In recent years, there’s been a push for replacing regular old drinking water with alkaline water.
The idea is that alkaline water has more health benefits than regular water, including helping with weight loss, improving your metabolism, and increasing your energy.
But, is there any truth to these claims? Can alkaline water help with weight loss? Here we will take a deep dive into the truth about alkaline water!
What Is Alkaline Water?
Water is greatly important to the health of our bodies. From every single cell, organ, and tissue, our bodies need and crave water. Drinking water throughout the day is one of the best things you can do for your health.
So, what makes alkaline water special?
Regular water that you get from the tap is made up of hydrogen and oxygen – H2O. When you check out the pH level of water, you’re going to want to get a pH of 7 on a scale of 0 to 14. A 7 is considered entirely neutral. This is water that you can get from the store anywhere from 6.5 and 8.5 as stated in the guidelines from the EPA.
When you move down the scale, any number under the 7 on the pH level is considered “acidic”. However, numbers that are higher than 7 on the pH scale are called “alkaline”.
When you drink from the tap, you’re probably getting a pH level anywhere from the 4.3 to 5.3 range. This is why most people don’t like to drink from the tap – you can tell both by the taste and how your body reacts to this water.
Alkaline water is bottled water that either has been manipulated by a special device to make it more alkaline, or treated with some kind of nutrients to raise the pH level.
What Can Alkaline Water Do?
Manufacturers who sell alkaline water have suggested a number of benefits from drinking water with a high pH balance, as opposed to regular old water.
Proponents of alkaline water have claimed that it can help detoxify your body, boost your energy levels, support your weight loss, and even provide better hydration. Some manufacturers have even claimed that switching from regular water to alkaline water can reduce bone loss, improve your digestion, and slow your aging.
With all these claims, certainly some of them must be true, right?
Well… the truth is, nutritionists, studies, and doctors haven’t actually found much truth to these claims.
There isn’t much research to support any of these claims, and a lot of these health benefits seem to be more orientated around the sale of alkaline water rather than any hard science to back them up.
While alkaline water isn’t any better for you – scientifically – than regular water, drinking water of any kind is going to help boost your health. And yes, it will help you with weight loss.
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Is Alkaline Water Safe?
Now that we know all the supposed health benefits of alkaline water aren’t really supported by science, one has to wonder: is drinking alkaline water even safe?
Thankfully, alkaline water doesn’t pose any serious or life-threatening risk to your health. However, the high pH level could dry out your skin quicker, which can leave you quite itchy. Alkaline water has also been known to cause mild stomach upset as well.
Even though alkaline water is safe to drink, that doesn’t mean that it provides any more health benefits for you than drinking a nice tall glass of regular old water might.
5 Benefits of Drinking Water
If you just happen to like the taste of alkaline water better than regular water (we must admit, more alkaline water does tend to have a better taste!) then there’s no reason that you can’t drink it. However, you’re probably not going to receive all of the promised benefits.
On the other hand, drinking water of any kind is going to give you an amazing array of health benefits. Let’s take a look at all the ways drinking water – any kind of water – will benefit you in the long run.
1. Supports weight loss
If you’re struggling to lose weight, then switching out all of your favorite sugary drinks or coffee for a nice cold glass of water will definitely help boost your ability to shed a few pounds. Staying hydrated will also help your body burn calories and fat.
2. Boosts energy levels
When you stay hydrated, your brain is highly affected in beneficial ways. Even mild dehydration can affect your brain function. If you want to have the best cognitive function that you can, make sure to drink water throughout the day, especially during and after exercise.
3. Relieves constipation
One of the benefits of water may include helping you stay regular. Dehydration is a well-known factor in chronic constipation. Studies have shown that water that’s rich in sodium and magnesium can help improve bowel movements.
4. Physical performance
If you’re focusing on exercising or doing other physical activities without staying hydrated, you’ll start to notice that your performance suffers. Drinking water before, during, and after physical activity helps you perform at your best level.
5. Prevents headaches
Studies have proven that once your body starts to suffer from dehydration, your body will let you know with an uncomfortable and painful headache. Staying hydrated can help prevent these headaches, and you may even find drinking water will help your headache disappear faster.
Conclusion
So, the truth is out. Can alkaline water help with weight loss? Not really, alkaline water isn’t any better for you than regular water.
While you may prefer it over slightly more acidic tap water, the benefits of alkaline water have been greatly exaggerated by manufacturers to support sales.
That doesn’t mean that drinking alkaline water is bad for you, though! In fact, drinking any type of water is beneficial for your health.
If you prefer alkaline water to other types of water, then there’s no reason to make a switch. It’ll help keep you hydrated and healthy, which is all that matters.
Lily
Hi, I'm Lily! Like you, I have struggled with my weight. It was not an easy journey but I was able to lose 40 pounds and have kept it off for 14 years. My goal is to share with you all the research, tips, and tricks that I have learned over the years to help you lose weight also.Download this cheat sheet to learn the secrets to go from busy and out-of-shape to energetic and fit!