David (00:00.973)
Hello there, Natural Nation. In this episode, I'm going to be talking about something that has caught the attention of a lot of health enthusiasts and medical researchers alike. That something is molecular hydrogen. I became more interested in this topic after my interview with Greg the Hydrogen Man in the show back in episode number 150. If this is a topic that you'd like to learn more about, that episode is worth a listen. I was impressed with Greg's knowledge and his passion for the topic.
Greg experienced a dramatic turnaround in his own health. In fact, it was more than dramatic. It was remarkable. Molecular hydrogen therapy was at the center of his health building regimen. In fact, molecular hydrogen therapy sounds almost too good to be true. Molecular hydrogen can help with all kinds of health challenges including metabolic syndrome, digestive health, immune system health, mental health,
all the way up to including heart disease, cancer, and even dementia and Alzheimer's. Molecular hydrogen can slow the aging process and can help reduce your risk for developing almost any chronic degenerative disease. Get ready to learn how this tiny molecule can have a big impact on your health. Let's talk about it.
David (01:29.743)
Welcome to the Christian Healthy Lifestyle podcast where I help you navigate natural health so you can stay out of the doctor's office, age gracefully, and live abundantly. I'm your host, David Sandstrom. Now just because I mentioned the word disease doesn't mean I'm about to offer you medical advice. I am not a medical doctor. I'm a naturopathic doctor, which means I'm a teacher of natural health. If you want to manage your disease, go see a medical doctor. If you want to build health from the inside out,
and increase your resistance to any health challenge, stick around, because that's what I specialize in. Follow the podcast, subscribe on YouTube, and tune in regularly. Right now, I'm publishing new episodes every other Wednesday. And there's almost 200 episodes published with a lot of timeless truths on there, so you won't run out of great content to listen to for quite some time. In this episode, I want to explain what molecular hydrogen is, how it works, and what it can do for you.
As I said in the opener, when you look at the published literature as I have, molecular hydrogen almost sounds too good to be true. Now, if you're a subscriber to the private podcast, at the end of this episode, I'm going to be sharing some of that information from some, from some of the published literature. If you're listening to the public version, you're not going to get that part. Anyway, in Japan, first responders give molecular hydrogen to people having a heart attack or a stroke. In one study,
Molecular hydrogen was shown to increase survival rates after a stroke by 20%. That's better than any drug used in the emergency room. Molecular hydrogen reduces inflammation and is a powerful antioxidant. Now I'm going have to tell you that systemic inflammation combined with excess free radical formation is behind almost all chronic disease. Now the research on hydrogen is ongoing.
and more large-scale randomized trials are needed, but the research so far is very encouraging. A few of the benefits from molecular hydrogen therapy include modulating the immune system for one. This holds promise for autoimmune conditions, improved athletic performance and recovery from workouts, enhanced endurance and reduced fatigue, cardiovascular health. It can lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
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And since it's such a powerful antioxidant, it will lower the amount of oxidized cholesterol, which is very important. When it comes to heart disease, it's not so much total cholesterol that's the problem. It's oxidized LDL cholesterol. Molecular hydrogen is a powerful antioxidant that'll quench the most harmful free radicals, which in turn will reduce the amount of oxidized cholesterol. This is like more or less a breakthrough in cardiovascular health.
Now I'll be explaining the process on how molecular hydrogen does that in just a few moments. Another benefit from molecular hydrogen therapy is blood sugar control. Hydrogen inhalation has been shown to reduce fasting blood glucose and improve insulin resistance. This shows a lot of promise for those struggling with metabolic syndrome and weight control. Another benefit is neurological health. Molecular hydrogen is so tiny
that it easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and protects brain cells from neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. It's also showing promise in the recovery from traumatic brain injury. Now, I'm not saying that molecular hydrogen is the magic bullet everyone's been looking for or that this is the panacea that can eliminate all health challenges, including aging. What I am saying is that molecular hydrogen is a powerful tool that
everyone that wants to stay out of the doctor's office and age gracefully and live abundantly should strongly consider. Hydrogen therapy helps us fight back against the onslaught of health blocking factors we all face in our modern world. Blocking factors like environmental and chemical toxins, a compromised food supply, electromagnetic frequencies from Wi-Fi and cell phone towers and even cell phones themselves. These stressors are everywhere.
Who do you know over the age of 10 that doesn't have a cell phone? Virtually everyone has Wi-Fi in their homes. I challenge you to find a public building or restaurant that doesn't have multiple Wi-Fi signals in it. Molecular hydrogen helps balance the scale or level the playing field, if you will. It can minimize the harmful effects of all of these health blocking factors. Now, I've been saying for some time that our bodies know how to thrive.
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God gives our bodies a built-in intelligence and our default setting is health. If we're not experiencing the health outcomes we want, we've got to identify the obstacles or the health blocking factors and get them out of the way and our bodies will respond positively. Now, of course, we should simultaneously be pursuing all the health enhancing lifestyle factors we can. That's the naturopathic approach to health.
That's how we stay out of the doctor's office, age gracefully and live abundantly. So what is molecular hydrogen? Hydrogen is the smallest and most abundant substance in the universe. Molecular hydrogen is two hydrogen atoms bonded together. The chemical expression is H2. Our bodies make molecular hydrogen from beneficial anaerobic bacteria in the gut. But here's the problem.
98 % of the population in the US are deficient in anaerobic gut bacteria and are therefore deficient in natural or endogenous production of molecular hydrogen. So what does molecular hydrogen do inside our bodies? Well, it serves as a powerful antioxidant and redox modulator. You might be saying, well, what does that mean? Well, to understand that, we need to understand what a free radical is.
A free radical is an atom, molecule, or ion that's missing an electron and therefore in an unbalanced state. This unbalanced state makes the molecule vulnerable to oxidation. If you cut open an apple and sit it on the counter, it won't be long before the flesh of the apple starts to turn brown. That's what we call becoming oxidized. Oxygen is reacting with the molecules in the flesh of the apple to start the decomposition process.
That process is natural in nature, but we'd prefer to have our bodies not decompose while we're living in them, right? You see, the free radical must be quenched. The molecule must find an antioxidant in the form of a donor electron to restore balance. If there's not enough antioxidants available to quench the free radical, the damaged molecule will steal an electron from a nearby cell and cause a cascade or
David (08:44.79)
a domino effect of cellular damage commonly referred to as oxidative stress. Molecular hydrogen is a powerful antioxidant. It easily reacts with nearby molecules, donating that needed electron and interrupting the cascade of cellular damage caused by excessive oxidation. Now, you're beginning to see how important this molecule is. The atom or molecule won't rest
until it's restored to balance. This is one of the ways our bodies achieve homeostasis or the process of achieving equilibrium or balance. When a molecule loses an electron and a free radical is formed, it's called oxidation. When an electron is donated or stolen and the free radical is quenched, it's called reduction because the oxidative state of the molecule is being reduced. The physiology
is exquisite. These two processes cannot take place by themselves. There's always oxidation and reduction taking place at the same time. That's the way God designed our bodies to operate. Oxidation can't take place without reduction, and reduction can take place without oxidation. They operate in a seesaw fashion. When one is up, the other is down. Together, we refer to them as redox reactions. Reduction and oxidation taking place
simultaneously. Now, please understand that not all oxidative stress is bad. Our bodies need oxidation. Our mitochondria burn oxygen and create free radicals in the process of making energy. It's only when reduction is insufficient that the oxidative stress gets out of control and we experience cellular damage and ensuing health problems will follow. We need the right amounts of oxidation
and reduction taking place to achieve optimal health. There's a Goldilocks effect. Not too much, not too little, but just right. You see, generally speaking, contrary to what we've been told, it may not be such a great idea to load up on massive amounts of antioxidants, especially the powerful ones like vitamin C or glutathione, because by doing that, we can be actually working against our body's natural design. I often say in this show,
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that we maximize our health potential by aligning our lives more fully with God's natural design for spirit, mind, and body. We should always be careful to work with our design, not against it. With that in mind, molecular hydrogen is an ally. It's on our side because molecular hydrogen only quenches the most harmful free radicals and leaves the beneficial ones alone. Isn't that amazing? I'm going to say that again. Molecular hydrogen
only quenches the most harmful free radicals and leaves the beneficial ones alone. This is just astounding to me. In that sense, molecular hydrogen is in a class by itself. It'll quench harmful free radicals like hydroxy free radicals and peroxy nitrite. Hydroxy free radicals are especially harmful because the unpaired electron is in the oxygen atom. That makes it highly reactive and it can
indiscriminately attack and damage almost all types of macromolecules including DNA, lipids, fats, and proteins leading to cellular damage and oxidative stress. Parioxynitrate is similar. It's very harmful. It's not a free radical because it lacks an unpaired electron, but it's a powerful oxidant formed by the combination of multiple free radicals. So it has a similar effect on our cells
that hydroxy free radicals do, very destructive. How do these harmful free radical oxidants form? Well, through toxin exposure and one of the ways is through over consumption of seed oils in the diet. I've talked to many times about that on the show. But one of the primary and most pervasive ways is through exposure to electromagnetic frequencies or EMFs like ionizing radiation from X-rays or radio frequency radiation from Wi-Fi and cell phones.
Of course, it's always preferable to reduce our exposure to any health blocking factor. When it comes to EMFs, it's a good idea to shut off your Wi-Fi router before you go to bed and put your phone on airplane mode whenever you can, especially if it's in your pocket. Because EMFs are so pervasive in our environment, we need to take measures to fight back. And we could all use a little help here. That's where molecular hydrogen comes in. Molecular hydrogen
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is not only a powerful antioxidant, but it's a redox modulator. If our bodies are not making enough antioxidants on their own, or we're not getting them in our diets, and practically nobody is these days, free radical formation accelerates and it'll weaken our cells, accelerate the aging process, and contribute to any chronic degenerative disease you can think of. Now we've got to remember, optimal health starts at the cellular level.
Groups of atoms and molecules make up cells, groups of cells make up tissues, groups of tissues make up organs, groups of organs make up systems, and groups of systems make up the human body. So why is this important? Because we live and die at the cellular level. If we're experiencing excessive free radical formation at the cellular level, our bodies will struggle and we struggle.
How do atoms and molecules inside our cells and tissues lose an electron? The answer to that is through stress. That stress can come in the form of environmental toxins such as car exhaust, industrial pollution, and any one of the tens of thousands of chemicals allowed in cosmetics, building materials, and processed food. But we've got to remember, that stress also comes from normal physiological processes like breathing,
digesting food and exercising. When our bodies make energy inside the mitochondria in the form of ATP, adenosine triphosphate, they do it through oxidation in the formation of free radicals. You might be saying, well, that doesn't sound too bad, Dave, what's wrong with that? Well, because of the sheer onslaught of insults of health blocking factors we find in our modern world, our bodies sometimes struggle to keep up with a healthy balance of oxidation and reduction.
redox process. That's what makes molecular hydrogen such a powerful tool in our health building arsenals. It strengthens our defenses against environmental insults because it's a powerful antioxidant and redox modulator. There's two ways to receive molecular hydrogen. One is drinking hydrogen infused water. The other is breathing it. Now I don't recommend buying a cheap hydrogen generator on Amazon.
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Making therapeutic molecular hydrogen is a complex process and the cheap generators just don't work very well. The hydrogen concentrations do not reach therapeutic levels and in a short period of time they won't produce any molecular hydrogen at all. Not only that, they can produce toxins in the process. So stay away from the cheap machines. Personally, I use a machine called the Lord's Hydrofix. I'm going show you the box right here. If you're watching the video version on YouTube,
This is what the unit looks like. This is the box that it came in. I'm really enjoying this machine. I haven't had the machine for very long and in future episodes I'll be updating you on my progress on my own health as a result of the hydrogen therapy I do every day. The Lourdes HydraFix machine is made in Japan where a lot of the research is being done. It's extremely high quality. You can infuse water with it and by using a cannula you can breathe it.
My machine is not cheap, but if you use my link, you can get $100 off if you want to purchase one. Just go to ChristianHealthyLifestyle.com forward slash resources and you can learn more. Now the research on molecular hydrogen is ongoing and not yet conclusive, but what we do see is really encouraging in both animal and human studies. There's been more than 200 human studies done on molecular hydrogen and the results are very encouraging.
I want to share with you some of the findings in the published medical literature. At this point, if you're listening to the public version of the show, you're not going to hear the next section where I go into some of the published literature and detail just how promising some of the science is. If you'd like to gain access to the full version of the show, subscribe to my Christian Healthy Lifestyle community. Go to ChristianHealthyLifestyle.com forward slash membership and you can learn more.
There's a lot more information in the medical literature. You could go on all day talking about the positive effects of drinking hydrogen-enriched water and breathing molecular hydrogen. It really is encouraging. So let's summarize what we covered today. Drinking hydrogen-infused water is a simple way to give your system a powerful boost. Molecular hydrogen is a powerful antioxidant and redox modulator. It can reduce inflammation.
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boost mitochondrial energy production, enhance athletic performance and recovery, lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It's neuroprotective, enhancing cognition and brain health. It's useful in reducing fasting glucose and enhancing insulin resistance. It improves gut health by creating a more favorable environment for the beneficial bacteria to thrive. With all these benefits, we would all do well to explore this topic in more detail.
and strongly consider making molecular hydrogen therapy a part of our Christian healthy lifestyles. That's it for now. Thank you for listening. I appreciate you. Go out there and live abundantly. I'll talk with you next time. Be blessed.
