Besides the pH of water, there’s another concept you should be familiar with in order to understand what kind of water to drink. While alkalized water is what people call this type of water, the real benefits come from the ORP of the water.
ORP stands for oxidation reduction potential. This is a number measurable by an ORP meter in the unit of mv (milli-volt), either a positive or negative number. We all know that anti-oxidants are good for the body, and essentially water with negative ORP are anti-oxidizing by nature. Negative ORP water that is ingested will be absorbed in the human body and act as natural anti-oxidants and hunt down free-radicals that tend to cause harm to the body. Knowing this, the more negative the ORP of the water, the better it is for you in most cases.
Most of the time, when the PH is higher (more alkaline), the more negative the ORP will be. You can say that the pH and ORP are inversely proportional. Usually water of 9.5 pH would possibly have an ORP of around -200 to -300 mV or so. Of course this number can vary and all depends on how the alkaline water is made.
Most tap water and regular bottled water has a low to medium positive ORP number in the 100 to 300 range (positive). Soft drinks typically have a very high positive ORP number, sometimes in the range of 500 to 600! And we all know how bad soft drinks are to the body, namely because they are highly acidic. And now we know that it’s bad also because it has a terribly high positive ORP number. Drinking soft drinks is like encouraging the free radicals in the body to flourish and attack our healthy cells. Who wants that? No wonder kids that drink soda/soft drinks all day long are so messed up health-wise.
Alkaline water, either naturally occuring or made by either electrolysis, will usually have a high pH and the decently negative ORP. This is good for the body! Many studies have shown health benefits from alkaline, negative ORP water. Afterall, you are drinking anti-oxidizing fluids when you drink this kind of water.
Are you drinking alkaline water with negative ORP daily? You should.
April 13th, 2009 at 6:44 am
I am just learning about the acid-alkaline impact on the body and wanted to know how to test water coming from a ro machine. Any suggestions?
June 1st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Sorry for the late reply. you’d test ro water just as you would test any other type of water. For the acid/alkaline readings, you can get inexpensive use-once pH strips from swimming supply stores or order online (just search for “pH test strips”). There are also more accurate electronic testers that costs about $50-$100. another thing you want to test is the ORP level (concept explained in another post), which is even more important than the pH reading. There are ORP meters out there as well that go for around the same price as a pH meter. Hope that helps!
December 29th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
20091230
Dear sir,
When the body is too acidic, illnesses sets in. My question is the (1). What happen when the body is too Alkalized. ( drinking 3 litres alkaline ( 10.5 pH ) water a day ).
What is the most ideal pH level in the alkailne water.
Thanks for your reply