Hello again, joyhana.
In my view, oxygenated water is not worth paying for. It is snake oil
without the oil (and, for that matter, without the snake). I have
gathered some online information on the subject for you. For reasons
of copyright, I'm posting just excerpts here; you may want to read
some of these articles in their entirety.
"A single breath of air contains more oxygen than a bottle of
oxygenated water. Despite advertising claims that oxygenated water can
boost sports performance, a study in the Nov. 12, 2003, Journal of the
American Medical Association found that compared with tap water, it
had no effect on 9 exercise-performance measures in 11 healthy men and
women."
Consumer Reports: Oxygenated water falls flat
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv4.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=384075&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=162689&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=333139
"Can oxygenated water add oxygen to the blood? It?s doubtful. Blood
carries the majority of oxygen in a form that is bound to hemoglobin
and only a small portion of oxygen travels as gas dissolved in the
blood. Since 98 percent of arterial hemoglobin is saturated, any
oxygen the gut adds after drinking (according to manufacturers?
claims) must travel dissolved in the blood.
However, the small amount of oxygen already present in the blood makes
it very difficult for more oxygen to force its way in. Unless exposure
to a hyperbaric chamber, for example, increases atmospheric pressure,
blood cannot carry more oxygen.
This is further reinforced by the results of an unpublished study
conducted by Texas Women?s University in Denton, Texas. There,
researchers did not see a change in oxygen saturation using pulse
oximetry. If the waters truly delivered on their claims - and added
more oxygen to the system - researchers would have seen an increase of
oxygen in the blood...
The bottom line is that oxygenated manufacturers? claims have lots of
theory and very little substance. Human physiology and science show us
that oxygenated water won?t elevate oxygen levels in the blood or
muscle. While claims are enticing, they don?t hold up when it comes to
improving muscle metabolism and performance."
The Sport Factory: THE LOWDOWN ON OXYGENATED WATERS
http://www.thesportfactory.com/article_204.shtml
"Recent hype by a company that its 'super-oxygenated' water can boost
athletic performance is just one more scam aimed at a gullible
audience, says the April issue of the Penn State Sports Medicine
Newsletter.
Company literature touts the benefits of a certain 'oxygen-enhanced'
sports drink, which allegedly contains seven times more oxygen than
tap water. However, the study on which the company's claims are based
has not been subject to peer review or published in a scientific
journal.
'This is a case of pure fraud without a physiologic foundation,' says
Howard G. Knuttgen, Ph.D., newsletter editor-in-chief and professor
emeritus of kinesiology at Penn State. 'Very little oxygen can be
forced into water under pressure -- less than that contained in a
single breath. Most of the oxygen in the water would escape into the
atmosphere when you open the container. Additional oxygen would be
absorbed into the cells of intestinal walls. All of this would happen
before any oxygen would reach the blood, much less the muscles.'
The exchange of gases that allows the body to take in and utilize
oxygen is a function of the respiratory, not the digestive system.
Thus, any intake of so-called super-oxygenated water would be of no
use in improving athletic prowess, he says."
Penn State University: Super-Oxygenated Water Is Latest Sports Scam
http://www.psu.edu/ur/NEWS/news/april98sportsmed2.html
"Various products referred to as 'stabilized' or 'aerobic' oxygen, are
being marketed with claims that they can cure disease by increasing
oxygen delivery to the cells. Some claim that 'oxygen deficiency' or
'oxygen starvation' is an underlying cause of disease and has been
increasing because the oxygen content of the earth's atmosphere has
been decreasing and junk food does not contain enough oxygen. These
claims are absurd -- for several reasons.
- There is no reason to believe that the products actually deliver
oxygen to the body. It is possible to use an electric current to add a
tiny amount of oxygen to water, but to access it, a human would need
gills.
- Even if they could, taking oxygen into the stomach through a liquid,
pill, or food would not significantly raise the body's blood level of
oxygen.
- Oxygen enters the bloodstream through the lungs. The body adapts to
what it needs by changing its breathing rate.
- The oxygen content of air is not changing and remains constant at
21% regardless of the weather.
- If enough oxygen is available to sustain life, the body will extract
what it needs from the air and deliver what is needed to the cells.
Blood returning to the lungs contains surplus oxygen.
- 'Oxygen deficiency' is not an underlying cause of disease."
Quackwatch: FTC Attacks "Stabilized Oxygen" Claims
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/News/vitamino.html
"Two Washington-based companies and the individual who controls them
have agreed to pay $375,000 in redress to settle Federal Trade
Commission charges that they made false and unsubstantiated health
claims in their advertising for a purported nutritional supplement
called 'Vitamin O.' The defendants' ads claimed that 'Vitamin O' could
treat or prevent serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and
lung disease by enriching the bloodstream with supplemental oxygen.
The defendants ran full-page ads in national newspapers including USA
Today. As part of the settlement, the defendants are prohibited from
representing that 'Vitamin O' or any food, drug or dietary supplement
they market is effective against any life-threatening disease, or has
any other health benefits, unless they possess competent and reliable
scientific evidence to support the representation."
Federal Trade Commission: Marketers of "Vitamin O" Settles FTC Charges
of Making False Health Claims; Will Pay $375,000 for Consumer Redress
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/05/rosecreek2.htm
"Oxygen is not just in the air; it's on the shelves. It has been
discovered by alternative medicine and is being sold in various forms
in the health supplement marketplace. Back when I was an intern, we
used to joke that there were four basic rules of medicine:
1. Air goes in and out.
2. Blood goes round and round.
3. Oxygen is good.
4. Bleeding always stops.
Alternative medicine has latched onto rule number three and won't let
go. The rationale, apparently, is that oxygen is required to support
life; therefore more oxygen should make you more healthy. It's not
clear how this relates to alternative medicine's advice on
anti-oxidants, but that's irrelevant."
Skeptical Inquirer: Oxygen is good - even when it's not there
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_28/ai_111897968
"Someone asked about 'oxygenated water'. Someone else questioned if
one could get such a product by the addition of hydrogen peroxide.
I've spent 30 years of my professional career working with dissolved
oxygen sensors, and know quite well the physics of oxygen solubility
in water under various conditions of temperature and pressure.
The 'oxygenated water' claims are a total scam. Their credibility is
absolute zero.
Even if you drank water that was supersaturated with oxygen, it would
not provide oxygen to your muscles. The lungs transmit oxygen to the
blood; the stomach does not."
UltRunR: Oxygenated Water
http://www.ultrunr.com/ox-water.html
"The scientific research behind oxygenated water -- a product growing
in popularity throughout the country - leaves much to be desired,
according to the latest issue of the Georgia Tech Sports Medicine &
Performance Newsletter.
According to Jim Brown, Ph.D. and executive editor of the newsletter,
a 1997 study conducted at a university in Texas became the basis for
one of the latest in commercial sports-performance products. The
concept of using oxygenated water - also called oxygenized water -- to
enhance athletic performance caught on after the study?s release.
However, the study was seriously flawed, Brown writes.
The study?s sample was small (20 men, 5 women), the methods were
suspect (no measure of whether the water actually delivered oxygen to
the blood), and the premise itself had no scientific basis, according
to Brown. Nevertheless, the author and the manufacturer concluded the
'oxygen-enhanced sports drink improved athletic performance,' and off
to market they went, he writes.
Howard Knuttgen, Ph.D. and editor-in-chief of the Georgia Tech Sports
Medicine & Performance Newsletter, has devoted more than 40 years of
research to sports science and sports medicine. He said oxygen or any
other gas could be forced into water by pressure. An example of this
is the carbon dioxide contained in soft drinks and other carbonated
beverages.
'But when the surrounding pressure is reduced -- as with the opening
of a soft drink bottle -- the gas in the fluid immediately begins to
escape,' he said. 'If some of the oxygen remains in the solution and
follows with the water into the stomach, it will continue to move out
of the solution and could result in an expensive burp.'
Due to the physiology of the human body, oxygenated water doesn?t
offer much more than that, Knuttgen said."
Archived copy of "Oxygenated Water: Fad and Fiction in One Expensive Burp"
http://web.archive.org/web/20030816133251/www.gatech.edu/news-room/archive/news_releases/sports-august2001.html
"There is less dissolved oxygen in 1 liter of 'oxygenated water' than
in 1 breath of air. Taking an extra breath of air when exercising
would be substantially less expensive than paying $1 to $2 for a liter
of these products!...
The structure of the circulatory system ensures that any oxygen picked
up in the digestive system would go through the lungs before reaching
the muscles and other tissues. In the lungs any extra oxygen in the
blood will reduce the amount of oxygen transferred to the blood - the
final oxygen saturation of the hemoglobin would still be 97% to 98%.
Oxygenation has no effect on the body's ability to absorb or transfer the water.
The concept of obtaining significant amounts of oxygen through the
digestive system makes as much scientific and physiological sense as
quenching your thirst by inhaling a glass of water into your lungs."
Cyber-Nook: Evaluating Claims of Altered Water Companies
http://www.cyber-nook.com/water/evaluation.htm
"Researchers found that drinking super oxygenated water had no
measurable effect on the subjects' resting heart rate, blood pressure
or blood lactate values. Similarly, there was no effect on heart rate,
blood pressure or blood lactate values during either the sub-maximal
or maximal exercise tests.
A second maximal test was conducted immediately following the first
test to investigate the effects of super oxygenated water on exercise
recovery. If additional oxygen had, in fact, been absorbed in the
blood stream and delivered to the tissues, there should have been
measurable reductions in sub-maximal exercise heart rates and blood
lactate values, and increases in maximal oxygen consumption during the
second test. Apparently, the blood oxygenation levels were either not
elevated at all or not elevated sufficiently to affect oxygen delivery
to the tissues or tissue metabolism...
At this time, there is no scientific evidence or logical rationale to
suggest that drinking super oxygenated water can in any way increase
the amount of oxygen in the blood stream. Therefore, any potential
benefits of super oxygenated water would undoubtedly be attributed to
the placebo effect."
American Council on Exercise: Drinkable Oxygen?
http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/waterstudy.aspx
This added-oxygen quackery is just one of many watery scams. Here
you'll find an amazing list of pseudoscientific waters:
Gallery of water-related pseudoscience
http://www.chem1.com/CQ/gallery.html
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "oxygenated OR superoxygenated water"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22oxygenated+OR+superoxygenated+water%22
I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
