Abstract
Hydrogen-dissolved water has been shown to improve diverse oxidation stress-related diseases, which drove us to examine effects of hydrogen-rich water on oxidation stress-related skin troubles and lipid-metabolism markers. The purpose of this study is whether the dissolved hydrogen in hydrogen-rich water was kept even after boiling, and whether hydrogen-bath utilization improves cosmetic effects such as skin-blotch repression and the visceral-fat-based slimming effects. The subjects were two men and two women, aged 48, 43, 42, and 41 years (n = 4). They took warm (41°C) water bath of dissolved hydrogen 300-310 μg/L (< 10 μg/L for normal water) for 10-minute once daily for 1-6 months, followed by examination of skin blotch, visceral fat, and cholesterol and glucose metabolisms. The dissolved hydrogen concentration was measured after 15-minute boiling and the subsequent cooling naturally. The wide-ranging, dense, and irregularly shaped skin blotches became markedly smaller and thinner, assumedly through reductive bleaching of melanin and lipofuscin and promotion of dermal cell renewal by the hydrogen-rich warm water. Ultrasonic resonance-based analysis on the abdominal cross-section revealed that the visceral fat area decreased from 47 to 36 cm([2]), and the abdominal circumference decreased from 91 to 82 cm, in the two female subjects bathing in hydrogen-water. After 6-month hydrogen-water bathing, the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was decreased by 16.2% and the fasting blood glucose level increased by 13.6% in the blood of a female subject. Before boiling, the dissolved hydrogen and an oxidation-reduced potential were 300 μg/L and -115 mV, respectively. Dissolved hydrogen was retained at 300-175 μg/L and 200 μg/L, even 1-6 hours and 24 hours, respectively, after boiling. Therefore, a hydrogen-rich water-bath apparatus can electrolytically generate abundant boiling-resistant hydrogen bubbles, improving visceral fat and blotches on the skin. The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Japanese Center for Anti-Aging Medical Sciences and that was officially authenticated by the Hiroshima Prefecture Government of Japan (approval number 15C1) in 2016.