Hydrogen Water Plus Vitamin C Lowers Blood Pressure in Rats
- Authors
- Kohei Kawakami, Hiroyuki Matsuo, Takaya Yamada, Ken-Ichi Matsumoto, Daigoro Sasaki, Masato Nomura
- Journal
- Experimental Animals
- Year
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.1538/expanim.21-0187
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Hypertension
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water with added vitamin C may help lower high blood pressure and reduce oxidative stress in rats on a high-salt diet.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich water combined with vitamin C significantly reduced blood pressure increases in hypertensive rats, particularly when they consumed a high-salt diet, while hydrogen-rich water alone had no effect.
Summary
Researchers gave hydrogen-rich water (either alone or mixed with vitamin C) to rats bred to have high blood pressure. When hydrogen-rich water was combined with vitamin C, it reduced blood pressure increases—especially when the rats ate a high-salt diet. The combination appeared to work by lowering oxidative stress (cellular damage from unstable molecules) and a hormone called angiotensin II that affects blood pressure.
Practical Takeaway
This is an animal study, so results cannot be directly applied to humans yet. The findings suggest that hydrogen-rich water may need to be combined with vitamin C to have blood pressure effects, and early evidence indicates this combination may help reduce oxidative stress—but human clinical trials are needed before any health claims can be made.
Abstract (excerpt)
Hydrogen-rich water (HW) has been suggested to possess antioxidant properties of value in treatments of lifestyle diseases and for prevention of latent pathologies. To date, the potential benefits of HW against the deleterious effects of excessive salt intake and hypertension have not been…