Oxygenation And Ionized Water

OXYGENATION AND IONIZED WATER There has been a prevailing notion that Alkaline Ionized water is “more highly oxygenated” and that this somehow is better for us. The simplest way to answer this is: humans are not fish; we do not absorb oxygen from the water we take into our bodies. Oxygenation from Alkaline Ionized water happens indirectly rather than directly as oxygen reaches our cells via the blood. There are a few different metrics that medical science employs to measure the blood > oxygen > tissue equation. It works like this: the oxygen attaches to the hemoglobin in the lungs at “binding sites” on the hemoglobin. The hemoglobin-oxygen travels through the blood to all parts of the body. The hemoglobin then “unhitches” or releases the bound oxygen which is then delivered to the cells. Oxygen Saturation (SO2) in the blood, measures the percentage of hemoglobin binding sites in the bloodstream occupied by oxygen. The more oxygen bound to the hemoglobin, the more that can be released into the tissues. This crucial process of oxygen release to the tissues can also be measured and is called the Oxygen / Hemoglobin Disassociation Curve. This essentially quantifies how much oxygen is released into the cells of a given tissue. It is important to remember that an alkaline environment is oxygen rich; conversely, an acidic environment is oxygen depleted. Blood with a proper pH balance has the ability to attach more oxygen to the hemoglobin binding sites (measured by saturation) thereby delivering more oxygen to the tissues (measured by dissociation). Alkaline Ionized water helps balance the pH so that oxygenation is optimal. Properly oxygenated tissues are healthier and more disease resistant. The prevalent notion that Alkaline Ionized water is “more highly oxygenated” is uncertain and looking somewhat questionable according to our recent research. Oxygen saturation or “Dissolved Oxygen” (DO) is a relative measure of the amount of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in water. It can be measured with a dissolved oxygen probe. Our recent testing indicates that Alkaline Ionized water actually displays less dissolved oxygen than some other waters. We believe this is because of the ionization process which creates OH- in the water. Ultimately this is inconsequential in our bodies from the standpoint of “oxygenation”, as you can see from the above explanation about blood and oxygenation. What you can say about Alkaline Ionized water is that it has a higher ratio of oxygen to hydrogen than regular waters. This is because of the concentration of OH- in Alkaline Ionized water. OH- is a one to one ratio of oxygen and hydrogen with a negative charge (the antioxidant potential in the water). Water is two hydrogen to one oxygen. The more concentrated this OH- becomes in the water, the more oxygen to hydrogen you have. The benefit of this is not the increase in oxygen, but rather the OH- itself which has an extra electron available to donate to neutralize free radicals without becoming unstable itself. This is antioxidant effect at its most basic and pervasive level. One interesting comparison between antioxidants in general is that of molecular weight. In the itsy-bitsy world of chemistry, weights are measured, not in kilograms or any derivative, but in Daltons. Molecular weight is essentially the weight of a single molecule and vital to a substance’s ability to cross the Blood Brain Barrier. In fact, it turns out that only molecules that have a molecular weight smaller than 500 Daltons can reliably get through the Blood Brain Barrier. The molecular weight of antioxidants delivered via food or beverage varies but tends to be very high. For example the molecular weight of one of the most well known antioxidants, Vitamin E, is approximately 473. Conversely, water has a molecular weight of around 18. This would make the antioxidant potential of water much more pervasive than Vitamin E - actually getting easily into the brain. It would also indicate that the rate of uptake and therefore ultimate effectiveness would be much better.