From Ronald Hoffman, MD.
Lately, there’s been a buzz over hydrogen in the media. Hydrogen-powered vehicles appear to be the next big thing after electric vehicles (EVs) inevitably run their course. Unlike EVs, they won’t require charging, nor will they depend on the energy-intensive and environmentally destructive mining of rare earths like lithium and cobalt. Upon combustion with oxygen in the air, they simply discharge clean water vapor—a miraculous energy source!
The only problems to surmount: Making hydrogen is very energy-intensive, and that energy has to be produced somewhere—windmills, solar panels, and geothermal won’t soon supplant fossil fuels as a source of electrification. And then there are memories of the Hindenburg, a hydrogen-filled airship that famously blew up. You don’t want that happening after a minor fender-bender during your daily commute on the 405!
So now there’s talk about hydrogen water. My initial impression was: “Scam Alert! This is gimmicky, another way to market expensive water—I’m already paying enough for the health aura of pricey mineral waters from branded spas.”
But I’ve come to realize there actually may be something to the concept of imbibing hydrogen, and the latest article on that subject—from no less a source than the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition—hit me with the impact of a Lakehurst, New Jersey zeppelin explosion.