Acid Coagulates Blood
June 4, 2010
Weight Loss and Water
May 21, 2010
When we talk about weight loss, we often talk about the number of calories in food. We believe the fewer calories consumed, the less weight gained. It’s the same with drinks: diet drinks are preferred over regular (higher-calorie) drinks when it comes to weight loss. Consumption of diet soda today is skyrocketing because of this.
Everyday drinking water can help remove weight more than diet soda can, because although club soda may have no calories, it is highly acidic and has low pH. Plain drinking water has a higher level of pH which stimulates a unique process in the stomach.
Stomach cells work to keep the stomach acidic for the breaking down of food. When high pH water enters the stomach, the stomach produces hydrochloric acid to bring the pH level back down (see diagram, Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology by Frederic H. Martini, page 881). A byproduct of this chemical reaction is bicarbonate, which increases the blood’s bicarbonate level, and this bicarbonate dissolves excess acid (i.e. cholesterol and/or fatty acid) in the body. When we drink club soda or any carbonated drinks, our stomach does not produce any hydrochloric acid, and as a result, our blood does not receive any bicarbonate.
If drinking regular water can melt away excess acid, can you imagine what drinking alkaline water can do?
Regarding weight loss, what is commonly taught is to burn off fat, but there is a way to neutralize and melt it away. Alkaline buffer (bicarbonate) reduces fat cleanly and easily.
About ORP
March 31, 2010
One of the frequently asked questions on ionized One of water is about the effects/benefits of ORP (Oxidation Reduction Potential), and the duration of its value after ionization.
The question of ORP duration depends on what kind of container the freshly made alkaline water is kept in. If the container is a highly conductive substance, such as a metallic container, the ORP reading disappears very quickly. If the container is non-conductive, such as a glass container, the ORP reading disappears slowly.
The human body is a good conductor, especially when dealing with stomach acid. The ORP does not last long in the stomach. Because of this, I personally don’t give much credence to the health benefits of ORP, as it disappears when consumed.
The alkaline pH of the water also disappears when it meets stomach acid; however, our stomach creates hydrochloric acid to bring the stomach pH back to the original acidic value. In doing so, our stomach also produces bicarbonate and injects it to the blood, thus increasing the alkaline buffer in the blood. (See Blog entry #1.)
There is no mechanism in the body to recover ORP; it is simply discarded. I have not seen any scientific (natural science) explanation as to how ORP benefits human health. There are statistical studies on ORP where some people make claims of its health benefits.
I am not in the statistical science of health, because the results are very much influenced by whoever finances the test and how the samples are taken and/or discarded. For years, the tobacco industry claimed that “scientific” test results showed that smoking tobacco does not cause lung cancer. We now know the truth.
Without any natural science backing and reasoning, ORP value is nothing but a salesman’s marketing hype to sell more ionizers.
Alkaline Water and Stomach Acid
March 7, 2010
One of the most recurrent questions about drinking alkaline water is this: how can the body feel the benefit of alkaline water if stomach acid neutralizes it?
Here is what actually occurs when alkaline water is ingested: the stomach pH temporarily goes up; however, the stomach has its own happy acid pH level and will try to lower the pH value to its original value by producing hydrochloric acid. This is the homeostasis action. The real question is: how does the stomach produce hydrochloric acid?
The chemical equation for the production of hydrochloric acid by the stomach is: H2O (water) + CO2 (carbon dioxide) + NaCl (table salt) = HCl (hydrochloric acid) + NaHCO3 (sodium bicarbonate).
For each molecule of hydrochloric acid the stomach produces, one sodium bicarbonate molecule (alkaline buffer) is also produced. The hydrochloric acid goes into the stomach and the sodium bicarbonate goes into the bloodstream, thus increasing the alkaline buffer in the blood. The sodium used here is already in the body. We are not adding extra sodium to the body.
As we age, some of us lose the ability to produce hydrochloric acid by the stomach. In that case, alkaline liquid (NaOH) goes into the intestine and is sucked into the blood. This could tend to increase the pH value of the blood. However, when that happens, the acid buffer (H2CO3) reacts with it according to the formula NaOH + H2CO3 = NaHCO3 + H2O. This results in alkaline buffer and water. Could we run out of acid buffer (H2CO3)? The answer is no. H2CO3 is a combination of water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). As long as we eat carbohydrate, we produce carbon dioxide and this produces carbonic acid (H2CO3) which is acid buffer. We create so much carbonic acid that our lungs must exhale excess carbon dioxide. As long as we live, we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.
What is diminishing, as we age, is the alkaline buffer. To maintain the alkaline–acid balance in the blood, we must recharge alkaline buffer in the blood. Drinking alkaline water is the best way. This is better than any alkaline food.
Introduction
March 3, 2010
When I first published “Reverse Aging” in 1990, little was known about the alkaline-acid balance. The only concept that people were familiar with was alkaline food and acid food. Drinking alkaline water was considered to be a hoax because the stomach is acidic and would neutralize alkaline water. We’ve come a long way in twenty years.
Today we know that alkaline-acid balancing is carried out in the blood by an alkaline buffer (bicarbonate) and an acid buffer (carbonic acid). As we age, we lose bicarbonate in the blood causing alkaline-acid imbalance, especially after 45 years of age. Alkaline-acid balancing means to replenish diminishing bicarbonate in the blood. It is not balancing pH values of the blood.
If the artery blood pH value goes down in proportion with the bicarbonate diminishing, we would all be dead after 55 years of age. In spite of the diminishing bicarbonate in the blood after 45 years of age, the body plays amazing survival tricks to maintain pH values and extend life. The price that the body pays to extend life are old age diseases such as osteoporosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, lipids, clogged artery, heart attacks, cancer, etc.
In this ‘Alkaline World’ series of posts, I will give scientific explanations to prove the above statements using simple and easy-to-understand chemistry. Also, I will try to answer any questions or comments from the readers.
