3 Surprising Scientific Facts about Alkaline Water by Life Ionizers
Think you know the facts about alkaline water? You might be surprised, in fact most of what you read about alkaline water is flat-out wrong – not backed by scientific evidence.
In fact, there’s lot’s of scientific-sounding theories “everyone knows” about alkaline water can easily be proven false, such as microclustering. It’s too bad that there is so much misinformation out there on alkaline water, because the real science behind alkaline water is far more fascinating than the stuff people make up about it.
Hydrogen Bonding: Water molecules may, or may not, cluster together
Many people think that alkaline water hydrates better because it’s “restructured” or “microclustered” – but there is no such thing! Water molecules may bond together, but not for very long. According to the theory of Hydrogen bonding, if water molecules clustered together, they would split up again in just a few picoseconds – trillionths of a second. Research on the possibility of water molecule clusters is ongoing, the question of whether water molecules cluster is considered to be one of the great, unsolved mysteries of chemistry. Hydrogen bonding and the water molecule clusters it may create are the stuff of theoretical physics.
The smallest possible water cluster is made up of two water molecules – not six! – and it’s called a water dimer. Keep in mind that nobody has ever observed a water dimer or any other cluster of water molecules. The claim that alkaline water clusters up into clusters of six is a myth that was first started by Dr. Emoto of Japan.
The largest possible water molecule cluster is called a water buckyball, if it exists, it would be a cluster made up of 280 water molecules!
Surface tension: Why alkaline water is easier for your body to absorb
So microclustering, the reason some eager salespeople claim alkaline water hydrates you better is a load of nonsense. But the fact remains that alkaline water really does hydrate better than plain water. The actual science behind the reason alkaline water hydrates better is simple: The surface tension of alkaline water made by a water ionizer is lower than the surface tension of plain water.
The surface tension of water is determined by how strongly the molecules in that water are attracted to each other. Tap water’s mineral bicarbonates have a stronger attraction for water molecules than alkaline water’s mineral hydroxides. If tap water has a lot of mineral bicarbonates in it, then it becomes hard water, which can be really hard to absorb – by anything. That high surface tension is the reason you have a hard time washing clothes in hard water.
Alkaline water made by a water ionizer is easier to absorb because the mineral hydroxides in it aren’t as strongly attracted to water molecules. That gives alkaline water lower surface tension. You can even test this for yourself by doing a simple experiment called the Penny Test. It involves counting how many drops of water you can fit on the side of a penny before it overflows. You can fit more drops of tap water onto the side of a penny than you can alkaline water.
Alkalinity and pH are not the same thing
When people talk about alkaline water, they often use terms like alkalinity and pH to refer to alkaline water’s higher than neutral pH, but they’re not exactly the same thing. Alkalinity measures alkaline water’s ability to neutralize (or buffer) acids. Alkaline water gets it’s alkalinity from the mineral hydroxides in it. The greater the concentration of mineral hydroxides, the more acid the alkaline water can neutralize.
The term pH refers to potential hydrogen. It measures the concentration of hydrogen ions in the water. For health purposes, alkalinity (the ability to neutralize acid) is more important than the water’s pH because alkalinity can vary independently of pH:
- Alkaline water with a high pH (high concentration of hydrogen) can have weak alkalinity.
- Alkaline water with a moderate pH can have high alkalinity
If you have alkaline water with a high concentration of hydrogen ions, but very low mineral content, it will have a high pH, but weak alkalinity. On the other hand, if you have alkaline water with high mineral content, it may only have a moderate pH, but it will be able to neutralize a lot more acidity.
To get the best of both worlds in an ionizer you need a lot of power. Power enables a water ionizer to convert the weakly alkaline mineral bicarbonates in tap water into the stronger alkaline mineral hydroxides that can neutralize acidity. The more powerful your ionizer, the more acid-fighting ability the alkaline water it makes will have.
Alkaline water facts vs. alkaline water theories
It’s your health. Make your health decisions based on facts, not theories. If you’ve been shopping for a water ionizer, you’ve probably seen a lot of theories about alkaline water being tossed around: Microclustering, water restructuring, the acid/alkaline theory of weight gain. All of these theories have one thing in common: You can’t test them. there’s no way to find out if they’re actually true!
Alkaline water facts are testable. You can test every claim made in this article, each of these facts can be proven using basic, high school level chemistry, there’s really no need for fancy theories. Life Ionizers knows these facts because we’ve done these tests, we’ve verified every claim in this article with actual chemistry. Life knows the chemistry behind alkaline water while other companies rely on unproven theories. When making a health decision, it’s just plain common sense – trust facts over theory – it’s your health.
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