Re: Does ozonated water have a positive cleaning effect on the human body?

Hi Bob,

Yes, the idea of superoxygenation has been around for many years. This has encompassed a variety of methodologies including administration of hydrogen peroxide (injection, enemas, etc.), ozone therapy by a number of routes, and others.

There is a published study that studied the use of superoxygenated water in athletes - those individuals with a very high ability to utilize oxygen within their bodies (so, ideal candidates to determine whether superoxygenated water has an impact. You can find it in Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2007 Dec;2(4):377-85). There was no difference in performance or utilization after ingesting superoxygenated water.

I am not aware of other published studies that have specifically focused on cleaning, cleansing, or healing - terms that are very difficult to quantify in the best of situations. There have been many claims of using hydrogen peroxide or ozone as therapies for everything form cancer to HIV - none of them have ever been proven using a clinical trial. No company has ever approached the FDA with data to support these claims - so the rest is hearsay. (At least nothing has been published as far as I am aware.)

Let us consider some things logically.

First, ozone is a highly reactive and unstable oxygen compound. When this gas is mixed with water (it is used often on municipal waste water treatment) it reacts with organic materials. So, in other words, ozone would also react against the cells in your body and their constituents, like enzymes - not a good thing! Fortunately, ozone is so reactive that it decomposes quickly into ordinary oxygen and is then no danger to those that drink it. Yes, ozone has been used as a disinfectant, but on inanimate objects, not your body. In disinfectant concentrations it would be dangerous to your health (and has the potential to alter DNA - a very bad thing).

Second, many individuals claim that ozonation of water increases the concentration of oxygen in the water, and that must be a good thing for our body. Well, water can only retain a certain amount of oxygen dissolved in it - water already has that amount just from exposure to air normally. If we increase the amount of oxygen in water, what happens? It simply comes back out of the water into the atmosphere to reach its normal equilibrium. Even if we could keep the oxygen in the water, when you drink it, it enters your stomach - a very unfriendly place full of normal acids. Let us assume that this extra oxygen can make its way into your bloodstream via your stomach, the blood then passes through the liver, into your heart and out to your lungs to be oxygenated. At this point, we get back to the equilibrium issue - your respiratory system is finely tuned to allow just the right amount of oxygen into your hemoglobin. So, if for some reason there is extra oxygen already present in your blood, less is "brought in" from the lungs. So, the body is designed to keep things in balance.

I hope this helps to sort out some of your questions...

Reference:
McNaughton LR, Kenney S, Siegler J, Midgley AW, Lovell RJ, Bentley DJ.
The effect of superoxygenated water on blood gases, lactate, and aerobic cycling performance.
Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2007 Dec;2(4):377-85.