Hydrogen Water Reduces Liver Fat in High-Fat Diet Study
- Authors
- Karen Jackson, Noa Dressler, Rotem S. Ben-Shushan, Ari Meerson, Tyler W. LeBaron, Snait Tamir
- Journal
- World Journal of Gastroenterology
- Year
- 2018
- DOI
- 10.3748/wjg.v24.i45.5095
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Israel
- Health Condition
- Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Body System
- Hepatic
TL;DR
Drinking water with high levels of hydrogen gas can reduce fat build-up in the liver and improve body composition in mice on a high-fat diet.
Key Finding
Mice drinking high-concentration hydrogen-rich water (0.8 mg H2/L) developed significantly less liver fat accumulation and gained less body fat than mice drinking regular water, even when fed a high-fat diet.
Summary
Researchers gave mice with a high-fat diet either regular water or water enriched with hydrogen gas (H2) to see if hydrogen could prevent fatty liver disease. Mice drinking high-concentration hydrogen water gained less fat, maintained more muscle, and had less fat buildup in their livers compared to mice drinking regular water. When liver cells from hydrogen-water-drinking mice were exposed to a fatty acid in the lab, they accumulated less fat than cells from mice drinking regular water, suggesting hydrogen provided direct protection.
Practical Takeaway
This mouse study suggests that molecular hydrogen may help protect against fatty liver disease caused by high-fat diets, but these are early findings in animals only. Human studies would be needed to determine whether hydrogen-rich water has similar effects in people. The study also found that hydrogen concentration matters—higher concentrations showed benefits while lower concentrations did not.
Abstract
AIM To identify the effect of hydrogen-rich water (HRW) and electrolyzed-alkaline water (EAW) on high-fat-induced non-alcoholic fatty acid disease in mice. METHODS Mice were divided into four groups: (1) Regular diet (RD)/regular water (RW); (2) high-fat diet (HFD)/RW; (3) RD/EAW; and (4) HFD/EAW. Weight and body composition were measured. After twelve weeks, animals were sacrificed, and livers were processed for histology and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. A similar experiment was performed using HRW to determine the influence and importance of molecular hydrogen (H2) in EAW. Finally, we compared the response of hepatocytes isolated from mice drinking HRW or RW to palmitate overload. RESULTS EAW had several properties important to the study: (1) pH = 11; (2) oxidation-reduction potential of -495 mV; and (3) H2 = 0.2 mg/L. However, in contrast to other studies, there were no differences between the groups drinking EAW or RW in either the RD or HFD groups. We hypothesized that the null result was due to low H2 concentrations. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of RW and low and high HRW concentrations (L-HRW = 0.3 mg H2/L and H-HRW = 0.8 mg H2/L, respectively) in mice fed an HFD. Compared to RW and L-HRW, H-HRW resulted in a lower increase in fat mass (46% vs 61%), an increase in lean body mass (42% vs 28%), and a decrease in hepatic lipid accumulation (P < 0.01). Lastly, exposure of hepatocytes isolated from mice drinking H-HRW to palmitate overload demonstrated a protective effect from H2 by reducing hepatocyte lipid accumulation in comparison to mice drinking regular water. CONCLUSION H2 is the therapeutic agent in electrolyzed-alkaline water and attenuates HFD-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in mice.