Introduction: What Is Hydrogenated Water?
I have written before about the home therapy of drinking hydrogenated water. You can purchase a countertop device to quickly make this water. They are simple to use: pour in your drinking water, tighten the lid, turn the device on, and let it bubble for a few minutes. It automatically shuts off when it’s done. Now you have water with hydrogen dissolved into it that you can drink to get lots of health benefits [MDPI article].
Why Hydrogen Matters & the Role of Deuterium Depletion
It should be no surprise that drinking water enriched in hydrogen is beneficial to health. In fact, hydrogen gas is a vital aspect of human physiology and health. I’m very honored to have worked with a few brilliant researchers on this topic. To briefly summarize our work, trillions of bacteria in the human microbiome are continuously generating hydrogen gas. That much was already known. Our never-discussed-before contribution to this topic was detailing how that gas is uniquely depleted in deuterium, and this depletion is crucial for our health.
What Happens if We Lose Deuterium Depletion?
We hypothesize in our papers that a breakdown in this deuterium-depleting function of the microbiome could explain some previously mysterious aspects of Parkinson’s Disease and other neurological, cognitive, and gastrointestinal disorders. It became apparent to me that a dysregulated microbiome – dysbiosis – had a potentially profound detrimental impact on health, far beyond the gastrointestinal discomfort that goes with it.
Therapy Strategy: Deuterium-Depleted Hydrogenated Water (DDHW)
When I’m involved in a research project like writing a paper there is a part of my brain that is constantly looking for ways to turn what I’m learning into a clinically useful therapy. Regarding this deuterium-depleted hydrogen gas that is so important for our general health, I think I’ve found that therapy: deuterium-depleted hydrogenated water.
When bubbling hydrogen gas through water, the gas dissolved into the water will have a deuterium concentration lower than the water it was created from (for reasons that have to do with the strength of the relevant chemical bonds), but not as low as a healthy microbiome would be expected to create. So how can you lower that deuterium content in hydrogenated water even further?
Simply fill your device with deuterium-depleted water (DDW). The deuterium content of the hydrogen diffusing into your water will drop by an additional 50% or more depending on the deuterium concentration of the water you use. Personally, I use the 25 parts-per-million (ppm) water I purchase here.
Using DDHW with Supplements & Caution for Sensitive Individuals
As an added perk I think it is a good idea to use this hydrogenated DDW to take your supplements. As those nutrients get broken down and processed, the ambient low-deuterium hydrogen gas will allow deuterium built into the supplements to (potentially) be exchanged with a healthier hydrogen atom in the organic molecules that are built using that hydrogen gas, such as butyrate.
People with severe digestive symptoms and/or food reactivity should not start with a high daily “dose” of hydrogenated DDW. To get individualized recommendations for implementation of the therapy, schedule with me at gregnigh.com/schedule, email drnigh_info@gregnigh.com, or call 503-719-4806.
