Alkaline Water Shows Promise for Digestive Health Problems
- Authors
- Johny Bajgai, Cheol-Su Kim, Md. Habibur Rahman, Eun-Sook Jeong, Hong-Young Jang, Ka-Eun Kim, JaeHo Choi, Il-Young Cho, Hyu-Jae Lee, Mihyun Lee
- Journal
- Processes
- Year
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.3390/pr10010087
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- South Korea
- Health Condition
- Gastritis
- Body System
- Gastrointestinal
TL;DR
Drinking special alkaline water might help treat stomach and digestive problems because it could reduce harmful chemicals in your body that damage your gut, but scientists need to do more research to prove it actually works.
Key Finding
Alkaline-reduced water may have potential as a complementary treatment for gastrointestinal diseases by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, though the authors acknowledge that more clinical studies are needed to confirm its effectiveness.
Summary
This review article examined how oxidative stress (damage from harmful oxygen molecules) contributes to digestive system diseases like acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease. The authors explored whether alkaline-reduced water—water that has been treated to reduce acidity and potentially contain hydrogen—might help protect the digestive system by reducing this oxidative stress and inflammation.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review article summarizing existing research rather than a new study with results, and it does not include human trials. While the authors suggest alkaline-reduced water could be a complementary approach for digestive health, there is currently insufficient clinical evidence to support specific health claims. Anyone interested in trying alkaline-reduced water should discuss it with their healthcare provider, especially if they have an existing digestive condition.
Abstract
Living a healthy lifestyle is the most important need in the world today. However, oxidative stress (OS) is caused by several stress-inducing factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, chronic diseases, and inflammatory responses, oxygen-free radicals are produced in excess and can damage major organs in the body. This phenomenon has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, including gastritis, constipation, and inflammatory bowel diseases, which include Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, functional dyspepsia, acid reflux, diverticular disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. In this review article, we provide a brief overview of the role of OS in the pathogenesis of GI disorders. Additionally, we discuss the therapeutic role of alkaline-reduced water (ARW) on GI diseases and existing studies on ARW related to GI diseases. Furthermore, we believe that findings from this review article will enhance the knowledge of the readers on the role of ARW on OS and inflammation-based GI diseases.