Water is a nutrient essential to human existence that performs an array of different tasks. Water is required to digest food, discharge metabolic residual products, regulate body temperature, synthesize substances found naturally in the body and transport substances in the body.
Strongly alkaline water helps restore and maintain pH balance in the body (and blood).
Water is the most common element on earth, occupying 70% of the Earth’s surface. Human beings as well are 70% water and the brain’s water content is as high as 80%.
A human being cannot survive without water for more than a week. Adults must drink approximately two liters of pure water every day. This recommended quantity does not include tea, coffee, fruit water, juice drinks etc. that do contain a large percentage of water, yet do not act as pure water.
With contemporary nutritional habits and lifestyle, the body is oftentimes dehydrated. At the same time, the body accumulates an excessive amount of acidic metabolic interim products and toxins. Due to the insufficient amount of available water, the body is unable to discharge such matter and harmful substances begin to affect the individual’s health. The main sources of acidic metabolic residual products are greasy food, alcohol, tobacco, insufficient exercise, stress and excessive amounts of time spent indoors.
Hundreds of years ago when people lived in greater harmony with nature and foodstuffs that the body really does not needs (e.g. refined sugar), excessive consumption of which is actually harmful, had not been invented yet, the human organism as well was better balanced. Substances consumed as food adhered to a more or less balanced alkaline-acid content. Furthermore, pure water was consumed as beverage, diluting and discharging any harmful residual products if any. Every day moving around and engagement in physical work contributed as well, helping the body fully appropriate i.e. burn all of the nutrients consumed.
Today, as a result of the above noted, the human body subsists at the mercy of continued acid attacks and labors at managing such onslaughts. As due to insufficient water intake, the body is unable to discharge harmful metabolic residual products, a way must be found to keep such substances in the body in a harmless form.
To that end, the body “wraps” an array of acidic metabolic interim products in fat. Fat is a natural storage of acid residues. When necessary, the body can draw on such storage for energy. Yet, as people fail to move their bodies sufficiently and generally don’t spend much time in cold outdoor environments, the energy reserve remains unused and as the accumulation grows, people become obese.
Naturally, we cannot return to lifestyles and social organization from hundreds of years ago in order to come to our body’s rescue. However, we can help our body by more knowledgeably choosing the water we drink. The first step in achieving a balance in your body would be to consume alkaline water (with a pH level above 7). HCO3 and CO3 ions in alkaline water possess the faculty to “unwrap” the acidic metabolic residual products collected in fat cells, neutralize acid ions and discharge them from the body. It is important to note here that strongly alkaline water (with a pH level above 9) works more efficiently. pH neutral water (pH7) only helps to discharge a certain quantity of residues and does not have the capacity to neutralize acid compounds. Drinking carbon dioxide (carbonated) water adds acidity to the body because carbonated water is acid (with a pH level below 7).
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pH level i.e. acidity-alkalinity is one of the most important water qualities, determining how and what processes take place in the human body. The ideal pH level of human blood is 7.365. It is extremely important to maintain this level as blood pH level affects the entire body. If blood pH level falls below 6.8 or rises above 7.8, cellular function ceases and the individual dies.
If the blood pH level falls below normal and becomes acid, the body becomes less capable in appropriating nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Cellular energy production decreases and cellular regeneration capacity is damaged. The body becomes less efficient in producing enzymes and hormones. The digestive system is also disturbed and the body becomes susceptible to obesity as well as a number of other ailments. The human body will undergo tremendous effort to neutralize excessive acidity, yet will not always employ the best measures. Namely, the body will borrow alkaline minerals from the bones and tissues, resulting in a generally weakened organism and creation of a favorable ground for illness.
Strongly alkaline mineral water helps restore and maintain pH balance in the body (and blood). Comprehensive studies in Japan have ascertained that drinking alkaline water has alleviated or helped treat the following chronic illnesses: arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, heartburn, poor blood supply, osteoporosis, psoriasis, dyspepsia, constipation, migraine and chronic fatigue.
Drinking alkaline water is also recommended for athletes. During intense exercise the body often suffers from inadequate oxygenation. These anaerobic metabolic processes produce large quantities of acidic metabolic intermediate products. Many athletes are familiar with sore muscles caused by lactic acid. An acid environment causes tiredness and an under-the-weather feeling. This is something that athletes seeking the best possible result cannot afford. For athletes it is important that recovery from exertion would be fast and performance ability would continue at a maximum. Alkaline water supports quicker recuperation, balancing the metabolic residual products produced by a poorly oxygenated body. More simply put – alkaline water helps neutralize lactic acids that cause pain and discomfort in muscles.
For people who exercise actively, content of different minerals in their drinking water is also of importance. As a certain percentage of minerals exit the body with perspiration during exercise, it is necessary to restore the required level of such minerals in the body. The optimum mineral quantity in water is defined at 250-280 mg per liter. The most common mineral and also one of the most important minerals for an actively exercising individual is sodium that is essential to transmission of nerve impulses. The best alleviation of sore muscles indeed comes from concurrence of sodium and alkaline water.
Generally, people hardly notice the processes occurring in their body, especially if such processes unfold inside their body. Oftentimes, we lack the toolkit to interpret or cannot find the time to listen to the signals our body sends us in terms of discords and required change. Still, equipped with the elementary knowledge that contemporary lifestyles are by definition burdensome to the body, each one of us should provide the body with a helpful nudge in dealing with the modern way of life. A small and simple change of our day-to-day habits truly comes in handy - simply drink more water and consume alkaline water either on a constant basis or every now and then as required.
Author: Jaanus Lember, biochemist