Alkaline water and weight loss. Does research into the benefits of this water prove that it helps with weight loss?
Yes, there are so many weight loss diets on the market and countless books teaching you how to reduce weight. They typically propose that you reduce calories and increase the amount of exercise. However, at this point you are probably sick and tired of all these different methods and weight loss tips.
It is only in recent years that we are beginning to learn that water, especially alkaline water with a high pH, can help with weight loss.
So this is not a diet. It is just a natural part of the biological process. This idea is based on simple scientific systems. Your body is made up of over 60% water. There is water in your skin, blood vessels, digestive tract, brain and even in your excretory organs. If your body is dehydrated then your body’s pH balance will lose its rhythm.
Without enough water to correctly send toxins through the excretory system (intestines, kidneys, liver, thyroid, and spleen), they can go in a different direction. For instance, toxins that are to be eliminated by your liver may be sent to the kidneys or another organ. It is known that this type of reaction is the cause of many diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Benefits of Alkaline Water Weight Loss
What you may not know is that most people drink more acidic drinks daily than the body can absorb or release.
If you tend to be overweight or obesity runs in your family, then you should know that drinking some acidic water is the worst thing you can do to your body. Most of the time these common drinks (like soda) can dehydrate the entire body: all organs, tissues, blood vessels, skin and brain.
How overweight are you? Check your Body Mass Index (BMI) and find out where you stand. It will help you determine how much weight you might want to lose.
This means that drinking water that is less acidic can have many health benefits. But there are also new studies showing that there are benefits of alkaline water for weight loss.
The Scientific Data
A study from Japan reports that drinking water on an empty stomach. For example, when waking up in the morning increases your metabolic rate. This means you can better assimilate nutrients in the diet to eliminate toxins and waste products from the colon, kidneys, and liver.
Alkaline Water Weight Loss Study: 12 lbs in 2 Months
So, in specific terms: exactly how much weight loss can you expect to achieve by drinking alkaline water? Well, there is a 2011 study suggesting that you could potentially lose about 12 pounds of weight in 2 months by only drinking alkaline water.
The study presents the effect of daily consumption of 2 liters of alkaline / electrolysis water over a 2 month period. Particularly the effect on the body composition as well as several physiological parameters in four overweight participants.
There is a preliminary report showing clinical evidence for the benefits of alkaline water in the areas of weight loss, blood pressure and detoxification.
The China 5,000 Alkaline Water Study
Another and more comprehensive study of more than 5,000 subjects in China. The study shows that simple alkaline ionized water can act as a fat burning mechanism. These kinds of reports make other scientists curious, and researchers around the world are trying to understand how water works in the body to affect bodily weight changes.
For over 20 years, medical professionals are finding that the cognitive function decreases significantly when people don’t drink enough water. As technologies evolve, scientists can now immerse themselves in a variety of medically-known problems to observe, record, analyze, and report on things previously unrecognized by previous instruments.
How To Benefit From Alkaline Water?
The first step is the most simple. Stop drinking all drinks that are high in acidity. These include every and any type of drink with sugar (even sweetener) such as caffeine, carbonated drinks and most juices. Each of these factors can alter the pH balance of your body and leads to a higher acid velocity that leads to dehydration.
The first step is also the main cure for obesity in childhood. The best gift a father can give to his children is a gift that lasts a lifetime: the habit of drinking alkaline water rather than filling the body with fluids that interfere with all essential functions.
The body screams for water and alkaline water can help balance the system. Help your body defend itself and start drinking alkaline ionized water.
Alkaline Water Benefits
- Boost The Immune System
If we keep our body in a more alkaline state, the immune system will be strengthened. This is a natural effect of neutralizing free radicals and helping to cleanse or purify the body of toxins.
In general, regular intake of alkaline water has been shown to significantly improve a person’s immune system. The benefits of alkaline water are crucial for long-term health.
- Alkaline Water Is A Powerful Antioxidant
Antioxidants protect our body from free radicals that can cause various health problems. Free radicals are groups of atoms that can damage our body by damaging the immune system. If our immune system is compromised, it can lead to infections and various types of diseases ranging from minor to severe degenerative diseases.
Free radicals come from a variety of sources, such as exposure to toxic substances such as pollution, cigarette smoke and even common household products. The body needs antioxidants to fight the effects of free radicals in our environment. A good source of antioxidants is alkaline water.
In other words, drinking only alkaline water can help protect your body from many different diseases that can cause serious health problems. In fact, for the simple reason that alkaline water is in liquid form, it is much more effective than most currently available products and capsules. This makes it easier for the body to absorb.
- Promote Better Hydration with Alkaline Water
Alkaline water has a lower molecular weight, which facilitates a more rapid absorption of the body. Therefore body can be hydrated more effectively by drinking alkaline water instead of tap water.
In alkaline water, there are also different types of naturally ionized minerals that can make the blood circulation more efficient. This helps to keep your body working optimally.
- Detox the Body
Drinking plenty of water is an essential element of health.
Almost all the detox diets you read about emphasize how important it is to drink lots of water. Of course, a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables is also important. But drinking the right amount of water each day is a basis for detoxification.
Many detox programs recommend purchasing an alkaline water machine or a water filter to ensure that the water is free of harmful minerals and other contaminants. What would be the benefit of drinking many glasses of contaminated, bacteria-laden water when trying to cleanse your system?
- Effectively Balance pH Levels Of The Body with Alkaline Water
The body tries to maintain the acid-alkali balance of its blood in a natural way. But if your body is too acidic, your system needs to work harder to maintain that balance. This in turn can lead to stress in other areas. If your body gets too acidic, it can affect the activity of all body cells.
The average modern diet, consisting of fatty meats, cheeses and butter, contributes to a very acidic condition. Smoking, coffee, soft drinks, processed sugar and alcohol also play an important role.
Diseases can grow where the acidity level is high.
Alkaline water neutralizes the acidity of the body. Although it works best as a preventative measure, those who are already sick may continue to drink alkaline water and this may speed their recovery.
- Alkaline Water Can Help You Lose Weight
Alkaline water is very useful for those who have problems with their weight. Today’s diets mainly consist of junk food, which significantly increases the acidity in the body. As a result, the body creates more fat cells to neutralize the acid.
This inevitably leads to unwanted weight gain.
However, alkaline water naturally neutralizes acids in the body. In other words, those who drink alkaline water no longer need to form fat cells to neutralize the acid in junk food.
Drinking alkaline water helps significantly in weight loss because it reduces fat storage. A body with a healthy base content loses weight more easily than a body with high acidity.
Weight Loss from Alkaline Water
The study that I find most compelling comes from Hendersonville NC and is the basis for me writing this article to highlight the benefits of alkaline water for weight loss. The Hendersonville NC study starts with participants with the average weight of 255 kg. In one month, the average weight of the participants was reduced by 6 pounds to 249 pounds.
The study shows the significant role that alkaline played in getting these results. After two months, the average weight of study participants was 243 pounds.
This means that the study participants lost an average of 12 pounds during the two months in which the study was conducted.
Participants did not make any other changes to their diet. The only change was the consumption of alkaline water. That’s it. They didn’t even do any additional physical exercises.
Subjects in the study drank alkaline water with a pH of 10.2 to 10.6. One of the best parts about this is there are no side effects reported. The study was conducted in Hendersonville, North Carolina, using alkalized local tap water that was both ionized and alkalized with a water ionizer machine. Hendersonville has fairly soft water with a TDS (total dissolved solids) of 30 ppm. This represents an extremely low mineral content for tap water.
By comparison, mineral water has a TDS of about 250 ppm or more. For this reason, the positive effects observed in the study can only come from the alkalinity of the water they drank.
Scientific References
Caso G, Garlick PJ. Control of muscle protein kinetics by acid-base balance. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. 2005;8(1):73–76.
Jorge Flebas And Abraham, Guy, “The effect of daily consumption of 2 liters of electrolyzed water for 2 months on body composition and several physiological parameters in four obese subjects: a preliminary report.” Highbeam Research.
Morris RC, Jr., Schmidlin O, Frassetto LA, Sebastian A. Relationship and interaction between sodium and potassium. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2006;25(3):262S–270S
Jin D., Ryu S. H., Kim H. W., et al. Anti-diabetic effect of alkaline-reduced water on OLETF rats. Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry. 2006;70(1):31–37. doi: 10.1271/bbb.70.31.
Advanced research on the health benefit of reduced water. Sanetaka Shirahata, Takeki Hamasaki and Kiichiro Teruya. Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan
