Alkaline Water

Alkaline Water and the level of alkalinity of our drinking water is one of the major factors of health and effectiveness of hydration as well as nutrician. Before we get started, let's get some basic definitions cleared up so that we are on the same level of understanding.

Alkaline: adjective: Containing an alkali or having the properties of an alkali; having a pH greater than 7.

Alkali: noun: a compound, such as lime or caustic soda, with particular chemical properties including turning litmus blue and neutralizing or effervescing with acids.

pH: noun: Chemistry a figure expressing acidity or alkalinity (7 is neutral, lower values are more acid and higher values more alkaline). The lowest and most acidic is 1 and the highest most alkaline is 14.

Litmus: noun: a dye obtained from certain lichens (noun a simple plant consisting of a fungus living in close association with an alga, typically growing as a crust or covering on rocks, walls, and trees.) that is red under acid conditions and blue under alkaline conditions.

Litmus Paper: Paper stained with litmus, used as a test for acids or alkalis.

OK! I hope that these definitions didn't confuse you too much, so I will try to explain it to you in simple terms.

Acid is a substance that will burn away at certain surfaces. Alkaline is a substance that will be more slippery on surfaces. There is a scale, called the pH Scale, that is used to measure how acidic and how alkali a liquid is that ranges from 1 to 14. At 1 we have the highest level of acidity. As the number gets greater, the acidity level reduces until it reaches of level of 7 which is neutral. As the pH range goes even higher above 7 the liquid becomes alkaline and starts to develop that real slippery type of feeling that is found in soaps and the like.

Now! Just because alkali level is more healthy in foods, it does not mean that all alkaline substances are good for you to drink or eat. Brocholli is about 8 or 9 alkaline level and is very good for you. Some soaps are about 10 alkaline level and are definitely not too good for you. Try washing your mouth out with soap and you will be able to deduct your own conclusion from this entertaining little experiment.

So what we are looking at are the natural and organic things in our diet that are a nice alkaline level. Brocholli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Squash, etc, etc. We all have heard that to eat our vegies is good for you, but why? Well because the vegies are high alkaline level, they have much less surface tention or resistance for our digestive system and the nutrients within the vegetables are so much more easy to absorbed.

Great! I hope now that you have a basic understanding of alkaline level and the importance of this in what we eat and drink. So let's get back to alkaline water. Of course alkaline water is not pure water. Pure, distilled water has a pH of 7. If we are going to raise the alkalinity of water, we have to add something to it. ok?

Now, I am sure that you don't want to add soap to your drinking water just to make it alkaline water right? So what can be added to water that will raise the alkaline level to make is taste like beautiful clean mountain or mineral water. There's a tip. You guessed it. If you take some lovely clean mountain stream water that has fallen high and come through the upper rocky levels, you will find that it is high in mineral content and the alkaline level will also be nice and high. Our body also needs this source of minerals for our health.

You have heard of the essential minerals and trace elements. Man has spent the last 50,000 years drinking the natural mountain and sprind waters of the world. He never, until recent times, drank distilled water. So let's get back to nature and drink water as it was intended for man to drink. Cool, clean and full of all the natural minerals and trace elements.

I will cover much more on this amazing subject in the following alkaline water articles.

Happy drinking.

Warmly, Mike King.