The use of alkaline water to help gout has been raised many times, and I will summarize old discussions here.
There are two aspects to consider.
First, the act of taking on fluids is almost always a good thing for gout sufferers, within reason. As most drinks contain an extremely high proportion of water, it does not matter what the drink is. Avoiding dehydration allows the kidneys to excrete uric acid better, but there is little benefit beyond that. Most important aspect is to keep urine output to around 2-2.5 liters per day which helps avoid kidney stones. This is also true when on allopurinol, because unused allopurinol, usually excreted as oxypurinol, can form stones in extreme cases. For more, see my articles about water and gout.
Second, is the issue of alkaline water “dissolving” uric acid. There is no evidence to support this claim. There is evidence to suggest that alkaline urine helps to lower uric acid. It falls into the category of “more research needed.” Even if it is true, you should not believe marketing statements that push alkaline water. Our body chemistry is complex, and alkaline intake at one end does not necessarily cause alkaline output at the other end. There is much more about this in my alkalizing gout diet menu articles.
One thing is certain. If you are trying to alkalize your body, which I personally recommend, you must test the pH of your urine.
I signed up to contribute a gout remedy that I use often and it works well. I’ve been suffering from gout for 20 years (now 42 yr old) and my dad suffers the same fate. I’ve tried everything under the sun and some things seem to work at times, and then sometimes not. It can be infuriating. But, here is the best remedy I have found thus far.
High-Alkaline water. What I mean by high-alkaline is water with a high pH. pH ranges from 0 (battery acid) to 14 (pure alkalinity.) A pH of 7.0 is tap water. A pH of 8.0 is 10x more alkaline than 7.0. A pH of 9 is 100x more alkaline than 7.0. I found in a health food section some bottled drinking water with a pH of 9.5. This stuff does wonders for gout. Within an hour the crystals reside and the healing can begin.
Now, you can get alkaline water from these so-called ionizers, but good ones are terribly expensive. I can buy 700 bottles of this high-pH water for the cost of one ionizer, so you do the math!
There is a lot of talk about high-alkaline water, water ionizers, and other artificial attempts at alkalizing the body. There is some evidence to support the health benefits of alkalizing the body, but this only works with healthy diet choices, not by artificial supplements.
Artificial supplementation by taking baking soda, by adding baking soda or other bases to water, or by ionizing water by electronic equipment is simply playing with chemistry. It is not healthy. If you understand the processes involved with exchanging ions, then you will understand why these artificial methods can never work as gout cures.
Temporary relief may be placebo, or coincidence, but it is not through any longterm improvement in your gout health. On the contrary, if you use this form of supplementation longterm, you expose yourself to risks of other health problems.