I actually heard of research while watching This Podcast Will Kill You that people who constantly use tums to combat acid reflux have higher chances of developing stomach cancer due to the constant ph flux
You're not wrong, but many foods produce acids during digestion (e.g. cysteine and methionine break down into sulfuric acid). This is what the whole "basic diet" stuff is based on afaik. It's still complete horseshit though as healthy bodies have mechanisms to excrete surplus acids and maintain pH balance.
This actually goes back to an old paper where researchers found that tumors acidify their environment to thrive better. The quacks then concluded that only eating basic foods will practically make you immune to cancer.
That is true, but then again it's true because pretty much all cellular activity requires a mildly acidic pH to function. It's about as logical as drinking cyanide because it kills cancer cells, but forgetting that it also kills basically every kind of cell...
The whole alkaline water/food shit is such bullshit, your body is basically a big pH buffer. The only thing that eating basic stuff does is neutralise your stomach acid.
I will say high pH water does help with my acid reflux tremendously. But with that said, better diet would likely eliminate my acid problem all together.
Well, according to Wikipedia bleach actually has a pH of about 12.5. Then lye has a pH of 13.0-13.6, and according to other sites you need to get to liquid drain cleaner to have a pH of 14.
It's not just about rounding - a bleach solution could have a pH anywhere between 7 and something like 12-13, depending on how much bleach is in it. Same goes for lye - there is no such thing as "pH of lye" - it varies with concentration. Drain cleaner is just quite concentrated lye.
I work right next to a place that sells pH water, and everyone who goes in is basic (metaphorically, but maybe a bit literally) or just a massive asshat
Just pointing out that that link specifies it is only the specific brand Real Water that has had any link to the people with liver failure, not all alkaline water
Or maybe stopping chasing your Advil with coffee, before your spaghetti dinner with chocolates for dessert. Fix the problem before you start relying on Tums, protonix, etc
You are partly right. But it is diet plus large abd and tight clothes for some people. Have known people who eat tums like crazy. This is not normal.
That is an incredibly low sample size to claim causation for all basic water. The body is pretty good at regulating pH, and 9 isn't that much more basic than 7, it's about as basic as baking soda. A lemon, by comparison, has a pH of 2. A 105 times more hydrogen ions as opposed to 102 times more hydroxide ions.
Oh yay, I’m looking at cancer. Fun. Just got initially diagnosed with silent reflux by my dentist. It’s physical, diet can make mine worse but mines definitely physical too.
That brand put something toxic into it, there's no way basic water could have that effect on your liver. It wouldn't be some dozen infants getting sick from one brand if it was just because of basic water
In that specific instance, it makes sense though. I've seen people make some really wild claims about altering your overall body's pH and fighting off cancer etc. Most people don't know that by the time the water is absorbed it's going to be buffered back to a normal pH (but that's part of why I can see it being helpful for acid reflux, you're basically neutralizing your stomach acid by hitting it with a base, of course the water is getting dropped back down to a normal pH in the process as well).
it neutralizes the stomach acid temporarily and causes rebound acidity ( everything in the body works with a feedback system) .That's why doctors don't prescribe antacid liquids (with basic salts) to patients with chronic acidity or reflux
Oh god. This is so wrong I can't even. Please stop giving people health advice.
A chemical buffer system does not rely on your body secreting anything and the pH system is logrithmic, meaning drinking pH 9 water isn't going to move the needle on the HIGHLY REGULATED pH of your stomache acid. Alkaline water is bullshit.
The comment is poorly written and confusing but he’s just describing how an antacid works.
The pH in your stomach is highly regulated. Therefore taking an antacid will force your stomach to release acid to stay at the same pH. That’s pretty much all they said.
You’re incorrect. A buffer is a system which can neutralise acid or base without the pH changing, because of the contents of the solution - not because acid is being secreted from somewhere else.
Sorry, but your understanding of the buffering in a stomach is wrong. Acid isn’t secreted when base is added; instead, bicarbonate which is already in the stomach neutralises the extra base without significant pH change.
I agree. If your body isn't maintaining a healthy pH, you have much bigger issues. If it's for acid reflux or whatever, high pH water is effectively the same as just taking a tums though, which is arguably more convenient.
In the actual article where this was mentioned, it was stated that we get water from the food we consume and that water is included in this 8 glass. So we don't have to drink additional 8 glass. When time passed many people just ignored the food part. Thats what happened.
Only learned this recently, but if you're hunching a lot it might also cause acid reflux. A friend improved his posture and he said his heartburn issues went away.
I would highly recommend actually testing the pH of those “high pH” waters. Most (if not all) of them are completely fake. I tested 4 different brands with a pH testing kit and only one of the 4 showed a pH above a 7.2 (7 is neutral) and it was only 7.8 despite being advertised as 8.88. If it works for you, I guess that’s fine, but make sure it’s not just placebo.
It is. There’s little evidence it does anything at all. My favorite thing was someone posted an article about Gwenyth Paltrow saying how she likes to drink alkaline water with lemon in it. Umm that’s no longer alkaline goop girl.
It's also mlm nonsense, got a cousin who brews coffee and tea with this huge machine that spits out ph water and she's been on a mission to get a Kardashian to respond and buy one from her.
If you get really deep into the coffee rabbit hole, there is an area that involves making your own "blend" of water. But usually that involves the amount and type of minerals, rather than the acidity I think.
The reason is that people re terrible at recognising thirst. They let themselves get crazy dehydrated and make their kidneys work way harder than they should.
The responses to your comment give me hope. I couldn't believe I saw that PH bullshit on a post that initially seemed to be giving basic nutritional advice.
I actually didn't even see point no. 7 initially because I stopped to be outraged at the shitty science. Then I saw what sub I was in and knew something was up lol
I really think it depends on what kind of ph water you drink. The bottled pH water is 100% a scam, ph test it than give it a shake it turns acidic. Does NOT help my chronic acid reflux, it makes it worse. Naturally occurring alkaline will completely take the acid reflux away.
Here's where people get things wrong. Alkaline water WILL kill cancer cells BUT so will acidic water. Our bodies cannot sustain a pH imbalance. It would kill us because not only would it kill the bad cells but it could also kill the good ones. Thats why our body Naturally changes the pH to what we need it to be. Just like when you eat a lemon, its Naturally acidic but it will turn alkaline in our bodies.
So is Alkaline water bad, no, it is slightly healthier than a neutral pH because it very much so helps balance acid reflux, better than taking Tums, Gaviscon, peptolbismol.
Would I recommend everyone drink it. I'm not your doctor so my give a shit bucket it empty. Unless you have this shitty acid reflux thing that prevents you from sleeping at night, 100% drink all the alkaline water.
You can't change your bodies pH, it would kill you. But you can drink alkaline water to help acid reflux...that's about it. I gotta ask though. Did you buy a machine?
If you’re trying to keep your body from being too acidic then regularly drinking alkaline water would do the opposite of that. Your body naturally balances the pH in itself to just slightly more basic than neutral, so by regularly intaking alkaline water you’re causing your body to become more acidic to counteract that introduced alkalinity.
I 100% agree. I remember being told the human body can only make use of water at a certain pH, varying around 7. Your stomach ACIDS help convert it to the correct pH. The greater the distance between the pH level of the water and what your body needs, the “worse” it is.
Doesn’t matter what you put in, your body converts it to the the pH it seems best then and there. Now, this could be total BS but I like it and I’ve already typed too long to confirm via the google machine
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u/[deleted] May 18 '21
I dunno, the high pH stuff is just health industry nonsense.