Gut Bacteria Produce Hydrogen Gas That Protects Colon Health
- Authors
- Franck Carbonero, Ann C Benefiel, H Rex Gaskins
- Journal
- Nature Reviews: Gastroenterology & Hepatology
- Year
- 2012
- DOI
- 10.1038/nrgastro.2012.85
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- United States
- Health Condition
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Body System
- Digestive
TL;DR
Your gut bacteria produce gases like hydrogen that actually protect your colon from damage, and when this process goes wrong, it can lead to problems like IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, and even cancer—so measuring these gases in your breath could help doctors figure out what's going wrong and how to fix it.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas produced by colonic bacteria appears to have antioxidant properties (meaning it may protect cells from damage), and disruption of normal hydrogen metabolism may be linked to digestive disorders including IBS, IBD, and colorectal cancer.
Summary
This review examines how bacteria in the colon produce and use hydrogen gas as part of normal digestion. Hydrogen gas and other gases produced during digestion can indicate digestive problems like lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The review suggests that hydrogen gas may protect the colon's lining from damage, and that problems with how the body produces or uses hydrogen gas might contribute to inflammation or disease.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review article that summarizes existing research rather than a new study with experimental results. While it suggests hydrogen gas plays a protective role in the colon, the evidence presented is preliminary and mostly from animal or small human studies. More research is needed to determine whether hydrogen water or other hydrogen interventions could meaningfully affect these conditions in humans.
Abstract
Colonic gases are among the most tangible features of digestion, yet physicians are typically unable to offer long-term relief from clinical complaints of excessive gas. Studies characterizing colonic gases have linked changes in volume or composition with bowel disorders and shown hydrogen gas (H(2)), methane, hydrogen sulphide, and carbon dioxide to be by-products of the interplay between H(2)-producing fermentative bacteria and H(2) consumers (reductive acetogens, methanogenic archaea and sulphate-reducing bacteria [SRB]). Clinically, H(2) and methane measured in breath can indicate lactose and glucose intolerance, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and IBS. Methane levels are increased in patients with constipation or IBS. Hydrogen sulphide is a by-product of H(2) metabolism by SRB, which are ubiquitous in the colonic mucosa. Although higher hydrogen sulphide and SRB levels have been detected in patients with IBD, and to a lesser extent in colorectal cancer, this colonic gas might have beneficial effects. Moreover, H(2) has been shown to have antioxidant properties and, in the healthy colon, physiological H(2) concentrations might protect the mucosa from oxidative insults, whereas an impaired H(2) economy might facilitate inflammation or carcinogenesis. Therefore, standardized breath gas measurements combined with ever-improving molecular methodologies could provide novel strategies to prevent, diagnose or manage numerous colonic disorders.