Does Water pH Really Matter?

Raw Information For The Raw Food Enthusiast

WATER

Is a very controversial subject in the world of Raw. Some say it must be very alkaline (high pH), others say it must be from a spring, and for me, there is yet another type of water that is preferred.

Which water is best to consume? A great question considering water is used for every metabolic function in the human body. We cannot live long without water; in fact, “NO” life is possible without water.

Water is NOT a nutrient, it is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Water helps the body carry in nutrients and carry out waste. It is also used to regulate body tempreture through sweat when we overheat, and if our inner tissues are too warm the blood will absorb more fluid (water) to help cool things down. Water is a major part of our secretions too e.g. tears, saliva, pancreatic  enzymes, mucus, hormones, etc.

Water is obtained by the body through three possible sources:

1. Food consumtion (raw is 70-90% water). From this process the average human will receive the major portion of his/her daily requirements.

2. The human body itself is a water manufacturing machine. This occurs through the oxidation of food. During this process the food is broken down in the body and is converted into energy and structure for the body. Hydrogen is created as a by-product of this process. When the oxygen we breath combines with the hydrogen, it creates pure water. This is where the balance of our daily water intake should come from.

3. Though 1 and 2 should be all you need (forever ending the “what is the best water” debate)there is of course,the direct intake of water.

However, I believe man was NOT designed to drink fluids after weaning age! Hang with me here for a minute and ask yourself these questions:

A. Was man designed with a beak or a snout with which to suck up water from a stream, lake, or river?

B. Was man designed to take in water with his head bent forward?

C. Does man have a tongue designed for lapping up water?

D. Was man designed with an apparatus to place water in until he became thirsty (like a hump, cup, or canteen)?

E. Was man originally given a juicer to juice solids (no Champion juicers in the Garden of Eden/nature)?

F. Cupping your hands together at the rivers edge is very inefficient, as most of the water never reaches your mouth.

WATER NEEDS:

Approximately 2 and 1/2 quarts of pure water are lost from the average human body daily

Approximately 2 and 1/2 quarts of pure water are taken in daily under “normal”,”healthy”, circumstances. This through the consumption of uncooked plants, and the oxidation of real foods.

Please do not be fooled by those who claim you divide your weight with whatever number to determine your body’s need for water. There is no predetermined amount of water one should consume. Simply drink only when you are thirsty! Too much water leads to something called Polyuria. Polyuria taxes your Kidneys and leaches minerals from your body. On the flip side,  not enough water will dehydrate you.

Should we be cooked, sick, experiencing a heat wave, or exercising; more water is needed. Those that tout spring water as healthy claim that the only sources of water for early humans were spring and rain waters. My colleges and I believe that rain, rivers, and streams were likely NOT our main source of water until we became cooked and invented tools. Rather, we believe food was the primary source of water while springs and rivers were more of a water supplement. Who really knows for sure, as none of us were there. The reality is if you lived in a dessert you were probably were looking for an outside source of water. While those who lived in a rain forest or a wet climate food in and of itself was likely enough water most of the time.

Types of water include: tap, reverse osmosis, distilled, rain, well, spring, mineral, purified, filtered, among others. I cannot break them all down today, but we will concentrate on spring and high alkaline waters as I have received many emails from raw leaders stating that these type waters are the best. I disagree with those assertions, and this is why:

STARTING WITH THE FIRST MYTH:

It is widely believed due to the fact that raw food leaders have done such a great job promoting the falsity that all spring waters are alkaline, and all reverse osmosis waters are acidic. I assure you there are very acidic spring waters and very alkaline reverse osmosis waters. It all depends on the pH of the original source of the water.

A quote by free drinking water:

“We have done many laboratory tests on the effects of RO systems on water pH composition. The Southern California water sources used in our tests were slightly alkaline with an average pre-treatment rating of 8.12 pH. After filtration through the RO systems, the resulting pH averaged 8.06. Our results confirmed the conclusions of others in the scientific community -the reverse osmosis treatment process has a very minimal effect on water pH chemistry.”

One of the things I never hear from those talking about water is what happens to the pH after water enters the human body. I mean who really cares what’s going on with water while it’s sitting in a glass? When water hits the inside of the human body major changes  occur and to me this is what really matters. The question is, “Does it really matter if water has a high or low pH prior to being ingested?” According to former Super Model Carol Alt it does. I saw Carol Alt on her TV program about raw food a couple of days ago. She was discussing the importance of alkaline or high pH water. This because she said inflammation is the cause of all diseases and inflammation is caused by being too acidic. This is why she believes we need to drink waters that are high in pH. Insisting these high alkaline waters will make our acidic bodies more alkaline. I am sure that makes perfect sense to many people. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make much sense to me. Here’s why…

How can I say something so silly, the pH of water while on the outside of our body must be important, right? Well, not really. You see, if water is too acidic, or for that matter too alkaline, the human body will not allow the water into its cells. The body will first buffer either acidic or alkaline waters to the perfect pH of 7.365 before it will allow the water into our cells.

Here’s an excerpt of what a water Guru had to say about water pH after the water enters the body:

“Water pH levels will automatically change when it is ingested and comes into contact with the food in your stomach (Wise, 2011).  Even on an empty stomach, your stomach acid alone is already several times more acidic than RO water (pH 6-8) with a pH level of 2 (Wise, 2011).  The human body regulates pH levels constantly to find balance and equilibrium. Therefore under normal conditions it will always maintain a neutral 7.4 pH balance (Wise, 2011). The healthy body is very robust and it will restore homeostatic pH fairly quickly and easily (Wise 2011).Drinking slightly acidic water is safe as long as the water is clean and contaminant free. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables every day will also help balance your body pH and keep you strong and healthy.”

SOURCE Wise. 2011. Reverse Osmosis Water Filter Guide – Truth, Lies, Minerals & Your Health:Is Reverse Osmosis Treated Low Mineral Water Healthy and Safe to Drink? http://knol.google.com/k/reverse-osmosis-water-filter-guide-truth-lies-minerals-your-health# (Accessed on July 16, 2011).

Now, the more alkaline or acidic the water, the more buffering that will be required. So, theoretically, the closer we get to the perfect pH of 7.365 the less buffering (nutrients) will be required. However, we are splitting hairs now, as there’s not a lot of buffering required to either an acidic or alkaline glass of water.

Remember, orange and apple juices have a pH of around 3 (very acidic). Does that fact make these juices bad for you? In the eyes of those that promote neutral or high alkaline waters it must! They seem to not realize the body has all the control when it comes to water pH no matter which pH you send in. To me, orange and apple juices are quite healthy! These raw juices that are 99% water with a pH of 3 contain all the nutrients needed for the body to buffer them to the proper pH (without borrowing). Since water does not have the nutrients (water is NOT living despite the mislabeling of “Living” water) needed to ensure no borrowing from the body for the buffering to occur, simply squeeze a citrus fruit into your pure water. This will not raise the pH of the water, in fact, it will lower. The body will use some of those nutrients and enzymes sent in with the water for the necessary buffering. This is not a  necessity  since the cost of buffering water pH is so minimal to the human body.

THE SECOND ISSUE:

I have with spring waters are the very minerals contained therein. I never hear those that promote spring water mention this fact either. When it come to spring water all the minerals are DEAD, inorganic, literal toxins to the human body. Costing the body in valuable nutrients (vitamins, minerals, energy, and enzymes) to expel/store the dead (inorganic) minerals that came in with the water from the body. For minerals to be health producing in the human body they must have hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen (aka a protein molecule) attached to the mineral. Humans cannot attach protein molecules to anything, nor can any animal in the animal kingdom. If we were capable, we would be able to drink pasteurized milk and convert it to raw milk. Only the plant kingdom is capable of attaching protein molecules to inorganic soil (minerals) making the soil alive, or useful to the human body.

The main reason I prefer pure water is that I do not want all those metals and dead minerals found in spring water to enter my body.  The principal natural sources of the hardness found in spring water are dissolved polyvalent metallic ions from sedimentary rocks, seepage and runoff from soils (and who knows what else are in those soils?).

As a youth my buddies and I would hike in Palm Springs California at a place called Tahquitz. It was great, with its deep pools and tall waterfalls. We would jump from the tallest falls bare naked into the pools below. Tahquitz was loaded with foolish dangers that as kids we loved so much. Areas like “lizards ledge”, a ledge that was only a few inches wide that had to be crossed to reach the falls and if you fell, it would most certainly be to your death. The stream that flowed down the middle of this canyon was at times so incredibly strong and loud, that we would have to yell at the top of our lungs just to communicate with someone standing only 20 feet away. We heard on a few occasions of people drowning because of the flash floods that occurred there with regularity. Sometimes it became extremely hot while we were hiking in the canyon. So we would drink and fill our canteens straight from this roaring stream. The powers that be have long since closed down our beloved canyon. However, prior to the close I remember one time a mountain goat had died upstream and was decomposing in the stream. Unknowingly we drank from the stream like we always did. Everyone of us became SO sick from drinking that spring water we almost wished we would die. The point is you never know what is in the water if the water is not pure.

For me, something just does not feel right about purposely eating the bad things found in spring water. Those dead minerals, metals, etc., will require even more buffering to neutralize and remove/store from your body than simply buffering the lower pH pure water to the proper pH.

I remember when a product called Adya Clarity came out on the market. It bound the minerals in spring water together and many raw food leaders were beside themselves with euphoria. They loved this product! They would put a couple drops in their glass of spring water and became literally giddy as they watched the water cloud up from the minerals binding to each other. They were so happy! The only thing I thought was, “Look at all that crap in their water!” Then I read the ingredients of Adya Clarity and knew from day one this too is something that should not go into my body. Turns out months later, the same people that touted this stuff as a lifesaver of spring water proclaimed it harmful to the human body. Both refunds and lawsuits ensued and I for the life of me could not understand why they did not simply drink pure water.

If you were to separate all the components from a fruit and placed them in separate piles. Enzymes in one pile, vitamins in one pile, pulp in another, minerals, fat, protein, etc in their perspective piles. When you were done you would have water, nothing but pure water. This pure water is what I believe we should consume. In fact, it is the exact same water molecule that our own bodies manufacture via the oxidation process. This is why I recommend Reverse Osmosis water. This type of water is nothing but pure water molecules, again, the same pure water our own bodies manufacture. RO can be every bit as alkaline as spring water and if it is not, simply add a citrus (but not required).

If I had to say something negative about RO, it would be that it takes a lot of water to create RO water.

I DO NOT CLAIM TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT HEALTH

However, I do claim to know a lot about health, and unlike most I am not afraid to tell you if I am not sure about something. I can tell you this for sure, RO is the type of water I’ve consumed for at least a decade and my tissues test alkaline. So, I ask you, “How bad can this type of water be?” The next  time someone tells you spring or high alkaline waters are the way, ask them if they’ve had their tissue pH tested lately?

In the end, like always, the choice is yours. I do not think you will be terribly disappointed if you choose either spring, high alkaline, or RO because none of them are that horrible for human consumption.

Since a choice must be made, around here we choose RO and our own tissues seem to agree. If you want hands down the very best water in world, its located right in your own food!