Only a west coaster or someone south of the Mason/Dixon would say this. 
By the time the water hits the stomach, it’s no longer distilled. Saliva alone will add contaminants. Once it mixes with the stomach acids, the chance it might leach out ions is practically zero.
The claim seems preposterous.
They probably didn’t want you to drink from the distilled water tap out of fear of contamination; the water would no longer be pure.
“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.
Interesting responses. Some actual facts! If anyone knows about any controlled studies, please e-mail me. Thanks
Also in the radiator and battery (if the battery isn’t sealed). The radiator to prevent mineral deposits, the battery to prevent a dead cell. And distilled water in your iron, if you use one, also to prevent mineral depsoits.
I used distilled water for making orange juice for about 15 years, with no ill effects. I also get spring water from the free taps whenever I go through Hot Springs, Arkansas.
“A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. You think when Jesus comes back, he ever wants to see a cross?” – Bill Hicks
Pure H20 is odorless and tasteless. If you find the taste of distilled water “vile,” what you are saying is you miss the taste of the impurities you’re accustomed to.
Down here, we gots Watermills: little windmill-shaped kiosk-type deals that sit out in parking lots. When I run out of good drinking water, I pull up my truck, fill my three, 5-gallon bottles (cost: a quarter a gallon), and drive off. I’m then set for weeks. The Watermills are serviced and cleaned daily, and (according to their sign) they shut themselves off if the water falls below a preset quality standard.
They’re hooked up to the municipal water supply, but they get rid of the gunk, and that’s all I ask. Lubbock water is famously undrinkable; ‘cloudy’ doesn’t begin to describe it. Drinking Lubbock tap water actually makes me thirstier, since it’s so mineral-heavy it sucks the existing moisture out of my mouth. Ugh.
Alrightie,f rom ask.com:
Since it is pure water that your body needs, there is only one type of water suitable for
your body–distilled. Distilled water is the purest water available. It’s nothing but water!
When your body needs water in addition to what you get from fruits and vegetables,
distilled water is unquestionably the best. Years ago there were some who argued against
distilled water saying that it would leach minerals out of your body. But there is no validity
to arguments against the use of distilled water. Not one bit of evidence proves anything but
the need for distilled water. The only minerals that distilled water will leach out of your
body are Inorganic ones that cannot be absorbed and hinder your health and vitality. Let
me explain further.
Your body can use only organic minerals. The only minerals distilled water will leach out of
your body are inorganic minerals, and in doing so you’ll avoid many common illnesses and
diseases. If it wee not for dust and air pollution, rainwater and distilled water would be
equivalent to each other. But, when even the purest rain water reaches the earth it quickly
becomes saturated with invisible inorganic minerals as it comes in contact with soil and
rock, collecting in streams, river, lakes, and underground aquifers. There is no more
benefit from drinking even the purest mineral water form a spring or well, than there
would be from eating a handful of finely ground soil or rock.
Did a little exploring, and came up with this site:
http://www.execpc.com/~magnesum/
It is a “magnesium awareness” site, promoting an increase in magnesium in our diet. It doesn’t seem to be selling anything (although I didn’t look too closely) and it does have some papers on heart attack incidence in hard water and soft water areas:
http://www.execpc.com/~magnesum/lancet.html
http://www.execpc.com/~magnesum/anderson.html
These papers appear to be from proper peer-reviewed medical journals. They conclude that there is a statistically significant increase in the incidence of heart attacks in soft water areas. One paper attributes this to calcium and magnesium deficiency in the soft water areas, the other to magnesium deficiency only. So while distilled water won’t do you any harm, it may be leaving you short of magnesium if you’re not getting enough from your diet.
Of course, it could all be crap. Soft water and hard water areas are geographically seperate and there are any number of factors which can contribute to heart disease, so the correlation is suspect. (The first paper compares London with Glasgow for example, and takes no account of diet, regional genetics, smoking, stress etc. although it does mention exercise.)
I doubt seriously that you will find any good controlled studies on this. I can just imagine asking for a grant to do this study. “We are going to need 1000 people that will drink bottled water for the next 30 years. 500 will have distilled water, 500 tap water. They will not know what is in their bottle. Of course they will be paid, and we will have to do extensive medical testing on them, so we estimate the cost to be $2 million per year.” Er, it ain’t gonna happen. And you can’t do the classic animal test of giving large amounts to rats over a short period of time, because too much water forced into a body can caust electrolyte imbalances that would skew the test. So I wouldn’t waste a lot of time looking for studies.
“You can be smart or pleasant. For years I was smart.
I recommend pleasant.”
Elwood P. Dowd
You’re probably right. But it doesn’t hurt to ask.
(chortle)
However, You could have people drink it for a month and check for differences in the mineral content or something else against a control group. Or something… My experience in medical research is somewhat limited 
He’s the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting ‘All Gods are Bastards!’