Travelers With Osteoporosis Should Look Out For This Water Issue When Abroad

It's easy to put your health on the back burner when you're traveling: Days packed with fun activities and unfamiliar cuisine can throw off your usual routines. With a little preparation, like reading up on foods the CDC recommends avoiding while traveling beforehand, you can keep your wellness in check and preempt illness. Even something as simple as unfamiliar water sources can throw off your health. For those with osteoporosis, there's a good chance you've been told to take the medication for it — alendronic acid, or alendronate — with plain water on an empty stomach, as other foods and beverages consumed within 30 minutes of ingesting it can limit how much of it is absorbed by your body.

Even if you have been told certain bottled water in your home country is safe to drink with alendronate, when you're traveling, it's best to stick with tap water and avoid potential uncertainties. In some countries, even when they're not explicitly labeled as mineral waters, the bottled water might contain a high mineral content (particularly calcium) that can disrupt the medication's absorption. In Europe, for example, some are simply labeled "natural spring water" but in fact have a high mineral concentration, while others in Mexico don't list a breakdown at all.

There's one snag to keep in mind, though: Tap water isn't always safe to drink in different countries. When traveling abroad, avoid drinking from the hotel sink, in particular. One way to neutralize contaminated tap water is to boil it, then let it cool before consuming it. If this isn't an option, then it's better to take the medication with bottled mineral water than not take it at all — try to look for those that contain less calcium.

In most parts of the U.S., it's safe to drink water from the tap. This is something many Americans take for granted when on vacation in places like the Caribbean, where, in some areas, the tap water might be dangerously contaminated and make you ill. For some travelers, it's simple to avoid the issue by only drinking bottled water, but someone with osteoporosis needs to be a bit more vigilant, since bottled water limits alendronate absorption. According to Global Rescue, the countries where tap water is unsafe (and therefore needs to be boiled) are India, Mexico, Nigeria, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Peru, Haiti, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

There's a second caveat, though. Even if it's safe to drink, some countries have especially hard tap water, meaning it has a high concentration of minerals. According to Canada's health department website, there's a risk that this can also affect alendronate absorption. Water hardness varies quite a bit by city, regardless of whether it's fine to drink. If you're in a place that's known for having very hard tap water, then it's safest to try to find distilled or non-mineral bottled water to take with your medication.