One of the most overlooked keys to health is the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of the body. Few people know that along with dehydration, acidity is one of the main causes of disease.
The body can, if it is not given the right water and nutrients, become or remain too acidic and when that happens, the door has been opened to disease.
Internally, the body and its fluids are supposed to be slightly alkaline. Poor diet, drugs, stress and just the ordinary processes of activity and metabolism create acid wastes in the body. When assaulted with too much acidity, the body can be overwhelmed in its efforts to restore balance.
What NOT to Drink
The liquids we drink have a great deal to do with our level of hydration and acidity. Soft drinks are the worst offenders. They are VERY acidic. Consuming just one soft drink can wipe-out the benefits of an otherwise healthful, alkaline diet. Even “natural” soft drinks purchased in a health food store will do this. The carbonation and/or other ingredients added to the soft drinks make them way too acidic to be healthful.
Another factor is hydration. Drinking fluids that are acidic or otherwise compromised can leave the body a state of perpetual dehydration, preventing the proper intake of nutrients and oxygen into the cells and blocking the efficient elimination of waste products from the cells.
Coffee and other caffeinated beverages, for example, are diuretics (they remove fluid from the body). One wouldn’t be able to survive in a healthy state drinking only coffee (although the drink may well have beneficial factors) because of its acidic pH and how much it dehydrates the body. Even so, that’s essentially what some people are doing, much to their detriment.
pH and Health
To be healthy, one must (along with other sensible actions like getting enough rest, some exercise and sunshine):
a) consume somewhat alkaline water as one’s main beverage
b) consistently avoid drinking acidic beverages or those that promote dehydration
c) consume sufficient alkaline-producing foods (a good percentage of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables)
Please note that bottled waters are NOT the answer. In testing these, it was found that they nearly always have an acidic pH. Furthermore, many bottled waters are simply filtered city water (Dasani, for example)! Why pay premium prices for such a questionable product? The billions of water bottles ending up in landfills and in the ocean are also creating an ecological disaster – why contribute to that?
Hope this summary of info on the pH of water and health is helpful to you.
Evan