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April 17, 2024

Alkaline Water vs Hydrogen Water: Which Is Better for You?

Water is great for you.

No, scratch that; it’s a massive understatement because you’d actually die without water — it helps you regulate body temperature, eliminate waste, maintain blood pressure, and more.

So, given everything water already does for you, is it foolish of you to want more from your daily hydration habit? The growing functional water (“jazzed up” water offering additional health and wellness benefits) market hints at a reassuring “no”.

The 2 types of unflavored, unsweetened “enriched” waters that have consistently made big splashes for themselves in recent years?

Alkaline water and hydrogen water.

Alright, alright. We know what you want to know: “Alkaline water vs hydrogen water: which is better?” Let’s see.

First, let’s cover the “whats”

What is alkaline water?

The “alkaline” in alkaline water refers to its pH level.

A quick refresher: the pH scale measures the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, ranging from pH 0 to 14.

A pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything higher than that is alkaline, and anything lower is acidic.

Alkaline water typically has a pH ranging from 8 to 10.

It can occur naturally (e.g., spring water contains minerals that raise its pH value).

It can also be produced by ionizing machines, which use electrolysis to separate and funnel out acidic components in the water.

What is hydrogen water?

Hydrogen water is hydrogen-infused water.

Or, in other words, water with additional, freely-accessible molecular hydrogen. Interestingly, hydrogen water can also be produced by ionizing machines.

Electricity is once again used to break water down into its elemental components.

But instead of acting like a “catch-all” for alkaline components, hydrogen water-generating ionizing machines only single out and allow hydrogen ions to accumulate within the water.

You could also get hydrogen water through hydrogen water tablets. And in case you’re wondering, hydrogen water typically retains a near-neutral pH of 7.5.

OK.

Now that we’re all caught up on what alkaline and hydrogen water is, it’s time to dive into the crux of the whole “alkaline water vs hydrogen water” matter: how their health and wellness benefits stack up against the other.

Alkaline water vs hydrogen water

Alkaline water benefits

Supposedly, drinking alkaline water raises the pH level of your intestinal tract and blood, which:

Soothes uncomfortable gastrointestinal symptoms and
Creates an environment that discourages the development of many health conditions

… respectively. But that’s wishful thinking.

Your blood pH is a tightly regulated system that’s constantly maintained at a range of 7.35 to 7.45 — if it were to shift in either direction, you’d be in critical medical condition and require emergency interventions.

“But,” you may wonder, “How does my body maintain that pH if I drink alkaline water?”

You can thank your body's 3 main buffer systems (the carbonic acid bicarbonate, phosphate, and protein buffer systems) for that. Very briefly, these buffer systems call upon your:

Lungs
Kidneys
Excretory organs, including your bladder

… to offload “excess” pH through waste products, such as your saliva and urine, keeping your blood pH unchanged.

Oh no. What’s the point of drinking alkaline water, then?

*awkward silence*

Unsurprisingly, given that alkaline water doesn’t actually do what it’s supposed to do in the body (fortunately!), there’s no convincing evidence supporting any of alkaline water’s health and wellness benefits.

Worse still, while alkaline water cannot change your blood pH, it can disrupt homeostasis in your gastrointestinal tract, potentially interfering with nutrient and medication absorption.

Hydrogen water benefits

Alkaline water is no better and potentially more harmful than plain H₂O.

But what about the second player in the alkaline water vs hydrogen water line-up?

Spoiler alert: it does better. A whole lot better.

That’s because the additional, unbound molecular H₂molecules possess therapeutic antioxidant properties. This means they can defend your body against the destructive effects of free radicals.

Molecular hydrogen is also unique in the realm of antioxidants in terms of size — hydrogen is the lightest, smallest, and simplest element.

While it’s not as small as the smallest Ant-Man in the Marvel Universe can get (which is submicroscopic, FYI), the H₂ is plenty tiny. Enough to readily cross the highly selective blood-brain barrier and even into the mitochondria, the cell's powerhouses.

As a result of its bioavailability, hydrogen water has been shown to contribute to whole-body health, supporting healthy:

Blood glucose levels
Lipid levels
Body composition
Cognitive functions
Skin
Endurance performance
Joints
Gut microbiome

Uh, what about side effects? No worries there.

Unlike alkaline water, research shows that hydrogen water is mostly considered safe, with zero to minimal side effects (mild digestive discomfort, such as bloating).

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also labels it as generally recognized as safe (GRAS), which means it’s approved for human consumption and not known to cause harm.

Stop obsessing over the pH of your water

To quickly recap everything we’ve covered on the alkaline water vs hydrogen water matter:

Alkaline water: No evidence supporting its supposed health and wellness benefits. Worse still, there are potential risks involved with the consumption of alkaline water.
Hydrogen water: A large body of evidence backs molecular hydrogen’s antioxidant effects. Hydrogen water has been found to support optimal whole-body health and well-being.

Takeaway?

If you want functional water whose health and wellness claims actually hold up to scrutiny, stop obsessing over the pH level of your water — and start looking out for molecular H₂ instead.

Remember when we said you could get hydrogen water from ionizing machines and hydrogen water tablets?

Here’s the thing. When judged based on the following, one is undeniably better than the other:

Affordability
Resulting molecular hydrogen concentration (on a per-cup basis)
Portability
Long-term maintenance

Can you guess which is the winner? That’s right: hydrogen water tablets.

But, of course, there are tons of hydrogen water tablets available in the market. How can you tell which can actually provide you with the therapeutic dosage of molecular hydrogen necessary to reap hydrogen water’s benefits … and which are all fizzle and nothing else?

We outline how to choose the best hydrogen tablets for water here.

Meanwhile, we have good news if all you wanted was a quick, snappy answer. Nutrionic™ H₂Energizer tablets are nothing short of the best. They boast every trait you should be looking for in a quality hydrogen tablet: