"Tsinghua, Shui Mu, is graceful and elegant", which shows the beauty of waterfront scenery. Water is the most abundant molecule in human body and the most dependent substance in our daily life. Water not only provides us with what we need in life, but also is an important material for literary imagination. Because of the importance of water, there are countless water-related products on the market. Moreover, in this age of "health preservation", most of these products are expensive, and they are often endorsed by "scientific research". Are these products really as effective as advertised and are they worth spending so much money?

Another information related to water is that "a kind heart" or "a good idea" will produce beautiful water crystals; On the contrary, vicious words will produce ugly water crystals. This idea mainly comes from Jiang Bensheng. Jiang Bensheng's books are very popular in Taiwan Province. He claimed that there was "scientific" evidence that water could understand people's minds. My opinion is that Jiang Bensheng's water crystallization has nothing to do with "kindness", but with the photographer's psychology and his active choice. Jiang Bensheng has never received any scientific training (majoring in international relations at the university). However, in Taiwan Province Province, we can see Jiang Bensheng's name everywhere, calling him "doctor" (he did not have a doctor's degree and studied at the Indian Alternative Medical University. There seems to be only one building on the website of this university, and I can't find any academic papers of this university from SciFinder database, while Changhua Normal University has hundreds of them). What is creepy is that Jiang Bensheng's "experiment" is undoubtedly quoted in the speeches of religious leaders and entrepreneurs, in the interviews of substitute (spiritual) medical professors and even in the campus activities of school teachers.

The purpose of this website is to examine the statements about water from the molecular perspective of modern chemistry, especially those we think are unreliable or wrong, and hope to provide you with relevant information before you pay for these products; Another purpose is to let readers know the difference between science and pseudoscience. For example, Jiang Bensheng's photo is 100% pseudoscience.

Aquatic products are a big market.

Water is very important for health. There are at least dozens of products on the market that claim to be healthy and maintain youthful vitality: "energy water" is to make water molecules form small molecular groups, which are easy to enter and leave cells to eliminate toxins, and "ionized water" is alkaline water made by electrolysis. It is said that it can prevent acidic constitution from being beneficial to the body, but these health care products cost 30,000 to 40,000 yuan! Even bottled mineral water should be labeled as "alkaline". There are also expensive mineral water blessed by the "professor". Not long ago, we also saw that the "energy water" product endorsed by baseball players was accused of exaggerating the effect, and the players also said: I think it tastes good! The question is, is the delicious water worth spending so much money? Besides, consumers are spending money on health (the manufacturer claims that the product can "improve immunity and inhibit the production of tumor cells"). The Department of Health once ruled that eight related products violated the provisions of Article 69 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law and imposed a fine. Recently, the Food Information Network of the Department of Health provided a web page about food rumors, and the efforts made by the Department of Health to dispel rumors are exciting!

Error messages on the network

Just enter a few keywords in Google, such as "energy water", and you will find thousands of pages, all of which are Dakang (. Com) pages that claim to be false information. Why is there far more wrong information than correct information in the online world? I think there may be two reasons: first, profit-making parties are more willing to build websites; Secondly, scientists prefer to spend time studying new things rather than "proving" what they think is stupid. It is hard for those who enthusiastically embrace certain ideas to deny them. For example, it is almost impossible to "prove" that there are no ghosts in this world.

The following common water-related misunderstandings, first of all, we will combine these concepts with our views, please see the link for a detailed explanation:

(1) Alkaline water produced by electrolyzed water can neutralize acidic constitution and is beneficial to health?

Our opinion: alkaline water produced by electrolysis of water can be ignored. The acid content of fruit juice and the alkali content of magnesium milk are much higher, but it will not affect the pH value of human body. Human gastric juice is commonly known as hydrochloric acid. All alkaline water cannot pass through the stomach and remains alkaline. The pH in the human body is controlled by buffering substances (such as carbon dioxide) and enzymes, and it is not good to be too acidic or too alkaline.

How does the human body control the pH value?

Don't drink pure water because it lacks minerals?

Our view: Pure water does not contain minerals, and some propaganda selling mineral water advises people not to drink reverse osmosis water or distilled water. In fact, water plays the role of solvent in the body, and drinking unpolluted water is the most important to maintain people's health. The minerals needed by human body come from diet (such as vegetables and fruits).

(3) Small molecular water (energy water) can get in and out of cells more effectively than tap water, and can keep cells young?

Our point of view: There is no evidence to support the statement that water is changed by various structures, or that the so-called "water mass" is used to promote "cell hydration". These arguments are groundless and incompatible with the known mechanism that water molecules enter the cell wall "one molecule at a time". There is no evidence that any dietary additives or treatments can delay aging. Professor Peter Agre, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2003, told us how water molecules enter and leave cells. Readers can also refer to the Chinese version of Professor Cai Yunming from the Department of Chemistry of Taiwan Province Provincial University.

(4) magnetized water (p water) is beneficial to human body?

Our point of view: water molecules have electric dipoles (local positive and negative charges in molecules) but no magnetic dipoles. Except in extreme conditions, water will not be affected by magnetic field. There is no credible research to prove that magnetic treatment of water is effective, and the statement of "inhibiting tumor cell production" is completely unfounded.

(5) Oxidized water makes people energetic?

Our opinion: only a little oxygen can be dissolved in water, and the oxygen that is drunk into the gastrointestinal tract will not be absorbed by the human body; Breathe fresh air, and your body will get more oxygen!

(6) A "kind heart" can produce beautiful water crystals?

Our opinion: impossible! If water can be scientifically proved to understand human thoughts, Jiang Bensheng will definitely win the Nobel Prize! Because it violates all our knowledge about water, Jiang Bensheng's water crystals are photographed with a microscope with a magnification of 200-500 times, which means that hundreds of photos with the same size can be taken on ice. Are these hundreds of photos the same? Or did Jiang Bensheng just pick out the photos he wanted? Why are the photos of snowflakes taken by physicists at California Institute of Technology exactly the same as those on the front page of Jiang Bensheng's book, or even clearer? What do real snowflake experts think of Jiang Bensheng's results?

How to distinguish science from pseudoscience?

(7) Can water, mung beans and rice understand good things?

Our opinion: Our mung bean germination experiment results show that there is no significant difference between the experimenters who say mung beans are good and those who say mung beans are bad.

Related websites

Scientists' Web page about water crystallization: Professor Libbrecht, a physicist at California Institute of Technology, is an expert on snowflakes. His web page has a complete explanation of water crystallization.

Quackwatch: a non-profit organization that aims to expose false medical information. It is composed of 100 experts in medicine, pharmacy and nutrition.

Magic Randy's Breaking Superstition Web Page: The author was originally a magician, who was famous for exposing Machamp's deception.

Xie Mo Questionnet: Tell you how to face this information-confused world with suspicion. The writer is a> columnist.

Professor Stephen Lower's introduction to water and its structure: a brief introduction to water, written by a retired university professor.

What is pseudoscience? Description of pseudoscience and how pseudoscience is used.

Pseudoscience and Jianghu deception in the water cluster: it contains rich information and introduces various advertisements promoting "water cluster" in the market.

Pseudoscience of water and quack deception: Professor Stephen Lower, retired from Simon Fraser's Department of Chemistry in Canada, gave a complete and interesting explanation of pseudoscience of water, and we quoted a lot of information from his website.

CSICOP: A supernatural investigation committee composed of many famous scientists and popular science writers.

Nobel foundation

Hu: Professor, Chemistry Department, Changhua Normal University