Water is the healthiest beverage. Health experts have likely told you that staying hydrated is vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
You've presumably also heard from fitness instructors that drinking lots of water is one way to successfully get in shape.
Time flies, and so do the innovations in this industrialized world. People didn’t only settle for drinking plain water.
Many claim that adding elements to water will amplify the existing benefits and have a greater impact on wellness.
Some commercial beverage companies consider hydrogen water useful for enhancing health benefits. Is this factual or a myth?
Many are into this trend. It is fitting to dig into this buzz of the crowd. Let us explore its claimed health benefits. Then determine whether it is a noteworthy addition to your holy-grail drink.
What is hydrogen water?
Hydrogen water is pure water with additional hydrogen molecules added. Hydrogen (H2) is the richest molecule known to man. It is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas.
In any case, in 2007, a group in Japan found that inhaled hydrogen gas could serve as a cancer prevention agent (antioxidant). It also keeps the brain from free radicals. This sparked enthusiasm for its potential medical benefits worldwide. This prompted some innovative research.
Water molecules contain two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. However, there aren't any free hydrogen atoms that the body can use as they are bound to oxygen. Along these lines, infused water with extra hydrogen offers benefits that plain water cannot.
Hydrogen is the smallest gas particle. Because of this unique property, molecular hydrogen can enter every organ and cell in the body (and the brain), where it has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, weight-reduction, and anti-allergy activities.
Molecular hydrogen offers significant health benefits without side effects, as the world has been looking for.
Before going further, we need information on the benefits of ingested hydrogen (H2).
Benefits of Molecular Hydrogen
Hydrogen is not unfamiliar to the body like a pharmaceutical medication. Your body produces a limited amount of hydrogen gas, which circulates through the bloodstream.
Studies show that releasing hydrogen in higher concentrations in your body can make it more effective. Drinking water infused with hydrogen has been used in numerous research studies.
And it is the best method for providing significant advantages. Hydrogen science is moving rapidly from theory to useful applications. Hydrogen ionizers and generators are available to clinical experts and consumers. This is to use the medical advantages of hydrogen.
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Hydrogen is the smallest molecule. Different antioxidants, like Vitamin C or Vitamin E, are huge by comparison. They should likewise be consumed, digested, carried, and taken up by the cells. Hydrogen enters the stomach lining and acts inside the cells immediately. It can enter all parts of the cell, protecting DNA, RNA, and proteins against harmful oxidative stress.
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Each hydrogen molecule kills two free radicals. It effectively splits into two somewhat charged molecules, neutralizing the free radicals generated by daily oxidative stress. At the same time, it makes water by hydrating the cells.
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Hydrogen is particular and targets "bad" free radicals. Oxygen radicals are very dangerous. Yet your body also produces "good" free radicals, which serve a useful purpose. Different antioxidants partly balance radicals, both the good and bad ones. More awfully, these antioxidants could then turn into free radicals themselves once they've carried out their function. Hydrogen specifically chases the bad radicals. And unlike other antioxidants, it kills them.
Is it safe to drink hydrogen water?
The idea is that by adding hydrogen —the antioxidant in your water —the water’s antioxidant capacity expands, which can help reduce oxidative stress in your veins. Which, when left unmitigated, can cause chronic inflammation and chronic disease eventually.
In a study, 20 patients at risk of metabolic conditions ingested hydrogen-rich water for 10 weeks. Then, I noticed a decrease in total cholesterol and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels. They also improved HDL cholesterol. This shows the use of hydrogen water to decrease the danger of metabolic disorders.
At the same time, a related study was conducted on 26 healthy adults. Drinking hydrogen water daily for about a month didn't reduce oxidative stress markers compared with the placebo group, who didn't drink it.
The most fascinating study has been done in test cylinders or animals, indicating potential connections between subatomic hydrogen and neurological advantages.
This means that studies on hydrogen water in people have yielded highly variable outcomes. More studies should be conducted to determine the benefits of hydrogen water across various populations, including healthy adults and those at risk of chronic diseases.
Besides, adding additional hydrogen molecules to water sounds good and encouraging. Moreover, since the long-term impacts of chronic inflammation on people are notable (long-term oxidative stress has been linked to chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and cognitive decline), more hydrogen in your drinking water is a great idea.
The Food and Drug Administration generally considers hydrogen-rich water safe. However, there is no regulation on the amount of hydrogen to add to water or on how much hydrogen water should be ingested to receive its possible benefits.
Does hydrogen water benefit our health?
Everybody must have access to clean drinking water. While water naturally contains hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O), researchers believe that hydrogen-rich water (purified water infused with gaseous hydrogen) may offer various health benefits.
Many studies highlight the healing effects of hydrogen molecules and how they can help people maintain a healthier body while battling various illnesses and conditions.
Acts as a Therapeutic Antioxidant
Constant oxidative stress (the imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body) triggers cell and tissue damage. It has been frequently connected with numerous common ailments, such as cancer. Scientific studies have shown that hydrogen (H2) has significant antioxidant potential when used both preventively and therapeutically.
Treats Cancer
In 2015, a group of researchers explored the potential of hydrogen (H2) as an anticancer agent. H2 was controlled closely by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU, a medicine used for treating various sorts of cancer) to treat colon cancer found in mice.
As per the research:
- Hydrogen water improved the survival rates of the mice.
- Hydrogen water was used to improve apoptosis in cancer cells.
- Hydrogen water enhanced the inhibitory effect of the 5-FU anticancer drug.
- High-content hydrogen water demonstrated more grounded antioxidative and anticancer properties than ordinary water.
The research definitively demonstrated that hydrogen water could effectively help battle cancer.
Can Reduce Inflammation
More studies on hydrogen molecules have shown that they can reduce inflammation by killing free radicals (which are toxic and linked to inflammation in the body).
This time, the scientists used gaseous hydrogen to treat hyperbaric oxygen. Research subjects had liver inflammation. They stayed in hyperbaric chambers for two weeks (these chambers are used for treating severe diseases or persistent wounds from radiation or diabetes).
They discovered that:
- H2 lessens liver fibrosis (the development of fibrous connective tissue or scar tissue that harms the liver)
- Increased antioxidant enzyme activity (which advances cell healing)
- Decreased lipid peroxidation (reduces oxidative stress)
- What's more, improved blood flow prompts healing.
Can Make You a Better Athlete
Hydrogen-rich water can improve athletes' performance by shortening recovery time after physical exertion. Hydrogen can help reduce muscle weakness and soreness by inhibiting lactate buildup. And increase the rate at which your cells generate energy, improving your aerobic exercise performance.
Other Benefits of Hydrogen Water
- Hydrogen molecules can be an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder that causes stiffness and joint pain.
- High-infused hydrogen water may likewise help with autism and Parkinson's disease, lower nervousness, and improve depression symptoms.
- It can likewise help with obesity by hindering the intake of unsaturated fats and lipid accumulation, as patients with diabetes control their blood glucose levels or address insulin resistance.
Should you give it a try?
Optimal hydration is key to ensuring we remain alert and energized and keep everything in our bodies working.
Many of us have to drink somewhere between 8 and 10 cups of water every day (as a golden rule). And more when we expose ourselves to heat, sweat (regardless of whether you work out), medications, and humidity shifts.
If hydrogen water or another extravagant form of water helps you meet your hydration target, it can be an option.
But if you are in good health (i.e., a doctor has not advised you that you're at high risk for chronic illness), you don't need to secure one unless you prefer the taste.
Additionally, I appreciate the benefits revealed in the studies indicated above.
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