Official Studies
PMCID: PMC5806445PMID: 29497485
Hydrogen-rich water for improvements of mood, anxiety, and autonomic nerve function in daily life
Kei Mizuno,1-,5Akihiro T. Sasaki,1-,3,6Kyoko Ebisu,1,3Kanako Tajima,2,3Osami Kajimoto,1,5Junzo Nojima,7Hirohiko Kuratsune,8Hiroshi Hori,1-,3 and Yasuyoshi Watanabe, M.D., Ph.D.1-,4,6,*
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5806445/
Thirty-one adult volunteers contributed to a double-blind study to investigate the effects of drinking 600 ml of hydrogen-rich water per day for 4 weeks. This study investigated the effects of this water on individuals sleep, fatigue, mood, anxiety, and symptoms of depression.
The volunteers of the study were monitored closely, using autonomic function tests, cognitive function tests, blood samples, and daily activity journals. Those conducting the study monitored the volunteer’s mood, as well as their heart’s electrical activity and brain function to see if they were experiencing less oxidative stress after drinking hydrogen-rich water.
Additionally, the volunteers were instructed to note down all activity in their daily activity journals. This included their step count (which was detected by a pedometer), quality and length of sleep, and daily levels of fatigue.
The results of the study showed a general decrease in anxiety as well as an increased motivational response for those taking hydrogen-rich water.
Not only does hydrogen-rich water affect individuals physical condition, but it can also improve mental conditions. They found that hydrogen-rich water may have actively contributed to an improved quality of life for the volunteers, as it may have reduced anxiety, improved mood, and reduced activity of the sympathetic nervous system at rest.
Hydrogen-rich water can cross the blood-brain barrier, which could present as a breakthrough in studies focused on reducing oxidative stress. Previous studies have shown that markers of oxidative stress are 5 times more likely to occur in the brain than in the blood.
Oxidative stress on the brain can induce conditions such as depression, anxiety, social phobia, and other disorders. Inflammation in the brain has also been linked to fatigue, low moods, anxiety, and problems with sleep, and in some mice studies, hydrogen-rich water has even succeeded in suppressing depression-like behaviours.
Hydrogen-rich water could be the key to controlling negative emotions and behaviours caused by neurological disorders. There is increasing evidence that oxidative stress is directly involved in the pathological manifestations of many neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.
The study that was conducted had a limited amount of volunteers, so more studies must be carried out before results can be generalized. There is still quite a lot of research to be done on hydrogen-rich water and it’s physical effects on quality of life. Studies involving larger numbers of participants are essential.
Additionally, the study did not directly examine the factors of inflammation and oxidation in the brain, as it mainly focused on the effects of hydrogen-rich water on the central nervous system.
In conclusion, hydrogen-rich water administration for 4 weeks in adult volunteers improved mood, anxiety, and autonomic nerve function, suggesting that hydrogen-rich water administration may offer an effective method to improve quality of life and maintain good health.
The effects of hydrogen-rich water administration on volunteers with ongoing stress or chronic fatigue is yet to be further studied, but this may be directly beneficial to investigating how to increase the quality of life of the general public.
