Could This Be The Biggest Nutritional Discovery Since Vitamins?

By: Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby, MD, MB ChB, HMD, PhD

It’s one of the biggest shocks since the discovery of vitamins, especially antioxidant vitamins. We all know the antioxidant story…

Free radicals or “reactive oxygen species” (ROS) are extremely damaging to our tissues. So, we eat fresh color-rich foods and take protective substances called “antioxidants” which protect us from this damage; we stay healthy; we live longer, right?

Well, it’s not quite that simple, as it happens.

The Truth About Those Free Radicals…

Yes, it’s true that ROS damage our tissues. There’s molecular oxygen (O2), superoxide (charged oxygen radical), triatomic oxygen (ozone), the hydroxyl radical (OH-) and the peroxide radical (-H2O2). The thing is, they’re not all equally bad.

The hydroxyl radical (OH-) is by far the worst. The hydroxyl radical can damage virtually all types of macromolecules: carbohydrates, nucleic acids (leading to DNA mutations), lipids (lipid peroxidation), and amino acids.

The so-called superoxide radical is not, in truth, as active or damaging as the basic oxygen molecule, despite its name! Peroxide ion is generated briefly by certain white cells, to damage microbes before ingesting them. Only out of place is it potentially harmful to us.

Our Body’s Natural Antioxidants

We have special powerful, natural, antioxidant enzymes within our bodies, to help protect us: superoxide dismutase inactivates the superoxide radical; catalase removes peroxides.

Unfortunately, unlike these two, the hydroxyl radical cannot be eliminated by an enzymatic reaction.

That’s a problem. But that’s as far as many ignorant scientists and “nutritionists” got, until recently.

We now realize we have been quite naïve. The truth is that not all ROS are bad or, more exactly, that we need small amounts of ROS present, which will function as signalers. It’s an aspect of a system called the REDOX signaling pathway (REDOX stands for reduction and oxidation). It’s a very important defense pathway. We need some ROS free radicals to get the protective antioxidant mechanisms in our bodies to function properly. Think of it like the “bitters” in your cocktail, to get the digestive juices flowing, ready for a good meal!

In fact, there may have been more than a germ of truth in those cynical papers by naysayers that suggested maybe taking antioxidants was bad for our health. They claimed that they could be VERY bad for our health—yes, even causing earlier death—if we took way too many. It wasn’t just a cover up conspiracy; there was some science behind it.¹

Anyway, I can summarize the new understanding in one sentence: hydroxyl ions are very bad still, but the others we shouldn’t totally eradicate.

Can we selectively knock out the deadly hydroxyl ions, without harming the good guys… superoxide and peroxide, etc.? You bet (come on, why else would I be writing this?)!

Molecular Hydrogen To The Rescue

The answer is the commonest substance in the universe, hydrogen. In fact, hydrogen is estimated at 90 percent of all atoms in the cosmos, right on down to the solar system! Moreover, hydrogen lays claim to more than two-thirds of all the atoms in the human body.

Now, there are two forms of hydrogen (here we go with a smidge of high school chemistry!):

First we have hydrogen ions, or H+, which give us our phenomenon of acidity and alkalinity (the more hydrogen ions, the more acid).

Then there’s molecular hydrogen. Hydrogen (symbol H) likes to hang out in pairs, hence H2. We call this “molecular hydrogen”, because a set of two or more atoms is called a molecule. Right?

Molecular hydrogen is a wonderful vacuum cleaner for hydroxyl ions! In fact, even duffers at school-- or dunces as you might say in America-- can get this: H2 + 2OH = 2H2O. In other words, water!

If only we could flood our bodies with this molecular hydrogen, we could stay healthy and live longer. Great. Be patient, I’m coming to that…

More About Lifestyle First

Despite having some beneficial activities in small quantities, reactive oxygen species clearly can be toxic to cells. By definition, free radicals possess an unpaired electron, which makes them highly reactive and thereby able to damage all biological molecules, including lipids, proteins and nucleic acids (DNA etc.)

Persistent oxidative stress is one of the major causes of most lifestyle-related diseases, cancer, and the aging process. Acute oxidative stress directly causes serious damage to tissues. Despite the clinical importance of oxidative damage, antioxidants have been of limited therapeutic success, though eating lots of brightly colored fresh foods has never harmed anybody.

One of the best-known toxic effects of oxygen radicals is damage to cellular membranes (plasma, mitochondrial and endomembrane systems), which is initiated by a process known as lipid peroxidation.

Mitochondria, the small intracellular structures that generate energy for the cell (I call them our energy bunnies), are a major site of oxidative stress. When they go, we go-- suffering immense fatigue and rapid aging. It could be said that you are as old as your mitochondria!

Acute oxidative stress also causes serious damage to other tissues, and persistent oxidative stress is one of the causes of many common diseases, cancer, and the aging process. However, there has been little success in developing an effective antioxidant with no side effect.

Until now, that is. Molecular hydrogen has been shown to be excellent as a powerful and effective antioxidant for medical applications. Nobody is more surprised than me.

Molecular hydrogen has several advantages as a potential antioxidant. It's a tiny atom and rapidly diffuses into tissues and cells throughout the body. It is mild enough neither to disturb redox signaling reactions nor to affect reactive oxygen species (ROS) that function in cell signaling. Therefore, there should be little adverse effects of consuming H2.

Health Benefits Documented In 1200 Papers

Since the publication of the first H2 paper in Nature Medicine in 2007, the biological effects of H2 have been confirmed by the publication of studies in more than 38 diseases, physiological states and clinical tests in leading biological/medical journals, and several groups have started clinical examinations.²

In fact, there are now over 1200 papers published in credible scientific journals demonstrating clearly the true health benefits of molecular hydrogen.

Moreover, H2 shows not only effects against oxidative stress, but also various anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects. H2 regulates various gene expressions and even triggers more of the body’s own antioxidant mechanisms.

It’s worth repeating: Emerging science shows that molecular hydrogen protects us against the deadly hydroxyl radical, while leaving undamaged the other oxygen radicals that are needed for physiological signaling.³

What can this look like on a daily basis? For one thing, molecular hydrogen can give you more energy.

Increased Energy

In one of the recent studies, researchers examined the effects of molecular hydrogen on the body’s ability to recover after an exercise session. The researchers reviewed 17 randomized, controlled trials and found that when given ahead of an exercise session, molecular hydrogen decreased feelings of fatigue and also reduced blood lactate levels—a blood marker of muscle fatigue.

In fact, research shows that blood lactate levels are closely linked to muscle fatigue, with lactate being considered an indicator of muscle fatigue and recovery. Higher lactate levels are associated with fatigue within exercising muscles, and lactate production exceeds removal during intense exercise, leading to its accumulation.⁴

How Do You Take H2?

There are several methods to ingest or consume H2, including inhaling hydrogen gas, drinking H2-dissolved water (hydrogen water), taking a hydrogen bath, injecting H2-dissolved saline IV (hydrogen saline), dropping hydrogen saline onto the eye, and even increasing the production of intestinal H2 by bacteria.

But simplest by far is to take a formulated tablet. Drop one tablet into a tumbler or bottle of spring water, wait until it dissolves and stops fizzing, then, swallow the lot (fairly quickly, so you get the full benefit).

Doing this once a day approximates the dose used in the hydrogen therapy research. This literally floods the body—every nook and cranny—with free-radical quenching hydrogen.

Safe? Yes. Because hydrogen is so naturally abundant in your body, a rush of extra poses no threat. It’s a completely natural molecule. But you can’t store it. Hydrogen is such a tiny particle and naturally light, that it will escape, even from a glass or metal container. You must make it afresh, each dose you take.

Sportsters and gym junkies will LOVE this stuff. Give it a try.
Prof. Keith
The Alternative Doctor Website

P.S. A word of warning: High quality H2 tablets are able to easily generate 6 ppm of hydrogen molecules. Do not be persuaded to buy a “hydrogen water” machine. At best, these can only generate 1 – 1.5 ppm, which is below the rate at which hydrogen gas escapes.