What Are the Dangers of Water Ionizers?

"Smart" water, flavored water, spring water, filtered water, distilled water and even ionized water. It seems people are getting bored with drinking the same plain water for millions of years, so they must modify it or make it "special." Household water ionizers have been around since the 1970s and '80s and claim many health benefits, but people should be cautious about these claims.

What Is Ionized water?

• A pH scale measures the acidity or alkalinity of solutions from zero to 14. Anything below 7 is considered acidic, above 7 is considered alkaline, and 7 is neutral. Pure water is neutral with a pH of 7, but natural spring water can be more alkaline with the presence of minerals, such as calcium. Water ionizers seek to make water more alkaline by a process known as electrolysis.

The Reasoning Behind Ionization

• Most people don't do the research before they try something that promises better health. The basic reasoning used to advocate ionizers is that alkaline water helps counter the unhealthy lifestyle of many people because of their acidic diets and environments. The fact is that the science behind ionized water is a bit shaky and unreliable.

"Benefits"

• Some of the purported benefits of ionized water range from helping or curing diabetes, osteoporosis, poor blood circulation, constipation, diarrhea or even migraines and arthritis. There are many supposed benefits of ionized water but no sound scientific evidence to back it up -- just people's testimonials to the healing power of the water. On the other hand, there is scientific evidence backing up the possible negative side effects of ionized water, which has been documented in many studies, according to Andrew Weil, M.D., of the University of Arizona.

Possible Side Effects

• In one study performed by the College of Bioresource Science, Nihon University, Kanagawa, Japan, alkaline water was shown to increase the chance of heart attack by being a major factor leading to the development of hyperkalaemia (too much potassium in the blood, which can cause heart attack). Ionized water can also negatively affect the stomach by gastric upset, because the stomach acid becomes too alkaline from the ionized water and thus goes into overdrive, producing acid to balance itself out