The Benefits of Oxygenated Water

There's no question that water is essential for not only health, but life itself. Without it, the body shuts down in hours. Though oxygenated water has been around since the rise of triathalons in the 1980s, it's based on flawed science and will do more harm to a wallet than it will benefit an exercise regime.

Features

• In its basic elements, water is a molecule created when two hydrogen atoms bond with one oxygen atom, which is known as H2O. Elemental oxygen is definitely an essential part of water, but it's linked tightly to the "H2"; it can't separate from the hydrogen. When oxygen is taken in, the body uses red blood cells to carry it around the blood. When it's linked to hydrogen atoms and drunk, it simply can't get through the stomach membrane to reach those little red messengers.

Theories/Speculation

• Oxygenated water is touted by its proponents as a method of increasing the oxygenation of the blood. However, such a theory doesn't stand up to even the simplest human physiology: the tissues of the digestive system are not meant to admit the oxygen molecule into the body. They release such collected gasses through the entry and exit points of the digestive tract - the mouth (as burping) or the anal sphincter (as flatulence.) Only the lungs are adapted to process oxygen into the body, and the way to increase the lungs' capacity to do so is through aerobic conditioning.

Prevention/Solution

• In May of 2000, the FTC filed an action against one oxygenated water purveyor, citing false advertising. The action was filed because the company in question had gone beyond the borderline assurances of enhanced performance, stating that their product "prevents or treats life-threatening diseases and other ailments, and that these results are established by medical and scientific research." he resulting fine amounted to $375,000 and included a program to monitor the company officials' future compliance with FTC regulations.

Considerations

• In addition to its massive negative impact on the environment, any bottled water - whether it be the top-of-the-line, lab-produced oxygenated variety or the humble store brand - is egregiously expensive in comparison to tap water. Ironically, tap water is actually held to higher enforced standards of quality. In fact, bottled water can cost up to ten thousand times more per gallon than tap water.

Fun Fact

• Though the amounts of oxygen in oxygenated water are too small to be toxic, scientists tell us that O2 - the oxygen gas - was actually a potent, highly toxic pollutant when it was first introduced to the Earth's atmosphere about 2.4 billion years ago. When the first photosynthesizing microbes developed on the planet and began to kick out proportionally large amounts of the stuff as metabolic waste, the atmosphere was essentially oxygen-free. The rest of the planet had to evolve around what was essentially a toxic load.