Hydrogen Water. Healthy Or Hype?

I have heard a lot of things, from people I know, who were touting the new hydrogen gas infused, water craze. There’s already hydrogen atoms in a water molecule, but this is free hydrogen atoms added to regular tap or filtered water. Some of the people I have heard glowing reviews from are: doctors and dentists.

Why would you need extra hydrogen? Well, I’ve heard that this should be produced by healthy gut microbes. If you have a decrease in the population of healthy gut microbes (by medication or diet), this will fix the absence of free hydrogen in the gut. It’s like a short cut to a healthy gut, before your probiotics and homemade yogurt, fill it in.

This brand does not vent other gasses like chlorine ozone and hydrogen peroxide. You can smell those in my brand’s finished water. It doesn’t smell great at all. Another brand: (here) does remove the gas, has replaceable filters and isn’t on a slow boat from China. But, fixing the excess gas just requires blowing across the top of the water before you drink it. Easy fix.

I have started taking my health more seriously this year. I’m going to be fifty-two soon and I was having irritating experiences related to aging. I literally couldn’t remember anything. To the point people around me were noticing. I’m starting to see wrinkles on my hands and face. I’m also constantly tired because I have fibromyalgia, thyroid disease, migraines and metabolic syndrome. The last one, is caused by medications I take: that I can’t just stop taking. Everything else is inherited. My granny had everything I have, plus more.

She was an amazing woman. She endured a lot. She also, found healing and calmness, in meditation, in her own garden.

Back to the topic: I started a regimen of health improving actions that I make sure that I do every single day. I’m always active, so that isn’t something I really needed to work on. But the diseases I have are mostly caused by inflammation. I have had good control of most of those things with a long term keto diet that I’ve adhered to for years. I’ve had marked improvement just by eliminating most carbs and processed food from my diet.

I even improved my eyeglass prescription, from two years ago. (I also impressed my eye doctor with my eye health last week when I went in. No damage from sugar, and no cholesterol deposits, that a lot of people my age have. I’ve also gotten rid of the early cataracts that I had been told were forming since my twenties. I never remember to wear sunglasses.)

Before I get anyone arguing with me on diet, this is just what works for me. For other ideas on how you might be different than I am: there’s a dosha quiz you can take here dosha quiz (You don’t have to use the one I linked. Deepok Chopra used to have one that I used to use, but apparently he’s moved it behind a paywall. Just Google “free dosha quiz” and you’ll find some to try.)

Why am I advocating for doshas? Well, I’m really not. It’s just more information to add to a well rounded understanding of health.

I went all natural and herbal when my kids were little. I tried to eliminate anything that was derived from the pharmaceutical industry. Then I ended up having a bunch of unrelated, life threatening issues. I went back to western medicine (because otherwise I would have died), but I also still use Ayurvedic medicine (of which, the dosha quiz is a part of.) and Chinese medicines (which I have had exposure to, through acupuncturists.) My point being: Dosha tendencies differ between individuals. There is no set single diet and treatments through Ayurvedic practices. Everyone is different. So, my view is from a standpoint that no one diet works for everyone. I have tried many diets, I have settled on low carb as my personal diet of choice.

Also, if you wonder how useful eastern medical practices are: western medicine stands behind Ayurveda (of course, with the caveat: of only using it if western medicine isn’t available. No influence there from the pharmaceutical industry, I’m sure.)

I’ve been doing low carb for decades. Recently I’ve added some different supplements to help with memory and inflammation. One thing I do is I drink Macha tea every day. Another is taking c60 for inflammation and an oil derived from scallops for memory. I also drink “reds” daily and I eat a big bowl of homemade yogurt (with a huge variety of probiotics in it) every day.

I have been watching what I consume, and making sure I follow everything I’ve researched. I make sure that I don’t drift off, and get lazy with these things that I’ve found to be helpful.

So, with all of this stuff I’m doing, I recently added hydrogenated water. This has turned out to be one of the biggest changes I’ve made. With the water, I am losing the crepey skin on my hands. My mental focus is where it was two decades ago. In the very beginning, my gums were tender and the tip of my tongue was almost numb. As were my lips. The inside of my mouth felt “slippery” Not sure if that’s everyone’s experience but it’s been mine. They say hydrogen has no taste or smell. However, I will point to a completely different substance, but in the same family as water: Hydrogen peroxide. That also changes the “mouth feel” without flavor.

Maybe “extra” hydrogen atoms work by altering the composition inside the mouth? By driving out other gasses or liquids? (You’d need to research that part, but my husband agrees with my assessment on slippery-ness.)

I have been able to fall asleep for the first time in years without a struggle. I actually feel “lighter”. (This being the opposite from when my thyroid is low. Then: I feel like I’m wearing a lead suit, and every movement is exhausting. It’s not like I’m going to float away… more like: simply existing with fibromyalgia: does not hurt and “weigh me down” in the same way. Part of the problem with fibromyalgia is the body’s inability to remove lactic acid build up in the muscles. This causes widespread inflammation and pain. The sellers claim that the hydrogen helps with inflammation, and it does actually seem to do that.)

All of these results are from the unit I started using recently. Nothing else is new in my life.

Here’s a link to one: Hydrogen water bottle. You can buy cheaper ones, but a lot of people say that the cheap ones leak. You can also buy hydrogen bottles that come with a canula. I don’t know if that’s safe. Replacing oxygen with hydrogen sounds like a bad idea and I would want to use a finger placed, oxygen meter, every time I used it. If I used it. Which I probably wouldn’t. Remember there are people who have died inhaling helium to change their voices at parties and replaced too much oxygen with other gases.

Back to the benefits of drinking this water: It took maybe 5 times, within about two days, of consuming “extra hydrogenated” water to feel any effects. Now, I thirst for it.

The water smells different after adding the gas, which also may be because it is displacing other compounds. It does release chlorine, ozone and hydrogen peroxide when you run it. I can definitely smell a difference. It also presurizes inside the container and releases gas upon opening, like popping the top of a soda does. You don’t need to run it with the lid on. That lid is to keep it contained if you are on the go. Also: the temperature and flavor is not different from the water I start with. (BTW there’s a pressure valve inside. Don’t run it multiple times without venting it. It will blow wherever that little valve is, and it will leak from the base.)

My bottle has multiple sizes of bubbles forming as it runs it’s sequence, and a blue light that is on at the same time. I’m pretty sure the light is just to make it look cool while it’s running. Then it beeps and it’s done. There’s a tiny red light when it needs charging. I get a couple of days out of each charge.

Because I can’t effectively scrub it out, I always pour the finished water into something else to drink it. This keeps bacteria and viruses from my mouth from setting up shop in the bottle. To clean it: you should run some white vinegar into the water compartment and swish it around and then rinse it out. I have heard people say their’s quit working until they cleaned it out with vinegar. Our water is so full of gunk, I rinse the bottle with vinegar every couple of days and dry it upside down when I’m not using it.

The improved energy and calm I’m feeling, plus my mental clarity, has continued to get better as I use the unit. These are real results, not “I think this might be helping” but: “Wow, this is making a really big difference!”

For example: I use sleeping pills, and I’ve used them for a decade. The other night I apparently dropped the pill and didn’t notice. I still slept, although fitfully. That is a miracle, hasn’t happened ever if I forgot the pill, since I started them. That makes me hopeful that I can either lower the dose or eventually stop them completely. The sleeping pill I take is actually known to cause dementia. I would really like to stop it. Here’s to continuing improvement from the hydrogen! (BTW I hate relying on medication for anything.)

…. but what exactly will the long term results be? And: is all I’m consuming the added hydrogen? Or is there something in the unit that is piggybacking on that gas? For all I know there’s something in there with it that I shouldn’t be consuming. It is made in China after all. It’s also a higher end unit, but I have no idea if it’s any better than the cheap ones.

So, to delve deeper: we ordered a tester to test the hydrogen ppb.

You will start with zero dissolved particles. The hydrogen water will not stay hydrogenated, so you need to consume this pretty quickly. This was after running the two minute cycle three times.  Each time we ran it the results were higher. I now run mine three times every time I make the water.

Will this be something that I continue to use? Unless something drastically changes for the negative, this is something I will definitely keep up with. I’m weeks in and I’m still experiencing major changes for the better.

Is it magic? Well. Considering how many supplements I take, and that I have minimal real identifiable improvements with them: this hydrogen water is pretty magic to me. I can tell physically when I’ve used it during the day, and when I haven’t.

Would I give it to my kids? I already am. Thinking about getting a few bottles for them to take to school.

Here’s to new health crazes, that turn out to be: not so crazy! Meet you out in the garden, with our extra hydrogenated water.

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