Electrolyzed hydrogen-rich water for oxidative stress suppression and improvement of insulin resistance: a multicenter prospective double-blind randomized control trial
Ogawa S, Ohsaki Y, Shimizu M, et al. · Diabetology International. 2022;13(1):209–219.
What kind of evidence is this?
Human
Multicenter prospective double-blind randomized controlled parallel trial
Metabolic and lipid health
H₂-rich water
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Methods at a glance
Japanese adults with type 2 diabetes, preserved insulin secretion and no insulin therapy.
49 randomized: electrolyzed hydrogen-rich water n=25 and filtered water n=24; 43 completed and were analyzed (23 and 20).
3 months.
Participants drank 1,500–2,000 mL/day of water produced at home with a TRIM ION HYPER device.
H₂ dissolved in electrolyzed drinking water — H₂ only as the therapeutic gas, not Brown's gas.
The pH setting was increased during the first week and maintained at pH 8.5–9.9 thereafter. The article does not report a numeric dissolved-H₂ concentration at preparation or consumption.
Not applicable — drinking water, not gas inhalation.
No O₂ was co-delivered as an intervention.
Filtered water from outwardly identical home devices; allocation and data management were performed by a third party and participants and installers were blinded.
Outcomes and reported result
Primary HOMA-IR; glucose-tolerance, oxidative-stress, antioxidant, hematology, biochemical and safety measures.
The primary outcome was null: HOMA-IR changed by -0.27 in the EHW arm and +0.04 with filtered water, between-group p=0.282; percentage-change p=0.638. Most oxidative-stress and metabolic outcomes were also null. Lactate decreased within the EHW arm, while subgroup and correlation findings were exploratory. No EHW-related adverse effect was observed.
The complete PMC article, supplementary material, trial flow, three-month outcome table, adverse events and commercial involvement were checked; the null primary result is stated explicitly.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit. Null findings, outcome type, study design and precision all matter.
Cautions and applicability
Small trial with six dropouts, baseline differences and many exploratory subgroup/correlation analyses after a null primary endpoint. The trial was conducted jointly with Nihon Trim; two authors had Nihon Trim affiliations and the company supplied intervention and placebo devices.
Adults with type 2 diabetes not using insulin who matched the Japanese trial criteria; not evidence of improved insulin resistance in the overall trial population.
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Certainty is assessed by important outcome across a complete eligible evidence set, not by attaching a final grade to one source.
Sources and record status
PMID: 35059257 · DOI: 10.1007/s13340-021-00524-3
Free full article on PubMed Central.
PMC full article, PubMed record and registry metadata; full-text and article-status check completed 8 August 2026.
2026-08-10