Is Alkaline Ionized Water Snake Oil On Tap? A Review Of The Evidence

This article examines 'scientific' criticisms of Alkaline Water and Water Ionizers

If you do a Google search for 'Alkaline Water' the first page you get is by a retired chemist Stephen Lower. He says that alkaline water is Snake Oil; Water Ionization is not possible because pure water does not conduct electricity and in any case there would be no more health benefit from it then baking soda! He calls the scientists involved crackpots!

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1. Dr Lower: "Ionized water is nothing more than sales fiction; the term is meaningless to chemists."

Response: Not true - Ionized Water is an emerging science. In 10 years time Ionized Alkaline and Acid water based systems will be common in most homes.

Sanyo has announced a washing machine that uses ionized water that will not require any washing powder. Think of the potential benefits.

In the UK, High Street Chemists do stock Ionized water in bottles and some promote water ionizers.

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2. Dr Lower: "Most water that is fit for drinking is too un-conductive to undergo significant electrolysis."

Response: No true. Test ionized water for yourself using litmus paper or a pH meter and you will see for yourself. 3. Dr Lower: "Groundwater containing metal ions such as calcium and magnesium can be rendered slightly alkaline by electrolysis, but after it hits the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach, its alkalinity is gone"

Response: Virtually all tap water contains ions, that's why Water Ionizers work in 99% of household water supplies. Water ionization separates the positive (acid) and negative (alkaline) ions present in the water. In the UK well over 70% of the drinking water is Groundwater.

The stomach produces gastric juices on demand depending on the food you eat. It is a scientific fact that the stomach does not have a pouch to store the hydrochloric acids!

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Clinical studies have shown conclusively that the body is able to assimilate the minerals from alkaline ionized waters.

4. Dr Lower: "Pure water can never be alkaline or acidic, nor can it be made so by electrolysis....pure water can be considered to be ion-free, as evidenced by the fact that it will not conduct an electric current."

Response: Not true. What I assume Dr Lower means is that pure distilled H2O is neutral, but chemically pure H2O does not exist in nature. Even when you make distilled water it soon absorbs atmospheric gases and its pH becomes slightly acidic. Chemically pure H2O is not pure water, but an artificially created substance - it does not have any ions and cannot conduct electricity. But such water does not occur anywhere outside the chemistry lab.

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Try telling an electrician that tap water doesn't conduct electricity, so you can pour it on electric power sockets!

5. Dr Lower: "The claims about the health benefits of drinking alkaline water are not supported by credible scientific evidence"

Health benefits are difficult to quantify with any natural substance like clean water, fresh air or live food. But this does not mean that there are no health benefits. Common sense tells us that good clean water would be more beneficial for our health then dirty, poisoned water. Pure natural water from high altitude mountain springs and glaciers is alkaline water with pH around 8.

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If you were to go to the Alps and live there, you'd find after several months an improvement in your general health.

Researchers that have looked at the heath of high mountain people have traced it to the local water that they are drinking and the fresh air.

There is plenty of credible evidence to suggest there are some benefits from alkaline water - seek and you shall find. Our clinical studies section lists abstracts from some 100+ published scientific papers.

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Do we need something labeled as 'credible scientific evidence' to know that clean water or clean air or clean food is good for our health? Isn't a little common sense enough?

I would be very interested in any evidence (credible or incredible, published or not published) that pure, unpolluted water is NOT good for your health, and polluted water is.

Take 2 glasses of water, one tap water which has chlorine, fluoride, female sex hormones and 100's of other toxic substances in it; the other glass has the same water, but with all those poisons taken out of it.

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Do you need credible scientific double blind studies published in prestigious journals to prove that drinking toxic sludge is NOT good for your health before you stop drinking it?

Surely if world renowned experts like Dr Gabriel Cousin's, Daniel Reid, Sang Whang, Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, Ray Kurzweil, Dr Terry Grossman, Dr Theodore Baroody, Dr Sherry Rodgers, Dr Susan Lark, Dr Robert Young and countless others worldwide are drinking alkaline water and recommending that you should drink it too, then it's worth considering?

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Could it be that these experts are giving honest advice, based on their personal experience?

Water Ionizers, particularly from established manufacturers like Jupiter Science/Royal Water do work as per the device specifications, and this can be easily tested using simple measuring devices like pH and ORP meters.

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The question of the health benefits is not so easily resolved, but certainly there is no harm from drinking water that has all the poisons and acid molecules taken out of it.

About the author: James Khan is a holistic therapist. He edits Glowing-Health.com that promotes Jupiter Water Ionizers, Alkaline Water, FIR Sauna, Greens, Raw Foods and Juices to help you get healthy, lose weight, stop cancer, beat diabetes and build bones.