Electrolysis is a method where by water is broken into oxygen and hydrogen through the use of an electric current. Some companies have exploited this common phenomenon and have advertised unsubstantiated claims of health benefits from drinking and cooking with alkaline water.

View the video on the right.
The video claims that this particular water has many anti-oxidants . What are anti-oxidants?
It also claims that it has more oxygen? Is this a contradiction since it also has anti-oxidants?
How does it help eliminate toxins from the body? It is never stated. Should this adverts state how their product? What questions should you be to convince yourself that the product works as stated?

It claims that the water significantly improves hydration. How does it do this?

Investigate the ridiculous claim of clusters? How does liquid water behave? Can you find any evidence of clusters in the scientific literature?

Is there any link between dehydration and obesity? Research this.

The video on the right is an extension of the previous advertisement. The claims just keep on getting more ridiculous. View this video.

The video states that the percentage of oxygen to hydrogen increases significantly. Any person with a year 9 background in chemistry could argue against this. Why is this claim fanciful?

How does the video claim that the alkaline water help the body maintain constant blooc pH level?

What does, the video suggest, the body cleverly does with the acidic waste products? We know that fatty acids can form solid plaques and obstruct blood vessels but fatty acids are not waste material. Investigate what are fatty acids?

The video states that acidic waste is turned into solid form and stored in less critical areas such as blood vessels and capillaries during times of stress. Argue that the tiny blood vessels known as capillaries are extremely critical and blockage of any kind can cause stroke and heart attack.

Oxygen is the source of life and the key to health. All the cells in our body need oxygen to live regardless of where they are located. An insufficient oxygen supply weakens the cells and without oxygen they die in a very short time. Totally deprived brain cells, for example, will die in just 15 seconds. An inefficient oxygen supply to cells is linked to one of the most feared diseases of our time, cancer. Cancer cells grow in an environment with little oxygen, where normal healthy cells can't develop any more. Cancer cells hate oxygen. Yeast infections (candida albicans) develop in a low oxygen environment and spread like an epidemic. The result of low oxygen levels is not only harmful yeast's but also unfriendly bacteria. We have two groups of bacteria, the aerobic and the anaerobic bacteria. Aerobic bacteria are the friendly bacteria and are needed for the intestinal bacteria's flora to digest properly. This is a key factor in preventing and curing illness. Oxygen kills harmful anaerobic bacteria and stimulates the growth of beneficial, friendly bacteria.

The water we drink is, in many cases, poor in oxygen since we add chlorine, fluorine and many other chemicals to the water. Not only do these chemicals kill the friendly bacteria we need so much to stay healthy, but the additives we put into the water drive the oxygen out of it and make it an unhealthy drink.

Oxygen has an alkalising effect on the blood since it decreases the carbon dioxide, which makes the blood acid. Drinking alkaline water increases the oxygen level in the blood. 

 A water alkaliser is the best technical device to produce oxygen rich alkaline water.

The water alkaliser causes the water in the tank to be divided by a semi-permeable membrane. The hydrogen ions form on one side, and the oxygen ions form on the other. The membrane acts like a gate, slowing down the migration of ions. Left long enough without the polarising voltage, the ion divided tank will eventually neutralise by ions recombining through the membrane with their partners.

In a 300 word response, argue how absurd the article above is. In your response outline

- how oxygen and carbon dioxide are carried around the body.
- identify the role of haemoglobin in gas transport.
- if carbon dioxide and oxygen compete for the same binding site on the haemoglobin molecule.
- the role of carbonic anhydrase.
- the ridiculous notion that oxygen can be absorbed into the blood through the intestinal tract. Give carbonated drinks as examples of how carbon dioxide is not absorbed into the blood via the gut.
Carbon dioxide is more readily dissolved in deoxygenated blood. However this facilitates the removal of carbon dioxide from the body after the oxygen has been used up by the tissues. The article suggests that it is beneficial for the blood to be always enriched with oxygen. Argue how this cannot sustain life in complex organisms.

Are acidic drinks, such as carbonated drinks, damaging to our health? Should they be banned by the regulators.

Click to see how carbon dioxide is transported in the blood.

What is pH?

What is an alkali solution?

What is an acidic solution?

What is the pH of the blood?

What is homeostasis?

Does the pH of the blood change?

What is a buffer?
How does the body maintain constant levels of blood pH even after eating a meal high in acid content, such as drinking a bottle of soft drink?
What are the natural buffers found in the blood?

Why is it important for the tissues to have a higher pH than the blood or lungs?