The Truth About Alkalinity: Should You Drink Alkaline Water?
There is great debate surrounding the health benefits of drinking alkaline water. On one hand, we have researchers and avid alkaline water drinkers attesting to the positive health effects of drinking alkaline water. On the other, we have members of the medical profession and former alkaline water drinkers warning us against the bad effects of tinkering with our body’s internal pH level. This article seeks to provide some illumination on the matter.
Is Alkaline Water Good Or Bad For You?
A lot of doctors warn against excessive drinking of alkaline water, emphasizing that the body’s natural pH level is the optimal level for different bodily processes. Doctors also emphasize that the body can get too alkaline — a condition which can significantly impede the digestive process and lead to a number of conditions. It is worth noting, however, that these noted setbacks of drinking alkaline water are caused by a specific type of alkaline water — the artificial ones.
The danger in drinking too much alkalinized water lies in the fact that the acid-neutralizing properties of ionized water only has effects in areas where it has direct contact, namely, the digestive tract which needs a certain level of acidity to function properly. It must also be noted that the pH level of water is not necessarily an indication of its alkaline mineral content. By drinking copious amounts of alkaline water, one could unnecessarily make the digestive tract too alkaline, making digestion more difficult and running the risk of breeding harmful microorganisms that would have died in an acidic environment.
However, drinking natural alkaline water (water that has high alkaline mineral content and naturally occurs in nature), or at least alkalinized water manufactured by mimicking the mineral composition of natural alkaline water, is a different story altogether. Rather than tricking the body to think that it is receiving alkaline minerals when it is actually not, natural alkaline water actually introduces alkaline minerals such as calcium and magnesium into the body. Instead of just altering the pH levels in the digestive tract, natural alkaline water introduces minerals into the bloodstream, thereby reaching different organs without upsetting the natural state of the digestive system. Also, since these minerals can naturally be found in the human body, the body is fully-equipped to use the amount of minerals it needs and to discard the excess.
In addition to the type of alkalization, the overall health condition of the drinker must also be considered. For individuals with acidity problems, increasing the body’s level of alkalinity can prove to be beneficial as it will help bring the body’s pH level to its natural state. For otherwise healthy individuals, however, it might be necessary to drink alkaline water in moderation and to regularly monitor the body’s pH level so as to reap its health benefits without suffering from side effects.
In a nutshell, there really is no one clear-cut answer to the question of whether alkaline water is good or bad for the health. After all, every individual has specific needs and health conditions. To identify whether you should try alkalized water, it is best to first know your health condition and the quality of the alkaline water you want to consume.
