There is no shortcut to your health. I understand that this is a longer post but everyone is committed to something, so I challenge you to commit your time to the preparation it takes to practice healthy living. I will split this up into two posts to make it a little easier of a read for all of you.
Recently, there's been a lot of talk about what type of water is best for you and which kind will offer the most health benefits. Alkaline water has taken off in the past few years as something that surpasses other waters. Is this just a fad or are there real advantages to drinking just alkaline water? What's the difference between alkaline, distilled, and purified water? What's the proper pH balance of water? These are just a few questions I hope to answer in this mini-series.
Let's be clear from the beginning, any water (within reason) is better than no water. Our body is primarily made up of water and coffee, tea, juice, pop, and even flavor-enhanced waters do not take the place of pure water. Many of us live our lives chronically dehydrated without even realizing it and that can lead to multiple health conditions. There are certainly some waters that rank higher than others but at the very least, getting any water into your body during the day is a good start.
To understand what type of water we should be ingesting, we first need to understand the pH scale and how our bodies react to acidity or alkalinity. The pH scale is a scale that ranges from 0-14, with a pH balance of 7, of course, being neutral as it is in the middle. PH is simply a measurement of hydrogen ions. The higher a liquid's pH, the fewer concentrated ions the substance has. The lower the number goes, more concentrated hydrogen ions are present. For instance, battery acid is very acidic, naturally, so it measures at 1 on the pH scale. However, lye is a very base (or alkaline) substance and scores a 13.
A good example to look at is aquatic animals or plants that live or spend a lot of time in water. They have been specially designed to live in water that has a very specific pH balance and even the slightest of changes could cause them to die. A pH below 4 or above 10 will kill most fish, and there are only a few animals at all that can handle waters below 3 or above 11. If their bodies are so sensitive to changes in pH, it should be safe to assume that our bodies are sensitive to the pH levels we expose ourselves to as well. Natural water on the planet usually ranges from a pH of 6.5-9.0, depending on the soil and vegetation, seasonal weather, and even time of day and sunlight exposure.
The next installment of this will include more on what types of water are out there, how they're made, and what the right choice is for you.
-Jordan
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