We have been seeing a lot of talk recently about alkaline water’s health benefits, including claims that it aids blood sugar health. We wanted to look into it more.
We know we’re going to sound old, but the giant section of an aisle in the grocery store devoted to bottled water is absurd. Having some bottled water at home in an emergency kit is a great safety practice in case of a natural disaster where your tap water is unsafe or not running. And owning refillable water bottles to take with you on sunny days is essential to stay hydrated. But the ten million brands of water you can buy in the store have really gotten out of hand!
Water is generally neither acidic nor basic, with a pH of 7. Alkaline water is more basic and has a pH ranging from 8 to 10.
Many claims are made about the benefits of alkaline water aiding blood sugar health. In mice with metabolic disorder, drinking water aided their cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar health. In cell studies, it protected pancreatic cells from oxidative stress. For people on dialysis, it can reduce side effects.
But when you look into the studies, they all have tons of caveats. When we were researching this blog, we came across an article from almost an article calling alkaline water a scam and breaking down a lot of the myths. Back then, the blog called it a scam because alkaline water generators were all the rage for a moment on the health scene, and they cost thousands of dollars.
The claims that alkaline water impacts your body all say that it changes the levels of acid in your system. However, the first place it goes is your stomach, where the fluid has a pH ranging from 1.5 to 3.5. That expensive alkaline water becomes neutral and normal the minute it hits that acid. And your body wants to maintain its pH. So if you did manage to alter the pH of your blood, your kidneys would jump into action to make the blood acidic again.
While many people might write alkaline water off as expensive, useless and harmless, it can have a downside. If you have a kidney concern, you should avoid alkaline water with a pH over 9. Attempting to increase the blood’s pH through that means can increase potassium. That can be dangerous.
There has been a lot more marketing than research around alkaline water, and there isn’t enough evidence to support the positive claims made about it. But drinking water, in general, is a great way to support your blood sugar health!
