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I recently saw a local shop selling packages of water infused with hydrogen gas. It was alleged that hydrogen is an antioxidant and therefore drinking hydrogen-infused water would have various health benefits.

One manufacturer of hydrogen water claims that their product "Has beneficial effects on all organ systems including the skin; Acts as a natural antioxidant; Increases energy; Improves athletic performance." They include references to some studies.

(There are other claims like "When infused in water [hydrogen] provides multiple benefits, including increased energy and antioxidant activity", so I interpret their claim to be that the supposed benefits are due specifically to the hydrogen, over and above the benefits of drinking plain water. Thanks to Nat for helping clarify this.)

Is there good-quality evidence that this and similar products provide the claimed benefits to a significant degree?

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    Looks like the Henry's constant for hydrogen-in-water is about 7.8*10^{-4} mol/(L*atm), and the partial-pressure-of-hydrogen in Earth's atmosphere is about 5.5*10^{-7} atm}, for an equilibrium water concentration of about 4.29*10^{-10} mol/L. [...]
    – Nat
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 1:35
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    The first study in the linked list of studies has a laughably small sample size of 8 people, 4 in the control group and 4 in the experiment group. It was also published in a low impact (second rate) scientific journal. That particular study does not appear to be very good quality.
    – BobTheAverage
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 14:49
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    Isn't the way that hydrogen removes oxygen from being available a somewhat explosive process? But the real beauty of this claim is that, since the by-product of hydrogen oxidizing is water, if you say "I don't think it made any difference, it's just water" then that's PROOF that it worked!
    – PoloHoleSet
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 19:46
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    Can people please use chat for general discussion of hydrogen water? It's all very interesting but I would rather not be notified every time. Comments are fine if they are a direct suggestion for improving the question.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Nov 15, 2017 at 2:57
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    Deeply buried in their "Terms of Use" they have this: "YOU SHOULD NOT CONSTRUE WEBSITE CONTENT AS ANY WARRANTY OR RECOMMENDATION OF THE MEDICAL, HEALTH AND/OR NUTITIONAL BENEFITS OF DR. PERRICONE HYDROGEN WATER OR OTHER FOODS, TREATMENTS, PROVIDERS OR SERVICES." I'm not sure if this standard practice or not, but this already raised some red flags to me. If fact, their "Terms of use" section is full of legalese similar to this. Like "deeply buried in their "Terms of Use" they have this.
    – T. Sar
    Commented Nov 29, 2017 at 11:46

1 Answer 1

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Yes, the product in question is (very slightly) an antioxidant. It does have all of those stated health benefits. The health benefits do not spring from the water being an anti-oxidant, but your source never claimed they did. The health benefits arise from you drinking water.

Those claims are principally true, although maybe not as impressive as you might expect. The claim that Hydrogen infused water "Has beneficial effects on all organ systems including the skin; Acts as a natural antioxidant; Increases energy; Improves athletic performance.".

Hydrogen infused water is, by volume or weight, principally water.

Water has been demonstrated to reduce dehydration, a medical term used to describe a condition caused by the excessive loss of water from the body.

Dehydration causes dry skin, and reduces skin elasticity. Drinking hydrogen infused water counteracts these symptoms and thus has beneficial effects on the skin.

Dehydration negatively impacts the heart and the brain, the operation of which effect all the other organs. So Hydrogen infused water has beneficial effects on all organ systems.

Dehydration causes lethargy, high pulse rate, and dizziness. By removing these symptoms, Hydrogen infused water improves athletic performance.

Dehydration is a very serious condition, which can lead to shock, coma and death. There are very significant benefits from taking Hydrogen infused water to cure or prevent dehydration.

The product in question likely is an antioxidant. Tap water, and most bottled waters are slightly alkaline. Alkaline water is an antioxidant. I do not have enough information to determine if the source here is being correct in a technical sense, or in a practical sense (i.e. is it enough of an antioxidant to have a health benefit).

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    The communicated claim is that hydrogen-water provides some special benefit beyond what water would, so that's the claim that needs to be fact-checked.
    – Nat
    Commented Nov 29, 2017 at 6:11
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    Thanks @Nat, I had overlooked that. Now I agree that the claim is explicitly attributing the benefits specifically to the hydrogen.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Nov 29, 2017 at 14:27

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