6-8 glasses of water. That’s the amount of the stuff the experts recommend we drink daily. If you have come to this blog, you’re likely the type that is health conscious enough to be familiar with this recommendation already. And certainly, every one of us knows the importance of drinking enough water. But should we buy alkaline water?
As we all get more health conscious, it’s not just the quantity of water we drink that is being scrutinized, it’s also the type of water. Alkaline water is the latest health buzzword, but what is it? Where can you buy alkaline water? And, most importantly, if you do buy alkaline water, is it worth it? Let me explain…
Alkaline Water? Why Should I Want to Buy Alkaline Water?First of all, we should define alkaline water to see if its in our interests to buy alkaline water as a means to improve our health. Most of us will remember those science classes in high-school where we used that piece of tape to determine the alkalinity or acidity of a liquid we dipped it into. Depending on the color that the tape changed to, we could judge the liquid’s pH level, and it’s this same pH scale that determines what people in the health industry term ‘alkaline water’.
Essentially, any water that has a pH level of above 7 can be called alkaline water. Be that pH 7.5, 8 or 9. Now before you set off looking for water with the highest alkalinity possible and proceed to gulp it down, consider that you, and a lot of other people, have been mislead into thinking that just because a water is technically alkaline, it has health benefits. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that.
What makes this type of H20 healthy, and why you really should be questioning whether to buy alkaline water, is its level of antioxidants. This really does have a positive effect on your health, and is actually created by energy that forms ions in the water. The more of a specific type of ion in the water, the more alkaline it becomes, and the more antioxidant the water becomes too.
So great, all we need to do now is go out and buy alkaline water that has these magic antioxidant properties – stuff like mineral water, which is said to have a high alkalinity, right? Right?! Wrong!
Mineral water, as in the actual stuff flowing from some exotic natural spring, can be fabulously healthy for you as it’s alkaline water packed with antioxidants. In fact, it’s probably the very best type of water you can drink in terms of the health benefits it bestows. And here’s the problem – because we know that natural mineral water is a super alkaline, antioxidant liquid, we think we can buy alkaline water and its health benefits if we just stuff our cupboards with mineral water bottles.
But, unless you have a stream flowing directly into your taps, you are not going to be getting the benefits you were looking for if you buy alkaline water bottled. Because, first of all, in most cases, the water inside those plastic bottles isn’t alkaline but in fact acidic. That’s because bottled water goes through a purification process called distillation or reverse osmosis, which removes their alkaline minerals and oxygen. And another vital thing that is removed are the antioxidants that were once there.
If we don’t buy alkaline water, where on earth are we supposed to get it aside from those natural springs? Surely that’s not practical? Too right, it isn’t. There is one way to get alkaline water that is a lot more practical: pour it from your own taps with a water ionizer!
A water ionizer packs water with those important ions we mentioned earlier via a process called electrolysis. And as we know, more ions = better antioxidant properties. So to help keep cells in your body healthy, better ward off disease and reduce acid in your bloodstream, don’t buy alkaline water, fit a water ionizer machine to your taps for the next best thing to that super healthy spring water. You’ll be drinking water that’s alkaline AND packed full of antioxidants. And that’s what’s important at the end of the day.
To your health,
