This is the first in a series of posts in which I would like to explain the benefits of Ionized Alkaline Water for endurance sport and what they are based on.
In this article we are going to learn about the moisturizing and antioxidant properties of Ionized Alkaline Water, especially interesting when we practice moderate or intense sports activities.
You can also watch the video attached to this post to complement this information in a more visual way.
Ionized Alkaline Water as Moisturizer
Endurance sport is an intense and prolonged activity that exposes the body to great stress and a continuous loss of water and electrolytes. It also generates a lot of cellular oxidation, which accelerates body aging.
Ionized alkaline water, due to its molecular characteristics, accelerates hydration, providing faster recoveries. And it is also an excellent antioxidant, which slows cellular aging.
Water in our internal environment
It can be said that water is the sea that bathes our cells. Water is present in our body in a proportion of 60% in men, 50% in women and 75% in babies.
In the body of a 70 kg male there are about 42 liters of water, of which 27 are intracellular fluid and about 15 liters in the extracellular. All this water is slightly alkaline.
Our body’s water participates in all vital processes:
- Provides liquid for glandular secretions.
- It acts as a solvent for the body’s chemical reactions.
- It’s a means of transport.
- Diluent in the digestion and absorption of food.
- It has a thermoregulatory function.
- Maintains kidney function.
- Regulates blood pressure.
- Maintains normal electrolyte concentration
Therefore, it is essential to maintain the body’s water balance, balancing the daily intake and expenditure of water, so that physiological processes are not altered.
For a normal daily activity we need to replenish about 2.3 liters of water a day. But if we carry out a very intense and prolonged sport activity this quantity can be between 6 or 7 liters per day. Hence the vital importance of hydration with good quality water and a rapid moisturizing power.
Water: a polar molecule
Water under normal conditions has a simple molecular structure, composed of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. In addition, the water molecule is polar; that is, it has an irregular distribution of its electron density.
It has a negative partial charge near the oxygen atoms and a positive partial charge near the hydrogen atoms. The positive parts of the water molecule attract the negative parts of another molecule and vice versa, creating hydrogen bonds or bridges between them.
The water molecules are polar, which favors the establishment of hydrogen bridges between them.
Normally water molecules are grouped into “clusters” of 12 to 16 molecules. When we obtain ionized alkaline water by electrolysis or filtration, we obtain that the bunches become 6 or 8 molecules.
This smaller size of the clusters of alkaline water molecules allows them to be absorbed through our tissues in less than 10 minutes, considerably increasing their moisturizing effect compared to normal water.
As a conclusion: Ionized alkaline water is an excellent moisturizer.
Ionized Alkaline Water as Antioxidant
Sport increases the consumption of oxygen to obtain metabolic energy, but in this process free radicals are generated. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that have one or more electrons missing from their external orbitals.
Free radicals can usually be found independently. They are very unstable and reactive, and tend to shrink to stabilize, stealing an electron from stable atoms or molecules, which it oxidizes to become unstable. This process generates chain reactions that affect multiple atoms or molecules in our body.
Free radicals in general are potentially dangerous. If we do not proceed quickly to neutralize them, they can cause irreparable damage to our tissues and organs, oxidizing us and accelerating cellular aging.
Although its effects are not always negative or dangerous for our organism. They are used in several fundamental functions for good body dynamics, such as phagocytosis, haemostasis, renal control and gastric secretion.
We classify free radicals according to their activity and aggressiveness:
- Reactive Oxygen Species, called Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS).
- Reactive species of nitrogen, called (RNA).
- Metals such as Iron, Manganese, Cobalt, Nickel and Copper.
What are Antioxidants?
The negative effects of free radicals can be neutralized through molecules that we call antioxidants. These molecules are able to delay or prevent oxidation caused by free radicals.
Free radicals tend to “steal” electrons from other molecules and antioxidants yield them.
Antioxidants give up their own electrons to free radicals, thus stabilizing them and canceling out their effects. They are a group of specific molecules, very similar, numerous and diverse.
According to their origin, antioxidants can be exogenous or endogenous, that is to say, produced by our organism.
Endogenous antioxidants are:
- Enzymatic antioxidants.
- Antioxidant enzyme cofactors.
- Other non-enzymatic antioxidants.
Exogenous antioxidants are often found in our foods, such as Vitamins A, E and C, carotenes, zeasantine, lycopenes, etc.
With the help of these molecules we can achieve a balance between oxidants and antioxidants within the body, which is essential to maintain good health and reduce premature aging.
When there is an imbalance in our cells due to an increase in free radicals and a decrease in antioxidants, oxidative stress appears.
Oxidative stress is dangerous because it causes damage to our body that can affect:
- DNA, altering its structure.
- Proteins, altering their functions.
- Lipids, weakening and altering cell membranes.
- And also our nutrients like carbohydrates, fragmenting them.
Why Ionized Alkaline Water is Antioxidant
Redox Potential, known as ORP, is the ability to oxidize or reduce that a substance or solution has. It is measured in mV, and comes to indicate the activity of its electrons.
- The more negative the ORP, the more ability to reduce.
- The more positive the ORP, the greater the ability to oxidize.
If we put a neutral aqueous solution in a container with two compartments separated by a membrane allowing the passage of hydrogen ions and subject it to a process of electrolysis, the following reactions will occur:
Obtaining Alkaline and Acidic Water through the electrolysis process
At the Cathode
The water gains electrons in excess (e-), therefore the solution is based on a higher concentration of hydroxyl ions (HO-). Its pH increases (pH>7). The result is reduced water or alkaline water.
At the Anode
Water loses electrons (e-), the solution acidifies as there is a higher concentration of hydrogen ions (H+), which lowers its pH (pH<7). As a result we obtain oxidized water or acidic water.
Therefore we see that the ORP is related to the pH and oxygen content of the solution. Ionized alkaline water, having more electrons available, has more capacity to give them to free radicals, and thus neutralize the damage they may cause to other molecules or cells of the body.
As a conclusion: Ionized alkaline water is an excellent antioxidant.
Ionized alkaline water is not hard to obtain. In fact, it can be obtained very easily and in a few minutes with an ionizing filtration jug. As you can see it has many very interesting properties as a moisturizer and antioxidant. In the next posts we will also see how it can help us to reduce metabolic acidity.
I hope you found this post interesting. If you have doubts, want to comment some experience or share your opinion, you can leave a comment at the end of the post.
Greetings and see you next time.
