In today’s exceedingly progressive era of social media, there is always one or other buzz relating to health and fitness. Whether it is the use of vegetables juice for detox or use of coriander juice/ barley water to cure kidney ailments or the use of alkaline water for kidney health! We come across several patients asking us whether they need to switch from regular water to alkaline water to improve kidney health? To address this question, we examined several research papers published over the last decade.
In this blog, we will try to understand what researches have concluded about the role of alkaline water as well as alkaline diet in several disease conditions especially kidney stones, chronic kidney disease and dialysis.
What is alkaline water?
In simple words, alkaline is the opposite of acidic (in chemistry). To distinguish between acidic and alkaline, a concept known as pH is used
pH is measured on a scale of 1 to 14 using a pH meter; where 1 refers to highly acidic and 14 refers to highly alkaline. Anything near pH 7 is considered neutral
The pH of water is 7 i.e. neutral. When water is modified by adding acidic components, then it can become acidic. If it is modified by adding alkaline components, then it can become alkaline
How is plain water converted to alkaline water?
Alkaline water is usually made commercially using ionizing machines that can add certain minerals like calcium, potassium into plain water.
What are the probable benefits of using alkaline water?
Several researchers are of the opinion that alkaline water helps in reducing the acid burden in the body, hence it may prove to be beneficial for several disease conditions. It is considered to have a beneficial in lowering symptoms of acid reflux, bone loss (which mainly happens when the acidic components increase in the body) and osteoporosis, cancer as well as heart diseases.
What are the current findings regarding the use of alkaline water for kidney health?
One study published in 2023 that was conducted on mice, studied the effect of alkaline water and they showed a positive impact on prevention of the progression of kidney stones. However, there is still a long way to go before we conclude as we need more such studies on human beings
When it comes to chronic kidney disease, there is inconclusive data in human population. No research studies involving humans could claim that alkaline water could significantly lessen metabolic acidosis in chronic kidney disease and in dialysis. Hence, its use should not be promoted unless large scale, multicenter, worldwide, randomized clinical trials are conducted on humans (To get tips to control kidney disease, click here)
If not alkaline water, then is an alkaline diet recommended for chronic kidney disease?
Yes, several researchers have highlighted the positive effects of an alkaline diet on kidney disease. An alkaline diet is the one that includes plant-based foods such as vegetables and fruits. On the other hand, acidic diet is the one that includes animal-based foods especially red meat, fish and sea foods, etc which leads to high amount of acid production.
An alkaline diet is preferred as it leads to less acid production in the body, thereby helps in delaying the progression of kidney disease. The reduced acid burden could also help in lowering the risk of bone loss, inflammation and well as reduction of blood pressure.
Key points from this blog on alkaline water for kidney health:
- Do not fall prey to the promotions especially when it comes to kidney disease
- Ask an expert from the field before making any changes in your diet routine
- Talk to us to maintain your kidney health
At NutriKonnect, we have one-to-one diet consultation sessions with a comprehensive follow up. You can avail our advance or premium session if you need innvovative recipes for kidney disease. For tasty and healthy kidney – friendly lunch and dinner menus and desserts, you can avail our recipe course, click here to gain access.
If you have any queries related to kidney diet, feel free to post them here . We shall revert back on them soon.
