The Dangers of Antioxidant Water Ionizers
Ionizing water was developed approximately 30 years ago in Japan. The development came about from research performed on the Hunza tribe in the Andes. The people lived to be over 100 years old. As a whole, the tribe was very healthy. Research pointed to the water the group consumed in their diet. The water came from icy, mountaintop streams. The purity and movement creates a natural alkaline state that is ionized by nature.
The reason for ionized water health claims is that it is alkaline. Much of the modern diet produces acid and it unbalances the pH of the body. Alkaline water is also considered an antioxidant, protecting cells from free radicals.
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Ionization
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Naturally ionized water Ions are atoms, groups of atoms or particles that have a positive or negative charge. Ionization is when the electrical charge is not balanced. When an election is removed from an atom, the atom is considered positively charged. The released electron is negatively charged. When the loose electron combines with another atom it has extra energy and is believed to have a beneficial health impact.
To force electrons away, an energy must be greater than the orbit that binds the atom together. Electrolysis produces the energy needed to break off the electron.
Theories/Speculation
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While ionized water is generally promoted as a healthy alternative to chlorinated water from the tap, the many reported health benefits are under question. Stephen Lower, a retired member of the Department of Chemistry from Simon Fraser University is outspoken against water ionization benefits.
He states that ionized water is, "nothing more than sales fiction." He goes on to explain that water is not conductive enough to undergo electrolysis and that pure water cannot be either alkaline or acidic.
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Potential Effects
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Professor Lower explains that water ionizers use salt to create conductivity in water. If electrolysis is performed on sodium chloride, hydrogen gas and hydroxide ions are released, which does produce an alkaline solution of sodium hydroxide. He states that, "chlorine ions are oxidized to elemental chlorine at the anode." This mixture has the potential to create a weak bleach.
Concerns
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For the consumer, the potential side effects and dangers of using antioxidant water are that a person won't seek medical attention when a condition arises. If a person needs medical treatment, yet only relies on consuming ionized water, he may face serious consequences.
Significance
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Another concern is that if the claims of ionization are true and they do positively impact the alkaline level in the body to promote better health, are all products equal? There are so many ionizing products on the market that weeding through the good from the bad may leave the consumer worse off health-wise and much worse off money-wise.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Bruno Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Diego Silvestre
