It may seem to you that hydrogen gas “H2” has suddenly appeared out of nowhere. You are not alone. If you live in Japan, you will be well aware of H2 products as sales have grown from zero to over one billion dollars annually since 2010. The industry is still in its infancy in Japan as the first headline grabbing scientific breakthrough research was published in 2007. The fact that you are reading this article makes you an early adopter of H2 in America. Prior to 2015, the only people on this side of the Pacific Ocean that knew about H2 were scientists.
Here are 12 true reasons why you might want to consider adding H2 to your diet:
- Legitimate claims made by honest vendors of H2 products can all be backed by scientific studies which is not true of most supplements available on the market (note: please be wary of H2 companies making claims that seem too good to be true – you can always check in with us and we will ask the leading scientists in the industry who help us if we don’t know the answers ourselves)
- H2 neutralizes/reduces the most harmful free radical (hydroxyl radical), converting it to water according to the reaction H2 + 2*OH -> 2H2O. (see Nature publication)
- By reducing the hydroxyl radical, H2 effectively reduces oxidative stress
- H2 effectively reduces inflammation which is associated with many diseases as well as aching body parts
- H2 doesn’t neutralize other useful and necessary free radicals which may not be the case for other antioxidants
- H2 is the smallest molecule (1/88 the size of Vitamin C) allowing it to be effective in areas that other much larger antioxidants and supplements will never reach
- H2 helps your body naturally produce other antioxidants such as glutathione – note that glutathione supplements offered for sale are proteins which get digested and broken down into other molecules in the GI Tract (stomach and small intestine) and therefore don’t do what people think they are intended to do
- H2 helps athletes in numerous ways including reducing lactate (lactic acid) production which can limit performance and training and published studies show H2 helps in recovery
- Molecular hydrogen leaves no waste product after neutralizing a free radical (as the byproduct is water) unlike other antioxidants that must either be neutralized themselves after donating their electrons to free radicals or must be removed entirely from the body
- Molecular hydrogen also appears to act as a signaling molecule, thereby providing many other benefits
- Molecular hydrogen is easily consumed with no additional calories
- Molecular hydrogen has no known adverse toxic effects and there has been no evidence found that you can take too much H2. However, for some people in rare cases, drinking hydrogen-rich water can cause loose stools, which for some is also an added benefit.
Reason #12 seems to state that there is no “healing crisis” in the form of cold or flu like symptoms. Many detox procedures pull toxins out of the body and brings them to the surface for elimination. So I have two questions: 1) Does H2 detox the body? 2) If so, is there a “healing crisis” requiring gradually increasing the amount of H2 ingested? Thanks.
Hey Chip:
One of our scientists told us that the detox you are referring to that is associated with alkaline water ionizers is typically not experienced by HIM users as the only known side effect of drinking hydrogen infused water is . The only known side effect of drinking hydrogen infused water may be loose stools in rare cases. The occurrence of loose stools is specific to the sensitivity of hydrogen gas as opposed to the quantity of water consumed.
Thank you for your answer which leads me to my next questions. Do the scientists know what may predispose someone to have a sensitivity to H2 gas? If the problem is specific to someones genetic makeup, can the body adapt over time? Or is it based on the types of foods consumed or the health (intestinal flora) of the GI tract?