Hydrogen Water May Improve Gut Health and Beneficial Bacteria
- Authors
- Sergej M. Ostojic
- Journal
- Journal of Functional Foods
- Year
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jff.2021.104360
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Serbia
- Health Condition
- Gut Microbiota Disturbances
- Body System
- Gastrointestinal
TL;DR
A special water with extra hydrogen in it might help your gut bacteria stay healthy and protect your digestive system, but scientists haven't done enough big studies yet to know if it really works, so it's still too early to recommend it to everyone.
Key Finding
Most animal studies and one limited human trial suggest hydrogen-rich water may protect the gut barrier and increase beneficial bacteria, but the evidence remains too preliminary to recommend it for treating digestive diseases.
Summary
This review examined whether hydrogen-rich water (water infused with molecular hydrogen gas) can change the composition and function of bacteria living in the gut. Researchers looked at studies from 2018 onward and found that most animal studies and one small human study showed hydrogen-rich water may help protect the intestinal lining and increase bacteria that produce butyrate (a beneficial compound). Some studies reported improvements in diarrhea and weight loss, but the authors note that very few rigorous human studies exist, and no large-scale trials have tested this in people with common digestive diseases.
Practical Takeaway
While early research suggests hydrogen-rich water may influence gut bacteria in potentially positive ways, the current evidence comes mostly from animal studies and one small human trial. No large, well-designed studies have tested whether it actually helps people with conditions like inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome. The authors explicitly recommend treating it as experimental rather than a proven health intervention at this time.
Abstract
Hydrogen-rich water (HRW) is an innovative functional drink with many professed benefits for human health, including good intestinal viability and gut microbiota upregulation. A source of molecular hydrogen, HRW might be a convenient medium to deliver this bioactive gas to the gastrointestinal tract, and perhaps modulate the activity of both hydrogen-producing and hydrogen-consuming bacteria, abundant members of the intestinal microbiota community. This paper summarizes the findings from previous studies evaluating a response of gut microbiota to HRW intake and discusses possible mechanisms and medical consequences of this interaction. It appears that only a handful of rodent studies and one human randomized-controlled trial investigated how drinking HRW affects gut microbiota, with all studies published from 2018 onwards. HRW-induced protection of the gut barrier integrity and upregulation of butyrate-producing bacteria were seen in most studies, with HRW ameliorated clinical features of gut microbiota disturbances, including diarrhea rate, weight, and fluid loss. However, no well-powered multicentric trial evaluated the effectiveness of HRW consumption so far in common gastrointestinal diseases with gut flora scenario, including inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroenteritis and colitis of infectious origin. HRW might be an up-and-coming compound that might tune endogenous H2 homeostasis and modulate gut microbiota but it should still be perceived as an experimental drink and not widely recommended to the general public.