The Bottom Line

My conclusion is that there is no reputable evidence that any of the specific physical, chemical or health claims made by manufacturers of water ionizers or their proponents have been (or can be) validated by well conducted, controlled and blinded experimental studies. The few human studies on specific cures mentioned in the references were apparently not published.  The main take-away point of this analysis of 'evidence' is: the entire alkaline water industry is founded on uncontrolled testimonials and a few published studies that do not even address the fundamental claims that drinking alkaline water can alter blood or cellular pH, provide antioxidant protection or provide any other specific, measurable health benefits.  There are even some published studies that demonstrate negative health effects of drinking alkaline water.
Claim: Alkaline water has smaller water clusters that dissolve substances better and is absorbed into the body better than tap water - increasing hydration and health.
> There is no evidence to support the claim that water has any sort of a stable cluster size
> or if it did, that water electrolysis could actually make the clusters smaller
> or if it could, that the smaller clusters could survive the digestive system
> or if the hypothetical smaller clusters could survive the digestive system they would be absorbed better than regular size clusters
> or that smaller clusters (if they existed) could have any effect on cellular metabolism that was different from regular water
Note the many layers of improbability in this claim of smaller water clusters and health - there is no evidence that any part of this claim is true.
Claim: Drinking alkaline water increases the pH of the body and that benefits health.
> There is no evidence to support the claim that the alkalinity survives the acidity of the stomach, the alkalinization of the small intestine and absorption into the bloodstream or survives the normal buffering ability of the blood (and the normal ability of the body to regulate pH).  There is plenty of scientific and medical knowledge to suggest that the alkaline water is simply neutralized.
> There is no evidence to support the claim that artificially increasing the blood or cellular pH would actually be beneficial to health and considerable evidence that if these claims were true, alkaline water would actually be harmful to health.
  Claim: Even though the alkalinity may be neutralized by the stomach, bicarbonate is released into the bloodstream during the process - that alkalizes the blood, and that is good for health.
> There is no evidence to support the claim that the relatively minute amount of bicarbonate released into the bloodstream in response to the stomach's production of HCl would have any effect on the body.
  There is no evidence to support the claim that any of the results of the in vitro (test tube) studies described have any bearing on human health effects, and no theories are provided to describe how the alleged in vitro effects would even be possible to reproduce in vivo (in the body).
  There is no legitimate evidence from any of the results of the few in vivo (tested on living organisms) studies described to support claims that drinking alkaline water can provide any of the human health benefits used in marketing promotions and testimonials.  And no theories are provided to describe how the alleged in vitro effects that are described could even occur in the body - specific mechanisms to explain how the OH- ion (or any other characteristic of alkaline water) could actually get to cells and change cellular metabolism don't exist.
Note: High quality scientific experiments are very difficult to design and conduct in a manner that minimizes the effects of bias and wishful thinking. Conversely, it is very easy to design an �experiment� that will produce results that seem to support a favored theory and will look reasonable to those who are not familiar with all the potential pitfalls that can derail even well designed and conducted experiments. 

Coincidently, over the last few years there has been a significant increase in so-called scientific journals that will publish (and provide respectability to) any research paper that pays the required fee - without any traditional peer (qualified & unbiased) review process to ensure that there is some legitimacy to the conclusions. 

These are called predatory journals, and many are so-called open-access.  The ease and low cost of publishing on the Internet vs. printed journals that are expensive to produce and distribute is one of the primary reasons for this plague.  This is a problem for legitimate scientists, and many have been scammed into paying for publication in a worthless journal.  It is perhaps even more dangerous for non-scientists trying to understand a claim that has been made for a product or service they are interested in. 

Today, unfortunately, pseudoscientific scam artists can publish what looks like supporting evidence for their claims in what look like legitimate scientific journals.  Search on Bogus Scientific Journals to get additional information on this phenomenon.

Introduction & Summary

This page is an analysis of the reference documents and links to published papers I received in response to my challenge on Joseph Mercola's alkaline water article of 9/11/2010.  I publically disputed the statement of one poster who claimed to have a 2 inch stack of published, scientific evidence to support health claims for drinking alkaline water and asked him to provide me with the evidence so I could evaluate it.  Most recent update, 2/23/15.

Although I specifically requested "good scientific evidence to support alkaline water claims" I received many submissions that consisted only of testimonials, restatements of the claims without any supporting evidence and/or links to published articles about the disinfecting properties of acid ionized water (bleach), which is not the same as alkaline water. 

After reviewing all the material I was sent and discarding all that contained only testimonials, duplicate references, unsupported claims or claims related to sanitizing effects of acid water, I was left with:

a)  three documents that contain descriptions of studies purporting to support alkaline water claims (documents labeled A, B, and C).
b)  links to 31 more or less relevant articles published in journals that can be referenced through the National Library of Medicine (document links labeled P).
c) results of my home oxidation experiment.
d) five miscellaneous documents that contained unique alkaline water claims (documents D, E, F, G and H).
e) a paper that summarized of most of the claims that are made for alkaline water (document I).
f) A web page optimistically titled Cancer research: Alklaine Water (Electrolyzed Reduced Water) 6 recent abstracts (documents labeled J)

g)

A marketing document from Life Ionizers (labeled K)
h) Studies that demonstrate negative health effects of alkaline water.
  The summary information above and details below were updated 11/24/2013.

The documents and published papers I received are listed below with links to the original papers.  I discuss the physical, chemical and specific health claims about alkaline water and the role of uncontrolled testimonials on this page.

Uncontrolled testimonials do not count as supporting evidence for a theory, no matter how compelling they might be, because there are too many alternate explanations for a given observation.  Thus, testimonials can never establish a cause and effect relationship between drinking alkaline water and health - yet they are commonly used because a good story can be very persuasive. 

Companies that sell ionizers often use testimonials to suggest that alkaline water cures or helps treat cancer, diabetes or other diseases.  This bypasses FDA regulations that prevent making direct claims about curing specific diseases.

I reviewed contents of the documents and published papers listed below, provided a comment on each piece of 'evidence', and provided links to their source documents.  As you can see, several of the reference documents contain many of the same articles.

It must be mentioned up front that it is not the job of scientists to disprove the novel beliefs proposed to explain how alkaline water might work that fall outside limits of accepted scientific theory or to disprove various health claims. 

It is the sole responsibility of those who propose a new theory or make health claims to provide good supporting evidence for their claims.  Evidence to support the claims must be be reproducible by anyone anywhere at any time and not be the product of experiments designed and carried out only by those who develop, manufacture or sell the product.

It takes time and effort to try and reproduce experimental results not to mention assembling these pages.  A skeptic may be reluctant to devote time, resources and energy to providing experimental evidence that counters a claim they know to be without any scientific credibility.  Except for the potential value of convincing others of deceptive marketing practices it is a waste of time.  I am pleased to say, however, that I have been responsible for convincing a number of people not to waste their money on alkaline water and similar products, and my goal is to reach as many people as possible with this message. 

I first saw the anti-oxidant, rusting nail experiment described below in September, 2010.  I suspected at the time that the experiment did not prove anything about benefits of alkaline water, but it was not until six months later that I finally got around to conducting what amounts to a simple experiment to prove one of my suspicions.

Alkaline Water Tap Water

Alkaline Water and Antioxidant Claims

 My Treated Water Tap Water



Kangen Rusting Nail Experiment
The original link to this picture is now gone, but there are others - search on: alkaline water rust nails

 So, what about the 'evidence' provided to support claims that "The glass container that has the Kangen water 9.5 pH water will not oxidize the nails, because it is an anti-oxidizing along with some other amazing properties. "When you drink Kangen water, you are taking care of the insides and literally slowing down the effects of the aging process as well as flushing out acids and damaging free radicals."?  After all, who would want to drink tap water that does this to nails, and who wouldn't want to slow down aging?  I performed a little experiment with tap water to protect nails from rusting - and I did NOT use alkaline water.  Click here to see my results.



My Rusting Nail Experiment

This summarizes my observations after tracking down and reviewing all of the evidence I could find about alleged health benefits of drinking Alkaline Water.
1) Many of the articles and study results provided were about the disinfecting properties of so-called acid water and not relevant to the proof of alkaline water claims.  Most of these I discarded but some were in the summary documents and mentioned below.
2) Several articles from reputable scientific sources have absolutely nothing to do with alkaline water.  They are apparently included in the summary articles to demonstrate that proper hydration or eating a specific diet is important and to lend credibility to the rest of the 'evidence'.
3) There were references to about 31 articles (reviewed below) that were published in journals which can be referenced by PubMed.  Nine papers were in vitro studies (in glass  - in an artificial environment outside the living organism).  The in vitro studies do not demonstrate or explain any mechanism whereby drinking alkaline water can have any effect on the whole organism (in vivo).  Results from in vitro studies do not necessarily demonstrate anything useful about the effect of alkaline water in the body.  As an example, one can easily show that body cells placed in distilled water (or tap water) will rupture and die, but that does not mean that drinking distilled (or tap) water will kill you. Twelve papers were not in vitro studies, but none of those appeared to be blinded and none provided any mechanism to explain how a health effect might be produced.  It is important to remember that there is no evidence that the any of the characteristics of alkaline water can have an effect on the blood pH or composition let alone the environment within the body's cells.  I left 6 other articles in the discussion as examples of the quality of evidence provided, although they either had nothing to do with health effects of electrolyzed, ionized water or were studies on the disinfection properties of acid water. 
4) Many of the studies that are listed as proof of the health effects of alkaline water have not been published in scientific journals available through PubMed.  Unfortunately, there is no law against conducting a study to support your theory and presenting it as scientific proof even though it might have been designed, conducted, &/or analyzed so poorly that the results demonstrate nothing.
5) One references lists a bunch of books that mention alkaline water.  Note: a book or Internet author can say and publish just about anything as fact without providing acceptable scientific proof.  One need go no further than Emoto's work on water crystals to find evidence of fiction published as fact (my analysis of Emoto's work).
6) Some of the references in the summary papers appear to be testimonials that make various astounding health claims.  Evidence they have been published in peer reviewed journals is lacking.
7) As mentioned above, references D - K are included because they provide a novel twist on the available 'evidence'. 

My conclusion is that none of these references provides any recognized scientific proof for the health claims made for alkaline water.  Click the Analysis Tab for a review of each paper

Analysis of Supporting Evidence

A 2016 Systematic review of the association between dietary acid load, alkaline water and cancer concluded:
RESULTS: 8278 citations were identified, and 252 abstracts were reviewed; 1 study met the inclusion criteria and was included in this systematic review. No randomised trials were located. No studies were located that examined dietary acid or alkaline or alkaline water for cancer treatment. The included study was a cohort study with a low risk of bias. This study revealed no association between the diet acid load with bladder cancer.  No association was found even among long-term smokers.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite the promotion of the alkaline diet and alkaline water by the media and salespeople, there is almost no actual research to either support or disprove these ideas. This systematic review of the literature revealed a lack of evidence for or against diet acid load and/or alkaline water for the initiation or treatment of cancer. Promotion of alkaline diet and alkaline water to the public for cancer prevention or treatment is not justified. (Fenton T and Huang T, BMJ Open. 2016 Jun 13;6(6):e010438.
 
Below are the references I was provided after weeding out duplicates and most of the irrelevant content.  I left some of the irrelevant content in the discussion as an example of the stuff one has to wade through to evaluate the ionized water claims.  Below the references is a listing of the more-or-less relevant evidence, links to the original documents and publications, and my analysis of the evidence.
A) Medical research studies of the effects of ionized water B) Scientific studies of the effects of ionized water
C) Eniac Studies.pdf (Kangen Water Proof Book, 116 pages) D) Research results for alkaline ionized water
E) Ray Kurzweil & Alkaline Water  F) Understanding Alkaline Ionized Water
G) Eat Drink and Be Well E-Book H) 1995 Function Water Symposium
I) Kangen Water Change your water, Change your life  J) Cancer related claims
L) Studies showing negative health effects P) PubMed articles
Reference documents where the article is found
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22844861 - Potential benefits of pH 8.8 alkaline drinking water as an adjunct in the treatment of reflux disease.  (Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2012 Jul;121(7):431-4)  Unlike conventional drinking water, pH 8.8 alkaline water instantly denatures pepsin, rendering it permanently inactive. In addition, it has good acid-buffering capacity. Thus, the consumption of alkaline water may have therapeutic benefits for patients with reflux disease. The title and conclusion do not disclose that the alkalinity was from artesian well water that contained natural bicarbonate (pH 8.8).  This is not the same as the unbuffered alkaline water derived from water ionizers.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23936808 - Investigating mechanisms of alkalinization for reducing primary breast tumor invasion. (Biomed Res Int. 2013;2013:485196. doi: 10.1155/2013/485196. Epub 2013 Jul 10.)  Tumor-bearing mice maintained on sodium bicarbonate drinking water exhibit fewer metastases and survive longer than untreated controls. The title is misleading in the context of alkaline water health benefits, because the alkalinity was caused by bicarbonate, and unlike alkaline water, is able to buffer (manage) the acidity of the stomach.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23959012 - Full article - Electrolyzed-reduced water increases resistance to oxidative stress, fertility, and lifespan via insulin/IGF-1-like signal in C. elegans. (Biol. Res. vol.46 no.2 Santiago 2013)  These findings suggest that ERW can extend lifespan without accompanying reduced fertility and modulate resistance to oxidative stress and lifespan via insulin/IGF-1-like signal in C. elegans.  I suppose if you were a small, soil-dwelling 1 mm round worm it might be useful to know that ERW could extend your life.  The paper was detailed, but there was no mention of blinding.  In an experiment where bias of the researchers is obvious, it is always a best practice to double blind the experiment so the researcher's bias can't skew the results.  Even if this study is confirmed with blinded studies, there is no reason to expect that any ERW effects on round worms could translate to an effect in humans.  Another issue is that the control was distilled water which contains no dissolved ions and can have a different osmotic effect than ERW water potentially dehydrating the worms.  There is no possible extension of these results to humans.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21737933 - Mechanism of the lifespan extension of Caenorhabditis elegans by electrolyzed reduced water--participation of Pt nanoparticles. (Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2011;75(7):1295-9)  I suppose if you were a small, soil-dwelling round worm it might be valuable to know that platinum nanoparticles could extend your life.  The abstract made no mention of the effect of alkalinity or pH, and apparently the increased concentration of molecular hydrogen didn't have any effect.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3285010 - The neuroprotective effects of electrolyzed reduced water and its model water containing molecular hydrogen and Pt nanoparticles. (BMC Proc. 2011; 5 (Suppl 8): P69) 
Results: ERW significantly reduced the cell death [of several kinds of neural cells] induced by H2O2pretreatment. ERW also scavenged the intracellular ROS and prevented the decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP production induced by ROS. We also examined the neuroprotective effects of molecular hydrogen and Pt NPs and showed that both molecular hydrogen and Pt NPs contributed to the neuroprotective effects of ERW.
Conclusion: The results suggest that ERW is beneficial for the prevention and alleviation of oxidative stress-induced human neurodegenerative diseases. There are several problems with this study � First, it is an in vitro study, and like all of the other in vitro experiments described, there is no mechanism proposed that can explain how the effects seen in a culture dish can possibly have the same effects in the body.  As pointed out elsewhere, it is highly unlikely that the characteristics of the experimental solution (molecular hydrogen, platinum nanoparticles and OH<--font size="4">-<--/font> ions) can be duplicated in the brain.  Second, this research was reported at a meeting which typically has less stringent review processes than is employed for publication in a high-quality peer reviewed journal.  Third, the study does not appear to be blinded to reduce the potential of bias in methodology, data collection and analysis.  The conclusion is extremely optimistic given the limitations of the study.		  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3080478 - Suppressive effects of electrolyzed reduced water on alloxan-induced apoptosis and type 1 diabetes mellitus. (Cytotechnology. 2011 March; 63(2): 119�131) Electrolyzed reduced water, which is capable of scavenging reactive oxygen species, is attracting recent attention because it has shown improved efficacy against several types of diseases including diabetes mellitus. Alloxan produces reactive oxygen species and causes type 1 diabetes mellitus in experimental animals by irreversible oxidative damage to insulin-producing β-cells. Here, we showed that electrolyzed reduced water prevented alloxan-induced DNA fragmentation and the production of cells in sub-G1 phase in HIT-T15 pancreatic β-cells. Blood glucose levels in alloxan-induced type 1 diabetes model mice were also significantly suppressed by feeding the mice with electrolyzed reduced water. These results suggest that electrolyzed reduced water can prevent apoptosis of pancreatic β-cells and the development of symptoms in type 1 diabetes model mice by alleviating the alloxan-derived generation of reactive oxygen species.  This is an interesting study and important if it could be validated.  The problems I see with this study is: 1) it is not blinded; 2) there is no mechanism described on how the properties of ERW could be preserved through the digestive system, absorption, incorporation into the blood plasma or transfer into the cells; 3) Nothing to indicate that ERW would behave any differently than water alkalized with NaOH or other base.  These are important claims, and if this research were persuasive, other research groups should be anxious to duplicate, validate and expand on this study.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19887722 - Electrolyzed-reduced water inhibits acute ethanol-induced hangovers in Sprague-Dawley rats. (Biomed Res. 2009 Oct;30 (5):263-9)  There are at least two problems with this study � 1) it is not blinded and 2) one of the controls should have been NaOH at the equivalent pH as the alkaline water, since presumably the whole point of the experiment is to see if ERW has special properties that are different from water made alkaline by the addition of regular sodium hydroxide � or whatever mineral ion is in the reduced water.  P

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19477216 - Hepatoprotective effect of electrolyzed reduced water against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage in mice. (Chem Toxicol. 2009 Aug;47(8):2031-6)  I don�t see anything in the abstract that indicates how the experiment was performed � i.e. when the alkaline water and carbon tetrachloride were administered � together, separately, or mixed.  The study also does not appear to be blinded, and there is no CCl(4)+NaOH control group listed.

  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12857518 - Effect of electrolyzed oxidizing water and hydrocolloid occlusive dressings on excised burn-wounds in rats.  (Chin J Traumatol. 2003 Aug;6(4):234-7)  The study does not appear to be blinded.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19252295 - The immunological effects of electrolyzed reduced water on the Echinostoma hortense infection in C57BL/6 mice. (Biol Pharm Bull. 2009 Mar;32(3):456-62)  "These results indicate that feeding ERW may have influence on the local immune response (Th-1 type cytokines such as IL-1b , TNF-a) in the small intestine but not on the systemic immune response. In association with the in vivo effect of ERW, we examined the effect of ERW on the activation of Th1 and Th2 cytokines, the expression of goblet cells, and worm expulsion from the aspect of immunology after infecting C57BL/6 mice with E. hortense."  The study does not appear to be blinded, There was no indication which mineral ions were in the ERW, and no comparison of ERW with water alkalized by NaOH or other base.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18175936 - Inhibitory effect of electrolyzed reduced water on tumor angiogenesis. (Biol Pharm Bull. 2008 Jan;31(1):19-26) "Taken together, we demonstrated here for the first time that ERW can suppress angiogenesis induced by A549 cells through down-regulating both H2O2 release and VEGF expression. Moreover, our study suggested that ERK MAPK plays a critical role in regulating VEGF expression in A549 cells, and that inhibition of VEGF by ERW partially correlated with inactivation of ERK MAPK."  An elaborate theory was proposed to explain the results: "The mechanism underlying how ERW effectively scavenges intracellular H2O remains to be clarified in more detail. ERW contains a high concentration of hydrogen molecule, however, hydrogen molecule is chemically inert at room temperature. In an attempt to overcome this challenging problem, Shirahata et al. proposed an active hydrogen hypothesis of reduced water in which active hydrogen with a high reducing potential was produced in ERW by electrolysis and played a key role in scavenging ROS. Active hydrogen can be produced from hydrogen molecule by catalysis action of noble metal nanoparticles like platinum nanoparticles. Transition metal nanoparticles such as Pd, Pt, Ni, and Cu are produced during the process of electrolysis. Platinum nanoparticles have also been demonstrated to adsorb active hydrogen. Synthetic platinum nanoparticles were shown to scavenge superoxide radicals. There is a possibility that platinum nanoparticles derived from platinum-coated titanium electrode used here during electrolysis and metal nanoparticls of 1�10 nm size can stably exist in solution for a long time. Taken together, here we propose a new hypothesis of reduced water containing metal nanoparticles and hydrogen molecule as follows: (1) Electrolysis produces active hydrogen on the cathodic platinum electrode and hypersaturated hydrogen molecule in ERW. (2) Metal ions in the solution are reduced to metal nanoparticles on the electrode or in hydrogen-rich ERW. (3) Transition metal nanoparticles with low ionic tendencies adsorbed or absorbed active hydrogen can exist stably in ERW but other metal nanoparticles with high ionic tendencies such as Na and K disappear in ERW soon. (4) Hydrogen molecule is constantly converted to active hydrogen, which can scavenge ROS, by the catalysis of metal nanoparticles. Some kinds of metal nanoparticles like platinum nanoparticles can also directly scavenge ROS without hydrogen molecule."  This was an in vitro study published in 2008.  The study did not appear to be blinded, and even though the study concluded that ERW suppressed angiogenesis in a "test tube" study, the explanation provided did not mention how any of the functional hypotheses that were proposed might survive the digestive/absorptive processes and interactions with the intra and extracellular buffer systems to produce an effect in an intact organism.  In addition the ERW contained 7.9 mg/l NA+, 2.25 mg/l K+, 11.9 mg/l Mg+, 4.0 mg/l Cl-, 4.8 mg/l NO3-, and 69.9 mg/l SO42-. The article did not describe how these ions might have contributed to the observed effects when ERW (containing various ions) was compared to other solutions (which apparently did not contain these ions).  It is impossible to draw useful conclusions with so many unexplained variables.  P, C (p.13-20)
 & J
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19527469 - Ionized alkaline water: new strategy for management of metabolic acidosis in experimental animals. (Ther Apher Dial. 2009 Jun;13(3):220-4) The appropriate treatment of acute metabolic acidosis has been very controversial. Ionized alkaline water was not evaluated in such groups of patients in spite of its safety and reported benefits. So, we aimed to assess its efficacy in the management of metabolic acidosis in animal models... Alkaline ionized water can be considered as a major safe strategy in the management of metabolic acidosis secondary to renal failure or dialysis or urinary diversion. Human studies are indicated in the near future to confirm this issue in humans.   This study does not appear to be blinded, and the researchers have an obvious bias that alkaline water is effective.  However, the study seems to be reputable, and if results were duplicated in other, blinded animal experiments or in blinded human trials, reliable evidence of a health benefit of alkaline water could be produced.  In April, 2017 (8 years after this experiment) I searched for follow-up studies on this subject and was unable to find anything.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19003049 - Electrolyzed Reduced Water Supplemented with Platinum Nanoparticles Suppresses Promotion of Two-stage Cell Transformation. (Cytotechnology. 2005 Jan;47(1-3):97-105) "ERW contains a high concentration of dissolved hydrogen and scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS), along with a small amount of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles (Pt nps) derived from Pt-coated titanium electrodes. Pt nps stably disperse in aqueous solution for a long time, and convert hydrogen molecules to active hydrogen (atomic hydrogen) that can scavenge ROS. Therefore, ERW supplemented with synthesized Pt nps is a model strong reduced water. ...ERW supplemented with Pt nps suppressed transformation at the promoter stage, not at initiation, suggesting that ERW supplemented with Pt nps suppressed the PMA-induced augmentation of intracellular ROS. ERW supplemented with Pt nps is a potential new antioxidant against carcinogenesis."  This was another in vitro study.  From the abstract it did not appear there was a mechanism proposed that would show how in vitro results would work in vivo.  There would need to be some explanation on how the platinum nanoparticles and H2 could enter the blood stream and form atomic hydrogen to act as an "antioxidant against carcinogenesis".  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16244454 - Electrolyzed Hydrogen-Saturated Water for Drinking Use Elicits an Antioxidative Effect: A Feeding Test with Rats. (Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2005 Oct;69(10):1985-7) "A new type of electrolyzed hydrogen-saturated (EHS) water was produced using a water-electrolyzing device equipped with a special cation exchanger. ...These results suggest the possibility that this drinking water shows an effect in reduction of oxidative stress in the body."  Full Article
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20815764 - Recent advances in hydrogen research as a therapeutic medical gas. (Free Radic Res. 2010 Sep;44(9):971-82)  I don't have enough information yet to completely evaluate these studies/claims.  It appears that the first study evaluated the health effect of dissolved hydrogen gas produced at the cathode along with the alkaline water.  The first study, however, did not appear to be blinded.  There appear to be some published studies (which I have not evaluated) about therapeutic effects of breathing Hydrogen gas.  As with the other claims made about alkaline water, there is no mechanism proposed to demonstrate how relatively minute amount of ingested hydrogen gas would be absorbed, go through the lungs without attaining atmospheric equilibration, and have any effect in the arterial blood.  		 P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20203135 - Biological safety of neutral-pH hydrogen-enriched electrolyzed water upon mutagenicity, genotoxicity and subchronic oral toxicity. (Toxicol Ind Health. 2010 May;26(4):203-16)  Thank goodness Hydrogen-enriched water doesn't appear to be toxic.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19202298 - Enhanced induction of mitochondrial damage and apoptosis {cell death} in human leukemia HL-60 cells due to electrolyzed-reduced water and glutathione. (Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2009 Feb;73(2):280-7)  "These results suggest that ERW is an antioxidant, and that ERW, in combination with GSH, has an enhanced apoptosis-inducing effect on HL-60 cells, which might be mediated through the mitochondria-dependent pathway." This was another in vitro study.  From the abstract it did not appear the study was blinded, nor did there appear to be a comparison of EW vs. water alkalinized by NaOH, nor did there seem to be a mechanism proposed that would show how in vitro results would work in vivo.  According to this study, all you need to do is extract all the leukemia HL-60 cells from a patient and expose them to ERW to effect a cure.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17576297 - Less-oxidative hemodialysis solution rendered by cathode-side application of electrolyzed water. (Hemodial Int. 2007 Jul;11(3):322-7)  "Electrolyzed water (EW) generated on the cathode side reportedly displays anti-oxidative properties, and application of EW to hemodialysis (HD) systems supposedly suppresses oxidative markers in patients on HD. ...These results appear to offer a scientific basis for supporting the clinical challenge of applying this technology to HD treatment." This was another in vitro study.  From the abstract it did not appear the study was blinded, nor did there appear to be a comparison of EW vs. water alkalinized by NaOH, nor did there seem to be a mechanism proposed that would show how in vitro results would work in vivo.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17159237 - Electrolyzed-reduced water protects against oxidative damage to DNA, RNA, and protein.  (Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2006 Nov;135(2):133-44)  "Enhancement of the antioxidant activity of ascorbic acid dissolved in electrolyzed-reduced water was about threefold that of ascorbic acid dissolved in nonelectrolyzed deionized water, as measured by a xanthine-xanthine oxidase superoxide scavenging assay system, suggesting an inhibitory effect of electrolyzedreduced water on the oxidation of ascorbic acid."  This was another in vitro, non-blinded study.  The study apparently did not compare ascorbic acid dissolved in E-RW with ascorbic acid dissolved in water adjusted to the same pH by NaOH as a control.  Also no mention of how effects measured in vitro would work in vivo.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16760903 - Electrolyzed-reduced water reduced hemodialysis-induced erythrocyte impairment in end-stage renal disease patients.  (Kidney Int. 2006 Jul;70(2):391-8)  "Forty-three patients undergoing chronic HD were enrolled and received ERW administration for 6 month. ...In conclusion, ERW treatment administration is effective in palliating HD-evoked oxidative stress, as indicated by lipid peroxidation, hemolysis, and overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines in HD patients."  Same authors as 2003 study below.  There was still not enough information in the abstract to evaluate this study.  This would have been a good opportunity to conduct a double-blinded clinical trial, but there is no evidence of blinding.  P & C (p.91)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12846769 - Reduced hemodialysis-induced oxidative stress in end-stage renal disease patients by electrolyzed reduced water. (Kidney Int. 2003 Aug;64(2):704-14, same authors as above)  There was not enough information to evaluate this study.  This would have been a good opportunity to conduct a double-blinded clinical trial, but there is no evidence of blinding.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11068076 - Cola beverage consumption induces bone mineralization reduction in ovariectomized rats.  This reference may have been sent in error - it has nothing to do with alkaline water.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19954569 - Postgraduate Symposium: Positive influence of nutritional alkalinity on bone health.  (Proc Nutr Soc. 2010 Feb;69(1):166-73) "In a further study to complement these findings it has also been shown in a group of thirty young women that in Ca sufficiency an acid Ca-rich water has no effect on bone resorption, while an alkaline bicarbonate-rich water leads to a decrease in both serum parathyroid hormone and serum C-telopeptide." I have no idea why this reference was sent either.  Nothing in the abstract talked about electrolyzed alkaline water.  The one reference to alkaline bicarbonate water seems irrelevant to the alkaline water discussion.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19546159 - Acrylonitrile-induced oxidative stress and oxidative DNA damage in male Sprague-Dawley rats. "Studies have demonstrated that the induction of oxidative stress may be involved in brain tumor induction in rats by acrylonitrile. The present study examined whether acrylonitrile induces oxidative stress and DNA damage in rats..." This study also has no direct bearing on health effects of alkaline water.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19065312 - Effect of several electrolyzed waters on the skin permeation of lidocaine, benzoic Acid, and isosorbide mononitrate. (Drug Dev Ind Pharm. 2009 Feb;35(2):145-53) "The effects of several electrolyzed waters were evaluated on the permeation of model base, acid and non-ionized compounds, lidocaine (LC), benzoic acid (BA), and isosorbide mononitrate (ISMN), respectively, through excised hairless rat skin. The present results strongly support that electrolyzed waters, ERW and EOW, can be used as a new vehicle in topical pharmaceuticals or cosmetics to modify the skin permeation of drugs without severe skin damage.."  Interesting, but again this has no bearing on health effects of DRINKING alkaline water.  Also there is no reason to believe that electrolyzed water is any better at aiding permeation of drugs through the skin than alkaline or acid water created by adding sodium hydroxide or a weak acid directly to the water.  P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15617863 - Selective stimulation of the growth of anaerobic microflora in the human intestinal tract by electrolyzed reducing water. (Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(3):543-6)  "Evidence is presented in favour of the hypothesis that the primary target for electrolyzed reducing water is the residential microflora in the gut." It appears this may be a review article.  There is not enough information in the abstract to determine whether ERW is different from water alkalized with NaOH or how the reduced water could survive to the lower gut where the microflora reside.  If alkaline/ERW water can have some effect on the gut microflora, that might translate to actual health effects.  It is not obvious, though, how the OH- ion from a relatively unbuffered solution can survive the digestive system - which adjusts pH automatically at various locations - and have any effect on bacteria in the colon.  P

Acid-Alkaline Balance: Role in Chronic Disease and Detoxification (pages 2-5)
There is no mention whatever of alkaline water in this paper.

  C (p.2-5)
Anticancer Effect of Alkaline Reduced Water (pages 6-8)  "...Recently, magnesium was shown to be effective for the prevention of various diseases. We cannot exclude the possibility that the magnesium in ARW might have contributed to the anticancer effect." The article does not appear to be published and is not accessible from PubMed, it is not blinded, and there do not seem to be any controls to isolate the potential effect from alkalization by minerals rather than electrolysis or by minerals only.  C (p.6-8)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11121980 - Effect of Electrolyzed Water on Wound Healing. (Artif Organs. 2000 Dec;24(12):984-7)  (pages 9 - 12)  "Electrolyzed water accelerated the healing of full-thickness cutaneous wounds in rats, but only anode chamber water (acid pH or neutralized) was effective.  Hypochlorous acid (HOCl), also produced by electrolysis, was ineffective, suggesting that these types of electrolyzed water enhance wound healing by a mechanism unrelated to the well-known antibacterial action of HOCl. One possibility is that reactive oxygen species, shown to be electron spin resonance spectra present in anode chamber water, might trigger early wound healing through fibroblast migration and proliferation."  Another possibility is bias.  The treatment arms didn't appear to be blinded.  In other words, since the researchers were apparently aware of the treatment method, the rat care, measurements, analysis and conclusions could all have been compromised by bias.  Anyway, this article deals with various specialty 'acid' waters and does not address the claim that drinking alkaline water is beneficial to health. A, B, C
 (p.9-12) & P
Inhibitory effect of electrolyzed reduced water on tumor angiogenesis. (pages 13 - 20)  See discussion elsewhere C (p.13-20) & P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19003114 - Protective mechanism of reduced water against alloxan-induced pancreatic beta-cell damage: Scavenging effect against reactive oxygen species. (Cytotechnology. 2002 Nov;40(1-3):139-49) "These results suggest that RW protects pancreatic beta-cells from alloxan-induced cell damage by preventing alloxan-derived ROS generation. Reduced Water may be useful in preventing alloxan-induced type 1-diabetes mellitus."  This was another in vitro, non-blinded study.  From the abstract it did not appear the study was blinded, nor did there appear to be a comparison of EW vs. water alkalinized by NaOH, nor did there seem to be a mechanism proposed that would show how in vitro results would work in vivo. P & C (p.83)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10473453 - Efficacy of Electrolyzed Oxidizing Water for Inactivating Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella enteritidis, and Listeria monocytogenes. (pages 21- 24)   Acid water - not relevant

C (p.21-24) & P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14871602 - The mechanism of the enhanced antioxidant effects against superoxide anion radicals of reduced water produced by electrolysis (Biophys Chem. 2004 Jan 1;107(1):71-82)  (pages 25 - 36) "We reported that reduced water produced by electrolysis enhanced the antioxidant effects of proton donors such as ascorbic acid (AsA) in a previous paper. We also demonstrated that reduced water produced by electrolysis of 2 mM NaCl solutions did not show antioxidant effects by itself. We reasoned that the enhancement of antioxidant effects may be due to the increase of the ionic product of water as solvent. The ionic product of water (pKw) was estimated by measurements of pH and by a neutralization titration method. As an indicator of oxidative damage, Reactive Oxygen Species- (ROS) mediated DNA strand breaks were measured by the conversion of supercoiled phiX-174 RF I double-strand DNA to open and linear forms.  Reduced water had a tendency to suppress single-strand breakage of DNA induced by reactive oxygen species produced by H2O2yCu (II) and HQyCu (II) systems.  The enhancement of superoxide anion radical dismutation activity can be explained by changes in the ionic product of water in the reduced water."  This is an in vitro study that has nothing to do with the proposed behavior of alkaline water in the body. In other words, the reported observation that alkaline water can �suppress single-strand breakage of DNA� in a test tube does not even remotely translate to how alkaline water might protect DNA within a cell in the body � alkaline water never gets anywhere near the DNA in a cell � it is immediately neutralized in the stomach.  A, B, C
 (p.25-36 & p.78)
 & P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9169001 - Electrolyzed-reduced water scavenges active oxygen species and protects DNA from oxidative damage (pages 37 - 42)  "Active oxygen species or free radicals are considered to cause extensive oxidative damage to biological macromolecules, which brings about a variety of diseases as well as aging. The ideal scavenger for active oxygen should be 'active hydrogen'. 'Active hydrogen' can be produced in reduced water near the cathode during electrolysis of water. Reduced water exhibits high pH, low dissolved oxygen (DO), extremely high dissolved molecular hydrogen (DH), and extremely negative redox potential (RP) values. Strongly electrolyzed-reduced water, as well as ascorbic acid, (+)-catechin and tannic acid, completely scavenged O.-2 produced by the  hypoxanthinexanthine oxidase (HX-XOD) system in sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0)."
In vitro study - no mechanism proposed to explain potential benefits of drinking alkaline water.		 A, B, C
 (p.37-42 & p. 78)
 & P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17268057 - Preservative Effect of Electrolyzed Reduced Water on Pancreatic B-Cell Mass in Diabetic db/db Mice (pages 43 - 45)  "ERW with ROS scavenging ability reduced the blood glucose concentration, increased blood insulin level, improved glucose tolerance and preserved beta-cell mass in db/db mice. The present data suggest that ERW may protects beta-cell damage and would be useful for antidiabetic agent."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16945392 - Anti-diabetic effects of electrolyzed reduced water in streptozotocin-induced and genetic diabetic mice. "ERW, provided as a drinking water, significantly reduced the blood glucose concentration and improved glucose tolerance in both animal models. However, ERW fail to affect blood insulin levels in STZ-diabetic mice whereas blood insulin level was markedly increased in genetically diabetic db/db mice. This improved blood glucose control could result from enhanced insulin sensitivity, as well as increased insulin release. The present data suggest that ERW may function as an orally effective anti-diabetic agent and merit further studies on its precise mechanism."
These are interesting studies and important if they could be validated.  The problems I see with the present studies are 1) they are not blinded; 2) there is no mechanism described on how the properties of ERW could be preserved through the digestive system, absorption, and incorporation into the blood plasma; 3) Nothing to indicate that ERW would behave any differently than water alkalized with NaOH or other base.		 C (p.43-45) & P
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11044205 - Citrate therapy for polycystic kidney disease in rats.  (pages 46-56)  "Data in the present study strongly suggest that the beneficial effect of treatment with KCitr is a consequence of the citrate ion and its oxidation in the body to bicarbonate (alkalinizing effect).  Whether an alkalinizing diet in conjunction with judicious citrate therapy will slow the progression of renal disease in patients with PKD is a question that deserves to be studied."
This is an interesting paper.  The study was conducted by George A. Tanner and Judith A. Tanner and originally published in Kidney International, Vol. 58 (2000), pp. 1859�1869.  Since the paper actually had nothing to do with alkaline water, I was curious why the "Kangen Water Proof Book" reproduced the paper in its entirety and highlighted sections that allegedly supported the benefits of alkaline water.  I wrote to Dr. Tanner to ask him if he had authorized the use of his paper to support alkaline water claims.  He replied with the following comments (reproduced with permission).
Dear Randy,

Thank you for the information. I was not aware that Kangen representatives were citing my Kidney International paper to support claims for a beneficial effect of electrolyzed, alkaline water.

A simple calculation shows that if the pH of water is increased even to an alkaline pH of 10.5, the amount of base (OH-) present is, physiologically speaking, inconsequential. A pH of 10.5 corresponds to an OH- concentration of 10-3.5 moles/liter or 0.3 mEq/liter. The typical acid burden on an average American diet (meat + vegetables) for an adult is about 70 mEq/day. Thus, drinking a liter of electrolyzed, alkalinized water would buffer less than 0.5% of the acid formed by metabolism of foodstuffs and would have an undetectable effect on acid-base status.

Based on my studies in rats, studies of others in experimental animal models, and recent controlled clinical trials (de Brito-Ashurst et al. J Am Soc Nephrol 2009;20:2075�2084 and Phisitkul et al. Kidney Int 2010;77:617�623), there does indeed appear to be a beneficial effect of alkalinizing salts (e.g. sodium or potassium citrate or bicarbonate) in animals and people with various forms of chronic renal disease. The alkali doses administered in these studies are very much larger than can be obtained from electrolyzed water and do have an impact on acid-base balance.

Although I have not researched the topic (as you have done), I am very skeptical of any claims for a beneficial health effect of electrolyzed, alkaline water. My Kidney International study does not support the health claims of the proponents of this treatment.

Sincerely,

George Tanner, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Cellular & Integrative Physiology
Indiana University School of Medicine 		 C (p.46-56)
 & P
There is a lot of overlap with various pieces of 'evidence' from the different sources, and it is difficult to discuss them all without getting tangled up:  The list below deals with pages 57 - 116 of the "Kangen Water Proof Book" (articles on pages 2-56 are discussed above).
Pages 57 - 76 deal with the sanitizing effect of the 'acid' water and have nothing to do with health effects of drinking alkaline water.  Pages 77 - 100 (links below) point to the same articles in other reference documents that are discussed elsewhere in this review.
 Page 77, Page 78, Page 78 - Topics discussed elsewhere.
Page 79 - All about foods, nothing about alkaline water.
Page 80, Page 80 - Topics discussed elsewhere.
Pages 81 - 82: Apparent testimonials about alkaline water and toxin neutralization, eczema, allergies, and digestive problems.
Page 83: Diabetes topic - one unpublished study, one published study, and one testimonial.
Page 84, Page 84, Page 85 - 87, Page 87, Page 87 - 88 - Topics discussed elsewhere. 		 C (p.77-88)
Effect of alkaline ionized water on the formation and maintenance of osseous tissue (pages 88 - 90)  Apparently an unpublished, unblinded study in which mice were fed different amounts of calcium with and without alkaline water.
Also on pages 90 - 91 are a couple of published studies that conclude calcium and magnesium are important minerals (but do not mention alkaline water) and an apparently unpublished, unblinded study on  ionized calcium water.		  C (p.88-91)
Page 91 Electrolyzed-reduced water reduced hemodialysis-induced erythrocyte impairment in end-stage renal disease patients.  ocyte impairment in end-stage renal disease patients.  Discussed elsewhere
Page 92  List of studies similar to discussions elsewhere.
Page 93 (duplicate of p77)icate of p77), Page 94 (duplicate of p78), Page 95 (duplicate of p78),  Pages 96 - 99 deal with sanitizing effects of the acid water - not relevant to the discussion of alkaline water.
Page 99 Discussed elsewhere,  Page 100 Discussed elsewhere,  Page 100 Acid water and plant-related studies.
Pages 100 - 107 cover exactly the same material that's on pages 80 - 85 discussed/linked above. Page 108 covers material discussed here. Pages 109 - 116 duplicate the content of pages 85 - 90.
  C (p.91-90)
Physiological effects of alkaline ionized water: Effects on metabolites produced by intestinal fermentation
 by Takashi Hayakawa, Chicko Tushiya, Hisanori Onoda, Hisayo Ohkouchi, Harul-~to Tsuge (Gifu University, Faculty of Engineering, Dept. of Food Science)
We have found that long-term ingestion of alkaline ionized water (AIW) reduces cecal fermentation in rats that were given highly fermentable commercial diet (MF: Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd.). In this experiment, rats were fed MF and test water (tap water, AIW with pH at 9 and 10) for about 3 months.
Apparently not published in a peer reviewed journal		  A, B & C
 (p.871-88)
American College of Sports Medicine position stand.
Adequate fluid replacement helps maintain hydration and, promotes the health, safety, and optimal physical performance of individuals participating in regular physical activity - Med Sci Sports Exercise - American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement.  fluid replacement helps maintain hydration and, promotes the health, safety, and optimal physical performance of individuals participating in regular physical activity - Med Sci Sports Exercise - American College of Sports
This is just one  example of the problems encountered when trying to analyze alkaline water claims - or other paranormal water claims for that matter.  A perfectly legitimate article that does not even remotely address the product is included in the literature used to support the product.		 A, B & C (p.77)
Comparison of electrolyzed oxidizing water with various antimicrobial interventions to reduce Salmonella species on poultry.
Acid water - not relevant		  A & B
Inactivation of Escherichia coli (O157:H7) and Listeria monocytogenes on plastic kitchen cutting boards by electrolyzed oxidizing water.
Acid water - not relevant		  A & B
The bactericidal effects of electrolyzed oxidizing water on bacterial strains involved in hospital infections.
Acid water - not relevant		  A & B
Effect of electrolyzed oxidizing water and hydrocolloid occlusive dressings on excised burn-wounds in rats.
Acid water - not relevant		  A, B & C
Use of Ionized water in hypochlorhydria or achlorhydria
Prof. Kuninaka Hironage, Head of Kuninaka Hospital
"Too many fats in the diets, which lead to the deposition of cholesterol on the blood vessels, which in turn constrict the blood flow, cause most illnesses such as high blood pressure. In accordance with the theory of Professor Gato of Kyushu University on Vitamin K (because vitamin K enables the blood calcium to increase) , or the consumption of more antioxidant water, the effectiveness of the increase in the calcium in high blood pressure is most significant. The consumption of alkaline antioxidant water for a period of 2 to 3 months, I have observed the blood pressure slowly drop, due to the water's solvent ability, which dissolves the cholesterol in the blood vessels."
Apparently not published in a peer reviewed journal.  No mechanism presented on how the water's "solvent ability" can be altered by drinking alkaline water so it "dissolves the cholesterol in the blood vessels".		  A, B & C
 (p.80)
Decoposition of ethylene, a flower-senescence hormone, with electrolyzed anode water
Biosci Biotechnol Biochem.
Published, but acid water - not relevant		  A & B
Allergies and Ionized Water
Prof. Kuninaka Hironaga, Head of Kuninaka Hospital
"Mr. Yamada, the head of Police Research Institute, suffered from severe allergy. He was treated repeatedly by skin specialist, but with no success. Then he started consuming antioxidant water. The allergy responded very well and was soon completely cured. No relapse had occurred, although he had taken all kinds of food. He was most grateful and excited about this treatment.  I discovered that most allergies are due to acidification of body condition and is also related to consuming too much meat and sugar. In every allergy case, the patient's antioxidant minerals are excessively low which in turn lower the body resistance significantly. The body becomes overly sensitive and develops allergy easily. To stabilize the sensitivity, calcium solution is injected into the vein. Therefore, it is clear that the antioxidant water has ionic calcium, which can help alleviate allergy. The ionic calcium not only enhances the heart, urination, and neutralization of toxins but controls acidity. It also enhances the digestive system and liver function. This will promote natural healing power and hence increase its resistance to allergy. In some special cases of illness, which do not respond to drugs, it is found, it is found to respond well to antioxidant water." only enhances the heart, urination, and neutralization of toxins but controls acidity. It also enhances the digestive system and liver function. This will promote natural healing power and hence increase its resistance to allergy. In some special cases of illness, which do not respond to drugs, it is found, it is found to respond well to antioxidant water."
Apparently not published in a peer reviewed journal - This is a testimonial not a study, and the paper wanders into a discussion about stabilizing allergic sensitivity by injecting a calcium solution which has nothing to do with electrolyzed alkaline water. 		 A, B & C
 (p.82)
Digestive Problems and Ionized Water
Prof. Kogure Keizou, Kogure Clinic of Juntendo Hospital
The important role of antioxidant water in our stomach is to neutralize the secretion and strengthen it s functions. Usually, after consuming the antioxidant water for 1 to 3 minutes, the gastric juice increase to 1� times. For those suffering from hypochlorhydria or achlorhydria (low in gastric juice ) the presence of antioxidant water will stimulate the stomach cells to secrete more gastric juice. This in turn enhances digestion and absorption of minerals. However, on the other hand, those with hyperchlorhydria ( high in gastric juice ), the antioxidant water neutralizes the excessive gastric juice. Hence, it does not create any adverse reaction. According to the medical lecturer from Maeba University, the pH of the gastric secretion will still remain normal when antioxidant water is consumed. This proves that the ability of the antioxidant water is able to neutralize as well as to stimulate the secretion."
Apparently not published in a peer reviewed journal. 		 A, B & C
 (p.82)
Use of Ionized water for gynecological conditions and treatments
Prof. Watanabe Ifao, Watanabe Hospital
"I found that the women with pre-eclamptic toxemia who consumed antioxidant water tend to deliver healthier babies with stronger muscles. A survey report carried out on babies in this group showed intelligence above average."
Wow, pregnant women can just drink alkaline water to deliver stronger, smarter babies!  If this were a valid claim one might reasonably expect that some serious, well designed/executed studies would be available to support it.  Apparently the study has not been published in a peer reviewed journal.  		 A, B & C
 (p.80)
Toxin Neutralization with the Use of Electrolysed Water
Prof. Kuwata Keijiroo, Doctor of Medicine
"In my opinion, the wonder of antioxidant water is the ability neutralizes toxins, but it is not a medicine. The difference is that the medicine can only apply to each and individual case, whereas the antioxidant water can be consumed generally and its neutralizing power is something which is very much unexpected. Now, in brief, let me introduce to you a heart disease case and how it was cured. Last year, in August, his relatives were in despair and expected he would not live much longer. It so happened at that time that the victim's relative came across antioxidant water processor. His illness responded well and he is now on the road to recovery."
Apparently this was not an experimental study (just some observations) and it was not published in a peer reviewed journal.  		  A, B & C
 (p.81)
Eczema and the Effects of Ionized Water
Prof. Tamura Tatsuji, Keifuku Rehabilitation Center
"Eczema is used to describe several varieties of skin conditions, which have a number of common features. The exact cause or causes of eczema are not fully understood. I many cases, eczema can be attributed by external irritants. Let me introduce a patient who recovered from skin disease after consuming the antioxidant water.
Apparently this was not an experimental study (just some observations) and it was not published in a peer reviewed journal.  		  A, B, & C
 (p.81)
Use of Ionized water in treating Acidosis
Prof. Hatori Tasutaroo, Head of Akajiuiji Blood Centre, Yokohama Hospital , Faitama District
The antioxidant water contains an abundance of ionic calcium. This ionic calcium helps in the "burn-off" process. By drinking antioxidant water, it provides sufficient minerals for our body. As a result, we do not need to watch our diet to stay slim.">
Apparently this was not an experimental study (just some observations) and it was not published in a peer reviewed journal.  		  A, B & C
Reduced Water for the Prevention of Disease - Dr.Sanetaka Shirahata
Graduate school of Genetic Resources Technology , Kyushu University
It has long been established that reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause many types of damage to biomolecules and cellular structures that, in turn result in the development of a variety of pathologic states such as diabetes, cancer and aging. Reduced water is defined as antioxidative water produced by reduction of water. Electrolyzed reduced water (ERW) has been demonstrated to be hydrogen-rich water and can scavenge ROS in vitro (Shirahata et al., 1997). The reduction of proton in water to active hydrogen (atomic hydrogen, hydrogen radical) that can scavenge ROS is very easily caused by a weak current, compared to oxidation of hydroxyl ion to oxygen molecule. Activation of water by magnetic field, collision, minerals etc. will also produce reduced water containing active hydrogen and/or hydrogen molecule. Several natural waters such as Hita Tenryosui water drawn from deep underground in Hita city in Japan, Nordenau water in Germany and Tlacote water in Mexico are known to alleviate various diseases.
Apparently this was not an experimental study (just some observations) and it was not published in a peer reviewed journal.  		  A, B & C
 (p.84)
Clinical Improvements Obtained From The Intake Of Reduced Water
Extracts from " Presentation At The Eight Annual International Symposium On man And His Environment in Health And Disease" on February 24th 1990, at The Grand Kempinski Hotel, Dalls, Texas, USA by Dr. H. Hayashi, M.D. and Dr. M Kawamura, M.D.
Since the introduction of alkaline ionic water in our clinic in 1985, we have had the following interesting clinical experiences in the use of this type of water. By the use of alkaline ionic water for drinking and the preparation of meals for our in-patients, we have noticed : � Declines in blood sugar levels in diabetic patients.
- Improvements in gastroduodenal ulcer and prevention of their recurrences.
- Improvements in hypertension and hypotension.
- Improvements in allergic disorders such as asthma, urticaria, rhinites and atopic dermatitis.
- Improvements in persistent diarrhoea which occurred after gastrectomy.
- Quicker improvements in post operative bower paralysis.
- Improvements in serum bilirubin levels in new born babies.
- Decrease in complaints of constipation - a decrease in the production of putrefied or pathogenic metabolites.hma, urtBeing confirming clinical improvements, we have always observed changes of stools of the patients, with the colour of their feaces changing from black-brown colour to a brigher yellowbrown one, and the odour of their feaces becoming almost negligible.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare in Japan announced in 1965 that the intake of reduced water is effective for restoration of intestinal flora metabolism. 
Page 92 of the Kangen Water Proof Book has an expanded list of 'studies' and observations that presumably reference the published and unpublished documents in this collection - no specifics are provided, just topics.  Pages 107 - 108 have the list above.		  A, B & C
Clinical evaluation of alkaline ionized water for abdominal complaints: Placebo controlled double blind tests by Hirokazu Tashiro, Tetsuji Hokudo, Hiromi Ono, Yoshihide Fujiyama, Tadao Baba (National Ohkura Hospital, Dept. of Gastroenterology; Institute of Clinical Research, Shiga University of Medical Science, Second Dept. of Internal Medicine)
The effect of alkaline ionized water on abdominal complaints was evaluated by placebo controlled double blind tests.  Placebo controlled double blind tests were conducted using alkaline ionized water and clean water at multiple facilities. An alkaline ionized water electrolyzer sold commercially was installed with a pump driven calcium dispenser in each of the subject homes. Tested alkaline ionized water had pH at 9.5 and calcium concentration at 30ppm. ...Overall scores of improvement using alkaline ionized water marked higher than those of placebo controlled group, and its effect proved to be significantly higher especially in slight symptoms of chronic diarrhea and abdominal complaints in cases of general malaise. Alkaline ionized water group did not get interrupted in the course of the test, nor did it show serious side effects, nor abnormal test data. It was confirmed that alkaline ionized water is safer and more effective than placebos.
Apparently not published in a peer reviewed journal.  Also, and more important from a study design perspective, the alkaline water contained 30ppm calcium.  Even though there may be a minimal effect, there does not appear to be any control for the calcium content of the alkaline water.     		 A, B & C
  (p.85-86)
Treatment of Escherichia coli (O157:H7) inoculated alfalfa seeds and sprouts with electrolyzed oxidizing water
Acid water - not relevant		  A & B
Diabetes and the Effects of Ionized Water
Prof. Kuwata Keijiroo, Doctor of Medicine
When I was serving in the Fire Insurance Association, I used to examine many diabetic patients. Besides treating them with drugs, I provided them with antioxidant water. After drinking antioxidant water for one month, 15 diabetic  patients were selected and sent to Tokyo University for further test and observations.  Initially, the more serious patients were a bit apprehensive about the treatment. When the antioxidant water was consumed for some time, the sugar in the blood and urine ranged from a ratio of 300 mg/l to 2 mg / dc. There was a  time where the patient had undergone 5 to 6 blood tests a day and detected to be within normal range. Results also showed that even 1 � hour after meals, the blood sugar and urine ratio was 100 mg/dc: 0 mg/dc . The sugar in the urine has completely disappeared.me time, the sugar in the blood and urine ranged from a ratio of 300 mg/l to 2 mg / dc. There was a  time where the patient had undergone 5 to 6 blood tests a day and detected to be within normal range. Results also showed that even 1 � hour after meals, the blood sugar and urine ratio was 100 mg/dc: 0 mg/dc . The sugar in the urine has completely disappeared.
Mostly a testimonial apparently not published in a peer reviewed journal		  B & C (p.83)
Effects of Alkaline Ionized Water (AIW) on spontaneously diabetic GK-rats fed sucrose
Jin Man Kim
It is suggested that AIW supplementation may inhibit the increase of blood glucose and lipid peroxide levels in diabetes mellitus.
Apparently a study not published in a peer reviewed journal		  B & C (p.83)
A clinical study of liver abscesses at the Critical Care and Emergency Center of Wate Medical University
Fujino Y, Inoue Y, Onodera M, Yaegashi Y, Sato N, Endo S, Omori H, Suzuki K. [Article in Japanese] Department of Critical Care Medicine, Wate Medical University.
We studied 13 emergency cases of liver abscess. ...Irrigation of abscesses with strong acidic electrolyzed water revealed a significant decrease in treatment duration.
Acid water - not relevant		  B
Evaluation of hypochlorous acid washes in the treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers.  Hypochlorous acid is a highly microbial agent active against bacteria, viruses and fungi. This study aimed to determine if it has a role as an additional treatment for chronic venous leg ulcers that have not healed with standard treatment.
Acid water - not relevant		  B
Enhancing the bactericidal effect of electrolyzed water on Listeria monocytogenes biofilms formed on stainless steel.
Acid water - not relevant		  B
Selective stimulation of the growth of anaerobic microflora in the human intestinal tract by electrolyzed
reducing water.  Vorobjeva NV. Department of Physiology of Microorganisms, Biology Faculty, Lomonosov
Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow, Russia. nvvorobjeva@mail.ru
96-99% of the "friendly" or residential microflora of intestinal tract of humans consists of strict anaerobes and only 1-4% of aerobes. Many diseases of the intestine are due to a disturbance in the balance of the microorganisms inhabiting the gut. The treatment of such diseases involves the restoration of the quantity and/or balance of residential microflora in the intestinal tract. It is known that aerobes and anaerobes grow at different oxidation-reduction potentials (ORP). The former require positive E(h) values up to +400 mV. Anaerobes do not grow unless the E(h) value is negative between -300 and -400 mV.  Electrolyzed reducing water with E(h) values between 0 and -300 mV produced in electrolysis devices possesses this property. Drinking such water favors the growth of residential microflora in the gut. A sufficient array of data confirms this idea. However, most researchers explain the mechanism of its action by an antioxidant properties destined to detox the oxidants in the gut and other host tissues. Evidence is presented in favor of the hypothesis that the primary target for electrolyzed reducing water is the residential microflora in the gut.
Apparently not published in a peer reviewed journal		  B & C (p.87)
Efficacy of electrolyzed water in inactivating Salmonella enteritidis and Listeria monocytogenes on shell eggs.
Acid water - not relevant		  B
Science Direct-Application of electrolyzed oxidizing water to reduce Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat meats.
Friday, April 1st, 2005 K.A. Fabrizio, and C.N. Cutter, Department of Food Science, 111 Borland Laboratory,
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Experiments were conducted to determine the effectiveness of acidic (EOA) or basic electrolyzed oxidizing (EOB) water, alone or in combination, on ready-to-eat (RTE) meats to reduce Listeria monocytogenes (LM). Frankfurters or ham surfaces were experimentally inoculated with LM and subjected to dipping or spraying treatments (25 or 4 �C for up to 30 min) with EOA, EOB, and other food grade compounds. LM was reduced the greatest when frankfurters were treated with EOA and dipped at 25 �C for 15 min. A combination spray application of EOB/EOA also resulted in a slight reduction of LM on frankfurters and ham. However, reductions greater than 1 log CFU/g were not observed for the duration of the study. Even with a prolonged contact time, treatments with EOA or EOB were not enough to meet regulatory requirements for control of LM on RTE meats. As such, additional studies to identify food grade antimicrobials to control the pathogen on RTE meats are warranted
Acid water - not relevant		  B
Control of Powdery Mildew by Spraying the Electrolyzed Water in Hydroponically Grown Strawberries  Acta Horticulturae 559:
V International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates: Current Trends for Sustainable Technologies
Acid water - not relevant		  B
Efficacy of electrolyzed oxidizing water for the microbial safety and quality of eggs.
Poultry Science 2004 Dec;83(12):2071-8. Bialka KL, Demirci A, Knabel SJ, Patterson PH, Puri VM. Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA. 
These results indicate that EO water has the potential to be used as a sanitizing agent for the egg washing process.
Acid water - not relevanti 		 B
Susceptibility of Penicillium expansum spores to sodium hypochlorite, electrolyzed oxidizing water, and chlorine dioxide solutions modified with nonionic surfactants.  Journal of Food Protection. 2006 Aug;69(8):1944-8. Okull DO, Demirci A, Rosenberger D, LaBorde LF.
Acid water - not relevant		  B
The disinfection of the surgery department of a garrison hospital using a neutral anolyte.
Voen Med Zh. 1999 Sep;320(9):56-8. Chueva IM. Mistriukov VV, Mikhailov SI. [Article in Russian]
Acid water - not relevant		  B
Methods and resources of sterilization and disinfection in medicine. Abstracts (28 September - 2 October 1992). Russian Conference.
Acid water - not relevant		  B
Books that Contain References about Ionized Water:
Handbook of Drinking Water Quality, by John De Zuane.  1997 - Pages: 592
Pain Free With Far Infrared Mineral Therapy: The Miracle Lamp, by Kara Lee Schoonover. 2003
Sensual for Life: The Natural Way to Maintain Sexual Vitality, by George L. Redmon. 2003 - 224 pgs.
Natural Choices for Fibromyalgia: Discover Your Personal Method for Pain Relief, by N. D. Oelke, Jane Oelke.  2001 - 146 pgs.
Light Through Food: A Reference Guide to Thriving in the Energy of the Fourth Dimension, byDonna Boynton (Channeler), Donna Boynton, Angela McLean.  2005. 100 pgs.
Qi Energy for Health and Healing: A Comprehensive Guide to Accessing Your Healing Energy, by Mallory Fromm. 2003 - 219 pgs.
�Ionized Water is also very helpful for alleviating the side effects of anesthesia.�
Romo: My Life on the Edge, by Bill Romanowski, Published by William Morrow. ISBN: 006075866X.  2005.
A Complete Guide To Chi-Gung, By Daniel Reid. ISBN: 1570625433 Publisher: Shambhala. 2000 - 326 pgs.
Secrets of an Alkaline Body. The New Science of Colloidal Biology, by Annie Padden Jubb and David Jubb.  2004 - 275 pgs.
Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation, By Andreas Moritz.  2005 - pg. 496.
Reverse Aging, by Sang Whang. ISBN: 0966236327,  2001.
Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live, by Ray Kurzweil, Terry Grossman,  464 pages.
Its not apparent if there are any references are to articles published in a peer reviewed journal in these books.  An author can say or reference anything without regard to scientific validity.		  B
Research results for alkaline ionized water from the Association of Alkaline Ionized Water Apparatus.  There is really little to say here.  The studies that have been published or described in other literature are reviewed elsewhere on this page.  There are a number of paper titles from numerous Functional Water Symposia - basically meetings where like-minded individuals get together and share ideas and research results.   I do not know details on how the symposia work, but it is unlikely that talks and presentations are subject to peer review by impartial scientists.  D
Ray Kurzweil Award Winning Scientist Talks About Alkaline Water - There is not too much to say here either except that people who are brilliant in one area may not be as careful about their facts in another.  Kurzweil makes some valid points about the physics and chemistry of alkaline water production, but then begins to quote the alkaline water "literature" without providing evidence or any explanation of how this alkaline water can have any effect in the body.  He says, "There are more benefits to "alkaline water" than simply the alkalinity or pH. The most important feature of alkaline water produced by a water alkalinizer is its oxidation reduction potential (ORP). Water with a high negative ORP is of particular value in its ability to neutralize oxygen free radicals." and spends a number of paragraphs describing the benefits of ORP and free radicals, but never manages to explain how the ORP of a glass of alkaline water can survive the acidic stomach environment, the bicarbonate neutralization in the duodenum, absorption into the buffered blood, and transport into a cell.  He states, "Another benefit of drinking alkaline water is that it assists in the absorption of minerals." again without describing the process whereby that might occur.  I am checking on Kurzweil's statement that, "There is only a small amount of acid in stomach when it is empty, and this can be easily overcome when alkaline electron-rich water is consumed."  Even if the empty stomach's acidity is "overcome" by alkaline water, what does that mean to the biological systems of the body?  It seems improbable that the excess OH- ion could have any significant effect.  Most of the supporting studies he provides are listed above, but a couple of apparently unpublished papers on the effects of calcium with and without alkaline water are also mentioned.  E
Understanding Alkaline Ionized Water by Hidemitsu Hayashi, M.D. Hayashi's science is mostly ok until the "Microwater Theory" section where some of the theories go beyond commonly accepted science.  None of that buildup really matters to the quest for evidence to support alkaline water health claims.  He makes the unsupported claim on page 8 that "Through electrolysis, reduced water not only gains an excess amount of electrons (e-), but the cluster of H20 seem to be reduced in size form about 10 to 13 molecules per cluster to 5 to 6 molecules per cluster."  On page 9 he makes the leap (of faith) from alkaline reduced micro water in a glass to the intracellular environment (where they happily donate electrons) with no explanations of how the water molecules' properties remained alkaline, reduced, and micro during their journey through the digestive and circulatory systems.  The lovely diagram on page 11 that allegedly uses NMR to provide evidence that alkaline water has smaller clusters has been debunked by Paul Shin, Ph.D. (a scientist with over 18 years experience with NMR technology) in his article, Water, Water, Everywhere, Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)!  F
Eat Drink and Be Well E-Book - This very slick publication appears, from the references, like it might have been published by LifeIonizers - a brand of water ionizer.  This is actually a dangerous book - it seamlessly blends science fact and science fiction into a well developed narrative.  The bias toward alkaline water is not obvious but the message is clear - drink ionized, alkaline water to protect yourself from cancer.  There are, of course, no scientific references to support the health claims made for ionized, alkaline water.  G
1995 Function Water Symposium (Vision for the Future of Acid and Alkaline Electrolytic Water) Part 1 Part 2  These are for the most part studies that have not been published.  They basically cover the same ground as the references described above.  Papers presented at specialized conferences typically do not undergo any sort of review and are often never published in a high quality, peer reviewed journal.  H1, H2
Kangen Water Change your water, Change your life by Dave Carpenter, N.D., C. Ac., C.C.I. - This paper repeats most of the claims described above and on my Alkaline Water page.  Specifically: "In today s world, most people s bodies and blood are more acidic than they should be. (p4)" He is basically saying that normal homeostatic processes don't work for most people and using that unsupported proposition to validate the claim that drinking alkaline water is needed to correct the pH imbalance.  There is no published experimental support provided for either claim, and fortunately, neither claim is true.  "Drinking the alkaline portion of ionized water provides an abundance of alkaline minerals which help to neutralize acidic wastes in your body. (p5)"  There's no such thing as an "alkaline mineral" in the context used. A mineral ion, is a mineral ion, is a mineral ion and will be treated the same way by the body whether it is delivered as NaOH (alkaline water) or NaCl (salt). "When you drink alkaline water, you are drinking water with more oxygen not in the form of O2, but in the form of OH- which is stabilized because of its combination with an alkaline mineral. Once inside your body, two hydroxyl ions can form a water molecule (H2O) and give off an oxygen atom. (p5)"  This sentence displays an ignorance of basic chemistry: The OH- ion is neutralized to H2O in the stomach by an OH- ion and a H+ ion, not two OH- ions.  Even if extra O2 were made in the blood the amount would be miniscule, would not be effectively absorbed by the intestines, and would have no effect on metabolism. "The reaction uses carbon dioxide, water and salt (as sodium chloride or potassium chloride) and the outcome is HCl in the stomach and sodium bicarbonate which enters the blood stream. (p5)" True, but as pointed out elsewhere, the amount of bicarbonate released into the blood would be negligible, you could create far more bicarbonate by hyperventilating for a few minutes, but the alkalinity would be neutralized and normal pH restored by homeostatic processes within a few minutes.  "The second change that takes place in water during ionization is in the oxidation/reduction potential (ORP). (p5)"  As discussed elsewhere, since the ionization/alkalinity does not persist beyond the stomach and duodenum, and the ions never make it to the cells, the page and a half devoted to the topic is irrelevant - smoke and mirrors presented to make alkaline water sound impressive and scientific - it is neither.  "Water molecules assume a crystal-like, hexagonal geometry that can literally change the properties of the water. Although the organization (structure) of the molecules begins to dissipate when the water is removed from the electric field, a certain amount of structure lingers. Crystalline structure enhances the water's ability to hydrate cells, to transport nutrients, to remove waste, to support metabolic processes and to improve cellular communication. In 1986, a new theory referred to as the molecular water environment theory was proposed at a symposium on cancer. (p7-8)" This is a remarkable claim for which there should be some remarkable evidence - water is a remarkably chaotic substance forming, breaking, and reforming hydrogen bonds with surrounding molecules on the order of pico-seconds.  I have seen no scientific evidence for stable water clusters that can survive the human digestive system and have any effect on the body.  Paul Shin, Ph.D., an NMR expert has published a critique of Jhon's NMR supporting 'evidence' listed as proof of the so-called "crystalline structure".  Water enters cells as single file molecules.  Stable clusters, if they existed, would make it more difficult for water to enter the body, not less. "One of the first things most people notice when they begin to drink Kangen Water is an improvement in their energy. (p9)"  This would seem to be a very easy claim to test with a high-quality double-blind crossover clinical trial.  There is no good published evidence that even this simple claim has been tested - you might well ask the manufacturers and representatives why not...
 I

Cancer research: Alklaine Water (Electrolyzed Reduced Water) 6 recent abstracts:  Most of these references are to unpublished documents, and are without any scientific credibility. (There are actually 7 documents presented)
Note: the page never actually claims that alkaline water has any effect on treating cancer - links are simply provided to research that allegedly shows some effect of alkaline water on cancer cells grown in a petri dish.

1) Anticancer Effect of Alkaline Reduced Water - Lee KJ et. al., University, Korea
Summary:
  Mineral Alkaline Reduced Water (ARW) strengthened immune system.
  Mineral Alkaline Reduced Water suppressed the growth of cancer cells transplanted into mice, demonstrating its anti-cancer effects.
  Reduced levels of sugar.
  Mineral Alkaline Reduced Water made HDL ratio high as well as LDL ratio low
That's the only information provided about this apparently unpublished, unreviewed 'research'.  Without some experimental details the claims are meaningless.

2) Inhibitory effect of electrolyzed reduced water on tumor angiogenesis. (Biol Pharm Bull. 2008 Jan;31(1):19-26)  Discussed above

3) Suppression of Invasion of Cancer Cells and Angiogenesis by Electrolyzed Reduced Water.
From: The Society for In Vitro Biology 2004 World Congress on In Vitro Biology, May 23, 2004
ERW scavenged hydrogen peroxide both in cells and medium. The RT-PCR and zymographic analysis revealed that ERW suppressed the expression and activation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). ERW was estimated to inhibit invasion by suppressing the phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase. ERW also suppressed the expression and secretion of VEGF in HT1080 cells by suppressing the phosphorylation of ERK MAP kinase. ERW suppressed the HT1080 cells-induced angiogenesis by human blood endothelial cells, suggesting that ERW may be useful for prevention and treatment of cancer.
As mentioned elsewhere, in vitro alkaline water research is meaningless because there is no mechanism proposed to explain how the behavior of cells (cancerous or otherwise) in an artificial, external alkaline environment can be duplicated in the body.  Alkaline water that someone drinks NEVER reaches the cells as alkaline water.  Also, this was research presented at a meeting and not in a peer reviewed journal.  A link to abstracts of the papers presented at the meeting.

4) Electrolytic reduced water suppresses the invasive metastasis of human fiber sarcoma cells
From US patent #6475371, published Nov. 11, 2002
Abstract: Electrolytic reduced water free of hypochlorous acid and chlorine gas is provided which is effective for cancer treatment. Water including NaOH is subjected to electrolysis. Electrolytic reduced water obtained at a cathode electrode side has been found to suppress metastasis of cancer cells. The water had no effects on growth of healthy cells during a one-week test.
Not sure what this is supposed to prove.  It is rather remarkable reading the patent description for an ordinary electrolysis apparatus which has been understood and used since the 1800s.  There is no peer reviewed science provided to justify any cancer-fighting claims.

5) Suppression of Two-stage Cell Transformation by Electrolyzed Reduced Water/Platinum Nanocolloids
From: The Society for In Vitro Biology 2004 World Congress on In Vitro Biology, May 23, 2004
Here, we report that ERW/Pt can prevent transformation of Balb/c 3T3 cells. ERW was prepared by electrolysis of 0.002 M NaOH solution using a batch-type electrolysis device (Type TI-200S, Nihon Trim Co., Osaka, Japan). BALB/c 3T3 cells were treated with 3-methyl cholantrene (MCA) as an initiation compound, followed by the treatment with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) as a promotion compound. Transformation focus was strongly suppressed by co-treatment of MCA/PMA and ERW/Pt. ERW/Pt suppressed the transformation at the stage of promoter but not at the stage of initiation, suggesting that it suppressed the augmentation of intracellular ROS by PMA.
As mentioned above, this is an unpublished, in vitro study that does not demonstrate anything about how alkaline water might treat cancer in the body.

6) Electrolyzed-reduced water protects against oxidative damage to DNA, RNA, and protein. (Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 234, 269174, 1997)
Discussed above

7) Anticancer Effect of Alkaline Reduced Water
Abstract: Certain minerals can produce alkaline reduced water with high pH and low oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) when dissolved in water. Alkaline reduced water (ARW) showed significant anticancer effect. When B16 melanoma cells were inoculated subcutaneously and intra-peritoneally, C56BL/6 mice fed with ARW showed tumor growth delay and the survival span was significantly lengthened. ARW also showed the inhibition of metastasis by reducing the numbers of B16 melanoma colonies when injected through tail vein. The amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was very reduced when fed with ARW except for spleen, which is a major organ for immunity. Even for normal mice, ARW intake invoked systemic cytokines, such as, Th1 (IFN-g, IL-12) and Th2 (IL-4, IL-5), suggesting strong immuno-modulation effect. Both ROS scavenging effect and immuno-modulation effect might be responsible for anticancer effect of alkaline reduced water.
Apparently an unpublished, unreviewed paper that has the same limitations of other in vitro studies as described above.


 J
Scientific Studies that demonstrate negative health effects of drinking alkaline water:  To be fair - all these articles are by one research group, and I have not found any other articles to support these claims.  It is a good example, however, that if you "cherry pick" your papers, you can support nearly any position you choose.

Title: Degradation of myocardiac myosin and creatine kinase in rats given alkaline ionized water.
Author: Watanabe T; Kishikawa Y
Source: J Vet Med Sci, 1998 Feb, 60:2, 245-50     Free Article
Abstract: 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. Language of Publication English Unique Identifier 98185639

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Title: Histopathological influence of alkaline ionized water on myocardial muscle of mother rats.
Author: Watanabe T; Shirai W; Pan I; Fukuda Y; Murasugi E; Sato T; Kamata H; Uwatoko K
Source: J Toxicol Sci, 1998 Dec, 23:5, 411-7
Abstract: We have reported that a marked necrosis and subsequent fibrosis of myocardium occurred among male rats 15 weeks old given alkaline ionized water (AKW) during gestation and suckling periods, and after weaning. In this study, it was examined whether similar lesions would occur in mother rats which were given AKW from day zero of gestation to day 20 of lactation. The myocardial lesion in the mother rats given AKW showed cell infiltration, vacuolation and fibrosis in the papillary muscle of the left ventricle, as were observed in male rats of 15 weeks old. Myocardial degeneration may cause a leakage of potassium into the blood that results in a higher concentration of potassium in the blood in the test group than in that of the control group given tap water. Language of Publication : English Unique Identifier : 99121699

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Title: Influence of alkaline ionized water on rat erythrocyte hexokinase activity and myocardium.
Author: Watanabe T; Kishikawa Y; Shirai W
Source: J Toxicol Sci, 1997 May, 22:2, 141-52
Abstract:  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 [High Blood Potassium] was observed in males and females given AKW at 15 weeks-old. Especially in males, pathological changes of necrosis in myocardiac muscle were observed. Language of Publication : English Unique Identifier : 97341750

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Title: Effect of alkaline ionized water on reproduction in gestational and lactational rats.
Author: Watanabe T. SourceDepartment of Veterinary Physiological Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, J Source: Toxicol Sci. 1995 May;20(2):135-42.     Free Article
Abstract: Alkaline ionized water (AKW) produced by electrolysis was given to gestational and lactational rats, and its effect on dams, growth of fetuses and offsprings were investigated. The results showed that the intake of food and water in dams increased significantly when AKW was given from the latter half of the gestation period and from the former half of the lactation period. Body weight of the offsprings in the test group, both males and females, increased significantly from the latter half of the lactation period. During the lactation period and after weaning, the offsprings in the test group showed significantly hastened appearance of abdominal hair, eruption of upper incisors, opening of eyelids and other postnatal morphological developments both in males and females, as well as earlier separation of auricle and descent of testes in males compared with the control was noted. As mentioned above, it was suggested from the observations conducted that the AKW has substantial biological effects on postnatal growth, since intake of food and water and body weight of the offsprings increased and postnatal morphological development was also accelerated.

 

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Updated April 2017