Some marketers are amazing. I've heard about selling ice to Eskimos and with increaing global warming perhaps there will be a lot more of that. But some processors are flogging bottled water with "added oxygen" and claiming that it can enhance performance! That's hysterical. I guess there really is one born every minute.

Richard Pechey, sales manager for the OGO oxygenated water brand claimed OGO's extra oxygen content was 35 times the level found in regular water. Pechey markets OGO claiming the “high infusion of oxygen means an extra boost of energy-giving O2”. I wonder where Pechey went to school. They must have had pretty special water there.

The OGO drink is made from natural spring water. It's a pity they then process the stuff. I don't know about adding value but they certainly add to the price. It has been selling in Australia, the UK and France and is soon to be available in America. It should sell especially well in the US -- after all, the Bush Administration proves every day that Americans will believe anything.

Pechey is reported to have said the oxygen content of OGO was “remarkably high” and that there was a lot of anecdotal and documentary evidence suggesting the water improved consumers' general sense of well-being. Of course if you tell people it is magic water a certain number will feel better anyway. After paying a high price people are inclined to feel something so they can justify the expense and not just feel foolish.

However, they really should feel foolish! The idea that drinking water containing extra oxygen could improve performance during exercise cannot be taken seriously, according to a review published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine by professor Claude Piantadosi of Duke University.

There is more oxygen in a breath of fresh air than in a litre of most ‘hyperoxygenated' bottled waters, according to the review. Indeed, Piantadosi said evidence from several studies suggested only miniscule amounts of oxygen can be dissolved in drinking water compared with that required for exercise, and that no significant amount of oxygen was absorbed via the intestine. One reviewed study of 12 people found oxygenated water did not change blood oxygen levels any more than ordinary bottled water.

I can't wait for this to reach the people marketing high-oxygen releasing colon cleansing products! They have always greatly amused me with their ridiculous claims.