Hydrogen Water
Hydrogen Water
Hydrogen water is increasingly being researched for its health benefits. Your body is 62% Hydrogen by volume. All matter and thus the world in which we live, and all life including ourselves, were created from hydrogen, making Hydrogen effectively the atomic ‘stem cell’ of our universe.
What are the Benefits and Effects of Molecular Hydrogen?
Hydrogen has a natural property which enables it to dissolve into and move across cell membranes, so it can get into any compartment of our body. Hydrogen is different to most other antioxidants which are unable to do this. A good example is the central nervous system, which has a barrier called the blood brain barrier to prevent molecules from getting into the brain, and hydrogen is able to do this which demonstrating its effectiveness at penetrating the cell nucleus.
Some antioxidants are so strong that they can suppress all oxidants within the cell and research show that is not good for cell signalling and gene regulation, so those processes should not be affected. Hydrogen does not affect these processes and instead targets the actual oxidation of the cell. Several studies are available for hydrogen rich water and its role in anti-ageing, exercise recovery and a number of other therapies. Hospitals offering hydrogen therapy have opened all over the developed world and now we have bottle and jug systems to make this water available for all, for everyday use.
So Is Hydrogen an antioxidant?
Not as strictly defined but instead plays a significant role in signalling. Early research in 500+ scientific articles suggest that H2 has therapeutic potential in over 170 different human and animal disease models, and essentially every organ of the human body.
Hydrogen being the first element in the periodic table is extremely reactive and bonds with another hydrogen molecule as soon as one is available to form hydrogen gas (H2). Being the small element means that it is able to penetrate everywhere within your body when ingested including importantly, through the cell membrane, the blood brain barrier, mitochondria cells and even into a cell’s nucleus.
The DNA Connection
The expression of our DNA is a function of the water in our cells. DNA directs the production of proteins. In humans, the DNA has 23000 genes and these are making 200,000 proteins. The genes are being told what to make and it’s the water telling the DNA what to make (expression).
The DNA is embedded in a crystalline water gel and that unfolds and unmasks certains areas which gets them to be expressed. It’s not a function of the genes (although the genes are needed), it’s the water. Healthy cells have an electric charge around them, so cells without a charge are disfunctional cells. Our our results and wider research clearly demonstrates that hydrogen gas induces hepatic PGC-1α gene expression.
Ways of Taking Hydrogen
1) Drinking Hydrogen Rich Water – Hydrogen rich water is produced in two main ways –
a) Using electrolysis (i.e. in a water bottle). This produces H2 gas with solubility in the water. It is by far the best way to get a daily dose without consuming anything other than hydrogen.
b) Using hydrogen generating tablets containing elemental pure magnesium and malic acid. We do not currently endorse this method as it also provides a large dosage of magnesium which raises a concern about long term use because of it’s bioavailability. There are also questionable ingredients including sweeteners and binding agents.
2) Inhalation of Hydrogen Gas – For inhalation, a 2-4% hydrogen gas mixture is common because it is below the flammability level; however, some studies use 66.7% H2 and 33.3% O2, which is nontoxic and effective, but flammable. Inhalation of hydrogen reaches a peak plasma level (i.e. equilibrium based on Henry’s Law) in about 30 min, and upon cessation of inhalation the return to baseline occurs in about 60 min.
The pharmacokinetics of each method are still under investigation, but are dependent on dosage, route, and timing. The methods that we provide below are designed to solely produce hydrogen h2 without the user consuming any other product i.e. magnesium levels and pH effect from the hydrogen tablets, or by products that are created during the electrolysis process of generating h2.
