Alkaline Water Plus Exercise Improves Breathing in Asthma Patients

TL;DR

Drinking alkaline water and doing special exercises improved the breathing of asthma patients more than exercises alone.

Key Finding

Combining alkaline water with asthma-induced gymnastics produced significantly greater improvements in peak expiratory flow rate than gymnastics alone, with measurable benefits appearing by day 8 of treatment.

Summary

This study tested whether drinking alkaline water (water with a higher pH level) combined with special breathing exercises would help asthma patients breathe better compared to just doing the exercises alone. Thirty asthma patients were divided into two groups: one group did breathing exercises twice a week, while the other group drank about 1.2 liters of alkaline water daily and did breathing exercises four times a week for two weeks. The group that combined alkaline water with more frequent exercises showed greater improvements in their peak expiratory flow rate (a measure of how much air they can exhale forcefully) by day 8 and day 14.

Practical Takeaway

While this small study suggests that alkaline water combined with respiratory exercises may support asthma management better than exercises alone, the study has important limitations: it involved only 30 patients over just two weeks, and it's unclear how long benefits persist. The study also increased exercise frequency in the alkaline water group, making it difficult to know how much improvement came from the water versus the extra exercise. More research with larger groups and longer follow-up is needed before drawing firm conclusions about alkaline water's role in asthma care.

Abstract (excerpt)

Background: Asthma is an abnormality in the form of chronic airway inflammation which can be reduced by providing asthma-induced gymnastics and healthy lifestyle such as consuming alkaline water.Aims: The objective of this study is to examine a combination of alkaline water provision…

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