“Hydrogen molecular medicine is a hot field being continually
explored worldwide. So far, there are over 1,300 academic papers
discussing the effects of hydrogen on health.”
SpaChina interviewed Mr. Ding Zhichao,
the Vice-General Manager and Marketing Director of
Shanghai Nanobubble Technology Co., Ltd.
In 2009, several science geeks from Shanghai went to Japan on a business trip. During the trip, they accidentally learnt about a newly emerging technology, a substance known to have magic antioxidant effects – hydrogen, or hydrogen water. After returning to China, they immediately contacted Professor Sun Xuejun at The Second Military Medical University. Professor Sun is the second person worldwide to publish a paper on hydrogen medicine. He is a senior expert in the hydrogen molecular medical field.
“We asked Prof. Sun whether hydrogen molecules are really effective in disease intervention. His answer still remains fresh in my memory. He told us that it is not ‘effective’, but ‘exceedingly effective.’” Mr. Ding Zhichao, the vice-general manager and marketing director of Shanghai Nanobubble Technology Co., Ltd said. “So we decided to develop globally leading hydrogen products with nanobubble physical hydrogen dissolution technology to complement the lack of Japan’s hydrogen products.”
“Our team was founded in September 2009. Since then, we went through 1,976 days of product development. After all the hardships and difficulties, we launched a super high concentration hydrogen water machine which made its debut at the Tokyo Health Industry Show in February 2015. The 3700ppb high concentration was 3 times higher than that of the best hydrogen water machine in Japan at that time,” said Mr. Ding. Before this, Japanese had studied electrolyte water-related techniques for over 30 years and no other country had surpassed Japan in hydrogen technology. While wining great respect from Japanese people, Shanghai Nanobubble Technology Co., Ltd which was founded in 2014 has also received many cooperation invitations.
Shanghai Nanobubble Technology Co., Ltd is based on the most famous medicine R&D center in Shanghai – Shanghai Zhangjiang Pharma Valley and carries out industry-university-research cooperation with SJTU Hydrogen Scientific Center, Academician Xia Zhaofan’s team at Changhai Hospital, Prof. Sun Xunjun’s team at The Second Military Medical University, Department of Plastic Surgery, Wound Repair and Regeneration at Nanjing General Hospital of People’s Liberation Army, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics-Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shanghai HK Hydrogen Medicine Research Center. Combining its own technological superiority with the great discoveries worldwide on the biological effect of hydrogen molecules, the company has been specializing in developing products to combat oxidative stress injury with proprietary intellectual property rights.
Shanghai Nanobubble Technology Co., Ltd is a member of Hydrogen Biomedicine Specialized Committee of China Science and Technology Industry Association, one of the only two enterprise members of international nanobubble research organization “inanobubble”, a member of Committee of Aging – China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and an initiator of setting national standards for China’s hydrogen molecular water detection. The company’s products have been exported to Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America. SpaChina interviews Mr. Ding Zhichao.
Please share with us the global technological precedence of Nanobubble.
Hydrogen molecule medicine has been continued to be explored worldwide, but it’s hard to have real breakthroughs in the study of its medical and health applications. Hydrogen is a flammable and combustible gas and almost insoluble in water. It means there are many technological problems needed to be overcome, including firstly on-site preparation and preservation of hydrogen molecule water, secondly hydrogen loss, and thirdly the generation of chemical by-products during the dissolution process. We need solve all these problems and enable the hydrogen to be absorbed by the human body safely and effectively.
Through several times of technological renewal, our company has mastered the globally leading nanobubble physical hydrogen dissolution technology 2.0 to solve all the problems I listed above. We broke the technical monopoly of Japan and our technical index shows a 2-3 times superiority over that of Japan. Two of our core technologies are the following:
Nanobubble Physical Hydrogen Dissolution Technology. With this technology, we are able to produce ultra-pure (99.9%) hydrogen. The hydrogen is infused into nanobubbles which firmly lock the hydrogen like a capsule. As a result, a super high concentration (2600ppb) hydrogen-rich water is born. In the past, such high concentration was unimaginable. We not only get the examining report on hydrogen concentration issued by the Japan Hydrogen Association, but also receive the highest recognition in the hydrogen product blind test carried out by Shanghai HK Hydrogen Medicine Research Center and The Hydrogen Medical Research Center of Xi’an Jiaotong University.
Purified Water Electrolyte by Proton Exchange Membrane Electrode. This technology enables us to completely set hydrogen apart from oxygen and make pure hydrogen water. It marks our breakthroughs in terms of hydrogen concentration and safety. Meanwhile, the technology solves three major problems during hydrogen water making: the exceedingly low solubility of hydrogen, low dissolving speed of hydrogen, and the generation of harmful substances such as chlorine, ozone and heavy metal ion. Eventually, we are able to produce truly safe and effective hydrogen products.
What’s the theoretical basis of hydrogen health products?
As the smallest molecule in Nature, hydrogen boasts super anti-oxidative power, as well as excellent permeability and diffusivity. It passes into every cell that normal substances fail to through blood circulation, and quickly enters mitochondrion to reduce and remove the reactive oxygen radicals which cause cell aging.
So far, thousands of scholars have published totally over 1,300 academic papers to demonstrate the biological effects of hydrogen through numerous animal models and cytological studies, including its positive influence on diabetes, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, and sepsis and tumor chemotherapy side-effect prevention. Many clinical researches prove that hydrogen has curative power on diseases such as metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis. It also helps to improve the life quality of patients receiving cancer radiotherapy, alleviate the side effects caused by uremia dialysis, and eliminate athletic fatigue.
At present, what are the best ways to get hydrogen?
Widely recognized as a gas with positive biological effects, hydrogen enters into the human body mainly through 3 approaches: drinking, inhaling and bathing.
The reasons are obvious. To drink hydrogen water is a simple way to improve health daily. To bath in hydrogen water has direct and remarkable benefits to skin and joint problems. To inhale hydrogen is applied as a supportive therapeutic method to heal diseases. The three are all based on hydrogen’s ability to reduce reactive hydrogen radicals (anti-aging) and repair cells.
Our main products, including the nanobubble hydrogen water machine, hydrogen inhalation machine, hydrogen bathing machine, and hydrogen water glass that separates hydrogen from oxygen, are all designed and developed according to the three aspects above.
Regarding hydrogen inhalation, why do you decide the concentration of 2%?
Taking into account the attenuation of air, an ordinary healthy adult will inhale in air mixed with hydrogen of 2% concentration in every breathing with the use a pure hydrogen inhalation equipment of 300-600 ml volume. The hydrogen will then enter into the blood. In the medical world, numerous studies are done by using 2% concentration hydrogen for disease intervene experiments because this proportion is not only enough to be effective, but also is highly safe.
Japan’s Ministry of Welfare (Japan’s national department for medical treatment, public health and social security, equal to China’s Food and Drug Administration) lists hydrogen of 2% concentration into the medical category, affirming it as a supportive therapy for disease healing. Now, 2% concentration hydrogen is widely applied in the prevention of cerebral injury after sudden cardiac arrest in Japan.
Hydrogen is a recognized food additive by the government without setting limitations of amount. This means, hydrogen does no harm to the body even when consumed much. However, hydrogen is a flammable and combustible gas. Hydrogen of 4-76% concentration has the possibility to trigger fire blasts in the air, but hydrogen with concentration lower than 4% is absolutely safe.
Respiration is a process of inhaling and exhaling air. The hydrogen we inhale will be mixed with the air. It is important to choose safe hydrogen inhaling products. To keep the hydrogen concentration at 4% is to guarantee absolute safety.
What is the difference between inhaling hydrogen and drinking hydrogen water?
While inhaling in the hydrogen, the concentration of gas in the blood will keep increasing. After 30 minutes of continual inhaling, the concentration will reach its peak.
Theoretically, to inhale hydrogen can effectively increase the absolute amount one gets. The hydrogen can reach different tissue and organs within the body through the blood. Studies show that after 60 minutes of hydrogen inhalation, the hydrogen concentration in brain tissue will reach the highest (the biggest dissoluble hydrogen amount). If you go on inhaling hydrogen, the concentration will be kept at this value.
Comparatively, the hydrogen one can get through drinking hydrogen water is limited. Meanwhile, the hydrogen goes through and works at the digestive tract rather than entering blood vessels when one just drinks they hydrogen water. However, materials have shown that to drink hydrogen can alleviate stomach illness and diseases concerning the oral cavity, throat and esophagus because through drinking, the hydrogen directly works on the tissue, organ and cells of the digestive tract.
In the medical world, people not only use hydrogen inhalation to cure diseases but are also beginning to try hydrogen injection.
In addition to hydrogen drinking and inhaling, why is there also hydrogen bathing?
Through hydrogen inhalation, the hydrogen works on the body parts where blood smoothly flow such as cardiovascular system and brain. But some body parts like the knee joint and hip joint usually won’t receive enough blood supply, especially to those who have related diseases. Even though they keep inhaling hydrogen for 5-6 hours, little hydrogen will reach those parts. So it is much better to directly bathe in hydrogen so that the gas can be absorbed directly by the skin. In the beauty and spa industry, hydrogen-rich water bathing can improve the skin conditions of the guests.
Is it safe for hydrogen’s application in the health and medical industry?
As I just mentioned, as long as we keep the hydrogen concentration under 4%, it is absolutely safe. The biosecurity of hydrogen has been studied long ago. Submarine medical research has proved that to inhale high pressure hydrogen for several days continually will bring no toxic harm to the divers.
Materials issued by EU and the American government also show that hydrogen in normal pressure doesn’t have any acute or chronic toxicity to the human body.
In the food additives list of EU, hydrogen is present at two places, one is at the third item – enzyme and the other is at the fifth item – nutritional ingredient. In the column of maximum dose, it is written “Quantum satis” in both places, which means as much as you need. In other words, as a food additive, the amount of hydrogen one can receive is without limitation. The National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China also issued the national standards for hydrogen as a food additive in December 2014.
As more and more biological studies of hydrogen come out, there is also an increasing number of clinical researches of hydrogen being done. So far, there isn’t any proof that hydrogen will do harm to the human body.
What is the advantages of hydrogen concerning its practical application in the big health field?
As a future green energy source, hydrogen has drawn great attention in many countries. The basic condition for a substance to be regarded as energy source is that they must be cheap, otherwise, it can’t be applied widely. Hydrogen energy source has become a new high-tech battlefield which big countries strive for.
Hydrogen is now a new approach for sub-health improvement and disease intervention in the big health field. China has mastered the advanced technology in hydrogen extraction. Because of its controllable cost, hydrogen will surely be applied extensively in various health fields. It is a new technology and resource that can truly benefit people.
China has entered the aging society, yet our GDP is less than 1/5 of that of U.S. How to do senior care is a big challenge for the country, society and individuals alike. So the products and technology that show obvious effect and have controllable cost will become the star in the future health management process.
Scientists and doctors are studying the action mechanism of hydrogen to the human body and health. Recent research results have demonstrated hydrogen’s anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic effects. However, hydrogen’s disease intervention mechanism hasn’t been completely revealed. We can’t simply attribute everything to its anti-oxidative effect. So it may still need some time to reach a final academic authoritative conclusion. Scientists around the world are all making unremitting endeavors for this.
More about Hydrogen
- Hydrogen is a bioelement and a component of water. Over 70% of the elements inside the human body is hydrogen.
- Hydrogen is the main element and first element generated in the universe. It occupies over 90% of the universe.
- Hydrogen is a bioactivator. It can be generated and used by bacteria, so it is an endogenous gas of human body.
- Hydrogen is a reducing substance. Redox is the basis of energy metabolism and an important method of biological regulations. The biological effect of hydrogen may be due to its reducibility.
- Hydrogen has high biosecurity. In the deep sea diving field, the gas that divers inhale is composed of 99.7% hydrogen and 0.03% oxygen. Every single underwater operation takes as long as 14 days. The body check carried out to divers find no bio-safety risk. The hydrogen concentration inhaled by divers are dozens of times higher than that inhaled by ordinary people through hydrogen inhalation machines. Therefore, 2% concentration hydrogen inhalation won’t cause any safety risk to the human body.
- The amount of hydrogen required to produce an effect is very small, close to the physiologic concentration of hormones and neurotransmitters inside the human body. But it plays a very significant biological role in the body.
- Both in Nature and inside the human body, other forms of hydrogen are also of great significance. Hydrogen can be combined with oxygen to form water and can be electrolyzed to hydrogen ion and hydroxyl ion which decide the pH value. pH value is an important basis of the normal metabolism of organisms.
