Special Water Treatment Creates Artificial Hot Springs for Skin Health
- Authors
- Shoichi Okouchi, Daisuke Takezaki, Hideyuki Ohnami, Yuhkoh Agishi, Yasuo Kanroji, Shigeo Ikeda
- Journal
- Journal of the Balneological Society of Japan
- Year
- 2003
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Skin Aging
- Body System
- Integumentary
TL;DR
Special water treated with electricity and filtered can act like natural hot spring water to potentially slow skin aging.
Key Finding
Electrolyzed-reduced water lowered skin oxidation-reduction potential in a manner similar to natural hot spring waters with antioxidant properties.
Summary
Researchers created a special type of water using electrolysis (passing electricity through water) combined with filtration. This water had antioxidant properties (meaning it could resist damage from oxidation, a natural aging process). When people bathed in this treated water, it lowered the oxidation level of their skin in a way similar to bathing in natural hot spring water. The study suggests this artificially created water might help slow skin aging and oxidative damage.
Practical Takeaway
This small human study suggests electrolyzed-reduced water may have skin benefits comparable to therapeutic hot spring bathing, though the study did not report sample size or duration details, limiting how much we can conclude about its real-world effectiveness. More rigorous testing with larger groups and longer observation periods would be needed to confirm whether these effects translate to meaningful anti-aging benefits.
Abstract (excerpt)
Water-electrolysis with ion-exchange membranes followed by passing through ac- tivated carbon filter conducted to produce electrolyzed-reduced water that has neutral and reductive characteristics. In addition, the electrolyzed-reduced water was also confirmed characteristic of antioxidative…