ONLY Kangen Water by Enagic has the power to Change everything!
This is incredible, Read all about it PLEASE,
Water — a multi-billion dollar industry, is a hot topic as of late. Not surprising considering the contamination problems faced by communities around the world. Many people have turned to bottled water as a solution, but with recent discussions about the health concerns that plastics can cause, some are left looking for new solutions. What if you had a water filter at home that not only resolved your concerns about purity issues, but also managed to improve your health?
In the last 10 years, the North American market has been introduced to a Japanese technology known as the water ionizer. Just Google it, you’ll get thousands of search results, machines which offer you the “best drinking water available today”. The technology? According to the manufacturers, it is a filter plugged into an outlet and attached to the sink. The water is electrolyzed, effectively splitting the water molecule so that you are left with alkaline water coming out of the hose and acidic water on the other end of the machine. That is because the pH levels of the water have been changed, a high pH results in alkaline water, a low pH creates acidic water. There are 14 possible levels for pH, so if a 9.5 alkaline water is desired, a 4.5 acidic water will be created simultaneously, and stored separately in the machine. The benefits of alkaline water? There are plenty of claims, some of them include:
- It slows down the aging process.
- Causes healthy weight loss.
- It boosts the body’s immunity against disease.
- Increases absorption of important vitamins and minerals.
Although there are many machines out there, it is easier to focus in on one. The H2O Report was recently approached by North American dealers of the Enagic LeveLuk SD501. Enagic is a Japanese trademarked company selling several different machines that vary in price. They call their water “Kangen”, a Japanese word that translates to several things, in their case they are referring to “the return to origin.” It first hit the Japanese consumer market in the early seventies, but it only arrived in North America in 2006. The SD501 is their higher end product, costing $3,980.00 USD ($4,000 CAD). The price is justified by its technology, which it says is superior to that of others, because its filter is composed of seven plates made from titanium, coated in platinum. Enagic prides itself in the fact that each machine is made by hand. Water Ionizer Authority.com, an independent consumer review website says the SD501’s technology enables it to alter the water faster than any other machine available on the market.
Leveluk SD501
Not only can this machine alter the pH level of your drinking water to create alkaline water, it can alter the pH to several different levels, they include: strong alkaline, alkaline water (3 levels), clean neutral water, acidic water, and strong acidic water. Its significance? The claims are that different levels of pH water offer new benefits. The strong alkaline water at pH 11.5 can be used as a cleaning product. Claims have been made that it is incorporated into some washing machines in Japan to avoid using detergent — these claims could not be confirmed. The acidic water, at a pH of 4.5 is said to be good for skin care. The highly acidic water, at pH 2.5 is offered as an alternative to disinfecting products and pesticides.
The product is distributed by people using the “human based marketing approach” (multi-level marketing); each owner of a machine has the option of becoming a distributor. For those unfamiliar with the process, the distributor makes a commission from each person they sell to, but also a profit from the commission any of their customers turned distributors make. The sales pitch includes a promotional DVD, which includes a series produced by the Japanese public broadcaster NHK TV, made in 1996. It shows the machine being used by hospitals to cure a variety of ailments such as bedsores and gangrene with the acidic water. The series travels to another province in which a farmer has replaced his pesticides with the acidic water. In another instance a golf course is using the acidic water in lieu of pesticides.
So just how much of a revolution has this caused in Japanese homes? It is advertised as being approved by the Japanese Ministry of Labour Health and Welfare. It is also claimed that that one out of five Japanese households own such a machine. When asked for comment, Tomohiro Uchino, Deputy Director of the International Affairs Division said, “I asked one of my colleagues who is in charge of inspection with medical devices. He says that our Ministry is in charge of inspection with medical devices from the viewpoint of quality, effectiveness, safety and so forth. After the Ministry approves a specific device, it is not concerned in numbers of production or situation in the market and the field. We have no information and data on this matter.”
Upon contacting the Kyowa Hospital, one of the hospitals featured in the television special, Dr. Koji Kusaka, who is hospital staff said Kyowa no longer uses the technology, “Perhaps it was a temporary trend. I think I remember watching those TV commercials; it is a commercialization, this technology. Our government does not authorize this technology, or profit from it” Dr. Kusaka admits that the general population has water ionizers, but he cannot confirm whether it is as prevalent as suggested. Regarding the medical effect, Dr. Kusaka says, “Maybe it has some affect, but the difference is ignorable… the effect might be there. Years ago it was about the water, how to purify our bodies, maybe people jumped to the conclusion that if we are what we eat and drink, a purer water would have a good effect. The commercialization has moved to ionized air now.” According to him, the general population is now interested in creating purer air using ionizing technology. No one from Japan’s agricultural industry was available for comment. But the use of acidic water is no bunk business; it has been discussed by credible academics in prominent journals. At the moment however, it does not appear to be widely practiced. The technology is presently in use by people in the food preparation industry both in Asia and North America.
Thousands of machines have already been sold to people in North America. Monique Duval bought an Enagic SD501 last October. The 76 year-old cosmetology nurse, from Toronto, Canada, heard about it through a former colleague. Duval had acidosis her entire life. “When I was younger I suffered from an ulcer, later I had acid reflux, irritable bowl syndrome, diarrhea; you name it.” Laughing, she says, “My husband referred to me as the Russian army, an old joke from his days on an American military base — I had bad breath all of the time, it was horrible.”
For years she took medication, but upon drinking eight, eight ounce glasses of water everyday, she says by December of that year she went off all medication. She never heard of the technology until it was introduced to her, but had always known that making her water more alkaline by using baking soda had proven effective. Upon being introduced to this option, she decided to give it a try.
Duval continues to drink the water everyday, saying “If we travel in the States or by car, I travel with my machine with me.” Duval says she has been off her medicines for over a year, “I feel comfortable, it’s not just because it’s alkaline, it’s ionized water, it really detoxes your symptoms. I’m really happy.” She has also become a distributor of the machine. Duval says that she no longer uses tonic for her skin, rather she uses medium acidic water at a PH of 4.5. She utilizes her machine for many purposes, “I use the 11.5 PH water to wash all of my vegetables and my fruits before I put them away. My husband and I went away for three weeks, and our vegetables didn’t go bad, my husband said, ‘Look at this, I can’t believe it’ — and he ate them, and they were good! Raspberries around this time of the year usually don’t last long, but I washed them, dried them, and 10 days later we were sitting there eating them with our cereal!”
Around the same time Duval bought the machine, she got the unfortunate news that her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer — she insisted that he start drinking the water as well. As of his last check up Duval says her husband’s prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is down to zero (normal level). When Jean-Claude, her husband, went in for his colonoscopy, Duval says, “The doctor said to me, ‘Your husband had a very good preparation, he is very clean’, my husband and I looked at each other, we knew it was the water.” Of course no doctor has confirmed this.
Such success stories are a plenty, they are found online, and are a part of the company’s promotional DVD: Americans share their stories of pain and suffering, and their now improved health because of the alkaline water. So what do health practitioners have to say about this? Well there is no consensus per se, but it is safe to say most medical doctors (MDs) and naturopathic doctors (NDs) across the board are skeptical. John MacIntosh is an ND, a registered massage therapist (RMT) and the owner of the Natural Pain Therapy Centre in Toronto, “I’ve seen other technologies like this, like footbath machines. They’re claiming that they take [bad] substances out of the body. To tell you the truth, if we’re talking about water electrolysis, and breaking molecules – you can break the H2O into two components. If you apply enough electrical energy to water molecules you can break them.” But here is where his skepticism comes in, “Now the problem is as soon as you turn the power off, the molecules recombine, the negatives will recombine [with the positives] and you’ll end up with plain water again.” He says that even if the two waters were separated, that the atoms tend to recombine anyway, “Really it’s the kind of claim that goes against basic chemistry.”
Most critics concur, when columnist Chris Woolston (aka the Healthy Skeptic) examined the benefits of water ionizers in an article in the LA Times last year, his experts came to the same conclusion. Experts like Thomas Wheeler, a retired professor of biochemistry at the University of Louisville who was quoted in the article saying that not only is it unlikely that the water remains alkaline or acidic, but also that it cannot have an impact on the body because: “The body goes to great lengths to maintain its pH, and there isn’t much you can eat or drink that will change that.” Woolston also points out that a person in search of alkalinity could just “pop a couple of Tums”. MacIntosh adds, “If this is in fact alkaline water, it’s simply replacing one water with another.” Supporters of the machine say that besides the fact that it is alkaline water, electrolyzed water is high in negative oxidization potential: it has the ability to neutralize oxygen free radicals, making the water better. But critics of the technology say it is nothing more than a marketing gimmick.
If the benefits to the human body are doubtful, certainly the water’s effects on cleaning vegetables and fruits are curious. Besides Duval’s testimonial, the company itself uses a specific presentation, in which small tomatoes are dunked into tap water and high alkaline water. Slowly a yellowish tinge appears in both of the waters; the alkaline glass has a more solid and intense yellow hue. Next they prompt their audience to taste the tomatoes — the difference is remarkable, the tomatoes from the alkaline water are succulent, sweet; the others taste drab in comparison. While it is never specifically stated, it is implied that the alkaline water is better at removing chemicals and impurities. It is a captivating presentation, because all of the senses are invited to participate; you see and taste the difference! MacIntosh warns however that there is a very simple explanation for all of this, “If the water [is] truly more alkaline, the surface cells would begin to burst under the attack; they’ll spill their contents. The compounds in the tomatoes will make the water more colourful: the yellowish reddish tinge in the water is probably the carotenes and xanthenes, [compounds] which give the tomatoes the red and yellow tinge in the first place. The flavour will change because of the burst surface cells: there will be more sugar present.” MacIntosh says the water is not necessarily cleaner, and that pesticides are colourless and flavourless anyway. He says at the very least, the water should be analyzed before and after to determine whether or not there is a difference, and what substances are found in it after the fact. But MacIntosh is not entirely against the machine. “We know it can’t work that way, but we don’t know why people get better. Nature has not revealed to us all of its secrets.”
Perhaps the greatest problem is that this machine relies on word of mouth marketing, and despite its prestigious endorsements and articles outlining chemical formulas, it is difficult for the average consumer to comprehend or contend with. In turn it becomes a confidence game; do you trust your salesperson; the video you’re watching on the screen; the certificates you’re reading; the accreditations: are they legitimate? Trust might be especially hard to gain or give, as increasingly there is concurrency between medical and naturopathic doctors, an increasing distrust in governments and bottom line companies. It all boils down to epistemology: how we know what we know. To a degree everything in our societies might in fact rely on trust, but why should the consumer risk spending thousands of dollars? Apparently the results speak for themselves. But just in case, it would certainly help if there were in fact large scale third-party clinical trials performed in different locations, using a variety of samples at different times. Despite the fact that these trials are often deemed fixed, without a wide range of support from healthcare professionals, consumers are left to fend for themselves, and let’s face it— some people probably don’t even know what pH stands for (potential hydrogen).
Have a Waterful Holiday and a Positive Waterful New Year!
Wishing you wellness!
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