Alkaline Water Slows Aging at the Cellular Level in Mice
- Authors
- Mariantonia Logozzi, Davide Mizzoni, Rossella Di Raimo, Mauro Andreotti, Daniele Macchia, Massimo Spada, Stefano Fais
- Journal
- Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry
- Year
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1080/14756366.2020.1733547
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Italy
- Health Condition
- Aging
- Body System
- Cellular
TL;DR
Drinking alkaline water appears to slow down some molecular signs of aging in mice.
Key Finding
Mice supplemented with alkaline water for 10 months showed reduced oxidative stress, increased antioxidant activity, and longer telomeres compared to control mice.
Summary
Researchers gave aging mice either regular water or alkaline water (water with a higher pH level) for 10 months and then examined aging markers in their blood, bone marrow, and ovaries. Mice drinking alkaline water showed lower levels of harmful molecules called ROS, higher levels of protective antioxidants (SOD-1 and GSH), and longer telomeres (protective caps on DNA that shorten with age) compared to mice drinking regular water.
Practical Takeaway
While this mouse study suggests alkaline water may support cellular aging markers, it cannot be directly applied to humans. Human clinical trials would be needed to determine whether these molecular changes translate to real health benefits in people, and whether alkaline water is safe for long-term use.
Abstract
Telomeres length and telomerase activity are currently considered aging molecular stigmata. Water is a major requirement for our body and water should be alkaline. Recent reports have shown that aging is related to a reduced water intake. We wanted to investigate the effect of the daily intake of alkaline water on the molecular hallmark of aging and the anti-oxidant response. We watered a mouse model of aging with or without alkaline supplementation. After 10 months, we obtained the blood, the bone marrow and the ovaries from both groups. In the blood, we measured the levels of ROS, SOD-1, GSH, and the telomerase activity and analysed the bone marrow and the ovaries for the telomeres length. We found reduced ROS levels and increased SOD-1, GSH, telomerase activity and telomeres length in alkaline supplemented mice. We show here that watering by using alkaline water supplementation highly improves aging at the molecular level.