Can you believe it? Unsuspectingly, we’ve been flushing out the bad stuff from our noses for decades, and now that (found here and here):
[snip]“Louisiana’s state health department issued a warning about neti pots […]. It follows two recent deaths – a 51-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man from the ‘brain-eating amoeba’ Naegleria fowleri. It is thought the amoeba entered their brains when they used the devices. Both victims are thought to have used tap water, instead of distilled or sterilised water as recommended by the manufacturers.” [snip]
Can it be true? For ages yogis in Indian ashrams have been advising students to use the (Indian!) tap water, which apparently is just fine. Should we be concerned or is this just another blown up headline of today’s sensationalist “journalism”? Well, at least now I know that I might die within 12 days, enough time to indulge in this year’s xmas celebrations! 
Any thoughts (on the story, not on me passing away..)?
Namaste!
Categories: Controversial, Yoga
Yoga & Joyful Living 
i’ve never personally used a neti pot, but know people that do. this sounds like such a “freak” incident. it totally makes sense to boil it, just to be sure. maybe our immune systems just aren’t as resistant as our Indian friends?
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I was surprised by this story since I’ve been using a neti pot for years. My cousin is a news reporter and covered this story. She told me that the reason it is unsafe to use tap water is that the amoeba travels only through your nose, not your mouth. I’m going to start using distilled water just to be safe.
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Wow! Been using neti pots form ages !!!! Got to be careful i guess – regards Dipankar, India.
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I saw this story and thought it was very bizarre. But it’s okay to drink the water? Hmmmm…..
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Apparently then your stomach is able to deal with whatever the water contains, but if you flush your sinuses it goes unfiltered right up to your brain – or so they say…
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Whoa… this has to be a really rare case.. Since we are on the topic of tap water from india i would like to mention that I have been doing neti using lukewarm tap water (not boiling) from india. We did add a little salt to it. We also completed the practice by adding a little bit ghee into our noses to prevent dryness.
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Wow…it is really scary! 🙂 But is it about water?
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Well, apparently you need to boil the water to be sure. If you believe the two deaths are linked to it, that is. Scary indeed!
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Yikes, this is scary!
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