Hydrogen Water May Work Through Appetite Hormone to Protect Brain

Authors
Journal
Medical Hypotheses
Year
DOI
10.1016/j.mehy.2015.01.018
Study Type
clinical
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Country
United States
Health Condition
Parkinson's Disease
Body System
Nervous System

TL;DR

Scientists found that drinking hydrogen-rich water might help protect your brain and body by triggering your stomach to make more of a hormone called ghrelin, which has healing powers throughout your body—but they're not sure yet if this is safe long-term in humans or if it could increase cancer risk.

Key Finding

A mouse study found that drinking hydrogen-rich water triggers increased ghrelin production in the stomach, and this ghrelin may be responsible for hydrogen water's beneficial effects on brain health and other conditions observed in animal research.

Summary

This review examines how hydrogen water might work in the body by triggering the release of a hormone called ghrelin. Ghrelin is known to stimulate appetite and growth hormone, but research in mice suggests it may also protect the brain, reduce inflammation, and support liver health. However, the authors note that while animal studies show promise, it's unclear whether hydrogen water actually increases ghrelin in humans, and there are concerns about whether long-term ghrelin increases could affect cancer risk.

Practical Takeaway

While this review suggests hydrogen water may work through ghrelin-related mechanisms in animals, human studies are needed to confirm whether the same effect occurs in people. The authors raise an important caution: if hydrogen water does increase ghrelin long-term in humans, the potential cancer risk from sustained ghrelin elevation would need careful evaluation before recommending it as a health intervention.

Abstract

Molecular hydrogen (H2) can scavenge hydroxyl radical and diminish the toxicity of peroxynitrite; hence, it has interesting potential for antioxidant protection. Recently, a number of studies have explored the utility of inhaled hydrogen gas, or of hydrogen-saturated water, administered parenterally or orally, in rodent models of pathology and in clinical trials, oftentimes with very positive outcomes. The efficacy of orally ingested hydrogen-rich water (HW) has been particularly surprising, given that only transient and rather small increments in plasma hydrogen can be achieved by this method. A recent study in mice has discovered that orally administered HW provokes increased gastric production of the orexic hormone ghrelin, and that this ghrelin mediates the favorable impact of HW on a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. The possibility that most of the benefits observed with HW in experimental studies are mediated by ghrelin merits consideration. Ghrelin is well known to function as an appetite stimulant and secretagogue for growth hormone, but it influences physiological function throughout the body via interaction with the widely express GHS-R1a receptor. Rodent and, to a more limited extent, clinical studies establish that ghrelin has versatile neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing activity, favorably impacts vascular health, exerts anti-inflammatory activity useful in autoimmune disorders, and is markedly hepatoprotective. The stimulatory impact of ghrelin on GH-IGF-I activity, while potentially beneficial in sarcopenia or cachectic disorders, does raise concerns regarding the long-term impact of ghrelin up-regulation on cancer risk. The impact of ingesting HW water on ghrelin production in humans needs to be evaluated; if HW does up-regulate ghrelin in humans, it may have versatile potential for prevention and control of a number of health disorders.