Dr. Jamie Kaufman M.D. author of “Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook and Cure”.

A recent scientific study performed in the USA by Dr. Jamie Kaufman M.D. indicates that alkaline water appears to cure acid reflux and acts as a hydrochloric acid buffer. To proceed directly to the study itself, scroll down to the headline “The Study”.

My Alkaline Water Acid Reflux Story

I first started drinking alkaline ionized water in June 2008 when my wife made it clear to me that I was on the path of self destruction.

Prior to drinking the water, I had been taking medical prescriptions for acid reflux and osteo arthritis for extended periods of time and my family physician had just prescribed a third drug to control the level of cholesterol in my system.

I wasn’t noticeably overweight despite the fact that my diet pretty much consisted of a dizzying array of fast food atrocities. However, there was no denying that my health was decaying and rapidly getting worse. Acid reflux kept me awake at night. Arthritis was cheating me of virtually all the athletic pleasures that I had enjoyed all of my life, and was leaving me in constant pain. For those of you who have not experienced chronic pain, all I can say is that it something you want to avoid. In short, I had become a grumpy old man at age 51. In hindsight, when my wife basically forced me to start drinking the water, she was doing it for herself as much as for me. Perhaps the only thing worse that suffering from chronic pain is listening to someone complain about it.

The water changed my life in a matter of weeks. My 15 year struggle with acid reflux was cured in a week and the debilitating arthritis disappeared within a month. It is now more than four years later and my acid reflux and arthritis remain a distant memory….without the aid of single pill.

The Problem With Anecdotal Evidence

In the four years since I discovered ionized water, I have had the opportunity to speak with thousands of people seeking effective alternatives to prescription drugs for issues such as arthritis. Initially I was caught off guard by how effective the water is at curing arthritis. Four years and hundreds of success stories later, what surprises me is how long it has taken science to figure out what we learned years ago. The water truly helps when it comes to arthritis.

Despite my best efforts and intentions with this blog, the scientific and medical communities don’t care what I think or say. In fact, the scientific and medical communities don’t care what anyone has to say unless it is backed by scientific studies. My natural inclination would be to dump on them for their stubbornness and refusal to acknowledge the obvious. However, their skepticism of anecdotal evidence and need for empirical proof is well founded. Let’s be honest and acknowledge that the internet and other media is full of hype and self promotion.

I believe in scientific studies. Growing up as the son of a medical doctor, and as someone who earned a Science degree in University a long time ago, I can clearly see the need for properly thought out and managed scientific testing. While being a supporter of scientific studies, it is also obvious to me that the scientific and medical communities need to open their minds up to the fact that there are a lot of alternative remedies that can offer tremendous benefits to humans.

The Disregard For Asian Studies On Alkaline Water

Many Asian studies have been available regarding the benefits of alkaline water for many years. I don’t know why Americans discount the merits of Asian studies, but they do. Perhaps it is the translation. Perhaps it is simply the nature of people to “not bother” digging into the studies to try and unravel the seemingly endlish gibberish used by scientists to describe their work. My personal belief is that Americans have a “superiority complex” when it comes to research in that if a study is not done by Americans, then it doesn’t count. That thinking is pure nonsense, but as the saying goes “it is what it is”.

I believe that Americans will not begin to take the benefits of drinking alkaline water seriously until they read about American studies on the water. Or perhaps they just need to hear it from Mark Wahlberg or P Diddy who are now supporting alkaline bottled water companies that they have invested in. I look forward to seeing how far Mr. Wahlberg can advance the popularity of alkaline water as people learn about his personal story during his preparation for his “Fighter” movie.

The Study

The good news for the anecdotal evidence guys like me is that there are a bunch of studies underway in America dealing with the efficacy of ionized water for various diseases.

Dr. Jamie Kaufman M.D. and Dr. Nikki Johnston PhD recently had a study on the the affects of natural alkaline water on acid reflux published in the “Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology”. You can click on the link to the study here: http://www.voiceinstituteofnewyork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Koufman-7-12.pdf

The doctors work in New York, which makes them and the study American as far as I can tell. Maybe people in America will pay attention this time. I expect this to be the first of many American studies about the water that I will be reporting about in the future.

Dr. Kaufman is already famous for her best selling book “Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook and Cure”. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America, CBS Radio, Fox News, and many more news outlets. She also has an interesting and informative blog that you can find at www.refluxcookbookblog.com/tag/jamie-koufman-md/ .

In the introduction of the recemt paper, Dr’s Kaufman and Johnston indicate that:

Gastric reflux, popularly termed acid reflux, as an expensive, high-prevalence disease.

They also mention that:

Esophageal reflux and airway reflux — gastroesophageal reflux disease and laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), respectively — are epidemic.

The doctors go on to note that:

In 2007, an analysis of 17 prevalence studies revealed that reflux disease had increased an average of 4% per year since 1976. At present, 40% of Americans have reflux — 22% with gastroesophageal reflux disease and another 18% with LPR1

The doctors tested the affects of three types of bottled water on acid reflux including: Aquafina (Pepsi’s acidic water), Dasani (Coca Cola’s acidic water) and Evamor Natural Artesian Water (alkaline 8.8 pH).

The study concluded:

Naturally alkaline artesian water at pH 8.8 instantaneously
and permanently denatures (inactivates)
human pepsin 3b, and it also appears to effectively
buffer acid (HCl). These in vitro data suggest that
alkaline water may be a useful, risk-free adjunctive
treatment for reflux disease

Summary

In a nutshell, the study showed that naturally produced alkaline water with a pH of 8.8 inactivates acid reflux immediately and acts as a hydrochoric acid buffer.

I find it very interesting that the study was based upon natural alkaline water as opposed to being done with electric water ionizers. I get a lot of emails from people who try to tell me natural water ionizers can’t possibly work. Their claims are nonsense but they don’t want to believe the truth. This study provides scientific evidence from America that the affordable natural water ionizers work. I will certainly be keeping my eyes open for more studies and will report them here.

As time passes, I become more and more encouraged about the increasing awareness of alkaline water. Maybe it will be the scientific studies or maybe it will be Mark Wahlberg that tips the scale for the American public. I don’t really care who is responsible for creating the interest, or which brand you buy. What I do care about is that everyone should be drinking alkaline water.