... so while you're here, check out our rants, ravings, snipes and gripes - and let us know what's on your mind.
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 - $2,000 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. Still, 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
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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!
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.
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
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 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.
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.]
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.
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.
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]
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.”)
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