It has been 7 1/2 years since I first wrote this article.
A lot has changed since 2010 in terms of the information about alkaline water so this is an update.
Dr. Young was a strong advocate of the alkaline water story and it made him a lot of money.
Unfortunately, Dr, Young ended up in prison for 5 months in 2017 as part of a plea deal for illegally treating patients without any scientific or medical training. It turns out that Dr. Young has no post-high school degrees from accredited institutions.
Dr. Young was “outed” publicly by Dr. Joe Mercola (a real medical doctor) in 2010 in regards to Young’s assertions that you benefit from drinking alkaline water. Young claimed that by drinking alkaline water, you would neutralize the acid levels in the stomach. In reality, the body is an incredible “machine” that buffers temporary displacements of equilibrium including the pH of the contents that leave the stomach and enter the small intestine. The pancreas will emit one of several forms of bicarbonate (depending upon what is available at the time of need) which acts as a buffer (or balance) the contents entering the small intestine at a pH of 8.1
Mr. (we all now understand that he was never a doctor) Young is an intelligent guy. Despite how history has played out, Mr. Young had an honest passion for alkaline water above and beyond the financial windfall of selling alkaline water products. I know this because I spoke with him a few times back in 2009 and 2010. Young’s passion for the water came his personal experiences and the experiences of the people he was coaching/treating.
In 2010, Dr. Joe Mercola (a real medical doctor who has spent his career as a very successful marketer) outed the alkaline water story based upon the fact that the human body buffers the pH of anything leaving the stomach to enter the small intestine with bicarbonates as mentioned above.
What generated the huge amount of anecdotal evidence supporting the benefits of the water come from if alkaline water is not the source of the benefits?
It turns out that the health benefits claimed by Mr. Young and the alkaline water industry came from the production of molecular hydrogen gas (H2) produced during electrolysis. The alkaline water machines produce a lot of H2 and some of the gas produced survives as gas bubbles in the water for a few seconds after the water has been dispensed from the machines. If you drink the H2 bubbles before they dissipate into the air, you will receive the benefits of the H2 gas.
To some extent, the alkaline water industry benefits, supported by the likes of Mr. Young, were justified because the benefits were real. The hoax of the alkaline water story is that the industry never told the truth about the source of the benefits, so it just “made up” the alkaline story.
Where can you learn about molecular hydrogen gas (H2)?
A great source is a non-profit science based website is www.molecularhydrogeninstitute.com . The site is fairly heavy on the science side of things but you can wade through it if you are tenacious. The founder of the site is Tyler LeBaron who is a scientist and he does his best to describe the science to us dummies in terms that you can kinda understand. You can also Google molecular hydrogen to find many sites that dumb the science down. The downfall of going to many H2 sites is that they are more interested in selling you products than they are in educating readers.
Where can you buy H2 products?
You can also do a Google search of molecular hydrogen (H2) to find a number of sites that sell H2 products.
The best site by far to buy H2 products is www.brilliantz.com.
You should be asking yourself: “Why is this guy touting a specific website” and you would be right to question my motive.
I know the people at Brilliantz. They sell good high quality H2 products and they are good people. That is well and fine, but the reason for my overwhelming endorsement is that they recently changed their business model from selling through an Affiliate network to selling directly to the public. The net result of the change is that they reduced their prices by 50%.
Brilliantz doesn’t pay any commissions or referral fees, as the company has redirected those cost to reducing their product prices. I’m giving Brilliantz my full support because you may be hard pressed to find anyone who recommends Brilliantz due to the fact that there is zero financial incentive to do so. I don’t have that problem as I have never used WaterFYI as a source of income as it is purely for educational purposes.
Thanks for reading
We just bought a water filtration system that makes alkaline water and we LOVE it! We live just east of Los Angeles so it was important to us to invest in a water system that will benefit the health of my family for years. We were especially excited because we were able to find an affordable water unit through Water Revolution (https://www.water-revolution.com/California) that alkalizes and filters the water for us (under the sink and without need of electricity). Also, they make their systems in North Carolina…Yay for creating jobs in the U.S.! Thanks for posting your article and the link to Dr. Young’s article!
Hi Amber:
Thanks for stopping by and putting in a good word for the Revolutionizer. Cool pic on the home page of your website.
In my particular case, I have to agree with Dr. Mercola. I tried high quality alkaline water for 5-6 weeks. Within a few weeks of drinking it, I developed major digestive issues, including borborygmus (major grumbling and rumbling) in response to every morsel of food I ate. I didn’t put two and two together until my health practitioner told me I was low in hydrochloric acid. I stopped the water and within a few days the problem went away completely. No alkaline water for me!
Hi Catherine:
Thanks for your input.
I switch the pH levels and the amount of ionized water that I drink during the day and from day to day. I ended up not drinking ionized water for a couple of weeks in July and my joints all started to show signs of arthritis. Four years ago, before drinking ionized water, I had really bad arthritis and it has disappeared completely when I drank the .water. So, it looks like the water doesn’t “cure” arthritis, but it certainly made my go away for years as long as I drank the water.
Why do I get cramps in my fingers & toes after drinking 9.5. ph water? I should mention I have hep c with liver cancer. I have the Oz water filter machine. Should I maybe try 9.0 ? I’ve been paying attention after I drink 9.5 & that’s when I get the cramps. Any input on this would be appreciated. Sincerely, Brenda Adams
Hi Brenda:
I’m not a doctor, and I’m not going to speculate. I get tired of reading all the claims I see about ionized water on the internet.
What I think I know is that most people are Mg. deficient and the side effects are nasty. I’m reading a book called the Magnesium Miracle written by Dr. Carolyn Dean which I highly recommend to anyone. She is both a MD and a ND which I believe is an ideal combination.
Hi Brenda, Re: your cancer, are you aware of Cannabis Oil and Vitamin B17 ? These 2 treatments will kill any cancer. That’s why they are both illegal in the US and Canada.
I wish you all the best.
Les
Hi Les:
That’s a pretty bold statement and one that I certainly wouldn’t make. Nothing fixes everything.
I have been drinking alkaline water for the past few months after buying a very popular (and expensive) machine. I’ve been struggling with an autoimmune disease and related health issues, which is why I bought the machine. I recently learned I have SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), which may be a result of low stomach acid and I can’t help but wonder if drinking all this alkaline water is contributing toward low stomach acidity? In my case I need more HCL to ensure that food is not fermenting in my small intestine, feeding my SIBO. I would love your thoughts.
Hi Danica:
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Somehow, your comment got past me.
I’m not a doctor and I don’t know the details of your case or the results of your test.
I’m not familiar with SIBO but I will look into it. I don’t know if the water or even the level of stomach acid has anything to do with SIBO. Can you find how long you might have had SIBO? Can you get tested for the level of acid that your stomach is producing. Does your doctor recommend a PPI (protein pump inhibitor)? Lots of questions.
I spent a couple of years trouble shooting and repairing water ionizers about 6 years ago. I found that the strategy was to check the easiest solutions first and go from there. In that light, perhaps you might want to start with reducing the pH level of the water you drink and or reducing amount of water you drink and seeing if the changes have any effect.
I would definitely consult and work with your physician on this one.
The water may or may not have anything to do with SIBO and
I’ve had a good alkaline machine for a couple of months and notice that I sometimes struggle to digest food. (its as if it just stays in my stomach too long) – perhaps I’m drinking the water (9-9.5) too close to mealtime?
Also what do you mean by “biological transformation into stems cells in the crypts of the small intestine.” I though the acid helps break down the food into smaller particles preparing it so that it can be absorbed in the small intestine through enterocytes?
Hi Suzanne:
Don’t drink the water for half an hour before or after meals and definitely not with the meals. See how that works. If you are still struggling, perhaps you can expand the times to one hour.
I don’t believe I have written anything about the biological transformation into stem cells in the crypts o the small intestine. I have not done any research in that area.
BAWHAHAHAHA! This is such utter trash! I suggest you get a lesson in anatomy and physiology!!
While I HAVE heard good things about alkalinized water, I have to agree with Robbie. Bicarb is produced by the pancreas and released into the small intestine. This article is incorrect and is being used to support the use of alkaline water via fallacies.
Hi Julie and Robbie:
While I was initially fooled by Robert Young’s article, it did start me investigating bicarbonate. I learned very quickly that Robert Young’s reasoning was rubbish. Upon learning that information, it soon became apparent that Mr. Young has a history of…..how should I say this….reshaping science to accommodate his needs.
It is never fun “piling on” but for those that want to know what Robert Young is up to these days, here is a link: https://www.gofundme.com/helpdryoungnow
Hello there,
I’m maryam and i’m chemical engineer. I care my nutrition and health. in my opinion, it is so important that what we drink or eat daily .
Is it true that alkaline electrolyzed water is a hexagonal water?! as i searched in websites, many manufacturers named this water “Hexagonal or microclustered water” . They said that after the electrolysis process, regular water with 15-20 molecular cluster, convert to 5-6 molecular cluster. This property leads to easy passing through from cells in body. these smaller molecular clusters have been measured by NMR technology (in 80Hz).
Thank you.