I keep seeing advertisements for hydrogen-infused water. Can these products do anything for my health?

One woman on TikTok said it cured her sore throat and fever. Another wrote that it can help you lose weight, increase your energy and strengthen your immune system.

Drink hydrogen water, some advertisements go on to say, and you will enjoy reduced pain and inflammation, improved gut health, superior hydration, increased endurance, a better mood and even slowed signs of ageing.

Hydrogen water is made by simply adding more Hs into your H2O. But when it comes to its purported health advantages, researchers are sceptical.

“For almost every study that has shown a benefit, there’s another study that questions the benefit,” said Dr Mitchell Rosner, who specialises in fluid and electrolyte disorders at UVA Health in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Here is what people know.

What is hydrogen water?

Hydrogen water is often packaged in sleek drink pouches or aluminium cans. Some brands sell dissolvable hydrogen tablets that you can plop into your water, or high-tech bottles that you fill with regular water and then infuse with hydrogen by pressing a button.

Some of these drinks, also called hydrogen-rich and hydrogen-infused water, have added flavours or electrolytes, but the basic product involves regular water plus hydrogen gas molecules, or H2, mixed in.

Because hydrogen molecules are extremely small, they easily dissolve in water, said Dr Gagandeep Dhillon, an assistant medical director at the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center. They also do not create the same fizzy sensation as seltzer or soda. Those contain carbon dioxide, a larger molecule.

Hydrogen is so small and light that it also easily escapes water, Dr Dhillon said. To ensure the molecules stay put, some brands package their product in special aluminium containers or recommend drinking the product within 30 minutes of opening it.

Doesn’t water already contain hydrogen?

All water molecules have two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, as shown in its chemical name, H2O. But once those atoms combine into one water molecule, Dr Dhillon said, the body cannot make use of the hydrogen and oxygen separately.

The idea behind hydrogen water is that the accessible hydrogen molecules – the ones not bound to oxygen – can enter the body’s cells and generate an antioxidant effect, Dr Rosner said.

Most of the touted health benefits, which also include enhance...