Customer Reviews

The Miraculous Properties of Ionized Water - The Definitive Guide to the World's Healthiest Substance

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Reading this book was very helpful in trying to sort out all the information that is on the internet about water ionizers and the history of ionized water. We had researched quite a bit online but it was mostly companies selling machines and controversy concerning "Kangen" water. Details in the book describe how and where ionized water started, and Bob McCauley's involvement, along with his father, in the introduction of ionized water in the US. Very interesting... we discovered he had a website (he had a sticker on the book with that info) and we were able to buy a water ionizer from him at a reasonable price... we also learned about a magnetizer that replaces a soft water system that we had been using for years... it takes no maintenance, no salt, no upkeep, and it's a lifetime warranty... and much cheaper than a soft water system... well worth looking into... it produces "soft" water which is what we wanted but without the use of salt and doesn't remove minerals... and to use a water ionizer you want minerals in the water otherwise the electrolysis won't work... very impressed with this book and all the information included...

This book has stronger positives and negatives than the typical CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) book. The positives include a collection of the Scientific Studies of the Effects of Ionized water in Appendix 5, facts sourced throughout the book and some information presented about the topic that is little known to the general public. In addition, he does dispel some of the positive myths surrounding ionized water. For all of the above, he deserves due credit.

The negatives are unfortunately also strong. The author uses the book to promote his perspectives on living an overall health lifestyle that includes the controversial 'raw foods diet' along with consuming certain green foods. Any diet needs to be recommended and monitored by a qualified health professional based partly upon frequent blood test analysis. He also slams all ionized water debunkers based upon emotion rather than reason. Despite the sourcing, much of his presentation sways by emotion rather than by reason - a common trend in the CAM universe. Despite the presentation of scientific studies supporting his conclusions, he neglected some additional studies and also did not discuss the overall quality of the research. The folksy, homespun method of writing turns-off readers desiring a more science-oriented discussion and the pictures of his family and friends in the back comes across as unprofessional as it is utterly non-topical to the book. Testimonials sway the non-scientific minded (as simultanaity does not equal causality) and suggest that his argument is insufficiently supported by hard science.

As a fan of water ionization, I learned a few things but also found discussions of various topics such as water clustering, activated water, and water bond angles in regards to biological health to be incomplete at best. Overall, the book may be worth buying for some but for those who are science-minded, it is strictly at the 101 level.

This is such a great book. I have been researching ionized water for the past few months and finally I got some real answers. I was sort of on the fence about whether I wanted a water ionizer and now I have to have one. This book is an excellent guide to ionized water and water in general. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about water, especially ionized water.

Among other books I have read on water, Mr. McCauley's book is one of the more passionate about what form of water we should be drinking. That form by his reckoning is ionized water, which is not a natural process but a process imposed upon water. Readers believing that only the natural states of consumables present the highest energy levels for consumption will certainly want to raise inquiry to this premise.

I am still on the fence about distilled versus structured versus ionized water even with all the considerations for ionization that the author presents. I believe that Bob McCauley believes that ionized water is the preferred form but I remain yet to be convinced through no fault of the author.

Research could have been more qualitative but not everyone is interested in lab statistics and rankings.

"Purified Water and its Dangers" should be read by all. Water, just because it is bottled, does not necessarily equate to it being any more benefical to your health than your kitchen sink tap variety.

His position that we should always be drinking alkaline water is definitely debatable but his stance was clearly stated.

For readers intent on deciding which form of water is most beneficial to their health, this book should be included among the other "water books" before they make their conclusions.

The question can be raised if Mr McCauley believes fully in the ionization of water as the best complement to full health or is he more interested in his sales of water ionizers. That perspective rests upon each reader.

I walked away convinced of his passion that ionized water is the ultimate health choice and that he doesn't mind selling some filters as well.

An easy content read as far as context with occasional tedious testimonials and supportive dialogue.

The observation that troubles me most about this book specifically, and water ionization literature in general, is the lack of credible evidence that alkaline water has any special properties (like small stable cluster size) or any effects on human health. I admit that I am a skeptic when it comes to health claims about various specialized water products (water that has been ionized, magnetized, oxygenated, shaken, hydrogenated, clustered, catalyzed, vortexed, etc., and I have searched extensively and unsuccessfully for convincing evidence to support any of these claims

Recently I evaluated the references provided in Appendix 5 of McCauley's book and all the additional evidence I could locate (on websites and provided by distributors) that allegedly supports health claims of alkaline water. The complete results of my analysis can be found by searching on "health effects of alkaline water" and looking for the cyber-nook reference. To summarize, though, many of the papers were unpublished (apparently presented at various alkaline water-related conferences) and many were summaries of observations, and not experiments. There were 25 papers published in journals that can be referenced at the U.S. National Library of Medicine PubMed site. Only 19 had any relationship to alkaline water; of those, eight were invitro studies that did not provide any mechanism to suggest how the findings could have an effect on the whole organism. Although 11 papers reported effects on whole organisms, the experiments did not appear to be blinded nor did they suggest how the alkaline water might produce the outcomes recorded.

It is remarkable that if alkaline water actually has any demonstrable health effects, there is not at least one good, peer reviewed, published, blinded study to support the claims. These would be relatively easy studies to design and conduct; testing some health effect with a measurable outcome. As an example let me propose a study design using a physiologically meaningful change in blood pH as an outcome, since this is one of the most basic claims of alkaline water proponents. The study would look something like this:

Recruit several hundred volunteers and randomize them into three groups (preferably matched by health, gender, lifestyle, age, etc.). One third of the subjects would drink alkaline water and another 1/3 would be given regular water. It would be explained to them that they would be tested to determine the effects of drinking specific types of water on the pH of their blood. The two groups would be blinded so they did not know which type of water they were drinking. For a couple of weeks their blood pH would be measured after they drink water to record if, how much and for how long the pH might be elevated. Next the treatments would be switched so the first two groups drank the other type of water for several more weeks while their blood pH was again measured.

It is unlikely, but possible there could be a normal, transitory increase in pH either as a response to suggestion or if the stomach increased acid production. The remaining 1/3 of the volunteers would control for these eventualities. These participants would also have their blood pH measured after they drank regular water, but they would not be told specifically why - only that `some feature' of the water was being measured. One half of those would just drink the water and the other half would be asked to breathe deeply (which can increase blood pH) after drinking their water samples. These control groups would indicate whether a suggestion about water and pH would be sufficient to alter blood alkalinity and whether other normal physiological processes might be responsible for observed pH changes.

The researchers and analysts would also be blinded. They would not know which groups the subjects were in, which water the subjects were drinking or when the switch was made. Only after the analysis was completed would the results be unblinded. If a meaningful change in blood pH could be demonstrated by this experiment then other well designed, double blinded experiments could be carried out to determine if the pH change actually had some health effect.

Does any alkaline water proponent have an explanation for why this basic experiment (or dozens of others that could easily prove other health claims) has apparently never been carried out? This would be important medical knowledge if just this one claim could be validated.

Since there is no compelling evidence available, the alkaline water health claims are supported almost entirely by testimonials, peoples' stories about how the product helped them. As can be seen from some of these reviews, from accounts in this book, and the anecdotes on all of the water ionization websites, there is no shortage of testimonials that attribute alkaline water as a cure for everything from grey hair and aging to cancer and diabetes.

Testimonials, no matter how numerous, dramatic or passionate do not prove a cause and effect relationship between two events - e.g. drinking alkaline water and experiencing a health benefit. If I have a headache, someone tells me that drinking alkaline water will cure my headache, I drink the alkaline water, and 15 minutes later my headache is gone, does that prove the alkaline water caused the cure? Without some additional trials and controls there is simply no way to know.

At best testimonials provide a starting point for good research that can tease out real causes for a specific outcome from the dozen or more possible confounders that can sabotage even relatively well designed experimental studies.

Here, in a nutshell, are a few basic facts that I believe anyone with a solid background in chemistry or physiology would concur with:

"Ionized water" is nothing more than sales fiction; the term is meaningless to chemists.
Pure water (that is, water containing no dissolved ions) is too unconductive to undergo signficant electrolysis by "water ionizer" devices.
Pure water can never be alkaline or acidic, nor can it be made so by electrolysis. Alkaline water must contain metallic ions of some kind -- most commonly, sodium, calcium or magnesium.
The idea that one must consume alkaline water to neutralize the effects of acidic foods is ridiculous; we get rid of excess acid by exhaling carbon dioxide.
If you do drink alkaline water, its alkalinity is quickly removed by the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach.
Uptake of water occurs mainly in the intestine, not in the stomach. But when stomach contents enter the intestine, they are neutralized and made alkaline by the pancreatic secretions -- so all the water you drink eventually becomes alkaline anyway.
The claims about the health benefits of drinking alkaline water are not supported by credible scientific evidence.
"Ionized"/alkaline water is falsely claimed to be an anti-oxidant. It is actually an oxidizing agent, as can be seen by its ability to decolorize iodine. There is nothing wrong with drinking slightly acidic waters such as rainwater. "Body pH" is a meaningless concept; different parts of the body (and even of individual cells) can have widely different pH values. The pH of drinking water has zero effect on that of the blood or of the body's cells.
If you really want to de-acidify your stomach (at the possible cost of interfering with protein digestion), why spend hundreds of dollars for an electrolysis device when you can take calcium-magnesium pills, Alka-Seltzer or Milk of Magnesia?
Electrolysis devices are generally worthless for treating water for health enhancement, removal of common impurities, disinfection, and scale control. Claims that "ionized" waters are antioxidants are untrue; hypochlorites (present in most such waters) are in fact oxidizing agents.

Everything you should know about this health-giving and miraculous water. Take back your life. Live longer, live well, while being healthy and more productive. If all people had access to ionized water, they would see their doctor less often, not be poisoned by pharmaceuticals, not over-burden the medical system, including Medicare, and save money. In a perfect world, everyone would have access to Ionized Water and there would be a tax credit for buying the equipment to get it.

Very informative. Would buy again. Its a an excellent alternative to drinking green juices. Much cheaper using water than buying produce.

This book does indeed have a lot of helpful information about ionized water, but it seems to be written as a sales piece for one of the many knock off brands that are sadly flooding the market these days. Machines assembled from poor quality parts from China, Korea, or where ever the lowest price part can be found, etc. Quality materials and manufacturing is what will give you, and me, a machine which produces the amazing medical results we are all seeking. The old saying is true, you get what you pay for.

Excellent information; to the point and in a way that is easily understood. Terrific info in the chemistry side.
I am very happy that I have bought it & even have gotten some more for friends.
Not all machines are alike. Would like to see all ionizer machines use medical grade one for their titanium & platnum as the lesser grades can be unhealthy. Medical grade one is much more expensive currently at $1500 an ounce. But well worth it.