The Hype: Tom Brady drinks it. Beyoncé is reportedly hooked. Cycling studios on both coast can’t keep enough of it on the shelves. In our never-ending quest for the ultimate form of hydration, alkaline water has emerged as the eau du jour, touted as “energizing,” “detoxifying” and a cure-all for ailments that seem to afflict people who congregate at yoga studios and juice bars.
Elevator Pitch: We ingest lots of high-acid foods, including processed grains, corn, meat, fish, sodas, coffee and alcohol. Water that has been “alkalized” (either naturally or with an ionizer) with a pH of 8 to 10 can neutralize that. Purported benefits include superior hydration, detoxification, reduced inflammation and increased energy. It’s an attractive idea, especially in an era when everything — politics, gender relations, you name it — feels corrosive. Wash away your troubles with something as simple and plentiful as water.
Adopters: Pretty much anyone who shares Gwyneth Paltrow’s taste for apitherapy, soup cleanses and vaginal steaming. It also helps to be rich enough to afford a $4,000 home ionizer, or a 12-pack of Flow Alkaline Spring Water for $17.99. That is no issue for basketball stars like Kawhi Leonard, who told GQ last year: “Stick to alkaline waters with a higher pH. Trust me.”
JoAnn Bauer, who owns A Hydration Station. CreditJames Keivom for The New York Times
Hotbed: What better place to hawk a pricey, scientifically questionable water enhancement than that desert oasis Los Angeles? After all, this is the town that gave us the “water sommelier.” No wonder every pressed-juice bar and yoga studio within Tesla range of the C.A.A. headquarters seems to be jumping on board. The trend is spreading. Earlier this year, A Hydration Station opened in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, with four water ionizing stations; a gallon costs $5, while an unlimited monthly supply is $34.89.
Half-Life: Alkalized water isn’t new (ionizers were sold in Japan in the 1960s), but it made a pop cultural splash in 2013 when it was reported that Beyoncé’s concert rider, possibly apocryphal, specified titanium straws so she could sip alkaline water. In a sign of its growing popularity, Smartwater (a division of Coca-Cola) released an alkaline version last year.
Just the Facts: Do the health claims hold any water? “It’s all about marketing,” Tanis Fenton, a registered dietitian and epidemiologist at Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, told The New York Times in April. “There is no science to back it up.”
Some studies suggest that alkaline water may be helpful in treating acid reflux or high blood pressure, but a number of scientists remain skeptical. Joe Schwarcz, the director of the Office for Science and Society at McGill University in Montreal, called the craze “mind numbing nonsense” in a newsletter last year. “Our body maintains the pH of the blood between 7 to 7.4, which is already alkaline,” Dr. Schwarcz said. “If you were to alkalize it further, you would not have to worry about illness because you would be dead.”
