What Is In Alkaline Water – And Can It Improve Your Health?
It has been regarded as the most healthful water available. But what is in alkaline water? The specific ingredients can differ in a glass of alkaline water but it could have calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate, silica, potassium and sodium bicarbonate. These ingredients help make alkaline water more alkaline and less acidic.
What is in Alkaline Water
The word alkaline refers to the pH level in a glass of water. The level of pH measures how acidic or alkaline the substance is on a scale of 0 to 14. To clarify the numbers, a pH of 1 would be very acidic and a pH of 13 would be very alkaline. Regular drinking water has less pH than alkaline water. Alkaline water typically has a pH of 8 or 9. And normal drinking water usually has a neutral pH of 7. But its important to note that pH alone isn’t enough to qualify substantial alkaline water. It must also contain minerals and ORP, oxidation reduction potential. Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) measures the ability of a lake or river to cleanse itself or break down waste products, such as contaminants and dead plants and animals. When the ORP value is high, there is a lot of oxygen present in the water. Alkaline water is made from hydrogen and oxygen—just like all waters.
Our body does a great job of managing its pH on its own
People think alkaline water can neutralize acid in the body
Alkaline water and other accessories can be found at Thrive Market
Benefits of Alkaline Water
Even though there isn’t much research of the benefits of alkaline water, proponents claim some benefits.
- Slow Aging-It has been known that it can slow the aging process. According to Dr. Oz he hasn’t been able to find a study to prove this.
- Improve Hydration-I have specifically experienced an increase in hydration when drinking alkaline water. I get dehydrated very easily when I travel to dry desert areas. When I drink alkaline water it has helped me to maintain hydration and not become dehydrated.
- Improve Heartburn-there have been people that suffer from acid reflux that have experienced some improvements. In 2012 a study was done that proved there are therapeutic benefits for patients with reflux disease.
Additional benefits not proven in studies include, boosts immunity, has potent antioxidants, detoxifies the body, reduces the risk of disease, energy boosting, helps burn fat, improves sleep and reduces wrinkles.
I really like this video below from Dr. Oz. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Side Effects of Alkaline Water
There are side effects for consuming anything in excess so always maintain a balance with your daily drink and food intake. Too much alkaline can cause:
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Skin irritations
- Nausea/Vomiting
- Muscle twitching
- Confusion
- Kidney issues
- Tingling in the face or extremities
- Hand tremors
5 different ways to make alkaline water at home
- Baking Soda-add one gallon of water to 1 tablespoon baking soda and mix until dissolved
- Lemon-squeeze a lemon into a glass of water
- pH Drops-liquid drops made with high concentrate of minerals and electrolytes increases pH
- Ionizing water pitcher-water is poured into this special pitcher and is ready to drink in 5 minutes
- Water ionizer system-most expensive of the options this machine creates an electrochemical process
Visiting the Carlsbad Water Company
I had the opportunity to visit the spring in Carlsbad, CA. Water is readily available for people to purchase through a vending system. I found it very interesting to enjoy a glass of water that was poured right here in the town I live. The pH is 8.76 from the Carlsbad spring. There is a lot of history surrounding the historic site established in 1882. The Carlsbad Alkaline Water comes from 500-1700 feet deep below the surface from an aguifer reaching artesian mineral well that drains naturally from the Cleveland National Forest. It has many natural minerals like calcium and magnesium. Click on the photo below to view the Carlsbad Alkaline Water website and get more information.
=>>Springs are all over the world. Check out this website of springs for drinking and soaking<<=
As you can see there are many opinions proven and not proven whether alkaline water can improve health. I’m glad I know now what is in alkaline water so I can make my own decision about consuming it. According to the Mayo Clinic the best solution is to regularly drink just plain water. I always recommend to have a balance and not exceed any one drink or food item. But what I do know is I feel better when I drink alkaline water, especially if its hot or i’m in a dry desert type area.
Hey,
This is a really insightful and interesting water. I have definitely heard of alkaline water, but I don’t really know anybody who drinks it regularly. I think I need to start drinking it because of the benefit of slow aging 🙂
Whenever I meet new people I always get asked “how old are you?” Then, whenever I give them my age, nobody believes me. They always think I’m 5 years older or even older than that 🙁
So, I think it would be good for me to start drinking alkaline water so I can start feeling better about how old I look.
Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work.
All the best,
Tom
@Tom thank you for visiting my blog today. Best wishes for health. Hopefully there will be more studies done soon on alkaline water.
Interesting article with lots of information. One thing was’t clear to me. In the paragraph “How to make alkaline water at home” are those 5 different ways to make alkaline water or are all 5 steps necessary at the same time?
@Hannie that’s a great question. I just updated the article what is in alkaline water as I see how that could be confusing. Those are 5 different ways to make it at home. Thank you for visiting my website today and best wishes.
I have heard a little about the benefits of alkaline water however I am skeptical about it because I am very healthy drinking regular quality water. I am very cautious with what I put into my body besides why change it if it’s not broken right?
This is a very good article and would love to see more independent tests done before trusting it myself. Thanks for posting it was very interesting to read.
@Rick thank you for visiting my website and I’m glad you enjoyed my article what is in alkaline water. I would agree with you “why change if it’s not broken”. I hope more studies are done soon so people can make smart choices when deciding to drink alkaline water.
I must confess that I’ve never heard of Alkaline Water. It makes perfect sense that it would be a healthy way considering, I’m going to have to give it a try.
How is the price point compared to Poland spring water?
@Yosef i checked the price point and they are very close in price. Thank you for visiting my blog today and I’m glad you enjoyed my article what is in alkaline water.
Interesting article on the benefits from alkaline water. I never
knew it could help heartburn! I love your blog and appreciate all the great info and insight on health and wellness. Thanks again for the good info!
@Lori thank you visiting my blog again. I really appreciate your support and I’m glad you enjoy the articles.
Interesting article about alkaline. I like the idea that alkaline can help with heartburn and aging. I have GERDS(gastrointestinal reflex disease and I am a senior. So, for those reasons I will try it.
Thank you
For a while I was drinknig alkaline water and I did notice some differences in me. Although it is still water, I found the taste more agreeable and I also had more energy. I live in the desert and drinking alkaline water is easier here than drinking plain, purified water, but that’s just my opinion … I stil don’t know enough about it, that’s why I was interested in reading your article.
Thanks for sharing this useful information!
@Christine thanks for visiting my blog today. I agree it does taste good and it helps me from dehydration when I’m in a desert type area.
This is interesting. A few weeks ago I was inquiring on Ionized water systems. A couple friends of mine had gotten involved with a company to help promote the business model and the ionized water for this company (not sure the name of the company). But first, they needed to purchase almost $10,000 worth of equipment. Yup, that happened. I don’t know why they would have done such a thing.
My research into ionized water led me straight to where Mayo Clinic and Dr. Oz ended up. Drinking plain water is just fine.
@Teresa so interesting
Detailed blog post you have here Alyse.
I have never taken the time to learn about the benefits of alkaline water. The fact that it helps slow aging is very interesting to me. My mom uses the lemon water and says it is a great cleanser and purifier of blood, liver and kidney’s. I may try some one of these days for weight loss 🙂
Thanks for this.
@A ekufaa Thank you for visiting my blog today. I’m glad you found my article what is in alkaline water helpful. Best wishes.
Oh wow. I never knew the importance of drinking this water type and now I do.
Funny enough I have always enjoyed the taste and the vitamin boost you get from drinking water with lemon juice squeezed into it. I have a lemon tree too so it is a great way to use them.
Can I ask you about the process that is taking place here? I am finding it hard to understand how the lemon does this.
Thank you.
@Catherine very interesting question! According to healthline.com, once digested and metabolized, lemon juice produces alkaline byproducts, which make the urine more alkaline. This is why it is thought of as alkalizing, despite its acidic pH before it is digested.
As always thank you for asking great questions! Best wishes.
The essentia alkaline water is one of my favorites! Thanks for the info!
@lena oh nice! Great to hear you like that one!