Is alcaline water beneficial or a scam?

IS ALKALINE WATER BENEFICIAL OR A SCAM? Emanuele MORGANTI,1 Luca BOLELLI,1 Elida Nora FERRI,1Giuseppe NOVELLI,2 Chris FREEMAN,2 Stefano GIROTTI1 1Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology FaBiT, Via San Donato 15, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Bologna,40127, Italy 2CULLIGAN ITALIANA SPA, Cadriano di Granarolo Emilia, Bologna, 40057, Italy Introduction: Water is the essential element of the life. No other substance is so important to human physiology or health. In fact, total body water (TBW, about 45 L) represents 60% of body weight (BW) in the reference man. Alkaline water has a higher pH level than regular tap water. Some people believe that alkaline water can help to drain toxins more efficiently than plain water, leading to better fitness. Proponents say that it can neutralize acid in bloodstream, boost the metabolism, help to prevent diseases and slow the aging process. While anecdotal evidence and uncontrolled testimonials suggests that the alkaline pH of drinking water could be relevant to health, so far, there is not a lot of firm scientific data to support these assertions. Materials and Methods: An investigation in the scientific literature has been done verify these claims. The research was conducted using the most important national and international scientific databases, scientific search engines and resources aggregators. After that, a critical review of the articles was performed highlighting those with greater impact factor, and greater scientific relevance. Results and Discussion: The first consideration that emerged in this meta-analysis is that the human body is complex. Claiming that everyone needs to “alkalize” is an over-simplification. A wide range of pH values from highly acid to moderately alkaline can be found in different parts of the body, different tissues and even in different regions of a single cell. Far various mechanisms maintain pH balance. The second is that alkalinity in ionized water is due to the sodium hydroxide formed during electrolysis process if sodium chloride is the electrolyte dissolved in the water. The strong stomach acidity immediately neutralize the sodium hydroxide converting it back into water and sodium chloride ions. Therefore, there is no reason to expect that the water formed when the alkaline hydroxide ion is neutralized will retain any (presumed) special characteristics, or that dissolved salt will have any special properties when it is absorbed. Moreover, as a general consideration, most of the water that enters the stomach is not taken up until it enters the intestine, where it is made alkaline by the pancreatic fluid. So in a sense, "all" the water one drinks is alkaline at last! The alkalinity level of the incoming water relative to the acidity of the stomach acid and to the pH the body's well-buffered blood are negligible. Thus, drinking a liter of electrolyzed, alkalinized water would buffer less than 0.5% of the acid formed by metabolism of foodstuffs and would have an undetectable effect on acid-base status. The EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) does not authorize any health assertion about alkaline water because is not based on solid scientific data. Conclusion: In conclusion, at this moment, there is no credible evidence in standard medical or scientific literature to support claims that alkaline water has any greater health effects or health benefits than drinking regular water.