Dr Lower rubishes all Alkaline Water promotion websites with the same brush. This page looks at the errors, the scientific myths and the truths.
Alkaline Water
Website Analysis
Dr Lower: "Here is a summary of some of the more common claims with my comments."
The fables
The facts
Dr Lower: "Ionized water machines actually bring about the electrolysis of ordinary water."
[Yes,
they do. Fact, not fable, see above. If you do simple tests (pH, ORP),
and find that they don't then send your unit back. JK]
Dr Lower: "If the water is pure enough to be potable, the amount of electrolysis that actually occurs is too small to be significant."
[Not true. See Previous parts JK]
Dr Lower: "These
devices separate the alkaline water (produced at the negative
electrode) from the acidic water (produced at the positive electrode),
allowing you to draw them off separately."
[Fact, not fable... JK]
Dr Lower: "This will not work with pure water because it is physically impossible to have water that contains an excess of OH(alkaline) without the presence of a charge-compensating metallic ion such as Na+ or Ca2+. Similarly, any water that is acidic (excess H+
ion) must contain a compensating impurity ion such as bicarbonate or
sulfate. Thus ordinary drinkable water which contains only very low
concentrations of metal ions will yield only weakly alkaline solutions."
[Not true in the real world. See my comments above about 'pure' H2O. JK]
Dr Lower: "Alkaline water is important for maintaining proper body pH and preventing acidosis."
[Fact, not fable, read the many books and other literature all over the world about Alkalizing for Health]
Dr Lower: "The
pH of intracellular bodily fluids such as blood is controlled by an
exquisitely-balanced set of reactions involving removal of (acidic)
carbon dioxide through the lungs, removal of (alkaline) ammonia through
the kidneys, and the buffering action within the blood by bicarbonate,
and to a smaller extent by phosphate and certain proteins. In the most
important of these mechanisms, carbon dioxide produced by cell
metabolism reacts with water to form carbonic acid H2CO3, and this reacts with carbonate in the blood to form bicarbonate
H2CO3 + CO32 --> 2 HCO3-
which is carried by the blood to the lungs, where the carbon dioxide is then regenerated and expelled:
H2CO3 --> CO2 + H2O
Dr Lower:
The
pH of blood is especially critical and must be maintained within the
range of about 7.35 - 7.45. If the blood pH falls outside this range
the condition is known as acidosis or alkylosis. Temporary acidosis can
be induced by holding your breath, preventing release of CO2. Temporary alkylosis can be induced by hyperventilation, causing excess release of CO2. Chronic acidosis or alkylosis can be very serious and is often associated with kidney failure."
[Yes
this is true. However, this does not prove that alkaline water is NOT
helpfully for maintaining proper alkaline body pH and preventing
acidosis! How can alkaline water not help the body maintain alkalinity?
If you take 10 gallons of water with pH 7.3, add 3 litres of alkaline
water at ph 10, will the original pH of 7.3 become more alkaline or
less? Our body has around 10 gallons of water, and if you continue to
drink 2-3 litres/day of alkaline water, it will gradually help the body
maintain the ideal alkaline pH of about 7.365 JK]
Dr Lower: "The
pH of ordinary drinking water will have little effect on the pH of the
stomach contents because gastric fluid has an overwhelmingly low pH
(Gastric fluid is essentially a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid.)
Hundreds of millions of years of evolution have adapted humans to
tolerate drinking waters having a fairly wide range of pH (5-8). Any
water that is sufficiently alkaline to significantly affect gastric pH
is unlikely to be considered potable by most people. Further, the
enzymes that digest proteins in the stomach require a low pH in order
to function properly, so if one were to ingest sufficient alkali to
reduce gastric pH, it would also interfere with digestion."
[Also
true, but again beside the point! Gastric juice neutralization has
nothing to do with alkaline water, and gastric juice neutralization
would be bad for food digestion. This is definitely not advised by
naturopaths and nutritionists that advice an alkaline diet!
Incidentally,
there is no danger of alkalizing the gastric juices - even if you drink
32 glasses of high pH alkaline water it will only upset stomach pH
balance to the level as a can of cola with a pH of 2.5 would. JK]
Dr Lower: "If
you really want (or need) to reduce gastric acidity, products such as
Milk of Magnesia or Alka-Seltzer are cheaper and more effective than
"water ionizer" machines. But bear in mind that acidosis and alkylosis
are serious conditions that require medical intervention and can be
properly diagnosed only by measurements of blood electrolyte and CO2 content."
[Again, misleading. Alkaline water is not about removing stomach acidity. JK]
The oxygen produced during electrolysis invigorates the body.
[FALSE!
Who said anything about oxygen gas produced during electrolysis? Take 2
equal glasses of water, one with neutral water, the other with the same
water, but all the H+ ions taken out of it. Which water glass will have
more oxygen atoms in it (as OH)?]
Dr Lower:
"The
amount of oxygen that water can hold is very limited, and it is not
significantly absorbed by the gut anyway. You can acquire far more
oxygen by just taking an extra breath. For more on the myth of
oxygenated waters, see the OxyScams page."
[Very
true, but nothing to do with alkaline water. This, incidentally is
another reason why deep, regular breathing is so important for health.
JK]
"Ionized water" acts as an effective antioxidant and free-redical fighter, and can even halt or reverse ageing.
[Fact
that ionized water is an anti-oxidant. What do you understand by the
terms 'Reduced water' and Oxidized water? How does one measure them?
Sang Whang
presents a theory of aging, which is that aging is a gradual process of
the accumulation of organic acid wastes in the body. Experimental
evidence shows that this appears to be the case - increase the rate of
acid wastes in single cells and you decrease the life span, decrease
and remove the acid wastes and you increase the life span.
Researchers
believe that if you remove the wastes a cell produces, and provide it
the nutrients it needs, the cell will live indefinitely. Our bodies are
just trillions of cells, so it is logical that this anti aging theory
may be valid. JK]
Dr Lower: "There
is no reason to believe this. Some sales sites reveal their ignorance
of chemistry by stating that the enhanced oxygen content causes the
water to act as an anti-oxidant (any high-school chemistry
student should be able to debunk this one!) It should also be pointed
out that evolution has allowed our bodies to develop anti-oxidant
enzymes such as peroxidase that are millions of times more efficient
than anything that an electrolysis device could produce even if it did
work! Finally, although anti-ageing nostrums are widely marketed to the
notoriously credulous seekers of alternative-health products, there is
absolutely no evidence that any of these is effective."
[There
is lot of evidence from many anti-aging writers that say that aging can
be slowed, stopped or even reversed. Think of it like a car, if you
provide it with the right fuel, remove the wastes that it produces,
change it's oil, brake and other fluids, drive it with care then it
will last longer then if you don't do all these things.
Good clean water and clean air are the two most important factors for our health and longevity. JK]
