New varieties of water offer health benefits, but don't deliver

What if you could get more oxygen into your system by a method other than breathing?

A company says its oxygenated water, containing O4, also known as “activated stabilized oxygen,” can do just that. When you drink Oxigen [notice the clever spelling], O4 supposedly is absorbed under your tongue and in your stomach.

An article about this wonderful product states, “These aren’t just claims, but actual scientific processes supported by studies on stabilized oxygen.” Due to the limitations of space on the Internet, references to the studies are not provided.

The product “contains 1000 ppm of bioavailable oxygen” which is said to be about 20 times as much as the oxygen in tap water. Stabilized oxygen supposedly helps the body clear lactate and is beneficial for hangovers.

Another reason not to rely on medical advice from the Internet.

On New Year's Eve, The Daily Beast published an article with suggestions about how to avoid a hangover.

Some of the tips were reasonable such as limiting yourself to one alcoholic drink per hour and maybe avoiding certain beverages like wine, bourbon, and Scotch, which contain congeners and have been associated with worse hangovers.

However, some of the advice is wrong.

The article recommends this on the day you plan to party:

6 a.m.: Rise and hydrate! Drink early and drink often. One of the main causes of a hangover is dehydration. Women should be drinking 2.7 liters per day, and men should get 3.7 liters. That's 0.7 gallon and 0.97 gallon, respectively.