I have been watching videos on nutrition and health for a long time, and one video came up in my feed where the famous Sadhguru was talking about water having memory. He was suggesting that when we drink water directly from the tap and do not let it settle for an hour, it transfers the unstable energy to the drinker. I read the same thing in another book by Sadhguru (A taste of wellbeing).
This made me wonder whether it is actually true or just another fancy advice with no scientific backing. Don't get me wrong, I respect Sadhguru and what impact his lectures have on so many people. What I cannot appreciate is getting such eccentric advice without any research or logic backing it. That is why I have set out to do my own research and find out how much of that is actually true. And if yes, I would definitely shift my water drinking habits ..but until then, I don't have the patience to keep my water still for an hour & then have it.
Process
Sadhuguru told in one of his lectures that "It is a fact & has been proven that water has memory. A LOT of research has been going into it and scientists have found that water has memory. We can change the molecular composition of water, just by touching it or looking at it. If we look at water with bad intention & offer it to somebody, he/she will fall sick overnight."
Now, first of all.. wow! That is a really big claim. And why hasn't Sadhguru ever cited the research in any of his videos whenever asked about it?
To find out, I searched on various research journals (links attached) as follows:
What I Found
TLDR: I read 20+ research papers done by various scientists studying on this claim & many papers concluded in it being 'pseudoscience' which has been accepted by many non-scientific people who wanted to promote or prove the efficacy of homeopathy. Now, all of these studies have been done in an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CONTEXT as well. These studies have been towards understanding whether water, when diluted infinitely with another solution , retains any of the property of that solution (which is the basis of homeopathy).
"In 1988, scientist Jacques Benveniste published an article in the internationally renowned journal Nature that claimed that water "remembered" an antibody after being so diluted that the original molecule had left. This concept was a central tenet to the alternative medicine field of homeopathy, a controversial and non-conventional method of treating illness with diluted compounds untraceable in the final product. " - Betterhelp
This theory was also later shunned and called non substantial, questioning the benefit of homeopathy. From all the papers I found, not a single study was done around what Sadhguru spoke - "We can look at water & change its behavior, yet keeping it's composition intact."
In-depth answer: Below is a detailed answer where Neil Menon (Professional Science Communicator) very well explained how this is a myth, not a fact -
"Chemically speaking, in water, the oxygen atom can form four sp3 orbitals out of which, two are occupied by the two lone pairs on the oxygen atom, while the other two are used for bonding with hydrogen. The lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen causes additional electronic repulsion that results in an H-O-H bond angle of 104.5°, giving the molecule a bent structure like the image below:
If you consider the molecular symmetry of H2O, it has essentially 3 axes of symmetry: the C2 axis that runs right down the center of the oxygen atom, and two mirror planes, one along the XZ plane and the other along the YZ plane. This is how they look:
Now, you can rotate the molecule along the C2 axis and you’ll clearly see that either way you rotate it, the structure stays the same and because of this, there will be no changes in its energy. The same can be said about the mirror planes. One side of the plane reflects the other and they are both identical.
Basically, either way you arrange the atoms in the molecule, you’ll still get the same properties.
What about arranging the “molecules” in water? Well, if the molecules are really closely packed, strong hydrogen bonds are formed betweenδ+ hydrogen atom and δ− oxygen atoms of neighboring water molecules and you’ll get ice - water in the solid form:
If you supply thermal energy, the molecules spread apart and the hydrogen bonding weakens, and you get liquid water:
And on these lines, if you spread the molecules farther apart by supplying more energy, the bonds are even more weakened, and you have gaseous water. That’s all you have.
There’s nothing more you can do with the atomic arrangement of a water molecule. In fact, what he keeps saying as molecular structure, the molecular structure of water is a bent triatomic molecule! That’s it! That doesn’t change. " - Written by Neil Menon
Conclusion
I am always in awe of yoga and it's benefits but I don't support any guru who can make such big claims with no logic or fact behind it. I am always open to criticism and invite my readers to change my mind. Please feel free to share with me links to any research that proves differently. :)
References
1. Sadhguru. "Water Has Memory." Isha Foundation, 2022. Available at: [https://isha.sadhguru.org/en/sadhguru/mystic/water-has-memory](https://isha.sadhguru.org/en/sadhguru/mystic/water-has-memory).
2. Elia, V., and N. Niccoli. "New physico-chemical properties of extremely diluted aqueous solutions." Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, vol. 75, no. 3, 2004, pp. 815-836. ScienceDirect, doi: [10.1023/B:JTAN.0000034334.88460.b2](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1475491607000574#:~:text=The%20%E2%80%9Cmemory%20of%20water%E2%80%9D%20experiments,biological%20systems%20were%20nevertheless%20recorded.).
3. Elia, V., and M. Napoli. "The 'Memory of Water': an almost deciphered enigma. Dissipative structures in extremely dilute aqueous solutions." Homeopathy, vol. 96, no. 3, 2007, pp. 163-169. ScienceDirect, doi: [10.1016/j.homp.2007.05.009](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1475491607000550).
4. Elia, V., and M. Niccoli. "Thermodynamics of extremely diluted aqueous solutions." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 879, no. 1, 1999, pp. 241-248. ScienceDirect, doi: [10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb10439.x](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1475491607000653).
5. Pearl Audio. "The Memory of Water: An Overview." Pearl Audio, 2022. Available at:
6. Goss, J.P. "Water Memory." Newcastle University, 2022. Available at:
8. Katsnelson, A. "Homeopathy dilutions are 'nano' too." Nature News, 2004. Available at:
9. BetterHelp. "What Can Water Memory Tell Us?" BetterHelp, 2022. Available at:
Great effort
Very deep knowledge good effort keep it up
Now that's a great article. Really like the references at the end. In my head I already knew what was true and what was not but always appreciate breaking it down scientifically to crush false information spread by influential mouths targeting pliant audience.