MOLECULAR HYDROGEN

 

HOW H₂ MOLECULAR HYDROGEN CAN HELP YOU IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH:

• By optimizing your body’s natural balance between beneficial reactive oxygen species and production of antioxidants, you can help your body maintain a healthy balance for overall health.*
• It can help neutralize the damaging effects on your body from processed foods, sugar, alcohol, cigarette smoking, air pollution, environmental toxins, cell phone radiation, dirty electricity and electromagnetic fields (EMFs).

 

Good health is not all about supplements, but I have to tell you that I have never been so excited about Molecular Hydrogen, or H₂ gas.

 

WHY I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT H₂ MOLECULAR HYDROGEN

I’m very excited about  H₂ Molecular Hydrogen because oxidative stress is one of the biggest factors that destroys human health and speeds up aging.

Oxidation-reduction reactions are a natural process that happens constantly within your cells. Many factors can increase oxidative stress and the formation of free radicals in your body.

Cell phone radiation, dirty electricity and EMFs can create excess free radicals in your body

Here are just a few...

• Sugar and refined carbohydrates
• Processed foods
• Cigarette smoking
• Alcohol
• Air pollutants
• Environmental toxins
• Cell phone radiation and electromagnetic fields (EMFs)

Most people believe all free radicals are bad, but that is not true. You need a certain amount of free radicals for health as they serve as important signaling molecules, or messengers.

One example of a beneficial free radical is nitric oxide, which promotes healthy blood flow and blood pressure.

However, forming too many free radicals from eating a poor diet or being exposed to toxins or EMFs can harm you.

Excess free radicals and the wrong types can damage your stem cells, mitochondria, cell membranes, proteins and DNA, and can hasten your body’s cellular aging.

I want to share some exciting information about one of the best ways to reduce oxidative stress in your body, but first let’s delve into an important topic known as redox.

UNDERSTANDING REDOX

Redox, as in “oxidation reduction,” refers to the balance of oxidation and reduction of oxidation in your body.

Because reduction and oxidation happen side-by-side, we call it a redox reaction. Oxidation and reduction of oxidation always occur together.

Many important biological processes in your body involve redox reactions. Cellular respiration and the formation of cellular energy in the form of ATP is a classic example.

Hydrogen plays an important role in improving the oxidative stress of your cells and helps bring everything back into homeostasis by effectively reducing excess oxidative stress.

One of the ways hydrogen improves redox is through the production of antioxidants that your body normally make like glutathione. With healthy levels of oxidation, glutathione sufficiently protects your cells and helps keep oxidation in balance.

 

HOW HYDROGEN WORKS ITS METABOLIC MAGIC TO SUPPORT YOUR HEALTH

While hydrogen has long been recognized for its value in promoting health, the first major study was published in Nature Medicine in 2007 and is only recently becoming known to Americans. Japanese researchers have been studying the potential of hydrogen for the last decade.

The smallest molecule in the universe, hydrogen is very bioavailable and can make its way into every cell and tissue in your body.

Because hydrogen is the smallest molecule in the universe, it can easily penetrate every tissue in your body, including your brain and cellular parts like your mitochondria and nucleus.

With more than 1,200 peer-reviewed scientific publications on molecular hydrogen, researchers report that hydrogen may benefit every organ in your body. And it does this by targeting excess oxidation and supporting a healthy inflammatory response.

One of the most distinguishing features of H₂ besides its particle size and bioavailability, is its selectivity as an antioxidant.

Molecular hydrogen selectively reduces excessive harmful free radicals in your body.

A prime example of this is right inside your cells...

During normal energy production, your mitochondria are a major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Molecular hydrogen directly protects mitochondria from the damaging effects of ROS.

H₂ gas fights excessive oxidative stress, specifically from hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite, which are very destructive molecules that damage your DNA and ones that are amplified by EMFs. And even better, when H₂ does neutralize a free radical, it leaves no toxic by-products behind.

Best of all, hydrogen accomplishes this without decreasing levels of some of the beneficial reactive oxygen species, like hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide or superoxide.

 

MEET YOUR BODY’S ANTIOXIDANT NEEDS WITH MOLECULAR HYDROGEN GAS

Glutathione levels decline with age. Molecular hydrogen gas signals your body to make more as needed.

Glutathione is one of your body’s key internal antioxidants. Your levels can drop with poor nutrition, environmental toxins and stress. Glutathione levels also decline with age.

I believe it’s far better for your body to make its own supply rather than taking glutathione supplements.

Not only is this less expensive and more convenient, but molecules like glutathione are very difficult to get into your blood stream intact, let alone inside of the cells.

One of the ways molecular hydrogen performs its metabolic magic is by activating the important Nrf2 pathway that signals your body to make its own antioxidants, including glutathione.

What exactly is Nrf2? It’s a transcription factor that, when activated, goes into your cell's nucleus and binds to the antioxidant response element in the DNA.

It then signals your body to produce beneficial cell-protecting enzymes such as glutathione, superoxide dismutase catalase, glutathione peroxidase, phase II enzymes, heme-1 oxygenase and many others.

This is clearly the most ideal way to create the antioxidants your body requires so you can avoid too high of levels of damaging oxidative stress. Molecular hydrogen tells your body to make additional antioxidants only when excess oxidative stress is present.

These two important functions of H₂ – its antioxidant selectivity and the activation of the Nrf2 pathway – help to powerfully limit the oxidative damage that can lead to accelerated cellular aging and changes in your cells and organs.

Let’s take a look at the easiest way to get this remarkable gas into your body...

 

AN EASY AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET MOLECULAR HYDROGEN GAS INTO YOUR BODY

While there are different ways to get hydrogen gas into your body, such as intravenous applications and by inhalation, drinking molecular hydrogen-rich water is not only very effective – but also the easiest and most convenient approach.

Human studies in Japan have shown a link between drinking hydrogen water and various biological functions, including:

H₂ water may help you get a restful night’s sleep.

• An already healthy inflammatory response.*
• Improved cellular health.*
• Optimal and faster muscle recovery in elite athletes.*
• Improved sleep and mood.*
• Greater comfort and flexibility.*
• Improved skin health and appearance.*
• Increased energy and mental clarity.*
• Improved metabolism.*
• Normal cholesterol and glucose regulation.*

Molecular hydrogen gas is tasteless and odorless, so there’s no peculiar taste or smell when you consume it dissolved in water. And it doesn’t change the pH of the water or your body.

When you add H₂ to water, you create a beverage with potent properties for fighting the most damaging free radicals and supporting an already healthy inflammatory response throughout your body and brain.*

 

MOLECULAR HYDROGEN MIMICS THE EFFECTS OF FASTING AND MAY OFFER PROTECTIVE BENEFITS FOR YOUR BRAIN

Drinking H₂-rich water makes your body react like it’s fasting.

When you drink water with high concentrations of molecular hydrogen gas, it goes into your stomach and quickly reaches your blood, attaining a peak within minutes.

The hydrogen-rich blood then circulates through your heart and lungs. Although it leaves your system within an hour, its residual effects can last for hours, days and even weeks.

Additionally, it will take a few hours for it to reach its antioxidant function as it works through the Nrf2 pathway and it takes some time for these genes to be expressed and produce antioxidants.

Researchers have discovered drinking H₂-rich water...

• Helps reduce oxidative stress, or damage from free radicals, caused by a high-sugar diet.*
• Mimics the effects of fasting or restricting calories by up to 20 percent.*
• Promotes the secretion of gastric ghrelin, a hormone that offers protective benefits for your brain.*
• Supports healthy plasma glucose, insulin and triglyceride levels, similar to the effects seen with diet restriction.*
• Suppresses body-weight gain in mice, suggesting it may rev up energy metabolism in humans.*

 

COULD MOLECULAR HYDROGEN IMPROVE YOUR WORKOUT PERFORMANCE?

Hydrogen-rich water had a positive effect on exercise performance in overweight middle-aged women

Athletic performance and recovery are two areas that have been of great interest to researchers. And we’re not only talking about athletes and super-fit individuals...

In one double-blind study of middle-aged overweight women, a group of women consumed hydrogen-rich water for 28 days.

The variables researchers looked at included cardiorespiratory endurance (VO_2max), work capacity, impact of weight on quality of life and hematological biomarkers.

Participants were asked to maintain their usual lifestyle, dietary intake and to avoid all other dietary supplements during the study.

At the end of the 28 days, compared to placebo, VO_2max significantly improved. Improvement was also seen in time to exhaustion and total work completed during an incremental exercise.

The researchers concluded that hydrogen-rich water could be useful as an alternative hydration formulation to “positively affect exercise performance in middle-aged overweight women.”

Other studies highlight overall benefits of H₂ water on exercise and performance:

• Promotes rejuvenation by reducing exercise-induced oxidative stress*
• Increases overall peak exercise performance in athletes*
• Reduces post-exercise soreness*
• Lowers blood lactate levels to help delay fatigue*

The effects of molecular hydrogen are much like the benefits gained from exercise. Exercise also helps maintain or increase glutathione levels.

In fact, in an article published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, the authors state in the abstract:

“Beneficial exercise and H₂ administration promote cytoprotective hormesis, mitochondrial biogenesis, ATP production, increased NAD+/NADH ratio, cytoprotective phase II enzymes, heat-shock proteins, sirtuins, etc.

We review the biomedical effects of exercise and those of H₂, and we propose that hydrogen may act as an exercise mimetic and redox adaptogen, potentiate the benefits from beneficial exercise, and reduce the harm from noxious exercise.”

 

YOUR BODY CAN PRODUCE GALLONS OF HYDROGEN GAS EACH DAY, SO WHY DRINK IT IN WATER?

Hydrogen gas, not helium, has been used since the 1940s to prevent decompression sickness.

There’s no question hydrogen gas is a safe substance. It’s been used with deep sea divers since the 1940s to prevent decompression sickness.

You’ve been exposed to hydrogen throughout your entire life. Depending on your diet and gut health, the beneficial bacteria in your intestines that ferment fiber can produce about 2.5 gallons of molecular hydrogen per day.

So why would you want to drink H₂ water if your body may be producing plenty of it?

A Japanese study suggests the answer lies in the way it’s produced in your body...

When it’s produced continually in your body, as it normally is, your body becomes habituated to the constant exposure.

Because hydrogen gas is a so-called ‘signal modulator,’ researchers have found it works best when it is taken intermittently or “pulsed.”

When you drink a tall glass of high-concentration molecular hydrogen water all at once, you allow it to deliver optimal benefits.

Most hydrogen water that is sold is low-concentration, especially hydrogen generating machines. This is nowhere near as beneficial because H₂ needs to be pulsed. It is far better to drink a glass of high-concentration H₂ water once or twice a day than drinking low-concentration H₂ water all day long.

 

Thank-you to Dr. Mercola for the information provided in this document.