Post: What is alkaline water, and does it have any benefits?

Alkaline water has become a popular product in recent years, but does it offer any benefits over regular water? Live Science asked experts to find out. Drinking alkaline water has become a popular trend, with many companies claiming it offers a variety of benefits, from improved hydration to chronic disease prevention.

But what is alkaline water, and does it actually have any benefits?

"The claims are not justifiable," Salome Kruger , a professor of nutrition at the Centre of Excellence for Nutrition at North-West University at Potchefstroom in South Africa, told Live Science.

Substances that are alkaline are basic, or the opposite of acidic — they have a high pH, while acids have a low pH. Lower pH levels reflect a higher quantity of positively charged particles. Alkaline water usually has a pH level between 8 and 9, higher than that of regular drinking water, which is typically "neutral" at around 7.

Water can become alkaline when it flows over rocks and picks up alkaline minerals, or it can be produced artificially through electrolysis — a process in which filtered water passes through a device that separates the water into alkaline and acidic streams. The alkaline stream contains minerals like calcium , magnesium and potassium.

Related: Why does drinking water feel so good when you’re thirsty?

When consumed, it’s unlikely alkaline water has any long-lived impacts on the body. That’s because the moment it comes in contact with the stomach, its pH is neutralized by the acidity of the gastric juices — which has a pH of 1.5 to 3.5.

The bicarbonate in the water reacts with gastric acid to form water and carbon dioxide, which is then burped out. The minerals in the water are absorbed in the small intestine and enter the bloodstream, where pH is tightly maintained between 7.35 and 7.45 thanks to the lungs and kidneys . Excess minerals in the blood are filtered out by the kidneys and excreted.

Thus, drinking alkaline water is unlikely to significantly "alkalize" the body. What’s more, scientific studies on possible health effects of alkaline water are limited and often inconclusive, Kruger said.Test-tube studies suggest […]

What is alkaline water, and does it have any benefits?