Learn English Language with Surprising News About Microplastics
Did you know that the water you drink every day could have a surprising impact on your brain health? Or that something as simple as boiling water might help remove harmful microplastics? Welcome to Adept English, the podcast where we explore fascinating real-world stories while helping you learn English in a fun and immersive way.
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In today’s episode, we’re diving into two science-related news articles about drinking water—one linking hard water to a lower risk of dementia, and another revealing how boiling water can reduce microplastics. You’ll not only improve your English vocabulary and listening skills but also discover how everyday habits, like making tea or coffee, might be more beneficial than you think.
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Water is the driving force of all nature.
⭐ Leonardo da Vinci
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More About This Lesson
Did you know that the water you drink every day could be affecting your brain health? What if something as simple as boiling your water could protect you from harmful microplastics? And could the type of water in your area—hard or soft—impact your risk of developing dementia? Join us as we dive into two fascinating science stories about drinking water, and discover how this everyday habit might be shaping your health in ways you never imagined!
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The greatest wealth is health.
⭐ Virgil
Listening to today's English lesson will help:
- You learn vocabulary like "dementia," "degenerative," and "microplastics" in context.
- You understand pronunciation of words like "kettle" and "boil" through spelling.
- You hear natural English phrases like "prevention is better than cure."
- You practice listening to scientific topics for real-world conversations.
- You gain cultural insights about UK water types and health concerns.
- You improve fluency by hearing clear, active sentences repeatedly.
- You learn transitional phrases like "so," "but," and "if this is the case."
- You engage with current health topics to build interest and retention.
- You hear examples of verb forms like "to come," "came," and "coming."
- You practice understanding complex ideas explained in simple English.
Whether you’re curious about health research, environmental science, or the difference between hard and soft water, this episode is packed with practical language and real-world examples you can use every day. Plus, you’ll learn key phrases like “degenerative diseases” and “mineral deposits” in context.
Prevention is better than cure.
⭐ Desiderius Erasmus
So, if you’re ready to boost your English while uncovering surprising facts about your health, let’s get started. After all, learning English should be as enlightening as it is educational. Press play, and let’s dive in!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What is the difference between hard water and soft water, and how does it affect health?
Hard water contains higher levels of minerals like calcium and magnesium, which can leave deposits in kettles and make cleaning more challenging. Soft water, on the other hand, has fewer minerals and is often considered "nicer" for tasks like making tea or cleaning. Recent research suggests that living in hard water areas may reduce the risk of dementia, while soft water areas could be linked to higher rates of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. This connection highlights the importance of understanding the water you consume daily. - How can boiling water reduce microplastics, and why is this important?
Boiling water, especially hard water, can remove between 25% and 90% of microplastics. This method is more effective with hard water due to its mineral content, which helps trap and remove plastic particles. Reducing microplastics in drinking water is crucial because they have been linked to health issues, including changes in the gut microbiome, antibiotic resistance, and even brain-related conditions like dementia. Boiling water is a simple, accessible way to improve the quality of your drinking water. - What are the potential health risks of microplastics in drinking water?
Microplastics in drinking water have been associated with several health risks, including disruptions to the gut microbiome, increased antibiotic resistance, and the accumulation of plastic particles in the brain. Emerging research suggests a possible link between high concentrations of microplastics in the brain and degenerative diseases like dementia. While the full impact is still being studied, reducing microplastic intake through methods like boiling water can help mitigate these risks. - How can I improve my English fluency while learning about health and science topics?
Listening to podcasts like Adept English, which combine language learning with interesting topics like health and science, is an effective way to improve fluency. By engaging with content that interests you, your brain is more likely to retain new vocabulary and phrases. Additionally, practising speaking and revisiting audio lessons can reinforce your learning. This approach makes language acquisition more enjoyable and relevant to real-life situations. - What is the connection between drinking water and dementia risk?
Recent studies suggest that the type of water you drink—whether hard or soft—may influence your risk of developing dementia. Hard water, rich in minerals like calcium and magnesium, appears to be associated with a lower risk of dementia. In contrast, soft water areas show higher rates of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. This connection underscores the importance of understanding the quality of your drinking water and its potential long-term health impacts.
Most Unusual Words:
- Dementia: A condition that affects the brain, causing memory loss and difficulty thinking.
- Degenerative: Something that gradually gets worse over time, like a disease.
- Microplastics: Tiny pieces of plastic found in water, food, and the environment.
- Mineral deposits: Small amounts of minerals left behind, often in water or on surfaces.
- Hydration: The process of adding water to the body to stay healthy.
- Antibiotic resistance: When bacteria become stronger and medicines no longer work against them.
- Gut microbiome: The community of tiny organisms living in your stomach and intestines.
- Decaf: Short for "decaffeinated," meaning without caffeine.
- Preventative: Actions taken to stop something bad from happening.
- Validated: Proven to be true or correct through evidence or testing.
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| Water | 40 |
| Microplastics | 12 |
| About | 11 |
| English | 8 |
| Because | 8 |
| Areas | 8 |
| Drinking | 7 |
| Where | 7 |
| There | 6 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: Why Your Tap Water Might Be Poisoning Your Brain
When is ‘drink lots of water’ questionable advice?!
Hi there and welcome to this podcast. If you know me well and you've listened to a lot of Adept English podcasts, you know I like to cover scientific research. And when science finds out something new and useful, I enjoy talking about that, especially when it's to do with health, the environment, or our psychological well-being, our mental health in other words. So today's topic, it's about your health and it will concern you and your health because it's about the water we all drink. I'm going to look at two science-related news articles, one from this year, one from last year. Both are interesting in their own right, but I do wonder whether there's a connection between them. Why not listen and see what you think? My hope is that as listeners to this podcast, you'll also enjoy the combination of these topics with the opportunity to work on your English. We are an English language learning podcast first and foremost, but with a difference. I like to cover interesting topics to keep you listening, and so that through your interest, your brain gets more opportunity to learn English through listening. The best way, the only way, in fact, to move towards being fluent.
Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English. We will help you to speak English fluently. All you have to do is listen. So start listening now and find out how it works.
So I'm not a scientist, but I'm covering these two topics in the same podcast because I thought they were worth hearing in their own right, but also interesting to hear together. I couldn't find research which confirmed a link, but see what you think. Enough intrigue, here goes. So both today's topics are about drinking water.
A revelation about hard and soft water
The first news item I'm talking about was covered by most of the British newspapers on the 25th of January 2025, just a few weeks ago then. A headline from MSN, Microsoft Network, "Millions living in soft water areas could develop dementia." In The Independent, a British newspaper, this headline, "Landmark study links household water to degenerative diseases. Is your area affected?" So let's unpack a bit of vocabulary here. "Millions living in soft water areas could develop dementia". Dementia is something none of us want. It can affect your brain towards the end of your life, and it takes many things away from us. Your independence, your personality, your abilities, and your dignity as well sometimes. Nobody wants Alzheimer's, do they?
📷
A close up shot of a glass of water full of microplastics. Learn English while exploring fascinating health and science topics.
And what do we mean by 'soft water areas'? Well, in the UK, as in other countries, there are naturally areas where the water is soft and areas where we have hard water. So we're talking here about tap water, water that comes out of your tap. In the UK, tap water is safe to drink, so we also call it 'drinking water'. So our tap water is said to be hard, H-A-R-D, if we live in areas where there are lots of minerals, things like calcium and magnesium in the water. You can usually tell because it means your shower is harder to keep clean. If you use a kettle, K-E-T-T-L-E, to heat water, you can see these minerals collecting on the inside of your kettle. You need to clean it sometimes. And if you have soft water, this means you don't have this problem. You have fewer 'mineral deposits'. Usually, this means you live in an area where there's very hard rock or granite, so there aren't many minerals in your water. We often call these 'deposits', D-E-P-O-S-I-T, in the water.
Living in soft and hard water areas
So I'm from the northwest of England, and I grew up with lovely soft water. I say 'lovely' because we tend to think of soft water as 'nice'. There aren't those problems with the kettle. You don't have problems cleaning your bathroom. Soap works better in soft water areas, and you can get a nicer cup of tea with soft water. But when I was 25, I moved to the southeast of England, and I've lived here ever since. Here, the water is really hard, just like it is in London. It doesn't taste as nice. It's harder to make that good cup of tea. And as I've said, it's much harder to keep your bathroom, in particular your shower, nice and clean and shiny. But new research has shown there's a link between dementia and our drinking water. Apparently, you are much less likely to get dementia in the areas of the UK where the water is hard.
No escaping your drinking water?
So this research was covered in most of the UK newspapers in January this year. So another headline in The Independent was, "Landmark study links household water to degenerative diseases." So 'degenerative' means 'it causes gradual damage'. Things like Alzheimer's. That's a 'degenerative' disease of the brain. The article asks, "Is your area affected?" And it shows maps of the UK, the areas which have soft water and therefore where people are more likely to develop dementia. Even if you don't drink cold tap water, most of us drink tap water in the form of tea or coffee and other drinks. And of course, we consume it with our food and when we clean our teeth. So there's no escaping your drinking water.
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How to remove microplastics from your drinking water - you may already be doing it!
OK, so news item number two. This was something that I covered in one of our subscription episodes recently, Episode 16 on microplastics. This was science news back in 2024. And again, it was covered by many of the mainstream newspapers. My particular source here, an article on the website New Atlas, published 5th of March 2024, so just over a year ago with the title, 'There's a surprisingly simple way to remove microplastics from your drinking water'. The article talks about the quantity, the amount of microplastics now in our drinking water and how we're all taking in what the article calls 'concerning' quantities of microplastics in our food and our drink. I don't think it matters whether you drink tap water, as many people in the UK and other countries do, or you drink bottled water. You're still taking in microplastics.
But this news item was what I call a 'good news' item, meaning that it has a positive message. Scientists studying microplastics at Guangzhou Medical University and Jinan University in China believe they have found a simple way of removing microplastics from water. And it's one you can do at home in your kitchen - even better! They studied soft and hard tap water - hard being the type, remember, that's rich in minerals like calcium and magnesium. They added micro and nano plastics into the water and they boiled it. 'To boil', B-O-I-L means 'to heat the water to 100 degrees centigrade'.
English Listening Practice | Health News Stories
They then looked at the amount of microplastics in the water after boiling. The result? Well, they found that boiling water removed between 25% and 90% of the microplastics. But - and this is the part I wanted to draw your attention to - the removal of microplastics was much more successful with the hard water. So the effectiveness depended upon the type of water. This method removed microplastics much more effectively in hard water - up towards the 90% end than it did in the soft water - down towards the 25% end. The effect of microplastics in the body are still being studied. The article says that these plastics have already been linked to changes in the gut microbiome and the body's antibiotic resistance. But some of the more recent science concerns microplastics in the brain. They seem to accumulate here particularly.
So is hard, boiled water going to save us from microplastics - and dementia?
And guess what? The science is starting to link dementia to the concentrations of microplastics in our brains. If you'd like more information on this, I'm going to be covering this topic in episode 57 of the Adept English subscription service. For now, though, I'm just wondering whether that cup of tea or coffee, which I enjoy regularly throughout the day, is actually even healthier than I thought. In common with many people, I'm not great at just drinking plain tap water. But I do drink a lot of tea and coffee, sometimes decaf so that it helps with hydration.
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As I've said before, Adept English runs on cups of tea and coffee. Could it be that a tea drinking habit, coupled with living in a hard water area is actually protective of the brain because it's removing the plastic particles from the water? If this is the case, we all need to know about it and change our habits because of it. And if there are a higher percentage of people in soft water areas getting dementia, then governments and health systems need to take this into account. They need to know about it. Then they can act. 'Prevention is better than cure' is one of our sayings in English.
‘Prevention is better than cure’ - especially our chronic diseases which don’t have effective ‘cure’
And I would add that 'Preventative medicine is better than the medicine you get when you're already ill'! Just think how this information could improve people's lives if it's proved correct and it's validated. So don't forget, if you'd like more information about microplastics and the brain, then subscribe to get that episode number 16. And soon on the subscription service, I'll also be covering news items which say "Your brain might have a spoon-sized amount of plastic in it". Subscribe if you want to listen to that. It's coming soon. Am I jumping to conclusions or does this seem to have a logic to it which suggests further study of this possible association may be worthwhile?
I emphasise I'm not a scientist. I'm just reporting what I read. Let us know what you think of this. I'd be really interested to hear from you.
Goodbye
Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.
Thank you so much for listening. Please help me tell others about this podcast by reviewing or rating it. And, please share it on social media. You can find more listening lessons and a free English course at adeptenglish.com
Links
- Study links tap water to diseases
- Risk of dementia
- Water quality
- Remove Microplastics
- Brain might have plastic in it
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