Hydrogen Water Shows Promise for Health Benefits and Disease Prevention
- Authors
- Fanxianzi Meng, Zhichao Liu, Shucun Qin, Boyan Liu
- Journal
- Current Pharmaceutical Design
- Year
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.2174/0113816128330516241121150719
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Oxidative Stress Disorders
- Body System
- Cellular
TL;DR
Scientists found that drinking water with extra hydrogen gas in it might help your body fight damage from harmful molecules and reduce inflammation, which could help prevent or treat diseases—but they need to do bigger studies to prove it actually works for people.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich water shows multiple potential biological mechanisms including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in laboratory and early research, but large-scale human clinical trials are still needed to establish whether it actually works for treating or preventing disease.
Summary
This review article summarizes research on hydrogen-rich water (regular water with dissolved hydrogen gas) and its potential health effects. Studies suggest that hydrogen may act as an antioxidant (a substance that reduces harmful molecules called free radicals) and could help reduce inflammation, support healthy metabolism, and protect cells. However, the review notes that while basic laboratory research is promising, large-scale studies in humans are still needed to confirm whether these benefits actually work in real-world clinical settings.
Practical Takeaway
While basic research suggests hydrogen water may have antioxidant properties, this is a review article summarizing existing studies rather than new research evidence. The authors themselves emphasize that large-scale clinical trials in humans are necessary before hydrogen-rich water can be confidently recommended for specific health conditions. Anyone considering hydrogen water should recognize that clinical evidence in humans remains limited.
Abstract
Molecular hydrogen (H2) is considered a biological antioxidant. Hydrogen-rich Water (HRW) is regular water that contains dissolved H2 and has become more widely used in recent years. This review summarizes the basic research and clinical applications of HRW consumption to support its use for daily health and clinical treatment. The biological effects of HRW include reducing oxidative stress, exerting antiinflammatory effects, regulating glucose and lipid metabolism, protecting mitochondrial function, and regulating apoptosis. Hypotheses about the mechanisms of H2 include the direct scavenging of toxic free radicals, the Fe-porphyrin biosensor hypothesis, the effect of H2 on biological enzymes, the lipoprotein regulation of H2, and H2 acting on the intestinal barrier. Clinically, HRW has been used for adjuvant treatment, disease prevention, and quality of life improvement. In the future, more in-depth studies and large-scale clinical trials are needed.