Website Claims Alkaline Ionized Water Kills – Offers No Proof

By Bob McCauley, ND

 I have told people for years that a Japanese researcher, J. Wantanabea, performed studies that showed Alkaline Ionized Water (“AIW”) caused heart tissue damage in rats.  It is one study and there are three parts to it that were published separately to make it look like multiple studies had been done independently of one another:

http://www.aqualivwater.com/education/65-alkaline-water-report

“Artificially alkaline water only neutralizes acidity where it has direct contact, like the stomach and upper bowel. When consumed daily, the upper bowel in particular becomes overly alkaline and side effects begin to appear. Most common are erratic heart behavior, hypertension, nervousness/anxiety, urinary tract and bladder infections, and stabbing side pains.”

 We have spoken to numerous individuals who were hospitalized for heart conditions that magically disappeared when they stopped drinking alkaline ionized water. We know of at least one gentleman with a heart condition who died due to interactions between his time-release medication and ionized water- he was a top dealer for one ionizer MLM company. Why would anyone ingest anything unnatural when natural alternatives are available at a comparable cost?

Additionally, more severe side effects were observed in a clinical study involving rats. The study revealed injury to cardiac tissue (heart muscle) as a result of drinking ERW (Electrolyzed Reduced Water), or water created by ionizer machines. In an age when heart disease is a leading killer, ionized water is simply not a smart choice.

 Abstract from Study 

Recently, the authors have shown that marked necrosis and fibrosis of myocardium were observed in rats given alkaline ionized water (AKW). To clarify the cause of myocardial lesions, the activities of myosin ATPase, actomyosin ATPase and creatine kinase (CK) in myocardium of rats given AKW at 15 weeks-old were compared with those in myocardium of rats given tap water (TPW). Furthermore, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of myocardiac myosin and isoelectric focusing (IEF) of myocardiac CK were performed which revealed a distinct difference between AKW and TPW groups. The activities of myosin ATPase and actomyosin ATPase in the AKW group were higher than those in the TPW group, and these elevated activities were caused by the degradation of myosin in the AKW group judging from the SDS-PAGE pattern of myosin. On the other hand, the activity of CK in the AKW group was lower than that in the TPW group, and the IEF pattern of CK showed leakage of myocardiac CK. These results indicate that increases in actomyosin ATPase activity and myosin ATPase activity, plus the decrease in CK activity caused the disorder of coupled reaction in male rats given AKW at 15 weeks-old. It is concluded that this disorder of coupled reaction may cause marked myocardiac necrosis and fibrosis in rats given AKW.

 Alkaline ionized water (AKW) produced by the electrolysis of tap water (TPW) was given to pregnant rats throughout gestation. AKW was subsequently given to infants as a test group until 15 weeks old to determine changes in body and organ weights, erythrocyte hexokinase (HK) activity and histological preparations of myocardiac muscle. The results were compared with those for rats given TPW. Body weight of male and female rats given AKWA at 3 to 11 weeks of age after birth significantly increased beyond control group values. Organ weights of offspring at 15 weeks-old showed no statistical difference for either group. HK activity, the rate-determining enzyme in erythrocyte glycolysis, significantly increased in males given AKW at 15 weeks-old. This suggests that AKW intake causes elevation of metabolic activity. Hyperkalemia was observed in males and females given AKW at 15 weeks-old. Especially in males, pathological changes of necrosis in myocardiac muscle were observed.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/9198011/related/

 This study by J. Wantanabe shows that Alkaline Ionized Water (“AIW”, also designated in this article as “AKW”), damages heart muscle tissue in male rats only, which I find rather strange.  AIW has never been shown to affect males differently than it does females, yet in this study, and this study only, it shows that it does.  There are studies that demonstrate how healthy AIW is for us.

We also need to be aware of when this study was conducted, 1998.  Water ionizers were still in their infancy at that time and many of the manufacturers were using stainless steel electrodes that did not produce strong or stable AIW.  The water product lost its ORP and its pH dropped just as quickly.  By the end of the 1990s the water ionizer industry had begun to use titanium plates coated with platinum.  Running water over those plates produced strong, stable ionized water with a pH over 10.

The bottom line, of course, is how many people have actually been affected in a negative way.  I have stated for many years that both AIW and Acid Ionized Water are beneficial to everything it comes in contact with as long as it is used properly.  For instance, you do not want to consume Acid Ionized Water since you would be drinking an acid substance that contains free radicals, the opposite of what you want.

“Artificially alkaline water only neutralizes acidity where it has direct contact, like the stomach and upper bowel. When consumed daily, the upper bowel in particular becomes overly alkaline and side effects begin to appear. Most common are erratic heart behavior, hypertension, nervousness/anxiety, urinary tract and bladder infections, and stabbing side pains.”

What evidence does the author have for this claim that drinking AIW daily causes the upper bowel to become overly alkaline?  For the record, he has not offered anything other than his opinion, which is a false premise, then goes on to describe the deleterious effects of this over alkalization of the upper bowel.  (By the way, where is the upper bowel in the human body?  I can’t say that I have ever heard of it.)  Where is the evidence of these claims?  I’ve been drinking ionized water for 15 years and never once experienced anything like erratic heart behavior (whatever that is), hypertension, nervousness, anxiety UT and bladder infections, stabbing pains.  Not once have I had any of these symptoms nor has anyone of the thousands of people I have sold water ionizers to reported symptoms anything like these.  I think I would have remembered people telling me that they have stabbing pains after drinking AIW.  All the feedback I have had over the years has been that drinking AIW on a regular basis has done just the opposite.  People feel great and I have countless testimonials regarding AIW.

 We have spoken to numerous individuals who were hospitalized for heart conditions that magically disappeared when they stopped drinking alkaline ionized water. http://www.aqualivwater.com/education/65-alkaline-water-report

 Let’s examine these statements a little more closely.  Who are these individuals who they have spoken to?  What health conditions did they have before they began drinking AIW?  Personally, I don’t think they have spoken with anyone and nor do I believe that they can come up with a single name of anyone who they have spoken to about their negative health experiences while drinking AIW.  Not one.  I believe they are lying about it to promote their own product and bad-mouth a product that directly competes with their own product.

I’m also quite suspicious of the statement: “Heart conditions that magically disappeared when they stopped drinking alkaline ionized water.”  Magically disappeared?  That is their evidence that ionized water should not be consumed?  In the scientific world there are things called studies that produce another thing called evidence all of which brings us to something called a conclusion.  Magic doesn’t cut it in the scientific world.  It doesn’t even cut it in the marketing world.  Magic I’m afraid really only works well in the David Copperfield world, and as we all know even that isn’t real magic.  Its sleight of hand and that is what Greg Hoffman is trying to pull with this “magically disappeared” claim.

 “We know of at least one gentleman with a heart condition who died due to interactions between his time-release medication and ionized water- he was a top dealer for one ionizer MLM company.”

Who is “we” and what is the gentleman’s name?  If you are going to make such a serious charge as the one that has been made here, that ionized water actually killed someone, then what is the man’s name, when did this happen, and what were the exact circumstances of his death.  If Greg Hoffman refuses to release the exact circumstances of the person who died instantly at the hands of AIW then it’s because he doesn’t have a  name and he doesn’t have a name because he is lying, or at the very least presenting hearsay evidence as actual fact.   Greg Hoffman is quite specific in naming the person who was killed by drinking ionized water as a top dealer for one of the Water Ionizer MLM companies.  That is a name that should be pretty easy to come up with, so what is his name?

 “Why would anyone ingest anything unnatural when natural alternatives are available at a comparable cost?”

  This is where Greg Hoffman really gives himself away and he does this by commingling a warning about the dangers of drinking AIW with the cost of his product.  If Greg Hoffman was really trying to perform a public service then he would not mention the fact that he just happens to have a product that isn’t dangerous for about the same cost.

  “In an age when heart disease is a leading killer, ionized water is simply not a smart choice.”

I find that statement rather odd to say this least.   What difference does it make what age we are living in as to whether something is actually healthy for us or not.  What age it is, or what year it is, has nothing to do with whether something is actually healthy for us or not.  It’s really an absurd statement when it comes down to it, and once again Greg Hoffman unwittingly reveals who he really is and what his intentions are regarding his claims about ionized water and the detrimental effect it has on the body.

I have been defending AIW from those who claim that it is “snake oil on tap“, a waste of money, and now that AIW is actually harmful to the body.  I have staked my professional reputation on explaining ionized water, and stating that it is the “world’s healthiest substance”, which is true because there is nothing better for your health than water and no better water to consume than AIW.  Dr. J. Mercola has attacked AIW, and demonstrated that he actually knows almost nothing about water in general.  I am the author of The Miraculous Properties of Ionized Water.  I sell water ionizers because I understand the incredible health benefits of ionized water and i want the rest of the world to drink it as well.  I don’t promote ionized water so i can make money selling water ionizers, although I’m accused of it.   The same is true with my claims about chlorella and spirulina, that they are thye healthiest, most nutritious foods in the world.  I have defended AIW when it is attacked because I understand its value and health properties.  I am accused of just wanting to make a buck by promoting them.  I use what I promote and promote what I use. I am a Naturopathic Doctor and what I sell is my healthy lifestyle.

What I suspect is going on here with the debunkers is that someone with a lot of money is behind these pathetic attempts to denounce AIW, the world’s healthiest substance.  I have been keeping an eye on the quackwatchers for quite some time.  It would be someone who has an interest in making sure that people don’t find a way to be healthy in a natural way because it would eventually hurt their bottom line.  It would be someone whose interests would lie rather in keeping people unhealthy so that they can continue to sell them products that have been approved by the medical establishment and the FDA.  Any ideas whom that might be?  I’ll bet you do, because it’s pretty damn obvious to everyone who that might be.  But what do I know?  I’m just a guy trying to make the world a little healthier and apparently there are some who just want to make money at the cost of people’s health.