According to data from 2013, the world spends $100 billion per year on bottled water. That’s a huge amount of money, and most of it is no doubt spent on the traditional water brands. What’s inside these popular bottles is usually just simple tap water which has been ‘purified’ and bottled up to look more attractive and sold in mass quantity.
But there is a new wave of brands on the market selling alkaline bottled water. And these brands promise something different – healthy alkaline drinking water that can benefit your health if consumed regularly.
But if we take a closer look at alkaline bottled water and what is contained inside, some of the so-called health claims begin to look a little dubious and we discover that these beverages have a lot in common with bog-standard bottled water. Which isn’t a good thing…
It may be surprising to learn that the water inside most of the common brands of bottled water measures very acidic on the pH scale. There are even some well-known store brands which have a pH level as low as 4 (the lower the pH, the more acidic. Anything above 7 is considered alkaline) while many others range from pH 5 to 6.
But so-called ‘alkaline bottled water‘ is meant to be different. Surely the water inside these bottled waters is alkaline, right? In far too many cases, unfortunately not. This is because, just like standard bottled water, alkaline bottled water goes through a distillation or reverse osmosis process to remove impurities. Sadly, this has the effect of removing stuff that is good from the water, as well as stuff that is bad. The filtration process that just about every major bottled water goes through strips out impurities AND nutrients like minerals, and it’s these minerals that make the water alkaline and healthy to consume. Taking them out actually results in the water inside turning acidic, just like some of the unhealthy standard drinking water bottles.
To counteract this, some alkaline bottled water brands add pH booster powders to the water. And while this may replace the mineral content and bring the acidity back down, it doesn’t deal with the other problem with bottled waters.
All plastic bottles are made from plastics derived from petrochemicals. These petrochemicals like BPA and Phthalates are among the cancer-causing chemicals known to be present in foods and beverages stored in plastics. Worryingly, there is firm evidence that putting water in bottles seeping with traces of these chemicals will naturally lead to health risks over time. And there isn’t any magic powder you can put in the water to counteract this problem.
So being exposed to chemicals from drinking so-called healthy alkaline water is completely counter-productive, even if the water manages to not be acidic.
So we have found out that alkaline bottled water, in some cases, may not even be alkaline. If that weren’t bad enough, we also know now that all bottled waters can have traces of dangerous plastic chemicals inside of them. No doubt you’re thoroughly put-off the idea of drinking alkaline bottled water. So what is the alternative?
If you just want alkaline water, pour it from your tap at home. Chances are, your water supply is naturally alkaline, like many states in the country. The big downside is that tap water is unfiltered, and can be tainted, too. Or, you could drink your tap water as usual, but have it passed through a water ionizer machine. This makes the water even more alkaline, packs it full of antioxidants, and filters out all the nasties on top. And that has to be the perfect solution.
To your health,
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