From it’s accidental discovery in the 16th century, hydrogen has proven to be beneficial and versatile in many ways. First being used in industrial applications, it quickly found use in aeronautical applications due to its unique chemical properties.

The first mention of hydrogen for therapeutic purposes came in the 18th century, and research into its therapeutic applications has grown exponentially in the last 50 years. But what is so incredible about hydrogen, and why is there such excitement about a simple molecule?

The primary fact that makes hydrogen not only intriguing but quite useful is it’s size. Hydrogen is the smallest element and is known as a dioatomic molecule. A small handful of elements that exist in nature are diatomic, meaning in their natural state two single molecules of the same element are bound together. This makes the overall molecule much more stable. The best example of this is oxygen, which is why you commonly see it referred to as O2. Hydrogen is also diatomic, which is why you see it listed as H2.

Even though hydrogen naturally exists as a molecule of two atoms bound together, it is by far the smallest molecule known to man. As such, it can freely move about the body and access places that many molecules and compounds cannot, like through the blood-brain barrier. It can even move through the cell wall into the cytoplasm, nucleus, and mitochondria of individual cells.

It’s size makes it unique, but the hydrogen molecule has also been shown to be a powerful antioxidant, and a selective one at that. Free radical production is actually essential for humans, as free radicals are a byproduct of the reaction that takes place in our bodies at a cellular level when our mitochondria produce ATP, the molecule that our bodies utilize as energy. Because hydrogen is able to penetrate our cell walls and organelles within like mitochondria, being a strong antioxidant could potentially interfere with the reaction taking place, but it doesn’t – almost miraculously hydrogen has been shown not to interfere with these reactive oxygen species that propagate the vital reactions taking place within that produce ATP.

One final thing that sticks out about hydrogen, to this writer at least, is that there have been no reports of hydrogen toxicity at the effective therapeutic levels. In an oversimplified sense you can’t “overdo it” with hydrogen, unlike other therapeutic gasses. This was actually put to the test by the US Navy, who in the 1960s began using a hydrogen/oxygen blend of gas in their diving tanks as they pushed the depths of their divers. The blend that they used was 98.87% H2 and 1.26% O2, and they found no cytotoxic effect as a result. This is to say that essentially the divers were breathing almost all hydrogen with no side effects. Granted, due to the pressure of the depths they were diving the lessened volume of oxygen was sufficient and wouldn’t work at surface level, however the point is that they were able to breathe almost 100% H2 without any side effects. This is quite abnormal when it comes to therapeutic gasses.

Hydrogen sounds like a pretty cool molecule, but what applications does it have in the real world? While we don’t quite know for sure, the research that’s ongoing is more than promising, specifically when it comes to fighting oxidative stress and thereby preventing damage from free radicals. Because free radicals are electrically unbalanced they’re constantly scavenging to find an electron to stabilize the molecule. If there are antioxidants present, they’ll bond to the free radicals and neutralize them. If there is a lack of antioxidants, free radicals will roam trying to find that missing electron and will steal this from other molecules, in a cell wall or even from DNA, for example.

This is the definition of oxidative stress, and we’re beginning to learn that this type of stress may be the impetus for many disease states. For instance, if free radicals steal from a cell wall in the intestinal lining, the weakened cell wall might be a cause of leaky gut. If stealing from DNA, it could cause a transcription error when our body is replicating cells, potentially causing a tumor. It’s postulated that oxidative stress is a major cause of inflammation in the body, and chronic inflammation is believed to be the cause of several diseases like diabetes and other metabolic syndromes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, allergies, COPD, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Further, oxidative stress is believed to be the cause of many neurological diseases like ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease. Because hydrogen can easily pass through the blood brain barrier, delivering a powerful antioxidant directly to the area may only help reduce the levels of oxidative stress and potentially mitigate the development of these conditions.

In a similar fashion, research has suggested that those with chronic psychological conditions like depression and anxiety suffer from high levels of oxidative stress, so many believe that hydrogen supplementation might also be of benefit to the millions who suffer from these conditions daily. This writer has personally used hydrogen inhalation frequently in times of higher stress, and I’ve noted it to have quite the calming effect. While more research is definitely necessary, how wonderful would it be to use hydrogen inhalation as an adjunct or possibly even a replacement for prescription medications that have a laundry list of side effects where hydrogen therapy seems to have little to no side effects at all?

What about combining ozone therapy and hydrogen therapy? Could there be a synergistic effect between the two? The answer, at least at this time, is quite possibly yes! Many know that the underlying principle of ozone therapy is to put the body in a mild oxidative stress, with the keyword here being mild. Mild stresses on the body are generally a good thing – our bodies recognize this stress and it typically induces a response.

A great example of this is resistance training. Many know that when one lifts weights, it actually does damage to the muscle tissue – this is the stress. Our body’s response is to then rebuild that tissue stronger to prevent that damage from occurring again. This is a key principle for how body builders, or even just the average Joe at the gym, are able to gain muscle mass to become stronger.

In the case of ozone, when we add a strong oxidant to the body like ozone, our bodies recognize this stress and react by kicking our immunity into high gear to counteract and prevent severe oxidative stress. This is why it is always suggested to start at a low concentration of ozone and slowly build over the course of time. We’re all a little different and we only want to induce a mild oxidative stress that the body can handle with it’s own response. That is to say we do not want to induce too much of an oxidative stress that could potentially cause oxidative damage.

As a hypothetical example, let’s discuss something that we at Promolife see occasionally. Our home users, new to ozone and very eager to get started, may not heed the advice to start at a low concentration and “jump off the deep end” into a high concentration application. While you can never deal with absolute certainties when it comes to individuals, for most this would be too high of an ozone concentration to begin with and might have the potential to induce too high of an oxidative stress. In this case, supplementing with hydrogen might have the potential to counteract the influx of reactive oxygen species. Even in cases of frequent, normal use of ozone, hydrogen could be beneficial as an adjunct to safeguard against the potential of too much oxidative stress.

As time progresses and more research on the benefits of hydrogen are becoming evident, it seems that hydrogen therapy could become more of a mainstream modality. It’s already a well-known modality in many populous countries, namely Japan. With great benefit and minimal, if any, side effects, it’s easy to see hydrogen therapy’s use increasing as both a preventative modality and as one that promotes longevity.