A glass of slightly cold water can immediately increase gastric pH countering and calming the effect of highly a acidic gut. I highly recommend it to most people with chronic or sudden acid reflux attack.

Some people, however, choose to drink Alkaline water to combat acid reflux and manage the symptoms.

Now, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything above is alkaline.

Alkaline water has a higher pH level than that of plain tap water. Tap water PH is normally between 6.5-7.5. Alkaline water PH is between 8-9 which means highly alkaline.

In fact, high pH of alkaline water neutralizes stomach acid in much the same way as antacids do which is why many people decide to use them on a daily basis.

Changing your diet and drinking alkaline water can stop or prevent esophageal damage.

But it’s always best to make a slow switch or transition from tap or filtered water to alkaline water.

You want your body to slowly get used to the high PH of alkaline water.

People with kidney disease for example, should not drink alkaline water. Another possible side effect is changes in stomach PH. This means that you may be interfering with proper digestion.

You see, the stomach PH is quite low, between 1.5 to 3.5. It is basically a reservoir of strong acid.

The pH of our stomach is critical to the digestion of nutrients and is the first line of defense against harmful bacteria and viruses.

Changing the stomach PH to more alkaline using alkaline water may do more damage than good especially when used for a long period of time.

That is why you should always discuss your doctor on whether drinking alkaline water will be good for you in your particular case and with your medical history.

Need guidance on how to control and manage your acid reflux? Check out my Heartburn No More program

The post Does drinking water help acid reflux? first appeared on Jeff Martin's Acid Reflux Blog.