Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Have you seen ads for oxygenated water, claiming to
cure tiredness, improve memory, help you to exercise longer and
make you a better athlete? A study from Austria shows that
oxygenated water offers none of these benefits for humans
(International Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 27, 2006).
When you exercise as hard as you can, you gasp for
breath because you cannot meet your needs for oxygen, no
matter how hard or fast you breathe. Lack of oxygen prevents
you from breaking down lactic acid so it accumulates in your
muscles and blood, and you develop severe shortness of breath.
Researchers analyzed the effects of drinking oxygenated water
daily for two weeks on lung function and clearance of lactic acid
from the bloodstream during exhausting exercise. During both
exercise and rest, there was no difference between people who
drank oxygenated water and those who drank ordinary water as
a placebo.
Oxygenated water would be helpful to fish because they
have gills whose main function is to extract oxygen from water.
Since you don’t have gills, extra oxygen in water is useless to
you. Lungs are the only organ humans have to provide oxygen
to the bloodstream, extracting it from the air you breathe. Water
is not broken down into hydrogen and oxygen in your digestive
tract; it is absorbed, used and excreted as water. Since you
have no mechanism for moving extra oxygen from water into
your bloodstream, oxygenated water cannot possibly help you
with exercise or anything else. I recommend that you save your
money.
June 15, 2006