According to the iRenew Band website, the bands work by balancing the human "biofield".
"The 'Biofield' is the new term adopted by the National Institutes of Health in the United States describing a growing body of research showing a subtle human energy field that permeates and extends beyond the physical body," the site claims. "The biofield has been identified by many biophysics scientists as an integral part of our being and oversees the co-ordination and regulation of our physical body, chemical reactions, emotional balance, mental functions, energetic systems and memory. When our biofield is out of balance, we're out of balance."
The problem with this statement is that this is not what the NIH claims. According to their website, "biofields" are putative energy fields that are based on the belief that human beings are infused with subtle forms of energy.
On their National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine website, the NIH explains that putative energy, and the practices that rely on this energy for their efficacy (Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, etc.) are among the most controversial of complementary and alternative medical practices. This is because “neither the external energy fields nor their therapeutic effects have been demonstrated convincingly by any biophysical means.”
Although it is probably true that the NIH is searching for any evidence of this elusive energy field, scientists have been doing this - to no avail - since the time of Sir Isaac Newton.
Vertiable energy, on the other hand, is known to exist and can be measured by scientific means. This energy includes mechanical vibrations (such as sound) and electromagnetic forces, including visible light, magnetism, monochromatic radiation and rays from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Confusion among the public is caused by energy medicine practitioners who either do not know, or misrepresent, the kind of energy being manipulated. "Mixing and matching" terms, such as what iRenew tends to do by using terms associated with veritable energy when describing the putative "biofield", only adds to the confusion.
I might also add that they refer to a "quantum physicist" with over 20 years of experience in human energy research as being somehow involved with the iRenew band, they fail to mention him or her by name (big red flag). They also claim to know of a "growing body of research" about biofields, but make none of this information available to anyone except those who purchase the bracelet. (Even bigger red flag.) If the evidence was so impressive, why wouldn't they use it to promote sales of their product rather than wait until after a customer has paid for the bracelet to provide this vital information?
They do provide an endorsement from Dr. Scott Becker of the Becker Hilton Medical Institute, but upon closer study, I found that this is a clinic that is involved in New Age medicine such as bioidentical hormone treatments, supplements, “functional medicine," etc.
I suppose this is why the iRenew informercial wisely qualifies its promises by saying the bands may improve balance and strength. They know the bands won't do this so they're making no guarantees.
In other words, buyer beware!
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