Does Bathing in Vitamin C Water Improve Health?
Now you can add a little citrus-inspired zip to your shower by installing a vitamin C-infused filter to your shower head.
The MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas offers vitamin-powered showers in its Stay Well rooms. Leonardo DiCaprio will also soon enjoy this "nutrisoothical" amenity when he moves into his wellness-focused condo in New York City, according to Delos Living, the company providing the shower heads.
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Vitashower, a company that sells vitamin C shower filters, claims that releasing the essential vitamin into a shower stream neutralizes the chemical chlorine that's added to virtually all water in the United States.
Vitamin C infused showers claim to benefit the skin and hair. Photo credit: Getty Images.
"By definition, chlorine is a nonmetallic element occurring naturally as a poisonous, greenish-yellow gas with an irritating, pungent odor," Vitashower's website states. "The new technology used in the Vitashower Shower Filter astonishingly uses a vitamin as the agent to remove the harmful chlorine in the water we use to shower."
This theory seems all wet to Neal Langerman, a chemist who is an officer at the American Chemical Society.
"To make the argument that chlorine is dangerous as it exists in water is totally specious," he said. "There is also absolutely no evidence that chlorine in water form is bad for your skin."
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Langerman said that when vitamin C is added to chlorinated water, it may indeed convert the element into chloride, a chemical compound commonly found in plain old table salt. However, Langerman said, it's unclear whether the shower head creates the right conditions for the chemical conversion to take place. Even assuming it does, he's not sure the new compound proffers any health advantage.
Vitashower and Delos Living could not be reached for comment.
Scientific evidence or no, Spa Finders, a group that tracks the spa and wellness industry, said that vitamin showers are definitely in vogue. Spa Finder spokeswoman, Betsy Isroelit, said the group highlighted the shower heads last year as part of a larger healthy hotel room trend. This year, the idea is now hotter than ever in the home market, Isroelit said.
When asked if it's worth the 40 or so bucks for a vitamin C shower, Langerman replied, "Nope. Why spend money when whether it does what it says it's going to do or not, there's no reason to do it?"