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Fact or Fiction: The Benefits of Alkaline Water?

 

          What alleged me write this Article/Blog about the “Fact or Fiction: The Benefits of Alkaline Water?” is because there is much debate upon the topic, especially within the gurus in Health and Nutrition, in the Medical Field, Scientific Community, in Chemistry, and of course people’s own opinion; and everybody and it seems like every field as an opinion on “The Benefits of Alkaline Water.”  I want to set the record straight, give you superb information about Alkaline Water.

 

          With all this continuing debating and arguing topics in Health, it is important to realize that The main issue in our society today within all the fields of science is that very few apply their knowledge to their own life. This is especially true in the Health Fields; people are just learning knowledge and teaching others but are skipping a crucial step in the process.

 

(1) We should Learn,

(2) Apply the Knowledge to our own Life, and then,

(3) Teach.

 

          It was not that long ago, if someone was teaching about “Wealth,” they themselves had to be wealthy. The same applies to every industry. Unfortunately, today, this is no longer the case. A very few people walk the talk; very few people apply the knowledge they are preaching about so passionately.

 

         Many gurus in Health debate the topic about the “Fact or Fiction: The Benefits of Alkaline Water” and even the Pros and Cons. Many downplay the benefits on the sole purpose to market their own products, trying to make their own products superior. Are these gurus falling into a marketing gimmick, or what?

 

          Only in opinion, many gurus get caught up into marketing gimmicks; and most do not apply their own advice to their lives. Many of the debates about the “Fact or Fiction: The Benefits of  Alkaline Water;” and the GREATEST SIN, even the so-called gurus get people and consumers to only pay attention to Alkalinity of the water and debate such matters.

 

         Even today when I sat down to research about what information was circulating within the online community about alkaline water, I was shocked to see….

 

(1) an enormous of meaningless debates,

(2) that the focus was only on discussing “Water Alkalinity,”

(3) this led to more debating on Water Alkalinity itself,

(4) more debating on such issues around regular water (H2O), and

(5) furthermore, I could hardly find any accurate research regarding alkaline water.

 

          We have to understand the popularity of alkaline water came from the original research from China, Japan and Asia; the benefit of Alkaline Water was never about “Water Alkalinity” itself. The gurus seem to leave this information out or they do not know this information themselves. All the research in China and Asia was about increasing the Potential Hydrogen in the water through the use of a Water Ionizer. Yes, this increases the alkalinity of the water but the sole purpose was to increase the Hydrogen in the water and to decrease the ORP (Oxidation Reduction Potential).

 

           Furthermore, it is important to note that water ionizers in China and Asia were listed as Professional Medical Devices; they were using them to help treat disease in medical institutions and hospitals. This is not even knew information! Importantly, this was completed in 1965; the Japanese Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare approved ionized water as a medical substance to help with various gastrointestinal symptoms.

 

           This is astonishing information because the use of water ionizers and alkaline water did not become popular in the United States until around 2007, nearly forty-years later. Then, the popularity in the United States did not even focus on the accurate research regarding water ionization, only to focus, debate and promote Alkaline Water; while dismissing to its entirety the research and benefits of increasing the Hydrogen and decreasing the ORP.

 

Banner Waterfall

Upper Peninsula, Michigan, Ohio

          Now, this brings up an interesting question. What is the purpose of increasing the Potential Hydrogen in the water? And, why was the “FOCUS” of the research upon increasing the Hydrogen. Importantly, it was not the alkalinity of the water with all the great benefits despite of the popularity in the United States; it was increasing the Hydrogen in the water that had all the benefits. It was the “Hydrogen” in the water that helps to fight disease and cancer, and any other source of infection or disease.

 

           Remember, Hydrogen is the Father of all Elements of the Universe, and along with oxygen, it has been intrinsically involved with evolution of life in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes (e.g. hydrogenases, hydrogosomes, mitochondria, etc.). It is the extremes of oxygen and hydrogen that provide balance between oxidation and reduction, which is vital to life. Not surprisingly, this intimate relationship of “oxygen and hydrogen” has remained with higher organisms including plants, animals, and humans. 

 

          Now lets focus our attention back to discussing the ORP (Oxidation Reduction Potential), which has a negative oxidation in the water. All tap water and water bought in the store has a positive charged oxidation. We want our water to have a negative charge, not a positive charge. For example, did you know that fresh squeezed orange juice has an “ORP,” it has a negative charge oxidation. Now, once it is exposed to “Air,” the fresh squeezed orange juice slowly starts to oxidize and have a positive charge. Like with any fruit or vegetable, once we cut it or slice it, it slowly starts to oxidize, and the health benefits slowly decline.

 

          Think about it this way—If we were still collecting or getting our water from a natural stream it would have tremendous benefits. As water is flowing throughout the stream and over rocks it is collecting minerals and the movement of water is becoming conductive and creating an electrical charge. This “charge” is what increases the Hydrogen and decreases the ORP in the water. For example, It has also been discovered that the documented “healing” or “curative” waters of Nordenau, Germany; Tlacote, Mexico; and Hita Tenryosui, Japan waters contain dissolved hydrogen gas. The existence of molecular hydrogen in these springs could be a result of water reacting with alkali-earth metals (rocks, mineral, ect.), or from molecular hydrogen gas-producing bacteria and algae.

 

          We know this to be true as in basic American History. Pioneers used streams and rivers, the movement of water to help with the aid in machinery use and to create electricity. All from Water.

 

          But, yet, health gurus, the medical & science industries, and even chemists state there is no such research to the benefits of water and water alkalinity. Even though, the United States is the leading country in Disease, Cancer and Pharmaceutical drugs. In only my opinion, we cannot be the leading country in disease but, yet, also believe that we are the leading country in Health. It’s one or the other; AND, the statistics show that we are the Leading Country in Disease, Period! Again, is what alleged me to write and clear up the Fact or Fiction: The Benefits of Alkaline Water. 

 

          We also know this is not true regarding how the medical field treats disease; Meaning that the Medical Field and many Gurus downplay the benefits of water! Remember, Water is the basic solution to rid the body of infection. For example, if one has the flu and goes to their family doctor, their doctor advises them to drink lots of water. Why? Because water excretes infection from our body!

 

         Another example, when my dad was diagnosed with Lymphoma, he got a massive infection. His doctors could not find the infection, why it occurred, the location, or even what type of infection. They were clueless! What did the intelligent doctors do? They hooked my dad up with an IV in his arm and pumped as much saline solution (saline water) in his body, as much as my dad could handle. Of Course my dad asked “WHY” and the doctors responded, “The basic way to fight infection is through water!”

 

          Let me give one bigger example, many debate “What is the healthiest water to drink?” Pure water, reverse osmosis, alkaline water, or mineral water and the list can go on and on. These are my thoughts…. pure water and reverse osmosis water or any water where the minerals have been removed, which in terms are “dead water,” is not healthy. We need minerals in our water. This is one area that may cause our population to be mineral deficient.

 

          Let me explain further, in the Medical Field, when a medical professional performs an IV for fluid intake, “Do they give pure water, reverse osmosis water, or any water, matter of fact, with no minerals? Of course not! Now, we have to ask, “Why?” We do know that they give a “Saline Solution.” But, again, “Why?” We need to understand, there is a certain tonicity in the blood that needs to be maintained; salts (electrolytes), and proteins, etc. are all circulating within our blood as well as the blood cells. Remember, our blood is actually quite salty; it has a significant amount of Sodium and other electrolytes (mostly Sodium though), so 0.9% saline is actually about the same electrolyte concentration as blood.

 

          If a medical professional were to add pure water in an IV, it would dilute the blood locally and lyse the cells (which are adapted to the saline environment of blood and would literally explode if placed in water) and actually be quite harmful to the patient. If a pure water IV if given, it is given as a 5% dextrose solution (technically sugar water) the sugar prevents the solution from being too hypotonic (dilute) but is then absorbed by cells, allowing to give water without a salt load, of course as for the times when that is necessary.

         Let me explain how exactly the water ionizer works. First of course, it filters the water, (2) it takes the water through the process called “Electrolysis,” which charges the water. This process increases the Potential Hydrogen and then decreases the ORP. Importantly, this is the whole reason why you would want to own a water ionizer; it is not the alkalinity of the water because we can easily increase water alkalinity without the use of a water ionizer simply by adding lemon or lime juice to our drinking water. But remember, the advantage of a water ionizer is to increase the Hydrogen and to decrease the ORP, which we cannot do without a machine.

 

          Lets get into some specifics, the process of electrolysis separates water to available oxygen gas and hydrogen gas (2H2O -> O2 + 2H2), which would dissolve into the water. It is important note that numerous clinical reports and empirical evidence of therapeutic benefits clearly demonstrate that “Ionized Water” contains molecular hydrogen which has been shown to be a therapeutic agent. Variably, it is now well recognized that “H2” gas is the great secret. Research has shown that removal of the hydrogen gas in “ionized water” eliminates the benefits, and addition of extra hydrogen gas to the water increases the therapeutic benefits. 

 

           Lastly, Lets look at some of the benefits of increasing the Hydrogen and decreasing the ORP in our water. 


  • Antioxidant; Smallest, most bio-available; Selective—only scavenges bad radicals; Converts radicals to water—no toxic byproduct); Improves the body’s antioxidant system (Glutathione, catalase, SOD); Helps lower excessive oxidative stress); Anti-inflammatory; Anti-allergy; Protects against radiation damage; Stimulates energy metabolism to help prevent weight gain; Supports glucose homeostasis; Stabilizes cholesterol levels; May help prevents erectile dysfunction; Decreases lactate (lactic acid) build up during exercise; Supports cognitive function; Prevents age-related decline in cognitive capacity; Neuro-protective; no toxic affects; Alkaline pH; Alkaline stabilizing ingredients; Essential magnesium, which is a required co-factor for over 300 enzymes.

 

 

References

  1. Altered States. The Benefits of Hydrogen-Rich Water. Why Hydrogen Water. http://altered-states.net/barry/newsletter708/.
  2. The Wall Street Journal (2012). The Positives and Negatives of Ionized Water. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303404704577314182468322256.
  3. Water For Life USA. https://waterforlifeusa.com/resources/faqs-about-water-ionizers/.
  4. Benefits of Hydrogen. Echo Hydrogen Rich Water. https://echoh2water.com/benefits/benefits-of-hydrogen.

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