I started adding baking soda to make the filtered water taste more like the spring water I used to get in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I read a report of the chemical analysis of the water and noticed it had a lot of bicarbonates in it, hence the addition of baking soda. I think it tastes better. I noticed the baking soda made my tea darker so I did some searches on the internet to figure out why. I don't feel healthier after I started doing it although you may find some people do think so on the internet.
Huh, interesting..!
I mean, yeah-- far as I know, we're generally getting an increasing surge in acidic, water-based liquids, compounds and solids, likely due to us human numbskulls adding so much CO2 to the atmosphere, overloading the natural carbon sinks (like ocean and forest) that have traditionally allayed weird GH gas spikes like that.
I.e., eventually, the excess carbon has literally
nowhere else to go at a certain point, other than in to our food and drinking sources (not unlike microplastics).
IDIOT TIME: you know, I once tried brushing my teeth with a baking soda paste, because I'd read that it was pretty good at sucking out creeping stains made from years of drinking loads of tea. (god, I love tea)
BUT, fortunately, I soon-ish realised that I was being a total idiot with such, in that baking soda is pretty-dang abrasive on one's.. "dentine" is the word?
Indeed-- lately, I've fallen in
absolute

with certain oranges at my local grocery. FWIW, the brand is "Paramount," like the motion-picture folks. FWIW, I find them *significantly* better than almost any other oranges I've ever had in the States, outside maybe Florida or such? Like, man... I was getting up to eating my 3-4 of them everyday, and thinking myself 'what a clever boy, LOL.'
Annnnd of course -- because life insists on being a pain-in-the-arse no matter what? -- with a little bit of research upon the effects of citrus fruit on one's dental health, I learned that I really need to cut down on such 'fruit candy,' plus make sure I wash out my mouth after eating a citrus fruit, and advisedly not eat anything for about 30min afterwards. Because of the acidic overload, to be clear.
!&^@!$79^!!@$
I mean, we're all going to die of
SOMETHING, right..?
***
Anyway, yeah-- I like the idea of skewing my iced teas more to the *alkaline* side of things, as a response to our changing foods & drink pH. George, you mentioned polyphenols, I think? Aren't they also known as "tannins," which are significantly acidic in nature?
Hehe, I had this beloved children's mini-novel called
"My Side of the Mountain," in which our young hero not just ran away from home, but managed to independently survive in NYS's Catskill Mountains for a year or two, until he actually convinced his family to join the fun. IIRC, part of his deal was to fill an empty stump full of water and oak leaves, which created a 'tannin solution' which was really good at turning hide in to leather. (because real-talk, the traditional method of making leather is... pretty effing disgusting, from what I've read!)
Oh man, I really loved that book / series, and found it both

and

, if that makes sense...
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NOTE: I don't get to post over here too much anymore, so wanted to do a proper check-in / silly post this time, lol. It's good to know that you guys are still
rockin' on, as the kids say! (Oy Steve-o, can we get an update about how the tent-garden is going..?)