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The Kangen Water Scam – a Follow-up
Adrian Castro, Kangen Scammer
The comment was written on September 7, 2009, by Adrian Castro, a multi-level marketer of Kangen Water Systems. Mr. Castro’s website is one of those single mile-long pages telling you how rich you’ll be when you send him some money and start bilking your own downline of Kangen Water scammers.
First Mr. Castro writes:
As a Chemical Engineer and a Cornell graduate, it was very difficult to find out the truth about alkaline ionized water. I had worked in a power plant for five long years – analyzing water, fuels, and lubricants so I have a fairly good understanding of pH, electrical conductivity, and the physical chemistry of water.
I also read Dr. Stephen Lower’s ionizer debunk page. Everything he says there about the science of water ionization is TRUE. Although Dr. Lower has unquestionable knowledge on the physical chemistry of ionized water, he is in no position and has no experience with ionized water when it is consumed by humans and animals. There are other experts in the health and wellness field, most notably members of the Association of Preventive Medicine for Adult Diseases. There are 6,500 doctors and physicians in that organization.
This is a good sales strategy; agree with your critics – to a point. It gives the false illusion of an honest salesman. Mr. Castro refers to retired Professor of Chemistry, Stephen Lower, who states simple irrefutable facts in his debunking of this scam at Chem1.com.
Mr. Castro also mentions thousands of doctors and physicians, but never cites their opinion of his Kangen profit-machine. This is lying by insinuation; he makes a vacuous statement that sounds like he’s making a point, but he never actually states a relevant fact.
Mr. Castro continues…
There are also a lot of small and large animal breeders that have started using alkaline ionized water for their champion breeds. This phenomenon is more believable because animals do NOT have the placebo effect. My pet Pluto only drinks alkaline ionized water. His 13 year old Bichon Frise friend, Muffy, has also been able to climb up the stairs and hop on the bed after two weeks on the water. Muffy’s owner did buy the ionizer as a result!
Well, undocumented anecdotes by salesmen aren’t exactly unimpeachable proof. And that statement about Muffy begs a few questions, like was Muffy able to climb and hop before drinking this water, what other changes occurred in Muffy’s life that may have contributed to this insinuated increase in activity, and what real evidence is there that this water is responsible for Muffy’s supposed rejuvenation? Has Mr. Castro ever heard of a double-blind test?
Do not invest $3,980 if all you want is alkaline water. You can add a pinch of baking soda to your drinking water before you drink it. There is also a best time to drink alkaline ionized water. It is the first moments after you wake up when your stomach is empty and the gastric juices are at the lowest level.
Ooo… there’s that disarming technique of “Hey, don’t buy my product” followed by an outright ludicrous statement about when you should use their product. This is a sort of bait-and-switch routine with concepts. Very misleading.
This next bit is the technobabble that Kangen Water Salesmen love to throw at you. Totally bogus pseudo-science has a way of swaying buyers of snake oil…
However, there is more to pH in alkaline ionized water. There is microclustering – 3 to 6 molecules of water in a cluster, compared to 25 to 100+ in regular water. What that means is that you can get hydrated at a cellular level. This microclustering property is so easy to prove and you do not need a PhD to learn it. Compare the results of how green tea steeps in tap water versus alkaline ionized water. You will not get any tea color out in your tap water unless you boil your tap water. On the other hand, you can make up to 20 cups of tea using alkaline ionized water!
You can also get antioxidants from your alkaline water in the form of the hydride ion. The hydride ion has two extra electrons, giving this hydrogen ion a negative charge. This is also called Active Hydrogen. You can also measure this property with a common Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) meter that your pool technicians and sanitation engineers use. Alkaline ionized water has a value of -100 to -800 milliVolts. The cheaper brands generate water with -100 to -200 milliVolts. The best brand generate up to the maximum measureable -800 millVolts.
Again, a little truth, some irrelevant information, and the false conclusion that their very expensive machine makes a difference at all. Shameful, as is the grand finale of Mr. Castro’s sales pitch…
Most people who bought water ionizers usually get results. Those who don’t fall under one or two categories (or both):
1. They have usually NOT been drinking enough. One needs to drink a MINIMUM of half an ounce per pound of body weight. If you are 100 lbs, drink 50 ounces. If you are 200 lbs, drink 100 ounces. In plain language that is 2 super big gulps (2 x 64 ounces) for the average 200 pound person.
2. They have not been regularly cleaning their ionizer. You need to run the acidic water cycle EVERY day for about 3 to 5 minutes. This reverses the polarity of the ionization plates and dislodges the calcium build up from the plates. You also need to run the acid cleaning cartridge every 3 months or as often as your ORP mesurements will require you to. If you ORP drops to -600 milliVolts, you want to do the acid cartridge cleaning.
The best way to prove or disprove whether alkaline ionized water is a scam or not – is just to try the water. Give it a try for 21 days at the amount of 2 super big gulps (2 x 64 ounces) per day. It is only water!
In other words, if it doesn’t work, it’s your fault! Never mind the facts, buy the $3,980 system anyway!
In Mr. Castro’s own words: It is only water!
Despicable.
Scrud Kelley
(For more Kangen truth, see our directory at our Kangen tab.)
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For the science of alkaline, ionized, reduced, hexagonal water, please see Dr. Mu Shik Jhon. [ed note: for detailed exposure of the quackery of Dr. Jhon, please see Hexagonal Water is an Appalling Scam, Drinking Water and Water Treatment Scams, Alkaline water for acne - Snake oil on tap, Water Cluster Quackery, and Water Cluster Pseudoscience.]
you may want to check out our webpage on alkaline water -
http://www.aquatechnology.net/alkalinefraud.html.
It covers some items most people who sell Kangan et al. like to skip over and hope customers never see. gene
Regarding the disinfecting agent stuff, please see http://www.chem1.com/CQ/ionbunk.html
“Many “water ionizer” devices depend on the addition of ordinary salt to make the water more conductive. Electrolysis of a dilute sodium chloride solution liberates hydrogen gas and hydroxide ions at the cathode, producing an alkaline solution that consists essentially of sodium hydroxide NaOH which can be drawn off as “alkaline water”. At the anode, chloride ions are oxidized to elemental chlorine. If some of this chlorine is allowed to combine with some of the hydroxide ions produced at the cathode, it disproportionates into hypochlorous acid HOCl, a weak acid and an oxidizing agent. Some ionizer devices allow the user to draw off this solution for use as a disinfecting agent. In many cases the two streams can be combined to form a mixture consisting of both HOCl and sodium hypochlorite (equivalent to diluted ordinary laundry bleach), depending on the pH desired.
So buying a “water ionizer” is a very expensive way of obtaining a solution that you could in principle make yourself by diluting some laundry bleach, and perhaps adjusting the pH by adding a weak acid such as lemon juice. But would you want to drink this “eau de Clorox”? Don’t try this at home!”
@Haley – I have drunk Kangen water. Brushed my teeth in it. Washed my hands in it. It’s just water. Very expensive filtered water. What “results” have you seen?
I drink Kangen water and have seen results. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
@david … This Activeion product seems totally bogus. I usually clean up surfaces around the house with tap water and a paper towel. That’s basically what this product does for a LOT more money. See here and here for more info and opinions. And please save your money!
Activeion.com manufactures a device that turns water into a disinfecting agent. Please comment as to its validity and effectiveness.
Thank You.
David