By now, science has put it clear that the healthiest beverage you can drink is water. It’s because it’s free from chemicals, sugar, and salt that can harm or age cells provided it is appropriately filtered. Nonetheless, it helps improve your skin’s complexion, promotes weight loss, flushes out toxins, and reduces fatigue, among a host of other significant benefits. From only these few benefits, you may think that it can’t get any better, right?
Well, according to some, it can. The possibility of this is from what is called hydrogen infused water.
What is hydrogen infused water?
It is merely pure water with extra hydrogen molecules added to it. Hydrogen water first made its way to the public in Japan in the 1960s, where it is now popularly known as “Shin’nooru solution.” It has only recently made waves in the stateside.
Is hydrogen infused water the same as regular water? Well, it is almost similar to regular water (H2O) has hydrogen too. However, the concentration of hydrogen in regular water is too low. It’s because it is combined with oxygen in a molecular form; therefore, it can’t be released. On the other hand, hydrogen infused water contains added protons and electrons, giving it a surplus of hydrogen gas.
Apart from infusing the hydrogen molecules in the water, there are also hydrogen tablets available for those who want to make the hydrogen water by themselves at home.
So, does it benefit your health?
Many beverage companies claim that hydrogen infused water is beneficial to human health. Though there is little research done on the benefits of hydrogen water, several trials have given positive results. Some of these trials gave the following benefits.
- Antioxidant benefits
Free radicals in your body are unstable molecules that lead to oxidative stress in your body, which later on causes inflammation. This can be prevented by molecular hydrogen, which fights free radicals in your body and protects your cells from effects caused by oxidative stress.
- Metabolic syndrome benefits
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by increased triglyceride levels, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar. Some research shows that hydrogen water can be effective at improving factors related to metabolic syndrome and reducing markers of oxidative stress.
- Benefits athletes
Many beverage companies have promoted Hydrogen-rich water as a natural way of enhancing athletic performance. This is by slowing the accumulation of lactate in the blood, which is an indication of muscle fatigue.
So, should you drink it?
Hydrogen-infused water is recognized by the FDA as safe, meaning it’s approved for human consumption and does not cause harm. Therefore, it means you can drink it.
However, what you should know is that there is no agreed standard amount of hydrogen that can be added to water. As such, the concentrations vary from one brand to another. Nevertheless, it is still unknown how much hydrogen water needs to be consumed for you to see its potential benefits.
There’s still a lot of buzz surrounding the hydrogen-rich water – but until more research is carried out, you should regard the purported benefits with a grain of salt.
The Bottom Line
Not only is the research on hydrogen-rich water pretty slim, but also it’s pretty costly. Of course, as FDA suggests, there’s no harm in consuming hydrogen infused water; however, an effective and cheap option might be up your alley – it’s called water.
