Back to Africa Check

No proven health benefits to drinking water from a copper cup

A graphic shared on Instagram in Nigeria claims that drinking water from a copper cup “helps” a range of ailments and illnesses, including anaemia and cancer. 

Anaemia is a condition where the body doesn't produce enough red blood cells. There are many types of anaemia and symptoms can include feeling tired, pale skin, irregular heartbeat and chest pains. 

Cancer is an even larger group of diseases that can affect almost any part of the body. When a person has cancer, abnormal cells in their body grow rapidly. It was the second leading cause of death in the world in 2018, according to the World Health Organization

Copper is a metal used in industry and essential to the human diet as a trace element or micronutrient. But is drinking water from a copper cup a safe way of making sure you get enough of the mineral?

Copper_MissingContext

No cure for anaemia

Africa Check asked Prof Marius Coetzee, an expert in haematology and cell biology at the University of the Free State in South Africa, whether ingesting copper was a cure for anaemia. 

While our bodies need a small amount of copper, excessive copper can actually cause anaemia by breaking down our red cells,” said Coetzee. “Our bodies have an elaborate system for controlling the absorption and excretion of copper." 

But the risk of drinking water stored in copper appears to be minimal. “It is true that water has often been stored in copper containers because copper is antibacterial,” said Coetzee. 

Little risk, little reward 

“There is probably no real health benefit or risk from drinking from a copper cup,” Prof Michael Herbst, head of health for the Cancer Association of South Africa, told us.  

USA Today fact-checked a similar claim in 2020 and found that ingesting too much copper could be dangerous. Signs of this included “nausea, vomiting and diarrhea” and could cause kidney and liver damage or even death. 

However the US news organisation concluded, like our South African experts, that while drinking water from a copper cup was unlikely to harm you, there was also no evidence it was a cure for the many ailments suggested on social media.

Republish our content for free

Please complete this form to receive the HTML sharing code.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.