Can Alkaline Water "Improve Your Body"?

The high-priced business behind the scenes sells 3 to 5 times the price of ordinary bottled water through marketing

  A few days ago, "CCTV Exposes Alkaline Water Marketing Chaos" on the hot search.

A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily visited the market and found that in the current high-end bottled water market, there are not a few marketing suggesting that alkaline water has a therapeutic effect.

However, compared to the "mysterious and mysterious" marketing, the so-called efficacy of alkaline water is actually minimal.

However, through the "flickering" of marketing, the price of alkaline water is 3 to 5 times higher than that of ordinary bottled water.

  "Pregnancy preparation" "Neutralize pH"

  Marketing "metaphysics" of alkaline water

  Recently, a water company in Kunming, Yunnan, "Shilin Tianwaitian", was investigated by the local market supervision bureau for its gimmick that alkaline water has therapeutic effects.

Professional testing found that "Shilin Tianwaitian" is indeed water with high alkalinity, which can be called "alkaline water".

However, this water company published 15 articles and videos on the official account of "Alkaline Treatment Collection", claiming that alkaline water can treat or prevent uric acid nephrolithiasis, diabetes, gout, high uric acid, rat stomach Efficacy of diseases such as ulcers.

  In fact, there are not a few marketing that suggest the healing properties of alkaline water.

A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily searched for the keyword "alkaline water" on the online e-commerce platform, and there are a large number of products on sale.

  But this does not affect the "metaphysical marketing" of alkaline water.

In the introduction pictures of many products, "0 sugar, 0 gas, 0 addition", "small molecular clusters 45Hz", "PH value reaches 9.0", etc.

Some merchants also posted pictures of PH values, placing the silhouettes of some bottled beverages in the acidic value area, and their products in the alkaline value area.

  From the perspective of domestic standards, beverages are divided into 11 categories in the "General Rules for Beverages" issued by my country.

One category is packaged drinking water, including drinking natural mineral water, drinking purified water, and other types of drinking water.

"Other types of drinking water" also includes drinking natural spring water, drinking natural water and other drinking water.

Obviously, alkaline water is not in the classification.

  In addition, for ordinary consumers, such an introduction with professional terms is confusing.

Some merchants said that it is inconvenient to "express" in the description, but the reporter of Beiqing Daily noticed that many of the products in the top search results of "alkaline water" appeared in the title such as "pregnancy", "pregnancy preparation", etc. Keywords such as "acid reflux" and "high uric acid", among which the keyword "pregnancy preparation" appears most frequently in the titles of various alkaline waters.

In many alkaline water product pages, introductions suitable for "pregnant women" and "pregnant women" appear frequently.

  As a consumer, a reporter from Beiqing Daily consulted some alkaline water merchants who mentioned "pregnancy preparation".

The explanations from the customer service staff are surprisingly consistent - alkaline water can neutralize the body's pH and suggest that an acidic constitution may affect pregnancy.

Not only that, in the "Q&A" column of some product introductions, some merchants also claimed that water is weakly alkaline, and pregnant women often drink it to neutralize stomach acid, which has a certain relief effect on morning sickness.

  In the introduction of some products, slogans such as "bring health 'alkali' back" are included, linking the pH value of water with health.

The introduction stated that the Chinese diet is generally acidic, and the intake of "alkali" has been seriously insufficient, and implies that "acid-base neutralization" is beneficial to health.

  consumer for

  Merchant marketing pay?

  The Beiqing Daily reporter found that some products advertised as alkaline water have a huge gap in price from ordinary bottled water.

In terms of 500ml bottled drinking water, the current median price is around 1.5 yuan (the average price of the whole box).

  Among the products with the top search results for "alkaline water" on an e-commerce platform, "N47 Kedong Natural Soda Weak Alkaline Water" is priced at 8 yuan equivalent to 500 ml; "Volcano Mingquan Kedong Natural Soda Water" "Weak alkaline water" is priced at 7 yuan for 500 ml; "Tianyuan Zeshui Wudalianchi natural soda water weak alkaline water" is priced at 9.3 yuan for 500 ml; "Shilin Tianwaitian alkaline water" is priced at 7.7 yuan for 500 ml ...

  These alkaline waters sell for 3 to 5 times as much as regular water.

According to industry insiders, if there is no additional addition to these "alkaline water", the production cost is similar to the cost of ordinary bottled water, and the cost of water in the production process is very low, even less than the cost of packaging and transportation.

According to the data disclosed by some listed companies of packaged water, the gross profit rate of their products is nearly 60%, which shows that ordinary bottled water itself has a large profit space.

In contrast, the possible profit margins of high-priced alkaline water are even more astonishing, and more consumers are paying for the business's marketing.

  Expert reminder

  The human body regulates its own pH

  A reporter from Beiqing Daily learned that the "Qualitative Evidence-Based Study on the Effects of Alkaline Water on Health" from Peking University shows that at present, there is no consensus on the effects of alkaline water on health, and further research is needed.

  As early as a few years ago, experts have refuted rumors that weakly alkaline water can improve physical fitness.

The biggest function of drinking water is to replenish the missing water in our body. As long as you drink enough water, it can play a certain role in preventing chronic diseases. As for the pH of water, you don’t need to pay too much attention.

Whether weak acid or weak alkaline water, it will become acidic in the stomach, because the pH value of gastric juice is around 2.0.

The human body has its own regulation of pH, which will not be changed by drinking water.

  Experts said that alkaline water cannot replace medicine. For patients with gout or hyperacidity, sodium bicarbonate has a certain effect. The content of sodium bicarbonate in weak alkaline water is very small, and it is necessary to drink enough every day. A volume of 7 to 15 liters is barely enough for the prescribed daily dose of sodium bicarbonate.

In addition, the function of drinking water is to replenish water in the body, and it has no effect on regulating physical fitness.

  Text / reporter Zhang Xin