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The Kangen Water Scam
Filtered water – I can dig it. If it’s big enough to catch in a net, by all means take it out of my drinking water! I don’t mind chemical treatments, either. Neutralize that fish poo, thank you.
But now we have snake oil salesmen telling us that if we use their particular home water treatment system, we’ll live to be older. Older than what, I don’t know. How do you measure how long you would have lived otherwise? Maybe you would have lived longer without this quackery.
The latest scam is a refinement of the home water filter scam that’s been around for decades. In the old scam, your home’s tap water is “tested” and shows high levels of one chemical or another – total bunk – and the only way to save the lives of your children is to buy their $1,000 – $4,000 home filtration system.
There’s nothing physically detrimental to drinking this water. At first, anyway. It’s just water, after all. Don’t be surprised when you’re faced with constantly buying very expensive replacement filters – only necessary because that very same water filtration system’s current filters are saturated and spewing bacteria back into your drinking water.
This latest refinement to this scam is promoting improved health and longevity instead of the more hysterical threat of death by tap water. Leader of this predatory pack: Kangen. They resort to lies, half-truths, scare tactics and false promises to convince you that their amazing “ionized water” will improve your health.
Kangen’s scientific jargon is appropriately technical, convoluted, and misleading. Surely it must be true if they can quote science. But bad science? Rather than plagiarize or paraphrase, I’ll refer you to the brilliant and simple explanations of Stephen Lower, retired Professor of Chemistry, at Chem1.com. And shame on all of you for not Googling for the truth before you signed the sales contract!
The problem isn’t the snake oil salesman as much as the fact that there’s very little in place to protect people from their own beliefs. The government has made it a policy to stay out of peoples’ religions – despite the efforts of conservative Republicans. Laws exist (and are sometimes enforced!) to ensure truth in advertising, but the MLM world is fraught with fraud. Some people want to believe they can live forever if they just take [fill in the snake oil product name] three times a day.
Sad.
Scrud Kelley
(For more Kangen truth, see our directory at our Kangen tab.)
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Waterboy’s comment, just below, is appropriately snarly for this blog site. Of course his tangents away from logic and fact have nothing to do with the quackery of Kangen other than the smoke-and-mirrors nature of his arguments, which is why I edited and annotated it. Hey Gunga Din, unlike you and your huckster gurus, I don’t make this stuff up:
Hexagonal Water is an Appalling Scam
Drinking Water and Water Treatment Scams
Alkaline water for acne – Snake oil on tap
Water Cluster Quackery
Water Cluster Pseudoscience
[edited and annotated by Scrud Kelley, who reserves the right to screen out off-point blather...]
@Scrud I pity you folks who eagerly discount and seek to discredit this technology. [ed: I eagerly condemn bilking innocent people out of their hard-earned money by using grossly exaggerated claims of healing properties to sell them a $4000 water filter.]
In Japan, for the past 35 years, when a doctor writes a prescription for Kangen water, it has to come from an Enagic machine. [ed: In the U.S., a prescription is not needed for this or any other water filter.]
The Japanese people have the overall longest life expectancy in the entire World. The US has the 38th longest life expectancy in the World. [ed: Are there no other factors contributing to this fact other than some Japanese using Kangen? Americans use it, too, so why aren't we higher on the list?]
Scrud, I’m not sure you’ve done your homework, but you have done people a tremendous disservice here. [ed: I keep quoting bona fide research, but certain morons and criminals (you point, I'll nod) refuse to accept the truth (see links in the comment above).]
[ed: at this point, Waterboy swings full tilt boogie into conspiracy theory hyperbole, so we'll skip that insanity.]
Be careful with your massive disinformation campaign because you’re deceiving people. [ed: Apparently two blogs on this obscure website constitute a "massive" campaign in Waterboy's dream world. Perhaps I'll write one or two more just to make him happy.]
I have been drinking Kangen water for 8 months now and it has changed my life. Every single other person who has ever given this water a fair shake will say the same. [ed: More lies, Water-for-brains. Read a few of the comments on our blogs, and on the links above. Well lookie, here's one right here: Life is a Crapshoot.]
There’s enough legitimate, peer-reviewed research out there to convince anybody of the power of this water. [ed: If by "peer" you mean another Kangen salesperson, employee, or investor, it doesn't count. If by "legitimate" you mean double-blind tests performed by impartial scientists, you're a liar. Prove me wrong: post the links to just two such legitimate studies right here.]
If G*D is the symphony of cosmic vibrations resonating in 11-dimensional hyperspace, let it have mercy on your soul. [ed: Waterboy has left the planet! Hey kid, you say “G*D” rather than “GOD” – what’s up with that?]
@curious mom – I’m all for drinking filtered water, and yes, it can often taste quite a bit better than tap water. If Kangen’s filters are clean (they DO get quite filthy if not maintained), that’s what you’re getting: filtered water. A Brita filter costs a couple of thousand dollars less, of course. Your choice.
I have been drinking this water for 4 days now, and so far I haven’t experience anything special….except I will say that my first glass resulted in a weird tingly feeling similar to the overall relaxation that comes from a fermented drink. I don’t know how anyone could say that was a placebo effect…because I wasn’t planning on anything happening…I hadn’t even been informed on what it is supposed to do at the time. I read the science that debunks the claims regarding the Kangen water, and it all seems to make sense, BUT I don’t believe that those who have experienced major health changes are wrong either. How could that 18 year old believe so much (aka – the placebo effect) that he put on all that weight?? I’m not expecting the water to heal anything…but if my body gets healthy by drinking it, then my body is what is doing the healing.
@ Scrud Kelley– I just posted the site because it contain the pubmed articles, it was pure laziness on my part. But, you can still see the research pulled from the pubmed.gov site.
Im interested in drinking higher water with a higher ph, and this is seemed to be a good machine to do it. What filtration system do you recommend
@Lauren: You mention Pubmed.gov, a reputable medical site, but then post a link to HeartSpring.net, a site for “alternative” medicine. “Alternative” means “other than,” so quoting anything from a site that is up front about being something Other Than a medical site is treading pretty shaky ground. I suggest you stick to Pubmed.gov’s links to see bona fide medical reports on ionized water. You’ll find that they agree on the basics that water is good and filtered water is good and even ionized water is good, but that there are no double blind human tests that indicate ionized water offers any additional protection to one’s health. Your non-medical site only quotes studies conducted under questionable conditions in foreign countries where health care is considerably poorer than in the US.
I am very skeptical about this machine too. But how can you argue against all the medical documentation of the benefits on the water? I simple search on the pubmed.gov website will list tons of research on the alkaline water benefits. [ed. note: not true, see comment above]
heartspring.net/water_clinical_studies.html
First of all, Herbert Martensy calls himself “Captain Kangen Water,” so how un-biased can he be? His “facts” are bogus and misleading and designed to fool innocent suckers into buying his machine. Maybe he’s self-deluded as well, but it makes him no less a crook for stealing money for his water filter and promising a cure to cancer and aging.
Doctors in India prescribe boiled human spit to cure kidney stones. It doesn’t have any scientific basis. It’s merely bad science that hasn’t killed enough people to put a stop to it.
Homeopaths in Australia have been convicted of manslaughter for administering standard homeopathic treatments. Lead-laced medicines have killed countless people in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. In the U.S., sales of Laetrile as a cancer cure has led to federal convictions. When Kangen leads to the death of enough people, they’ll come after them, too.
Herbert “Captain Kangen Water” Martensy cites Japanese practices as his proof, yet Japan Independent News Net reports that Japan is woefully behind global standards in cancer treatment.
I’ll stick to this fact: Herbert Martensy is a crook. Don’t fall for his snake oil pitch. See a real doctor, not a miracle cure salesman. Captain Kangen is free to sue me and put his lies up to scrutiny in a legal court. But of course he won’t. As any high school chemistry teacher (from ANY country) can tell you, the Kangen sales pitch is scientifically and medically unsound. Lies. Designed to steal your money.
First of all, you can’t call people crook with no facts. I will post a video and article … [blah blah blah - to read more lies from Captain Kangen, click on his link. His lies have no place here.]
Herbert Martensy, a crook who sells the bogus Kangen water system, calls me cynical. He’s a liar and a cheater and a thief who is turning a profit at the expense of the health of innocent people who buy into his scam. There is no argument against the fact that the human body will change the alkaline level of every food and drink to its own level, and spending a fortune trying to beat this natural process is fruitless and ludicrous.
I agree with Ms. Robertson. The alkaline argument is strong enough to oppose your cynicism about Kangen Water
Whoa, Mephistopheles, get back on your meds! And they call me snarly! I’m going to leave my Jabberwocky-English dictionary on the shelf and say this as clearly as possible. If you are selling Kangen/Enagic, you are a criminal. If you believe it works, you are uneducated.
Riposting with imperious potshots at polymathic commenters
may pass for sport to a soi-disant journalist on his own
anti-blog, but, hey, stand the charges, herr gaffemeister,
si viene mal en peor, capisco?
Where’s the professionalism in it?
Speaking of ethics, though, the FDA is infamous for taking
simony off the hands of pharmaceutical megacongloms not merely the world around but PRIMARILY THOSE OPERATING ON THE SAME CONTINENT. As far as the likelihood they’d disprefer suppressing as INEXPENSIVE a cancer treatment as high pH water: HAH! If they don’t actively malign it
themselves, well, it’s more than certain they’d be outgunned any-motherfucking-way.
As for superfluidity; never heard of it? Maybe someone needs to go back to his Britannica and leave the spendy
lab equipment off before he terrorizes anyone else.
But bafflegab? The question remains unanswered: was the
“making their opinions bias” a hypothesis about publication of putative subjective opinion being what creates that-which-is-called-bias, with that-which-is-called-bias classified above opinion in measures of magnitude/intensity of belief (i.e. applying to things like books, but not people) or more to the point that because they (testimonialists) are making money to support themselves, therefore they must be crooks?
Where does this put Motorola, Intel, TESLA (motors)?
If it’s different because heir shit “works”, well, what does it do, pray?
Here’s another one, oh quick-draw, and it’s pass fail:
Humanure, fact or fallacy? Give it a minute, a-hole.
Will see that “bafflegab” with a “mulligrubs”, and raise it by a “Footle”.
Abaddon awaits such cheapshottery.
@Mephistopheles
No amount of your bafflegab changes the FACT that Kangen/Enagic water is just water. “More hydrating” and “Better fluidity” – give me a break! This stuff doesn’t reduce cancer any more than a passing breeze. If it did, the media and world health organizations would be all over it, promoting it to the hilt and getting their share of the profits. But it’s all a scam. The pushers of this snake oil are criminals, stealing money and putting people at health risk. If they weren’t criminals, they’d surely want to clear their names and pick up a few easy bucks by suing me for libel. They won’t, because THEY ARE SCAM ARTISTS.
@ Scrud Kelly
Per “Please note that most of these “experts” are selling books on the subject, thus making their opinions bias and their motives self-serving.”
Whether the verb phrase “making their opinions bias” refers to the act of amplifying mere personal opinion and transferring it upon a reading audience, thereby elevating same to the level of a culturally observed and promulgated bias, or, if the above was typographically erronious, whether what is meant were something along the lines that anyone who publishes his or her own book is clearly doing so without requisite professional disinterest and merely for profit is not entirely clear from this vantage.
Is it so certain that anyone, be they connected with or unconnected from an educational institution of some renown, literally makes his/her own opinions biased through the writing and sale of print media? Most universities make a certain amount of money in publishing, and, if so, does that exculpate them of any and all polarizationa and untruth in what they print? Fortunately — and it should not be otherwise — there is rigorous peer-review and repeat testing to thank for the validity of published research findings sent to press by Routledge, Berkeley, U of Chicago, Oxford, Stanford, et. al.
Getting a round tuit, what bias is developing against even the possibility that alkaline water produced by conditioning systems of the kind Enagic is in the business of selling COULD be (and is) more hydrating and more sanitary than other filtered tap water is itself very much unscientific.
Half of the claims on chem1.com don’t speak a word to what Kangen asserts their water is and does beyond sensationalistically averring that there is bound to be *ingressive* a dilute portion of of dissolved chlorine in any electrolytically altered alkaline water. They and the Real Water company
assert that through electrolysis of slightly mineral water solution they are able to reduce the attracting force in this solution between (polarized) water molecules, thereby making the water adhere to itself a bit less readily, and giving it a lower viscosity in a way. Chem1 also says nothing about the imputed ORP (oxidation reduction potential) properties of Kangen and Real Water, not even going so far as to explicate what ORP is a measure of.
Better fluidity of drinking water translates into better mobility for arthritis sufferers. DON’T be so hasty.
Much cavilling and band-wagon-hopping-upon is taking place here in the rally against Enagic company. Yes, their machines are spendy; but if their water reduced the effects of cancer by even 10% (and cancer has been shown to be inhibited in alkaline environments) then that 2 grand would b worth it.
ἀνέχου καὶ ἀρέχου
Bb
To all the sceptics out there and espeically the person starting this thread,
well all i can say is that this kangen water really works!!! this is no joke!! we have many testimoinals and to give u mine is that i used to get heartburn nearly everyday and now i ahve been drinking kangen water for 8 weeks i have not once got heart burn, or indegestion and i eat lots of spicy foods. besides my bed i have lots of gaviscon tablets that i dont need to buy anymore. Also the way this water cleansing out your system is very true. please refer to dr hiromi shinya.
if you want to know more please email me aarunn10@yahoo.co.uk
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The defenders of the alkalized water nonsense rest their case on Dr. Hiromi Shinya’s reputation. But his reputation is for looking at the surface of the colon and developing techniques for removing aberrant tissue. This is great, but it does not require any knowledge of chemistry, and very little of biology and physiology. One would not claim that an expert in wart removal knows more about the brain than a neurosurgeon. Give him credit where it is due, and that is all!
thanks for the info – poor chiropractor is falling for this scam – hubby brought home a gallon – I never trust anyone – not after bush – rolls eyes.
I won’t be using it – or buying one – doh!
google
Religious fanaticism is an amazing thing. Faith over Facts. Gullibility over Education. If you want to look at the “expert” ramblings in G Markell’s comments, go to any Kangen sales site to read their testimonials.
Please note that most of these “experts” are selling books on the subject, thus making their opinions bias and their motives self-serving. Also, most of these “experts” are Naturopathic “Doctors” (ND), although Naturopathy is not recognized as a licensed medical practice in a vast majority of the U.S. and Canada, and its practitioners certainly do not have the education and credibility of accredited Medical Doctors (MD).
In fact, G quotes Naturopathic “Doctors” Theodore Baroody and Robert O. Young, both of whom are on record debunking the Kangen Water System. They sell the much cheaper Jupiter Science system instead.
I’ll stick with the scientists on this one. Neither the FDA nor the CDC support Kangen or the nutty claims of its worshipers. Hundreds of thousands of Medical Doctors and accredited scientists scoff at the Kangen claims (just ask your MD). The science behind Kangen is bogus, and all the screaming by its pyramid scheming hawkers and their unfortunate dupes won’t change scientifically proven facts.
(By the way, G, “namesayers” isn’t a real word. I think you meant “naysayers.”)
I am often amazed at the cynicism maliciously touted by namesayers standing by the wayside never really getting involved passionately in any good work, but always tearing down what does not immediately fit into their narrow scope of thinking. Before you trog your up-chucks at Dr. Shinya, check out the work he does and has done for the past 30 years. Check out the Company Enagic and what they stand for in the manufacturing community. No, you are asking people to listen to you Scrud with all your accolades and your medical certifications not Dr. Shinya. (see is credentials below) It makes me feel sad for you, with your lack of insight. “The wise man captures information in order to learn, while many have a knack to let such things escape them easily.”
Here’s what the experts say about Alkaline Water and Kangen Water™: …
[... the rest of G Markell's comments consist of nearly 2,000 words that were cut and pasted from Kangen sales sites. Posting them here would steal space from other people who wish to comment, not to mention violate this website's anti-spam policy. If you wish to read these sales blurbs, go to sites like kangenwatersolutions.com to read their testimonials. ~ admin]
Poor S. Maples is another victim of Kangen snake oil salesmen. Once duped by the pseudoscience, people like Maples prefer self-delusion over admitting they fell for a sales scheme. This sad person makes a half-hearted attempt to discredit Stephen Lower’s very clear and concise explanation of simple high school level science, which obviously is beyond Maples’ understanding as they don’t even understand the difference between “conduct electricity” and “electrolysis of water”!
In fact, 100% of what Lower says is irrefutable universally accepted science, not merely an individual’s opinion. By using the typical huckster quote like “results vary” and to quote the Kangen Multi Level Marketing creator Dr. Shinya as an unbiased medical supporter, Maples actually sounds more like a pusher rather that just a pathetic user.
Look for my next Kangen blog that will show you – with screen shots – how Kangen hucksters teach others how to dupe victims like Maples.
By the way, nobody refutes the fact that many water ionizers – including Kangen’s – actually ionize water; it’s just that there’s NO MEDICAL PROOF that ionized water is any better for you than every day good clean H2O.
Well first of all, Dr. Stephen Lower is wrong on about 65% of everything he mentions from stating that water doesn’t conduct electricity to various other ridiculous claims. So his website is not a credible source. In addition, as with any synthetic drug or natural therapy, results vary. As for me, my uncle overcame his prostate cancer AND type 2 diabetes on this with a traditional medical doctor as a witness! Maybe for those, who haven’t seen as dynamic results, maybe they should do as ANY DOCTOR recommends and drink half their body weight in ounces of water daily and eat a better diet. As far as the water (Kangen or plain Ionized) – it’s kinda hard to refute someone like Dr. Hiromi Shinya who invented the colonoscopy and is ranked among the top surgeons in the world. He requires this type of water for all of his patients and even mentions it in his book, “The Enzyme Factor.” When you have his credentials then I’ll listen to the naysayers.
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…
[Read Mr. Castro's entire comment at The Kangen Water Scam - a Follow-Up.]
My mom who has Parkinson’s and osteoporosis fell for this scam. Referred to by gullible friend. Guess what? She’s been drinking it for months and she still is the same. both of them say they “think” they’re feeling better and that the water is wetter than regular water. yep, they said that the water is wetter. I guess you’ll convince yourself of anything rather than admit you’ve been scammed.
The placebo effect is a wondrous thing. And yes, the Kangen water system creates a clean, “tasty” water if you keep buying new filters. But the fact still remains that if you drink alkaline water, its alkalinity is quickly removed by the highly acidic gastric fluid in your stomach. The truly foolish thing to do is to refuse to understand the science involved. Poor Dr. Warburg’s lifelong work has been twisted and misused years after his death so that he cannot defend his work and distance himself from these charlatans. He’d be the first to acknowledge the real science and to condemn Kangen’s huckster quackery. Once again, I suggest that you have any science teacher that you trust read http://www.chem1.com/CQ/ionbunk.html and explain it to you. It’s great that you feel good. It’s too bad that it unnecessarily cost you thousands of dollars. (PS – I have tried it. It’s just water.)
My mother always tought me that it was better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. It’s easy to sit back and shoot your mouth off trying to discredit something that you haven’t even tried for yourself. That’s the “fool” part my mother was talking about. As a user of the Kangen Alkalized water I can assure you, or anyone else who cares to know, that it is NO SCAM. My health has dramatically improved since I’ve been using the Kangen Water. Happy to provide details upon request. cameronpalmer@shaw.ca
I appreciate your zealous defense of the Kangen pseudoscience, as I suspect you have invested heavily in one or more of their machines. But I’m afraid scientific facts just don’t support this scam. Dr. Warburg’s great accomplishments have nothing to do with Kangen water filters; Kangen merely cites some of his work to confuse and convince their victims. Discounting Professor Lower’s very clear and concise exposure of the Kangen lies (at http://www.chem1.com/CQ/ionbunk.html) merely because you don’t agree with his religious beliefs is the epitome of naivete. If you ever think you can stand to hear the truth, please find any high school chemistry teacher of your own religious beliefs and ask him/her. Science is irrefutable, and Kangen is stealing money by selling false hopes.
You are so very wrong. The Nobel Prize was given in 1931 to Dr. Otto Warburg for his work in proving that cancer cells cannot survive in an alkaline environment. (All cancer patients are extremely acidic.) No technology was available until 35 years ago, to create alkaline water, the kind of water which was available on this earth when it began (Kangen means “return to origin”) We are all born with a pH of 7.36, just over into the alkaline side of the scale of 0-14 and we were meant to live our lives in this level of alkalinity. Drinking, great-tasting alkaline water is the most “extreme health drink” available to mankind. Why is this technology repulsive to you? Would you rather live in sickness, or enjoy life in wellness. Look into your expert’s profile portion of his website and you will see a mockery of religion. Those who want to take his advice are welcome to it; and my condolences to them!