram post, Coutinho emphasised the importance of copper-infused water that can support immunity. It can aid digestion and act as a natural antioxidant. This is because copper plays a vital role in forming red blood cells and maintaining healthy immune function. However, excess copper can accumulate in the body and trigger toxicity, the nutrition expert explained.
“You don’t need to sip copper water all day or mix it with lemon, or heat it. One or two mugs of plain, room-temperature copper water a day is usually more than enough,” Coutinho advised in his post, emphasising “being educated, not influenced”.
Coutinho said that excess copper may cause irritation in the stomach lining, cause nausea, and abdominal pain, which is why balanced consumption is important.
He shared the story of the young girl who would store water in a copper vessel every night and drink it in the morning. Her family members also followed a similar ritual, but Akira alone developed stomach issues.
The pain only lasted for two to three hours in the morning, after which she seemed back to normal. Her family explained that all of them, including Akira, had been drinking water stored in copper vessels every morning on an empty stomach.
However, it was discovered that Akira was heating the stored water and squeezing lemon juice in it before consumption. This practice was not followed by anyone else in her family. It turned out that the process was causing a chemical reaction, leading to a stomach ache for Akira.
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