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June 03, 2024
We Tested the pH of Water AND These Everyday Drinks
Dr Livingood
In this blog, I test some of the everyday drinks that you put in your body to check their pH levels and acidity.
We’re about to break this down and show exactly what would be more friendly for your gut bacteria, your stomach, and your overall immunity.
Our body’s pH is traditionally measured in the urine, so if your urine is really yellow when you go to the bathroom, chances are, you’re very acidic.
Your body is offloading acidity, as well as sugars and other minerals that are inside of your system, because you’re not hydrated enough and overly acidic.
That’s not to say that you shouldn’t ever drink acidic drinks.
But we want to be doing things the rest of the day to counteract that, and I’m going to show you exactly how to do it.
Why is pH Important?
High acidity is tied to increased body discomfort, decreased immunity, and decreased energy.
We used pH strips to measure the pH of the colored drinks we tested, and a dropper test to measure the pH of different waters.
The strip measured on a scale of 1–10, although the full pH scale goes from 0-14.
7 is the middle of the road
If you’re slightly above 7, that’s alkaline. If you go up to 10, it starts to be toxic.
If the pH is below 7, it’s acidic, and if you go below 3, it starts to be really toxic.
Gatorade
Now, I used to drink a lot of Gatorade. I tested some lemon-lime Gatorade and it tipped the acidic scale as the worst of all of the drinks we tested.
It was a 2-3 on the pH scale.
We tested it using pH strips because the liquid was colored.
It’s made with natural flavors and Yellow 5, a synthetic coloring. Gatorade also has a lot of sugar in it.
There are things with acid in them that your body can handle; you just have to balance them back out.
But Gatorade is toxic because of those sugar levels.
Soda
If you can clean your battery or your car with soda, and make soda explode by dropping a Mentos in it, imagine what it’s doing to your body.
Soda comes in at a 3 on the pH scale.
There are a lot of things to consider here: nutrient levels, toxic ingredients, and acidity level.
Obviously soda is going to be the worst because of its acidity, but on top of that, there are the sugars and chemicals they put inside of it.
If you want a healthier version of soda, try to find one sweetened with Stevia.
You’re still going to have the acidity in there, so you would have to balance that out with something else, but you won’t have chemicals and toxins and sugars.
If you like the carbonation, you could get away from soda altogether and have carbonated water instead.
We tested some of those, and they are definitely on the acidic side.
Carbonated beverages typically are.
If you deal with a lot of bloating, or if you deal with CIBO or digestive issues, I would avoid carbonated drinks as much as possible.
LaCroix & Spindrift
The LaCroix we tested came in as a 5, so it’s definitely better than a soda if you just need something different than water.
It’s made with natural flavoring, but doesn’t tell you where that natural flavoring is coming from.
If you don’t know what it is, it can oftentimes be a toxic flavoring.
You can be okay with natural flavors; you just need the company to say that it’s a clean source that doesn’t contain anything artificial or synthetic.
I recommend going to a source that doesn’t have artificial flavoring, like Spindrift sparkling waters, which are sweetened with real fruit juices.
This is one of my favorite real fruit juices. It’s carbonated, and they have a lemon flavor.
I chose lemon because lemon comes in as a 3, meaning it’s very acidic.
But when you metabolize it, it goes over a 7, so it’s only acidic on the outside.
Lemon can actually be something you can add to your water, and when you metabolize it, it helps with weight loss.
It helps provide vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C.
Then when you metabolize it, it makes your body more alkaline.
Most people think lemons are acidic in general, and they are, but when you put them in the body, it turns your body alkaline.
Orange Juice
The orange juice I found contains 39 carbohydrates and 31 grams of sugar. That is a sugar bomb.
It was also somewhat acidic, coming in at a 5 on the pH scale.
Not only are you getting a lot of sugar in these orange juices, but you’re also making your body more acidic.
Grass-Fed Organic Milk
This milk came in at 6-7. I don’t even have conventional milk in the house; if I’m going to have dairy, I get it free-range, organic, and non-GMO.
If you’re adding this to your coffee, you may increase the acidity a bit, which is good.
Water
Now, water is what primarily gets tested for pH levels.
For these, we were able to use an indicator dropper to measure pH because the liquid is clear.
We have a household filtration system for our tap water that uses surface area filtration.
It leaves the minerals and helps with the acidity.
If you want to learn more about increasing your water quality, I have a video that covers it here.
After using a couple drops of the indicator dropper, the water starts to change into a light yellowish-green color.
This means that it’s around 7.4. So that’s tap water. That’s what we’re showering with and drinking.
Now, if you have sitting water, you’re going to start seeing it creep down to a 5 or a 4 by using a simple dropper test.
You don’t have to run out and get one of these. That’s why we’re testing it for you.
So to counteract this, one step would be to drink water that’s just slightly above 7 on the pH scale.
Smartwater came in at a 6, which isn’t great for water. Plus, the brand is owned by Coca-Cola.
Spring water is traditionally on the better side, but Pure Life water comes in at a 6 as well.
Fiji Water is around a 7, and Deer Park Spring Water is a 7-8. Spring water was the only one of these that was natural water.
The Essentia Water we tested is 9.5 or higher, which is very alkaline.
We want to be aware of pH and why it matters for your body’s immune system and your health.
So what can we do to counteract this? What do we put into our body to make sure we’re going the proper direction?
How To Balance pH in Your Body
One thing you want to always think about is your body’s pH balance.
If you’re going to eat acidic foods, sugars, and drinks, you have to have a counterbalance.
That means things like vegetables, greens, or cucumbers, which are going to take your pH in the other direction.
You could infuse some of your waters with cucumbers, mint, or herbs.
When you are using water, make sure your water’s clean.
I use a greens powder that helps to drive the pH up because it’s very alkaline.
If you like drinking lemon-infused water and want to make your lemons last longer, you can find out how to do it by watching my video on it here.
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