9. Fat is Acid

Many people either do not understand or overlook the natural scientific fact that fat is acid. Here is a simple experiment that anyone can conduct quite easily at home.

Go to the meat department of your supermarket and ask for a piece of beef fat (about 6 oz). If they ask you what that is for, tell them you are conducting a scientific experiment.

Cut the piece of fat into several smaller cubes of approximately the same size. Divide them into two groups of equal weight.

Prepare two glasses: fill half a glass with high pH water, pH of 10 or higher. (For high pH water, add an alkaline concentrate, such as 5 drops of AlkaLife®.) Fill the other glass with the same amount of acid water, pH of 4 or lower. (For water with a low pH, Ginger Ale or Club Soda will do.)

Put each group of fat cubes into the two glasses with high alkaline water and acid water as prepared above.

Observe how the fat cubes in acid water retain their shape while those in alkaline water slowly disintegrate. The smaller the size of the fat cubes, the sooner a change would be noticed. The higher the pH value of the alkaline water, the sooner the changes. In general, we should begin to notice changes in about a week.

This experiment demonstrates that fat melts in alkaline water and not in acid water.

We are familiar with the concept of the reduction of fatty acid by burning it away with exercise, while in Japan most health-conscious people know about reducing fatty acid by melting it through drinking alkaline water, the clean and easy way. Diet and exercise certainly help the body get rid of acidic wastes, but drinking alkaline water will enhance the process.

It is my scientific deduction that if we stop drinking high acidic carbonated beverages and drink alkaline water instead, we will be able to reduce excess weight gradually.

The end result of drinking alkaline water is to add bicarbonate to the blood, and this added alkalinity helps neutralize and melt away fatty acid. Drinking acidic carbonated beverages (including diet sodas) inhibits the addition of bicarbonate to the blood, thus allowing fatty acid to remain in the bloodstream.

8. Balanced Diet

We hear so much about a‘Balanced Diet’. However, everyone has something different to say to define what that means. Some say it means having certain percentages of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and fibers in your diet. The percentages vary so much that it can be more confusing than helpful. The trouble is, with the diversity found in people’s intake of food, everyone’s individual nutritional needs are uniquely different and may be impossible to define.

The human body, the most amazing survival machine, does a natural balancing act to survive, as long as there are sufficient nutrients available in the blood. Among these things, the most critical function of balancing is the maintenance of constant pH value of the arterial blood (7.365). We can die if the pH value is too high or too low. This balancing act is conducted by two buffers in the blood: alkaline buffer (NaHCO3, KHCO3 or Ca(HCO3) 2) and acid buffer (H2CO3). As we age, we lose alkaline buffer.

In 1996, Dr. Lynda Frassetto of UCSF published (in the Journal of Gerontology) the artery blood hydrogen ion concentration (H+) and plasma bicarbonate concentration (HCO3-) as a function of age groups. Studying Figure 2, graph B (page B94), a noticeable decline begins at the age of 45, and by age 90 we lose 18% of bicarbonate in our blood. Dr. Frassetto’s study clearly states that the pH value of the artery blood at the beginning of the sampling used is all the same.

Since the pH values are the same and the bicarbonate contents are decreasing, the hydrogen ion density must also be decreasing. But we know that the foods digested in our blood are constantly adding hydrogen ions. How is that possible? The answer is that the acid solution as liquid acid is constantly being changed to solid acid such as lipids, plaques, cholesterol, fatty acids, etc.

These solid acids cause problems such as clogged arteries, heart attacks and strokes. This is the process of aging and eventual death. The solution to health maintenance is to add more bicarbonate to the artery. True balancing acts are done by the body. We must supply bicarbonate to the artery so that the blood can balance hydrogen ions and bicarbonate in the artery.

7. Alkaline Water Experiment

An investigative report team from MBC, a South Korean TV network, prepared an unusual experiment using 40,000 new-born chicks.  The team separated them into two groups of 20,000 each and put them in two separate farm buildings, A and B.

These chicks were raised for one month and given the same amount of feed, but the drinking water supply was different.  The group in building A was supplied with normal ground water, the group in building B was supplied with alkaline water (water with added minerals,  including magnesium).  Alkaline water is known to have reducing power to get rid of excess acidic wastes created by human metabolism.

The investigative team wanted to know the difference, if any, between the two groups as a result of drinking ordinary water and alkaline water.

First, they inspected the survival rate:

Building A (ground water): 18,900 survived in 30 days [1,100 died]:  94.5% survival rate.

Building B (alkaline water):  19,860 survived in 30 days [140 died]:  99.3% survival rate.

The mortality rate of the chicks drinking alkaline water was about one-eighth of those drinking ordinary ground water.

Next, the team randomly selected 100 chicks from each group and measured their average weight.

Ground water group: 1590g

Alkaline water group: 1720g,

The difference was 130 g (0.287 lbs.) – the alkaline water group was heavier.

These results demonstrate that chickens drinking alkaline water have a greater likelihood of gaining weight and having a longer life expectancy.  A 5% increase in the survival rate plus more than a quarter pound of weight gain per chick clearly translates into economic gains for chicken farmers. 

This test lasted only a month.  If the investigation continued for the duration of a typical lifespan of a chicken, it is quite probable that drinking alkaline water would extend the life of these chickens.

6. Drinking Baking Soda Water

The purpose of drinking alkaline water is to add bicarbonate to the blood.  Many people think that it is equivalent to drinking sodium bicarbonate water (baking soda water).

Drinking sodium bicarbonate water is the same as drinking a combination of salt water and carbon dioxide.

Sodium bicarbonate is NaHCO₃.  Since the stomach contains hydrochloric acid (HCl), the following reaction occurs in the stomach when we drink alkaline water:

 NaHCO₃ + HCl = NaCl + H₂O + CO₂

 Drinking water with AlkaLife^® results in water and salt (KCl) or (NaCl):

 KOH + HCl = H₂O + KCl

or

NaOH + HCl = H₂O + NaCl

It is this combination of water and salt that is neutral. Drinking sodium bicarbonate water looks similar, but it has CO₂ which behaves as an acid in the stomach. Drinking water containing AlkaLife^® results in creating a neutral solution in the stomach.  The stomach does not like that and produces hydrochloric acid to restore the original acid condition.  In doing so, the stomach produces and injects sodium bicarbonate to the blood.

High pH alkaline water is better for health because it delivers more bicarbonate to the blood than weak alkaline water.  Sodium bicarbonate water is much weaker alkaline water than high pH alkaline water produced by AlkaLife^®.

5. Cancer

Cancer is the most dreaded disease in the world.  We collect so much money per year for “research” to find the cure for cancer, and many people “walk” to raise money.  Every year we raise more money for cancer research, yet we do not find any basic solutions for the cure of the disease.  Why?  They must be missing some basic facts.  They are missing the facts that cancer is caused by too much acids.

Cancer cells are acidic and healthy cells are alkaline.  Cancer cells die in an alkaline environment while healthy cells die in an acidic environment.  Adding alkaline buffer to the blood is the best cancer prevention.

Cancer can be caused by viruses such as hepatitis B inherited by a family.  The good thing is that cancer tumors do not seem to spread.  Also, if one operates on the tumor and removes it, it does not seem to recur because the environment is alkaline, not acidic any more.  If the environment remains acidic then the tumor will keep coming back.

To keep the environment alkaline one must have more alkaline buffer in the blood rather than an acid buffer.  The acid buffer is H2CO3 which is water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).  This acid buffer is abundantly available as the natural result of burning carbohydrate.

The alkaline buffer is HCO3- which is not naturally available.  The stomach produces alkaline buffer when it produces hydrochloric acid.  When we drink alkaline water, the stomach produces hydrochloric acid (HCl) to bring down the stomach pH to the original low value.  If we drink acidic drinks such as cola or diet cola, the stomach pH goes down (more acidic) and the stomach does not produce hydrochloric acid; therefore, the blood is deprived of alkaline buffer.

Smoking cigarettes and/or drinking cola or diet cola are the worst things we can do to our body.  The cancer rate will drop when we stop drinking carbonated drinks.  This is the scientific prediction.

4. Acid Coagulates Blood

One of the major problems of acidic wastes is the fact that acid coagulates blood.  This coagulation thickens our blood and causes poor blood circulation.  Poor blood circulation is the cause of pain and aching in the body.  With poor circulation, our arteries become clogged up by the build-up of lipids, plaque, and cholesterol, which can eventually lead to a more serious problem such as heart attack.

Massages and muscle vibrators can improve blood circulation, relieving pain and reducing the chance of heart attacks.  However, massages and muscle vibrators also can break-up acid build-ups into smaller particles which can flow into a capillary vessel in the brain and potentially cause a stroke.

These solid build-ups occur chemically and gradually through the years.  It is actually possible to melt these buildups over time by means of bicarbonate.  For this, alkaline products are the best.

3. Weight Loss and Water

When we talk about weight loss, we often talk about the number of calories in food.  We believe the fewer calories consumed, the less weight gained. It’s the same with drinks: diet drinks are preferred over regular (higher-calorie) drinks when it comes to weight loss. Consumption of diet soda today is skyrocketing because of this.

Everyday drinking water can help remove weight more than diet soda can, because although club soda may have no calories, it is highly acidic and has low pH. Plain drinking water has a higher level of pH which stimulates a unique process in the stomach.

Stomach cells work to keep the stomach acidic for the breaking down of food. When high pH water enters the stomach, the stomach produces hydrochloric acid to bring the pH level back down (see diagram, Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology by Frederic H. Martini, page 881). A byproduct of this chemical reaction is bicarbonate, which increases the blood’s bicarbonate level, and this bicarbonate dissolves excess acid (i.e. cholesterol and/or fatty acid) in the body.  When we drink club soda or any carbonated drinks, our stomach does not produce any hydrochloric acid, and as a result, our blood does not receive any bicarbonate.

If drinking regular water can melt away excess acid, can you imagine what drinking alkaline water can do?

Regarding weight loss, what is commonly taught is to burn off fat, but there is a way to neutralize and melt it away.  Alkaline buffer (bicarbonate) reduces fat cleanly and easily.

2. About ORP

One of the frequently asked questions on ionized water is about the effects/benefits of ORP (Oxidation Reduction Potential), and the duration of its value after ionization.

The question of ORP duration depends on what kind of container the freshly made alkaline water is kept in.  If the container is a highly conductive substance, such as a metallic container, the ORP reading disappears very quickly.  If the container is non-conductive, such as a glass container, the ORP reading disappears slowly.

The human body is a good conductor, especially when dealing with stomach acid.  The ORP does not last long in the stomach. Because of this, I personally don’t give much credence to the health benefits of ORP, as it disappears when consumed.

The alkaline pH of the water also disappears when it meets stomach acid; however, our stomach creates hydrochloric acid to bring the stomach pH back to the original acidic value.  In doing so, our stomach also produces bicarbonate and injects it to the blood, thus increasing the alkaline buffer in the blood. (See Blog entry #1.)

There is no mechanism in the body to recover ORP; it is simply discarded.  I have not seen any scientific (natural science) explanation as to how ORP benefits human health.  There are statistical studies on ORP where some people make claims of its health benefits.

I am not in the statistical science of health, because the results are very much influenced by whoever finances the test and how the samples are taken and/or discarded.  For years, the tobacco industry claimed that “scientific” test results showed that smoking tobacco does not cause lung cancer. We now know the truth.

Without any natural science backing and reasoning, ORP value is nothing but a salesman’s marketing hype to sell more ionizers.

1. Alkaline Water and Stomach Acid

One of the most recurrent questions about drinking alkaline water is this: how can the body feel the benefit of alkaline water if stomach acid neutralizes it?

Here is what actually occurs when alkaline water is ingested: the stomach pH temporarily goes up; however, the stomach has its own happy acid pH level and will try to lower the pH value to its original value by producing hydrochloric acid.  This is the homeostasis action.  The real question is: how does the stomach produce hydrochloric acid?

The chemical equation for the production of hydrochloric acid by the stomach is:  H₂O (water) + CO₂ (carbon dioxide) + NaCl (table salt) = HCl (hydrochloric acid) + NaHCO₃ (sodium bicarbonate).

For each molecule of hydrochloric acid the stomach produces, one sodium bicarbonate molecule (alkaline buffer) is also produced.  The hydrochloric acid goes into the stomach and the sodium bicarbonate goes into the bloodstream, thus increasing the alkaline buffer in the blood.  The sodium used here is already in the body.  We are not adding extra sodium to the body.

As we age, some of us lose the ability to produce hydrochloric acid by the stomach.  In that case, alkaline liquid (NaOH) goes into the intestine and is sucked into the blood.  This could tend to increase the pH value of the blood.  However, when that happens, the acid buffer (H₂CO₃) reacts with it according to the formula NaOH + H₂CO₃ = NaHCO₃ + H₂O.  This results in alkaline buffer and water.  Could we run out of acid buffer (H₂CO₃)?  The answer is no.  H₂CO₃ is a combination of water (H₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂).  As long as we eat carbohydrate, we produce carbon dioxide and this produces carbonic acid (H₂CO₃) which is acid buffer.  We create so much carbonic acid that our lungs must exhale excess carbon dioxide.  As long as we live, we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.

What is diminishing, as we age, is the alkaline buffer.  To maintain the alkaline–acid balance in the blood, we must recharge alkaline buffer in the blood.  Drinking alkaline water is the best way.  This is better than any alkaline food.

Introduction

When I first published “Reverse Aging” in 1990, little was known about the alkaline-acid balance. The only concept that people were familiar with was alkaline food and acid food. Drinking alkaline water was considered to be a hoax because the stomach is acidic and would neutralize alkaline water. We’ve come a long way in twenty years.

Today we know that alkaline-acid balancing is carried out in the blood by an alkaline buffer (bicarbonate) and an acid buffer (carbonic acid). As we age, we lose bicarbonate in the blood causing alkaline-acid imbalance, especially after 45 years of age. Alkaline-acid balancing means to replenish diminishing bicarbonate in the blood. It is not balancing pH values of the blood.

If the artery blood pH value goes down in proportion with the bicarbonate diminishing, we would all be dead after 55 years of age. In spite of the diminishing bicarbonate in the blood after 45 years of age, the body plays amazing survival tricks to maintain pH values and extend life. The price that the body pays to extend life are old age diseases such as osteoporosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, lipids, clogged artery, heart attacks, cancer, etc.  In this ‘Alkaline World’ series of posts, I will give scientific explanations to prove the above statements using simple and easy-to-understand chemistry.