Is Alkaline Water Better For Hydration? What You Learned Before Is All Wrong.

Drinking alkaline water is one of the most popular health trends right now, with celebrities, doctors and athletes around the world claiming it is more hydrating and healthy than regular water.

“I have alkaline water filters in my kitchen sink and on my shower heads, so it’s purified and alkaline,” says Miranda Kerr, Victoria’s Secret model, “I learned about the benefits of alkaline in your body from studying nutrition, and there are many ways to do it — drinking alkaline water is one of them.”

Alkaline water has a lower pH level than regular water, making it less acidic. Proponents claim the special water is better for hydration, improves digestion, aids with weight loss, boosts energy, detoxifies your body, and balances pH levels.

But are these claims true? What is the science behind alkaline water, and should you start incorporating this into your health routine?

What Is The Science Behind Alkaline Water?

Research has shown that cancer cells thrive in an acidic environment, leading many to embrace a highly alkaline diet, which includes alkaline water as a way to boost their health and longevity. Although an alkaline diet won’t affect your blood pH levels, sticking to alkaline foods and water vs. acidic foods and water can change the pH level of your urine and saliva and improve your overall well-being. It can also help improve blood viscosity, which is a sign that your body is more hydrated.

Standard bottled water has a pH between 6.5 and 8.5, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Anything above 7 is called “alkaline,” meaning it has more hydroxide than hydrogen ions. Some alkaline water brands may achieve alkalinity through ionization (basically concentrating hydroxide ions, the HO part of H20, within the water itself) or UV purification. Both methods have the added benefit of killing bacteria suspended in the water.

Star athletes like Tom Brady swear by an alkaline diet and attribute this diet as a main reason for their peak physical health.

Brady follows a specific alkaline lifestyle and diet created by Dr. Robert O. Young, primarily to decrease muscle inflammation caused by the buildup of lactic acid. Part of this diet means limiting “acidic foods,” which mostly includes starchy, high-carb foods like bread, pasta, potatoes, and ALL dairy products (yes, even cheese!). Of course, Brady drinks alkaline water as part of this diet, and sees amazing results as part of this alkaline lifestyle.

But what if you don’t want to commit to this super strict diet? What are the benefits of adding alkaline water to your diet, without necessarily changing what you eat on a normal basis?

Well, the main benefit is increased hydration. While devoting yourself to an all-alkaline diet is the best way to compete with the likes of Tom Brady, just incorporating alkaline water into your daily routine will bring noticeable benefits. Staying hydrated, as we all know, is the basic foundation of health, beauty, and performance.

The good news is that there is solid scientific evidence that alkaline water alone, even without the accompanying diet, can help boost hydration, which is vital to good health.

The Journal of the International Society of Sports Medicine published a study in 2016 regarding the hydrating effects of alkaline water. The journal studied 100 people who were asked to do some mild exercises. As a result of the mild exercise, the study group lost 2% of their body mass through sweating.

While rehydrating after their exercise session, half of the study group was given normal bottled water and the other half received alkaline water.

The results were astonishing.

The group who drank regular water had their blood viscosity drop by 3.36%. The group that drank alkaline water had their blood viscosity drop by 6.3% – nearly twice as much with the same quantity of water.

Blood viscosity refers to the thickness of the blood. Obviously, a high level of blood viscosity means that your blood is quite thick, which is a sign of dehydration, which is a huge health concern. Low levels of blood viscosity indicate a healthy level of hydration, making it easier for your heart to pump blood through your body and maintain high levels of physical exertion.

The Journal of General Physiology reported a similarly encouraging study that underscores the effectiveness of alkaline water for hydration.

The researchers from this publication studied a type of proteins called “aquaporins” that are present in the body’s cells. Aquaporins, as the name implies, are porous, tube-like proteins in your body through which water flows. Researchers found that aquaporins react differently in different environments, becoming more open or more closed depending on what molecules surround them.

When the research subjects ate acidic foods and consumed acidic water, the aquaporins to shrunk within themselves, prohibiting water from moving easily between all the cells. The result was that protons (positively charged particles, which make things acidic) were prevented from escaping the cells. By contrast, the electrons found in alkaline water (negatively charged electrons, that make things alkaline) were able to flow freely, aiding in proper hydration throughout the body.

What Are The Benefits Of Alkaline Water?

Not all waters are created equal. After all, you can drink all the salt water you want, but it will only make your body more dehydrated. That’s why it is so important to drink high-quality water, preferably alkaline water.

There are many benefits of drinking alkaline water. The main benefits are increased hydration, improved digestion, aid with weight loss, boosted energy, fewer toxins in your body, increased blood circulation, and a balanced pH level in your body. The secondary benefits are helping those suffering from acid reflux, regulating blood sugar, and helping bone health.

Not bad for a simple cup of water, right?

Increased Hydration: As the aforementioned studies have shown, drinking regular water is not the same as drinking alkaline water. One bottle of alkaline water will help your body get more hydrated than a bottle of regular water.

Improved Digestion: Studies have shown that metabolic functions improve when an individual drinks alkaline water.

Weight Loss: By maintaining proper hydration for longer periods of time, cravings and feelings of hunger are diminished when drinking alkaline water. If your body has proper hydration, you are also able to work out harder, which helps burn calories.

Beauty Benefits: By making it easier for your body to stay hydrated, your skin will become clearer and more radiant. Additionally, there are many other benefits for hair and skin.

Detoxifying: Alkaline water helps eliminate damaging free radicals by converting them to oxygen.

Energy-boosting: When feeling properly hydrated, the body is capable of full functionality and your energy is boosted.

Blood Circulation: As we mentioned when discussing the study from The Journal of the International Society of Sports Medicine, blood viscosity is greatly improved by drinking alkaline water. When blood is more hydrated, it becomes more fluid and is therefore easier to pump throughout the body.

Acid Reflux: Acid reflux refers to the uncomfortable and painful burning feeling that occurs when acidic liquids climb back up the esophageal pathway. It makes sense that alkaline water, which makes everything less acidic, would help with the acid reflux that many suffer from.

Blood Sugar Regulation: Alkaline water is so good at regulating blood sugar that diabetic patients are often recommended to drink it in order to help with their condition.

Bone Health: Dietary acid charge enhances bone loss. By decreasing the acidity in your diet by drinking alkaline water, you could be saving your bones from osteoporosis, too.

Should I Drink Alkaline Water?

If you’ve made it this far into the article, you obviously realize the incredible health benefits of drinking alkaline water, especially as part of a wider alkaline diet.

So, you should already know the answer to this question – yes, you should definitely drink alkaline water, and the health benefits are certainly worth it.

Countless athletes, celebrities, wellness gurus, doctors, and patients are extolling the benefits of alkaline water and encouraging others to drink it, too.

According to a study by the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the alkaline water market was a $47m business in 2014. It experienced a massive upswing in 2017, during which it was worth $427m. Believe it or not, the alkaline water market is projected to be worth $687m by the end of 2018!

So, it’s safe to say that word is getting out about how great alkaline water is for your body, and there are many options out there.

However, here is where we get to the not-so-good part. Alkaline water typically sells from anywhere between $2-5 per bottle, depending on whether additional minerals/electrolytes are added.

If you hate the plastic waste of purchasing countless bottles of water and want to be more eco-friendly, you can purchase an ionizer for a little under $3k. This is the preferred method for celebrities such as Tom Brady, who are happy to know they always have an ionizer to quickly alkalize any water they have. This also removes the need to constantly have large crates of water in the house and in the fridge.

But what if you could buy a water bottle that could transform tap water into alkaline water in 3 minutes, and all for less than $100? That would be too good to be true, right?

Where Can I Buy The Best Alkaline Water?

When you are looking for a great and reliable source of alkaline water, there are many options, however, one of the best options we have found here at Spectral Body is the Alkaline Blue Water bottle.

The Alkaline Blue Water bottle turns any water into alkaline water in 3 minutes with an amazing light display. The water bottle not only turns water into alkaline water, but also kills germs in the water as well.

It’s not only good for your health, but it’s entertaining as well.

A simple click of the button on the water bottle’s sleek base lights the bottle up with blue light, signaling that the ionization process has begun. When this light turns on, you know that your water is becoming alkalized, and the ionization process has the added benefit of killing bacteria in the water.

So, you get quick access to alkaline water no matter where you are, all while looking like you stepped out of a Star Wars scene with all the latest technology of the future.

The water bottle comes with a filter that can be used up to 20 times on a single charge (all Alkaline Blue Water bottles come with a USB cable as well).

Who would have thought that in 2020 we would be charging our water as well as our phones?

But, really, what you are charging up is yourself – by boosting your energy and your body’s functionality through alkaline water.

In your quest for optimal health, please don’t ignore something as easy as drinking alkaline water, which can positively impact your life in so many ways.

I mean, if someone were to tell you that better health is as simple as drinking a cup of water – which you do anyway to stay alive – wouldn’t you jump at the chance to do this?

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen – we here at Spectral Body aren’t talking about any additional workouts, avoiding any specific foods, or constraining ourselves to strict diets to optimize our health. (Well, not this time, anyway).

This time, better health is as easy as drinking a cup of water.

So, what are you waiting for?