To find scientific facts about the alkaline water made by a water ionizer, you first need to know what
scientists call it: They call it Electrolyzed Reduced Water (ERW), not alkaline water. Scientists don’t call ERW alkaline water for a very good reason. Water can be alkaline without being an antioxidant. Any water with a pH of over seven is alkaline, but it’s not antioxidant alkaline water, unless it’s made by a water ionizer. Whether your alkaline water is made by a water ionizer, or some other means has a big impact on how it will affect your health.
Scientific facts about alkaline water pH
The term pH stands for potential Hydrogen it measures the potential concentration of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in the water. A hydroxyl ion is composed of one hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom. Water with a higher concentration of hydroxyl ions than hydrogen ions in it has an alkaline pH. The pH of water affects what that water can dissolve, and how any chemicals in it behave. For example, recently people in Flint, Michigan were poisoned by lead in their water. Where did the lead come from? It’s always been there, it was used to make many of the pipes that deliver Flint’s water supply. So how come Flint’s water wasn’t poisoned by lead before? Because the pH of Flint’s water was too high for it to dissolve lead. Metals like lead become toxic in water with a low pH, because they become more soluble – which means they become easier for your body to absorb.
Water pH affects what your body absorbs and expels when you drink water
A study was conducted in Sweden on how water pH affects what your body absorbs from it when you drink it. The study looked at 47 women who drank well water. Half of the women lived in areas with acidic well water, half of them lived in areas with alkaline well water. The study found that the women who drank acidic water absorbed higher amounts of toxic metals like mercury, and that the women who drank alkaline well water absorbed higher amounts of beneficial minerals like calcium.
The first of the scientific facts about alkaline water is that an alkaline pH causes your body to absorb beneficial minerals like calcium, and to not absorb harmful metals like mercury.
Other research has shown that your body expels toxic metals when you raise your urine pH by drinking alkaline water. The study examined four middle aged people who were obese, and had never drank alkaline water from a water ionizer before. Researchers found that as the test subjects urine pH increased, so did the amount of toxic metals that their bodies expelled.
The second of the scientific facts about alkaline water is that it increases the rate at which your body expels toxic metals.
Oxidation Reduction Potential: Why some alkaline water is antioxidant, and some isn’t
At the beginning of this article, I pointed out that the only kind of alkaline water that is an antioxidant is reduced water. Water ionizers make reduced water using an electromagnetic charge, that’s why the alkaline water made by a water ionizer is called Electrolyzed Reduced Water (ERW). So what does science mean by reduced water?
Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) measures water’s ability to reduce (or contribute to) oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that occurs when oxygen combines with another substance by grabbing electrons from it, this process destroys the substance being oxidized. For example when iron is oxidized, it turns into rust (iron oxide). Water with the potential to reduce (or even stop) the chemical process of oxidation is called reduced water for the simple reason that it reduces the potential for oxidation. On the other hand, water that has the potential to increase oxidation is called oxidative water.
Oxidation in the body destroys tissues and DNA, just like oxidation of iron destroys the iron and turns it into rust. Oxidants in the body like free radicals use oxygen atoms to destroy tissue and DNA by stealing electrons from them. The theory behind antioxidants is that they have excess electrons which they donate to oxidants like free radicals. This electron donation process reduces the oxidant’s ability to damage and destroy tissues and DNA. Electrolyzed Reduced Water acts like an antioxidant because it reduces the ability of oxidants in the body to damage and destroy tissues and DNA.
The third of the scientific facts about alkaline water made by a water ionizer is that it reduces the potential of harmful oxidants in the body to damage and destroy tissues and DNA, thus it acts as an antioxidant.
Alkalinity is more important than pH for fighting acidity
I previously discussed how water pH affects what you absorb from it, but notice that I didn’t say that water which has an alkaline pH reduces acidity. The reason for this is that alkaline water’s pH isn’t what reduces or neutralizes acidity, alkaline water’s alkalinity is what determines how well it reduces or neutralizes acidity. In fact, you can have a high pH alkaline water, say a pH of 10+ that would have very little effect on the acidity of a can of soda. On the other hand, you could have an alkaline water with a moderate pH of around 8 that could significantly reduce the acidity in a can of soda. The reason for this is that the high pH water could have very little alkalinity, where the moderate pH water could have very strong alkalinity.
The alkalinity of water is determined by the amount of alkaline substances in it. The more alkaline substances in water, the greater its alkalinity will be. For example, you could put a quarter teaspoon of lye into 16 ounces of water and it will have a very high pH. But because it has only a tiny amount of alkali in it, that water wouldn’t be able to neutralize the acidity in a can of soda. However, if you put a tablespoon of calcium bicarbonate in water, the pH of the water won’t be as high as it is with the lye, but that water will neutralize the acidity in a can of soda.
The fourth of the scientific facts about alkaline water made by a water ionizer is that water’s alkalinity is more important for neutralizing acidity than pH is.
So, how do all the scientific facts about alkaline water made by a water ionizer affect your health?
Now that you’re familiar with the scientific facts about alkaline water, here’s some examples of how it affects your health.
pH: Alkaline waters alkaline pH helps your body absorb beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium. In fact, your body absorbs calcium and magnesium from water 30% faster and easier than it does from food. That’s why the World Health Organization recommends you get between 10 – 20% of your daily needs for calcium and magnesium from water. A water ionizer ensures that your water will have a pH high enough to absorb those healthy minerals. It will also raise the pH of your urine, so your body readily expels toxic heavy metals.
Oxidation Reduction Potential Alkaline water from a water ionizer will have high antioxidant potential because the electromagnetism used by the water ionizer to make alkaline water loads up the water with excess electrons that it can donate to oxidants like free radicals. By donating all those excess electrons to oxidants, antioxidant alkaline water can help reduce their ability to oxidize your DNA and tissues. Reducing oxidation in the body may help slow the progression of aging and some degenerative illnesses.
Alkalinity When a water ionizer makes alkaline water, it concentrates the minerals in the water, so you get water with higher alkalinity. The alkalinity of alkaline water made by a water ionizer helps to reduce the acidity in your body that steals calcium from your bones. Because of this, even the Mayo Clinic recognizes that alkaline water has a link to better bone health.
There are many more health benefits that can come from drinking alkaline water, these a just a few of them. Researchers are still studying alkaline water to understand its effects on our health, but even so there are about 40+ studies that show alkaline water has health benefits. What is very well known about alkaline water is that it is much safer than prescription drugs, and that it’s one of the easiest and safest ways to support good health.
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