IonX - Ionised Energy Fabric

Has anyone heard or tried this new fabric?

CCC BaseLayer IonX is revolutionary in apparel technology as it delivers ionic energy to the body through a negatively charged electromagnetic field.

CCC BaseLayer IonX improves performance. Ionisation improves the flow of oxygen-enriched blood to bring more energy to the muscles, which increases your average power output, improving speed and strength.

CCC BaseLayer IonX accelerates recovery. The improvement in blood flow effeciently flushes out residual waste products such as lactic acid, which
is left in the muscles after high intensity activity. Recovery is accelerated, therefore training or competition can begin again sooner.
ionx

Apparently they had this tested in a lab in a double blind study..

"IonX™ represents a revolutionary performance apprel technology. A study conducted in the Sports Technolgy Laboratory at Loughborough University showed a significant increase in repetitive, short duration, high intensity exercise performance (power output) in both competitive and recreational athletes when wearing IonX™ versus non-ionised control garments. This improvement is likely to be functionally relevant to all team sport players or indeed anybody undertaking repetitive bouts of high intensity exercise during training or performance"

Dr Mike Caine, Senior Lecture, Sports Technology, Loughborough University UK
ionx

I know that a while back the Mayo Clinic (for what it's worth) did a study debunking the whole ionized bracelet thing which stopped all the infomercials and outlandish claims. As far as I can gather ionization of air, materials, etc, has never been proven to be beneficial and positive results have always been anecdotal in nature.

So is this IonX a scam, or do you think there is something to it?

I can at least tell you so far that the claims are preposterous.

The site says,

IonX™ - Ionised Energy Fabric™ performance apparel and compression support delivers ionic energy to the body through a negatively charged electromagnetic field.

But there's no such thing as "ionic energy" that can be transferred to the body, as far as I know.

After some searching, I found a blog, which contains some of its claims...

munfitnessblog.com...

Short version of explanation for those who are lazy to read the details:

* Ionx Recovery Gear are tight-fitting layers worn next to the skin.
* They are saturated with negative ions.
* These ions, according to manufacturers’ claim, increase oxygen flow during exercise and can speed recovery and removal of lactic acid and therefore improving overall athletic performance.

1) Compression. It can be beneficial, but is unrelated to anything ionic.
2) If it was saturated with negative ions, it would attract positive ions in the air. Things should cling to it.
3) I have no idea how removing lactic acid can be improved by putting negatively charged ions around a muscle. Perhaps it could alter the movement of some ions in the tissues, including the blood and lymph system, but I don't understand how it would help like that.

* Longer version of explanation for those who are keen to find out more:
o According to Canterbury, when we expend energy, the molecules in our body are left holding a positive charge. Positively charged ions alone do not give any benefit and can actually be harmful to health. These ions need a negative ion to couple with for stabilization. The imbalance or instability created in our bodies created through exercising is only rectified over a period of time, during which the body can naturally recover.

This is absolutely ridiculous. You need positive ions! Sodium is a positive ion, as is potassium! Just look at a periodic table, and anything in the first two groups will be a positively charged ion in solution, along with a bunch of transition metals!
Simply, bull#.

o IonX garments overcome this problem by creating a negatively charged electromagnetic field around the body. This magnetic filed will work to restore the energy and create the balance in our bodies. Negative ions in the fabric pass through the skin, neutralize the positive ions and transform them into a storage bank of usable energy.

Again, preposterous. You realize what it means if negative ions are passing through your skin? That would be a drug delivery system, like a transdermal patch! There's no way that this is going to increase your energy, unless they lace it with drugs (stimulants, sugars, ATP, etc), and in that case, it would be a drug and not clothing. And that doesn't explain how they're doing it with "negative ions." An ion is just a molecule with a charge, and again...
Bull#!

You need positively charged ions to live, as I've mentioned, just like how you need some negatively charged ones, too.


I can't tell you if this does or doesn't work but I can tell you that the claims about how are complete rubbish. It's all marketed bull# that makes no sense at all if you consider what they're saying from a scientific standpoint.

reply to post by Johnmike


First let me thank you for a well thought out response.

I looked into a (negative) ionized air purifier a while back. The claims were that positive ions are created by such things as pollution and that negative ions, which are naturally generated by events such as lightning, ocean waves, sunlight, thunderstorms, and waterfalls, would cancel the positive ions out and improve my air.

How a piece of clothing could provide such benefit, assuming that there was such benefit, is beyond me. Your explanation has indeed secured my skepticism.

This is how it is supposed to work:



Supposed affects:

Increased Blood Flow
Increased delivery of oxygen to muscles
Increased average power output by 2.7%
Accelerated recovery

Further more IonX garments carry a minimum of 3500 IEI. (Ionic Energy Index) which is literally the amount of energy needed to be on the top of a (really) high mountain. Just have a look at this:


talkbasket

However when WADA was asked:

The International Rugby Board asked the World Anti-Doping Agency for a ruling. They replied that they were happy — for now. Spokesman Frederic Donze said:

'Since there is no scientific publication supporting claims that changes in the body ion charges or magnetic field distribution enhance performance, and since such technologies do not contain prohibited substances, these technologies should not be considered as a banned method to date.'
(same source)

Originally posted by schrodingers dog
I looked into a (negative) ionized air purifier a while back. The claims were that positive ions are created by such things as pollution and that negative ions, which are naturally generated by events such as lightning, ocean waves, sunlight, thunderstorms, and waterfalls, would cancel the positive ions out and improve my air.

Well these work differently. It doesn't have to do with adding/eliminating anything in the air because they're healthy or unhealthy. Most molecules in our everyday lives (not in aqueous solution) are neutral - no positive or negative charge. What these ionizers do is actually give out a charge (negative or positive, I don't know off hand), creating ions, thus "ionization." Essentially it adds or takes an electron from a molecule. This causes the ions to stick to things around them, making them clump and fall out of the air and/or stick to the walls and floor. It usually works, but should be used in conjunction with a HEPA filter, because there's one important thing you don't want it to stick to, which it will - your lungs.