Alkaline water ‘can't raise urine pH enough’ to prevent kidney stones
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Key takeaways:
- Among five commercial alkaline water brands, pH levels ranged from 9.69 to 10.15.
- Body Armor SportWater had the highest pH level, while Smart Water Alkaline had the lowest.
Commercially available alkaline water has minimal alkali content and offers no benefits compared with tap water and other methods for adults with uric acid and cystine urolithiasis, data show.
“High pH water, also referred to as alkaline water, consumption has risen an average of 12.2% a year globally since 2013 [and] is expected to increase ... to 2.2 billion L by 2023,” Paul Piedras, of the department of urology at the University of California, Irvine, wrote with colleagues. “It’s rise in popularity can be attributed to multiple research studies reporting potential advantages [such as] ... improved hydration, an increase in [post-exercise] urine pH and increase in urine pH with high mineral alkaline water. We sought to evaluate the potential impact of commercially available alkaline waters to provide alkali content.”
Researchers conducted a study to analyze five alkaline water brands including Essentia, Smart Water Alkaline, Great Value Hydrate Alkaline Water, Body Armor SportWater and Perfect Hydration. Each underwent anion chromatography and direct chemical measurements to determine mineral contents. Investigators compared the alkaline content of each brand to potassium citrate, “the gold standard for urinary alkalinization,” according to Piedras, as well as to other urinary citrate and urine pH products.
Stone formation in “urolithiasis patients can be heavily influenced by changes in urinary pH. Uric acid stones invariably require a pH below 6 to form, whereas cystine stones double in solubility as the urine becomes more alkaline,” researchers wrote in the study.
Potassium citrate is most often prescribed to patients with uric acid and cystine stone urolithiasis to raise the urine pH but may also present issues in its practicality of consistent use.
For the five alkaline brands, pH levels ranged from 9.69 to 10.15. Body Armor SportWater had the highest, while Smart Water Alkaline had the lowest. Electrolyte content was minimal, and the physiologic alkali content was below 1 mEq/L for each, lower than potassium citrate and other common stone-treatment alternatives.
“Among a broad range of alkali beverages and supplements, sodium bicarbonate was found to provide the highest amount of alkali at the lowest cost, albeit with a mild increase in dietary sodium load,” Piedras and colleagues wrote in the report.
In a press release, researcher Roshan M. Patel, MD, of the University of California, Irvine, added “while alkaline water products have a higher pH than regular water, they have a negligible alkali content, which suggests that they can't raise urine pH enough to affect the development of kidney and other urinary stones. Our findings may help to guide the selection of other treatments, including beverages and over-the-counter products, for preventing recurrent urinary stones.”
Reference:
Can drinking alkaline water help prevent kidney stones? Not likely, study finds. https://www.newswise.com/articles/can-drinking-alkaline-water-help-prevent-kidney-stones-not-likely-study-finds?sc=dwhr&xy=10007438. Published Jan. 10, 2024. Accessed Jan. 25, 2024.
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