Alkaline Water Review: I Drank It for 2 Weeks — Here’s What Actually Happened

Everyone around me seemed to be talking about alkaline water. The claim is that it “alkalinizes your body” and is significantly better for you than regular tap water. I was sceptical — but I decided to test it properly for two weeks and see if I actually felt any different.

What Is Alkaline Water?

Water is H2O — hydrogen and oxygen. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14, where 0 is most acidic, 7 is neutral, and 14 is most alkaline. For reference: orange juice sits around 3.5, milk is close to neutral at around 6.7, and black coffee comes in at about 5.

Regular tap water in the US typically tests at around 4.2 to 5.3 — more acidic than the EPA’s own guideline of 6.5 to 8.5. In the UK it tends to be between 6.5 and 9.5, so already closer to neutral. Alkaline water pushes the pH higher, usually to around 8 or 9.

The theory behind drinking it is that higher pH water reduces acid in the bloodstream, which proponents claim can improve metabolism, increase energy, slow ageing, improve digestion, reduce bone loss, and even starve cancer cells. Those are big claims — so let’s get into what I actually experienced.

Naturally Alkaline vs Chemically Processed

Worth knowing before you buy: naturally occurring alkaline water comes from springs, where water picks up minerals from rocks as it passes through. What you find labelled as alkaline in most shops is made through a process called electrolysis — the water is run through an ionizer to artificially raise its pH.

Rather than buying bottled alkaline water for two weeks, I picked up an ionizing water pitcher. Full-size ionizing machines can cost hundreds, so this was a more practical option — and it’s easy to take with me to the office or when I travel. According to the box, it filters the water and adds alkaline mineral hydrates. I tested it and it came up reading above pH 9, which is in line with what’s sold commercially as alkaline water, so I was happy to use it for the experiment.

How I Ran the Test

I aimed for four litres a day — slightly more than my usual two to three litres. I hit that target on the vast majority of days. I kept my diet as consistent as possible and cut out any other variable I could think of to give the alkaline water a fair shot at showing a real effect.

One honest caveat worth mentioning: during the two weeks, the weather in London shifted from grey and cold to spring sunshine. That alone tends to make me more willing to go outside and do things, so I can’t fully separate that from any effect the water might have had.

What I Actually Noticed

I did notice something — more than I expected, going in as a sceptic.

Energy was the most obvious change. I’m not a coffee drinker and I don’t use caffeine supplements, so I have a reasonable baseline to compare against. I was less tired in the evenings than usual — noticeably so — and this was despite training more than normal during the two weeks. I’d have expected more tiredness from the extra gym sessions, not less.

My concentration felt a bit sharper too. And when I did sleep, the quality felt better — I was waking up feeling more rested.

On digestion, I didn’t notice any real difference. The one thing I did notice about the taste is that high-alkaline water is distinctly different to tap water — slightly bitter, though without any odd smell. It’s not unpleasant, just different.

I can’t speak to the bigger claims around bone health, metabolism, or cancer — two weeks isn’t long enough to test those, and I didn’t have the equipment to measure them anyway.

Is It Worth It?

I went into this expecting to feel nothing, based on everything I’d read suggesting the alkaline diet has limited scientific backing. So the fact that I did notice something was a genuine surprise.

The honest answer is: I can’t be certain what caused it. Drinking four litres of water a day — more than my usual amount — could account for some of the improvement on its own. Better hydration alone tends to improve energy and concentration. Whether the alkalinity itself made a difference beyond that, I genuinely can’t say.

What I can say is that the experiment got me more interested in the broader alkaline diet concept. After the first week I picked up a book on Dr Sebi’s work around alkaline foods, and that’s the next thing I want to explore.

If you’re thinking about trying alkaline water, a pitcher is a much cheaper entry point than a full ionizer. Try it for a couple of weeks, keep everything else the same, and see what you notice.

Author

listedfit

Latest entries

More from this author

• HealthMay 4, 2026Black Seed Oil Review: Does the Evidence Actually Support the Hype?
• Alkaline DietMay 4, 2026Alkaline Water Review: I Drank It for 2 Weeks — Here’s What Actually Happened
• NutritionSeptember 29, 2025Does Collagen Work? I Tried It
• GearJuly 20, 2024Headphones and Earbuds – Tried and Tested!