Acid/alkaline
dietary woo crops up all over the place, with the idea that we should
eat "alkalinising" foods for better health being constantly recycled
through creative "sciency" rhetoric. Here are some straight-forward
points to take into account when considering following Gwyneth Paltrow
and Victoria Beckham's lead, from retired chemistry professor Stephen
Lower:
- The idea that one must consume
alkaline water to neutralize the effects of acidic foods is ridiculous;
we get rid of excess acid by exhaling carbon dioxide. When this is not
adequate, the kidneys adjust urinary pH accordingly.
- If you do drink alkaline water, its alkalinity is quickly removed by the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach.
Uptake of water occurs mainly in the intestine, not in the stomach. But
when stomach contents enter the intestine, they are neutralized and
made alkaline by the pancreatic secretions — so all the water you drink
eventually becomes alkaline anyway.
- The claims about the health benefits of drinking alkaline water are not supported by credible scientific evidence.
There is nothing wrong with drinking slightly acidic waters such as
rainwater. "Body pH" is a meaningless concept; different parts of the
body (and even of individual cells) can have widely different pH values.
The pH of drinking water has zero effect on that of the blood or of the
body's cells.
- If you really want to de-acidify your stomach
(at the possible cost of interfering with protein digestion), why spend
hundreds of dollars for an electrolysis device when you can take
calcium-magnesium pills, Alka-Seltzer or Milk of Magnesia?
- "pH-balanced water" is scientifically meaningless and nothing more than a come-on for nostrums and products of dubous value.
Acid/alkaline
dietary woo crops up all over the place, with the idea that we should
eat "alkalinising" foods for better health being constantly recycled
through creative "sciency" rhetoric. Here are some straight-forward
points to take into account when considering following Gwyneth Paltrow
and Victoria Beckham's lead, from retired chemistry professor Stephen
Lower:
- The idea that one must consume alkaline water to neutralize the effects of acidic foods is ridiculous; we get rid of excess acid by exhaling carbon dioxide. When this is not adequate, the kidneys adjust urinary pH accordingly.
- If you do drink alkaline water, its alkalinity is quickly removed by the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach.
Uptake of water occurs mainly in the intestine, not in the stomach. But when stomach contents enter the intestine, they are neutralized and made alkaline by the pancreatic secretions — so all the water you drink eventually becomes alkaline anyway.
- The claims about the health benefits of drinking alkaline water are not supported by credible scientific evidence.
There is nothing wrong with drinking slightly acidic waters such as rainwater. "Body pH" is a meaningless concept; different parts of the body (and even of individual cells) can have widely different pH values. The pH of drinking water has zero effect on that of the blood or of the body's cells.
- If you really want to de-acidify your stomach (at the possible cost of interfering with protein digestion), why spend hundreds of dollars for an electrolysis device when you can take calcium-magnesium pills, Alka-Seltzer or Milk of Magnesia?
- "pH-balanced water" is scientifically meaningless and nothing more than a come-on for nostrums and products of dubous value.
- The idea that one must consume alkaline water to neutralize the effects of acidic foods is ridiculous; we get rid of excess acid by exhaling carbon dioxide. When this is not adequate, the kidneys adjust urinary pH accordingly.
- If you do drink alkaline water, its alkalinity is quickly removed by the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach.
Uptake of water occurs mainly in the intestine, not in the stomach. But when stomach contents enter the intestine, they are neutralized and made alkaline by the pancreatic secretions — so all the water you drink eventually becomes alkaline anyway.
- The claims about the health benefits of drinking alkaline water are not supported by credible scientific evidence.
There is nothing wrong with drinking slightly acidic waters such as rainwater. "Body pH" is a meaningless concept; different parts of the body (and even of individual cells) can have widely different pH values. The pH of drinking water has zero effect on that of the blood or of the body's cells.
- If you really want to de-acidify your stomach (at the possible cost of interfering with protein digestion), why spend hundreds of dollars for an electrolysis device when you can take calcium-magnesium pills, Alka-Seltzer or Milk of Magnesia?
- "pH-balanced water" is scientifically meaningless and nothing more than a come-on for nostrums and products of dubous value.
No comments:
Post a Comment