A Montana State University professor and a team of students have found that drinking water with a high content of minerals might be beneficial to one's health.

MSU Health and Human Development professor Dan Heil and a team of graduate and undergraduate students conducted a study that found that individuals drinking mineral-based alkaline water, along with a water company's supplement, were better hydrated and had higher pH levels than those who consumed water without a high mineral content. The findings suggest that certain mineralized water may impart some health benefits, Heil said.

In the early 2010 study, the research team split 38 young adult volunteers into a control group and an experimental group.

Members of the control group drank only non-mineralized bottled water over the course of four weeks. Members of the experimental group drank alkaline water containing a naturally high mineral content, as well as a water company's supplement that is designed to stabilize pH and minerals, during the second and third weeks of the study. During the first and fourth weeks, experimental group members consumed non-mineralized bottled water in order to help measure results. The study participants received all of their water from the researchers and were not informed about which group they were in.

Throughout the study, the research team collected blood and urine samples from each individual three times each week to measure blood and urine pH and osmolality, a measurement method of mineral concentration. They also measured each participant's total daily urine volume. Study participants kept records of the food and water they consumed and maintained regular levels of exercise.

Part of why the research is important is because every chemical reaction in every part of the human body is highly sensitive to changes in both temperature and pH, Heil said. As a result, the body has tight control mechanisms in place to keep temperature and pH relatively constant. In general, pH is a measure of how acidic -- which equals a relatively low pH -- or alkaline -- which equals a relatively high pH -- a liquid or solution is. Human bodies work to maintain a fairly neutral pH, Heil said, because it is most conducive to chemical reactions that need to occur.

"It was good to see how an in-depth research study worked," he said. "It reinforced what I had learned in classes about research design and why things were done in a certain way... it was nice to apply and understand why things have to happen the way they do."Even though more research needs to be done, Heil said the research results were unexpected and could be significant."They may show something more than a performance advantage," he said. "There may actually be a health advantage.