Screen time, stress, and children's nervous systems – can hydrogen water make a difference?

Help your child naturally find more calm and balance?

Many parents experience the same thing. Their children have difficulty settling down in the evening. They seem mentally tired yet still find it hard to sleep. They become more easily frustrated, have harder times concentrating, and constantly seek new stimuli through phones, tablets, or computers.

We live in a digital age where children and young people are exposed to more impressions than any generation before them. Social media, gaming, streaming, and smartphones provide access to information and entertainment around the clock. At the same time, it raises an important question:

How does this constant stimulation affect the child's nervous system?

And even more importantly:
Can we support the body's natural ability to find its way back to calm and balance?
New research on molecular hydrogen provides an interesting perspective.

The nervous system between accelerator and brake

The body's autonomic nervous system consists of two main branches.

• The sympathetic nervous system acts as the body's accelerator. It releases stress hormones, increases the heart rate, and makes the brain more alert. This system is essential for survival and performance.
• The parasympathetic nervous system acts as the body's brake. This is when we recover, digest, sleep, and restore energy.

Health is not about turning off the sympathetic system. Health is about balance between activity and recovery.

The problem arises when the body spends too much time in a state of alert, and several researchers believe that this is precisely a challenge for many children and young people today.

What does the research show?

Oxidative stress – the brain's hidden burden

In 2017, Japanese researchers published a double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled study in which 26 healthy adults consumed 600 ml of hydrogen-rich water daily for four weeks.

The researchers measured, among other things:

• Mood
• Anxiety levels
• Quality of life
• Cognitive function
• Cognitive function

The results showed that the group drinking hydrogen-rich water had a significant reduction in sympathetic nerve activity compared to the placebo group. At the same time, improvements in mood and anxiety scores were observed.

The researchers concluded that hydrogen-rich water can potentially support the central nervous system's regulation of mood, anxiety, and autonomic nerve function (Mizuno et al., 2017).

This is particularly interesting because it is one of the first human studies to directly demonstrate an effect on the autonomic nervous system through daily intake of hydrogen-rich water. (billeder sættes ind af vores flasker med link til shop)

The first clinical ADHD study with hydrogen water

In 2026, one of the first randomised controlled studies was published focusing on hydrogen water and ADHD.
The research team, led by Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences (MD, DSc) Y.N. Madjidova, Specialist in neurology, pediatric neurology, epilepsy, and medical genetics.

The study included 60 children between 7 and 12 years old with diagnosed ADHD.
The children were divided into two groups:
Control group: who received ordinary pure water
Hydrogen group: who received ordinary pure water treated into hydrogen water (1200–1600 ppb) daily for eight weeks.

The results surprised the researchers, as after eight weeks of treatment, it turned out that the hydrogen group had significantly improved attention, less impulsivity, and improved working memory – and at the same time, no side effects were registered. (Madjidova et al., 2026).

The brain is one of the body's most energy-demanding organs.

Although the brain only accounts for about 2% of body weight, it uses approximately 20% of the body's total energy metabolism, and 20% of the body's total amount of the body's energy powerhouses: mitochondria, are found in the brain.

The constant high activity in the brain leads at the same time to a significant production of reactive oxygen species and free radicals. In cases of chronic mental strain, sleep deprivation, or persistent stimulation, oxidative stress can occur.

Oxidative stress is associated with:

• Neuroinflammation
• Cognitive challenges
• Mood disorders
• Reduced recovery

This is precisely where molecular hydrogen differs from many other antioxidants. Hydrogen is the smallest molecule in the universe and can cross the blood-brain barrier, cell membranes, and the membranes of the mitochondria.

Thereby, hydrogen can reach areas of the brain that are difficult for many other substances to affect.

What is hydrogen?

Hydrogen (H2) is the lightest and most common element in the universe.
It is estimated that hydrogen makes up nearly 90% of the mass of the known universe.

First and smallest element

With the atomic symbol H and atomic number one, hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table, and the smallest element in the universe.

Molecular hydrogen H2

Free hydrogen appears as molecular hydrogen, H2, where two hydrogen atoms, each with its own electron, bond to each other through the shared electron pair.

What does Olga Pol's research show?

Professor Olga Pol and her research group at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have, through a series of studies, investigated the significance of molecular hydrogen for pain, anxiety, and neuroinflammation.

The research group has shown that hydrogen reduces oxidative stress and inflammation in brain structures tightly involved in the regulation of stress and emotions, and the amygdala in particular – the brain's alarm system – appears to be positively affected.

The amygdala plays a central role in the body's detection of threats and the activation of the stress response.

Når oxidativt stress og inflammation reduceres i disse områder, ser forskerne samtidig reduktioner i angstlignende og depressive symptomer (Pol et al., 2022).

Although the Spanish studies were conducted in animal models, they provide a possible biological explanation for the results observed in the Japanese study.

The perspective for children and young people

There are not yet any clinical studies that have directly investigated children, screen time, and hydrogen water. But when we combine the existing research, an interesting picture emerges, which we might not yet have put through the empirical evidence of a scientific study; however, while we wait for this documentation, we know that many children are exposed to a high degree of digital stimulation. And we know that on a biochemical level in both humans and animals, hydrogen can:

• Reduce sympathetic nerve activity
• Support autonomic balance
• Reduce oxidative stress
• Dampen neuroinflammation
• Affect the brain's stress-regulating areas

This does not mean that hydrogen replaces sleep, exercise, nature, or healthy screen habits. But it can offer hope that a completely natural molecule, which with a little help is made out of water and becomes molecular hydrogen, can be a biological support for a nervous system exposed to significant amounts of mental strain on a daily basis.

An entire spring without illness – that has never happened before in our family with schoolchildren!
They have also become more tolerant of each other – they simply have greater mental resilience and are more at peace with themselves.”

”In fact, it is such a natural part of our daily routine now that the kids get the water from the iWater machine themselves, and as they say: ”it just tastes better, mom,” and I can only agree with them – it is just easier to drink than regular water.
This also results in us drinking more. Before, they didn't even drink the half litre they were sent from home with in the morning. Now the bottles are empty when they come home”

/Rikke Brun Aarestrup, laboratory technician and mother of three

Conclusion

The modern digital lifestyle places heavy demands on children's nervous systems. At the same time, recent research shows that molecular hydrogen can influence several of the mechanisms involved in stress regulation and autonomic balance.

The study from Japan is particularly noteworthy because just 600 ml of hydrogen-rich water daily for four weeks reduced sympathetic nerve activity in healthy adults.

Combined with Olga Pol's research into neuroinflammation and the brain's stress centres, the results suggest that molecular hydrogen may support the body's ability to find its way back to balance in a world characterized by an ever-increasing number of stimuli.

My recommendation would be that a minimum of 50% of children's fluid intake should be pure water with molecular hydrogen, and that children generally learn that thirst should be quenched with water.

References

Mizuno, K., Sasaki, A. T., Ebisu, K., Tajima, K., Kajimoto, O., Nojima, J., Kuratsune, H., Hori, H., & Watanabe, Y. (2017). Hydrogen-rich water for improvements of mood, anxiety, and autonomic nerve function in daily life. Medical Gas Research, 7(4), 247–255.

Pol, O., Bañuelos-Hernández, B., & Romero, A. (2022). Molecular hydrogen treatment reduces neuropathic pain and associated affective disorders by modulating oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Antioxidants, 11(9), 1826.

Ohta, S. (2015). Molecular hydrogen as a preventive and therapeutic medical gas: Initiation, development and potential of hydrogen medicine. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 144(1), 1–11.