Jimu news reporter Pan Xiheng
Photojournalist Li Hui
Intern Shi Ziyu Li Ziyin
Alkaline water is good for health and even hints at "treating gout"? Recently, a promotional advertisement for mineral water has aroused heated consumer discussion. In fact, this is not the first time that the acidity and alkalinity of water have aroused widespread concern. So what exactly is good water? Experts said that clean, free of impurities, safe water is healthy water, for a variety of marketing gimmicks, consumers need to polish their eyes, rational treatment.
An alkaline water in Yunnan was exposed by the media
On the eve of March 15, some media reported that the well-known water company in Yunnan, "Shilin Tianwaitian", claimed that drinking alkaline mineral water with a pH of 9.3 can significantly anti-aging, lower blood sugar, alleviate hyperuricemia and metabolize body acidity.
On the 16th, the Jimu news reporter opened the official website of Yunnan Tianwaitian Natural Beverage Co., Ltd. to see that the home page is a full-screen large picture of the words "drink alkaline water for health", in the website's slogan, you can see everywhere "alkaline life every day, a new way of quality life" and other expressions, but also opened a column to introduce alkaline water and health series of science, alkali treatment collection, etc.
The company's official website also released the intervention study of Kunming Medical University on alkaline water on tumors and other diseases, the intervention study of alkaline water on low-density lipoprotein/blood glucose, the intervention study of alkaline water on glutamine transaminases/fatty liver, and the effect of alkaline water on osteoporosis, hyperuricemia, fatty liver, anti-aging, gout and other diseases, and declared the positive effect of alkaline water on diseases in the form of small videos. In this regard, some media said that although the content does not directly say "cure the disease", it does not skimp on words that have the effect of the product, such as "helping" and "alleviating", intentionally or unintentionally guide consumers.
On the 16th, Jimu News reporter contacted Li Guoqiang, deputy general manager of the company, who told reporters that on the day of the 14th media report, the local market supervision department in Kunming went to the door to inspect whether they had violations of laws and regulations, and the inspection was still ongoing, and no conclusion had been given for the time being. "Our company will actively cooperate."
Li Guoqiang told jimu news reporters that the company's advertising did not violate the law, never declared that "drinking alkaline water to cure gout", he also knew that in addition to drugs can not promote the therapeutic effect.
Several bottled waters in the supermarket are marked with pH
Jimu News reporters visited Wuhan's Wuhan Wushang vendors, Wal-Mart and other supermarkets, and did not find that there was a stone forest Tianwaitian brand alkaline water for sale, but on the shelves, there were also some water or explicit or implicit "alkaline cards".
In Xudong Wolm, the reporter roughly counted 10 brands of bottled water for sale, of which three brands marked the pH value significantly on the label, but they were all within 8, far below the pH value of 9.3 in stone forest. In random interviews with a number of consumers, the reporter learned that some people said that they only drank the brands they often bought, and some people said that they often drank alkaline water.
What exactly does alkaline water do? Dai Zhe, deputy director of the Department of Endocrinology of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, introduced that when treating gout in the clinic, patients will indeed take sodium bicarbonate tablets to neutralize uric acid and promote uric acid excretion.
"In the treatment, we generally let the patient take 1.5 grams of sodium bicarbonate every day, and for the concentration of alkaline drinking water, I think it should not reach the concentration of the drug, so how much this kind of water plays a role in gout is worth a question mark." For ordinary people, it is not advocated to drink alkaline water for a long time, the human body itself is a neutral environment, and long-term intake of alkaline water may destroy the acid-base balance metabolism in the body. "Even if you are a gout patient, drinking alkaline water in large quantities for a long time is not recommended."
In recent years, the discussion about the acidity and alkalinity of water has not stopped, and the products with acidity and alkalinity as a publicity gimmick are endless. Before a certain brand of mineral water claimed to be weak alkaline, a little sweet, and now it is "Stone Forest Heaven" is even more declared that the pH value has reached 9.3 or so, which is close to the threshold of strong alkali.
Experts say alkaline water is just a publicity gimmick
Is alkaline water really good for human health? The reporter consulted the third edition of the "World Health Organization Drinking Water Standards" and found that the pH standard in the 5 major detection indicators is the same as the current standard in the mainland, which is 6.5-8.5, the reason is: low pH water has a certain corrosiveness, while high pH water will have a slippery feeling and odor, but it does not mention that "weak alkaline water is conducive to good health."
In the interview, many experts said that clean, impurity-free and safe water is healthy water. For the average family, tap water is safe to drink when boiled.
Wang Silu, a national senior food inspector and food safety science expert, said bluntly that "alkaline water" is just a publicity gimmick deliberately created by merchants.
"Water has no special curative effect, but drinking more water and drinking enough water is definitely good for the body." The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents recommend that lightly physically active adults living in mild climates drink at least 1200 ml of water per day, drinking enough water per day is about 2 liters, and should be increased with the increase in physical activity and the increase in environmental temperature.
It is worth noting that in response to the chaos of drinking water packaging publicity, as early as 2013, the National Health and Family Planning Commission promulgated the "Specification for the Management of Labeling Instructions for Product Labels Involving Drinking Water Sanitation and Safety", which clearly states that the labels and instructions of water-related products must not be marked with explicit or implicit content that has the effect of preventing and treating diseases, and must not be marked with "acidic water", "alkaline water", "energy water" and "oxygen-rich water".