Does Power One Water, an alkaline drink, cure leukemia and other types of cancer? No, that's not true: There is no scientific evidence supporting the theory that alkaline water can prevent or cure diseases such as cancer.
The claim appeared in several videos on TikTok such as this one (archived here) posted by the account poweronewater1 on March, 7, 2023. The caption of the video is a disclaimer: "โปรดใช้วิจารณญาณในการรับชม น้ำดื่มเพาเวอร์เป็นแค่ทางเลือกในการดูแลสุขภาพ ควรปรึกษาแพทย์เพื่อการรักษาที่ถูกต้อง #poweronewater #น้ำดื่มเพาเวอร์วัน" which Lead Stories staff translated as "Please use your judgement when consuming. Power drinking water is just an alternative to health care. It is recommended to consult with a physician for proper treatment."
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Apr 26 12:00:06 2023 UTC)
Although the video comes with a disclaimer, it still declares the product has therapeutic properties. The woman in the video is shown answering questions posed by a man, whose voice can be heard in the background, as if she is being interviewed. As first, she identifies herself as Apon Dansong, and says she was diagnosed with stage three leukemia several years ago.
She continues, saying that she has visited many hospitals searching for a cure but hasn't found one. After someone introduced her to Power One water, she says, she drank the alkaline water while taking her prescribed medicines. Five months later, she concludes, she went back to the hospital for a check-up and her cancer was gone. She also gained back her strength:
On October 25th, I went to the Songklanagarind Hospital for a check-up. The doctor said that my blood results were back to normal, and that my cholesterol, intestines, kidneys were normal ... before this I thought I was going to die... And there was no sign of cancer at all.
There is no further information to corroborate her story, nor her claims.
Science does not support the idea of alkaline water as a miracle cure. Lead Stories has debunked the claim that cancer is caused by acidity and can be prevented by alkalizing the body. The Thai Food and Drug Administration's website also debunked the claim in 2020, adding that alkaline water has been widely discussed on social media as a healthy drink that can prevent cancer and other diseases.
The Thai agency's web page says this is not true. Our body has mechanisms to control the acid-base balance and our internal organs have different levels of acidity and alkalinity. Drinking alkaline water does not change the body's pH. Many studies have found that drinking alkaline water has no effect on the prevention or inhibition of cancer cells.
The Thailand Anti-Fake News Center launched a warning on December 3, 2021, rejecting as baseless the advertisement of Power One water as effective in reducing the risk of diseases, in helping weight loss and improving brain and heart functions.
The Thai FDA, a Thai government unit under the Ministry of Public Health overseeing the registration of food and drugs, has confirmed that these claims are false and "therefore, it is important for the public not to believe such information and to refrain from sharing or forwarding it through various online social media channels." "Let us all work together to combat the spread of false information," the website adds.
An official with the Thai FDA's complaint center - which opened lines for the public to voice complaints related to food and drugs - said in a phone interview with Lead Stories on April 26, 2023, that they have forbidden Power One to claim that their product can improve one's health in 2021, after receiving several complaints on the product being widely advertised as therapeutic on local social media.
