In Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, people are eating and using gold in skincare products because of its alleged health benefits, though doctors disagree.

For instance, a gold wine brand called G. is said to contain 22 carats of pure gold to help increase ion levels in blood, decompose stones inside organs and increase energy.

Each 500ml bottle is sold for VND1.5 million (US$75).

At the same price, consumers can buy a set of three bottles of Korean gold wine.

“My husband bought during his business trip in Korea,” said a gold wine seller in Ho Chi Minh City. “Drink one glass before meal and you’ll see the effect in a week.”

This seller said the gold wine would help prolong lifespan, brighten skin and prevent HIV.

Besides gold wine, some Vietnamese restaurants are also serving dishes cooked or sprinkled with gold.

And in the beauty industry, gold is also a valued ingredient. Some spars are now offering gold mask services.

According to a staff at a spa in District 3, it takes 2 hours to apply a gold mask, which costs VND2 million (US$100).

She said 99 percent of the gold would go inside the skin, clear dead cells and make the skin look younger.

Doctor Le Thai Van Thanh, lecturer of dermatology and venereology at HCMC University of Medicine and Pharmacy, disagreed.

He said gold, even if it is real, doesn’t have anti-aging effects. Nor can it be absorbed into the skin and make it look younger.

For his part, oriental medicine doctor Dinh Cong Bay, general secretary of the HCMC Drug Association, said he had never heard that gold could prolong lifespan, prevent HIV/AIDS or in any way provide nutrition to the body.

Bay said gold was used to treat leprosy in old days, not now, when medicine has advanced.

Doctor Do Thi Ngoc Diep, director of the HCMC nutrition, said no research had shown gold has any benefit to human health. It is not listed as a healthy nutrient.

“There is no need to eat gold,” Diep said. “On the contrary, overeating can cause poisoning since gold is a heavy metal.”

Source: Tuoi Tre