1/27/2022
What is the deal with Essentia alkaline water? Is it bad for you?
Essentia alkaline water is bottled 9.5 potential hydrogen (pH) alkaline water. The ingredients in Essentia alkaline water are purified water (by reverse osmosis), sodium bicarbonate, dipotassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate and calcium chloride and electrolytes for taste. They purify their water with reverse osmosis to start with the cleanest kind of water with 99% of contaminants removed. In removing contaminants precious minerals are also removed that have to be added back in after reverse osmosis.
Let’s start with some of the basics by understanding the ingredients in Essentia alkaline water:
Many waters with a pH < 6.5 are acidic, soft, and corrosive. Sodium compounds like sodium bicarbonate are added during water treatment in order to raise the pH level of the water by chemically neutralizing the acidity as well as to soften the water. In raising the pH you also make the water alkaline.
Dipotassium Phosphate is used as a preservative and a flavor enhancer. This artificial type of salt is made from the elements sodium and phosphorus.
Magnesium Sulfate is an inorganic salt (e.g. Epsom salt). It is a naturally occurring mineral that is important for many systems in the body especially the muscles and nerves. Magnesium sulfate also increases water in the intestines and helps with constipation. It is added to water in a very small amount as a flavor enhancer.
Calcium Chloride is an inorganic salt used as an electrolyte in bottled water. Calcium chloride ingested in large amounts can cause health problems, but the trace amounts found in your water bottles is safe. They regulate fluid levels in the body, keep the blood’s pH level balanced and enable muscle contractions like the beating of your heart.
The next question to ask is do bottled water with ingredients like the ones above harm your heath?
None of this should be cause for health concerns, says Marion Nestle, professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and professor of Sociology at New York University. The additives being put into water are those naturally found in water and the quantities of these additives are likely too small to be of much significance. “If you had pure water by itself, it doesn’t have any taste,” says Bob Mahler, Soil Science and Water Quality professor at the University of Idaho. “So companies that sell bottled water will put in calcium, magnesium or maybe a little bit of salt.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that Americans reduce current levels of sodium intake by 2,300 mg per day, so you would have to drink a lot of water to make much of a difference. The typical amount of sodium in water averages at around 17 mg per liter (e.g. 33.8 ounces). A bottle of water is typically 16.9 ounces. This would equate to drinking 270 16.9 ounce bottles of water to exceed your recommended daily salt intake per FDA guidelines. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends only drinking water that contains 20 mg of sodium per liter or less.
Why does blowing oxygen into alkaline water cause it to turn acidic? Is this a valid test to claim one alkaline water is better than another?
When we blow bubbles into straw in water we are adding carbon dioxide into it which reacts with the water forming carbonic acid , so the pH the water decreases slightly.
When you blow air into Essentia alkaline water it takes about 30 seconds of blowing air into it to turn it acidic (see video below). When you blow air into Kangen 9.5 pH water for the same amount of time the color of it still stays purple, and it appears the pH has not changed. I can guarantee you though that the pH has dropped slightly perhaps from 9.5 pH to around 8.5 pH. The only way to verify the pH is to use a calibrated hydrogen meter.
It is also important to note none of the additional inorganic salts or minerals in Essentia alkaline water cause it to turn acidic when you blow air bubbles into it. It is purely as a result of carbon dioxide reacting with the water to form carbonic acid that causes the water to turn acidic. Watch the quick video below to see what blowing air bubbles into Kangen alkaline water vs Essentia alkaline water looks like. Take note of how quick the Essentia alkaline water turns acidic. The first question I ask myself is why does it turn acidic before the Kangen Water, and has the pH of the Kangen Water been altered in anyway? Chemistry would say yes!
I decided to run my own test but this time using Kangen 8.5 pH water instead of Kangen 9.5 pH water. See the results below for yourself. Conclusion is that ALL alkaline water in bottles or from water ionizers will have a decrease in pH because of carbonic acid. You cannot claim this test of blowing bubbles into alkaline water as a basis to say one alkaline water is stronger or better for your health than another. If you blew longer into the Kangen 9.5 pH water it would eventually turn acidic but how long that would take is the question, and maybe a test you can do for yourself. At the end of the day this test is for pure marketing and not science. We should be focused on the benefits of alkaline water within the body, and not on our competitors. Be blessed and thrive.