Insomnia is a common sleep disorder. With the acceleration of the pace of life and the increase in stress, its incidence is on the rise, seriously affecting people's quality of life and physical and mental health.

In recent years, the relationship between hydrogen - rich water and sleep has become a research hotspot in the scientific and health fields. Hydrogen - rich water, which is rich in hydrogen gas, is believed to perhaps have unique effects in improving insomnia.

In 2014, Osaka City University in Japan carried out an experiment. The researchers selected 26 healthy adults, half men and half women, with an average age of 34.4 years old. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group drank hydrogen - rich water (hydrogen concentration 0.8 - 1.2ppm), and the other group drank ordinary drinking water. The experiment adopted a double - blind method. Before the end of the experiment, neither the experimental subjects nor the staff knew the grouping situation, which ensured the objectivity and accuracy of the experimental data. The experiment lasted for four weeks. The researchers used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to evaluate the sleep quality of the experimental subjects. The PSQI index covers multiple dimensions such as sleep quality and sleep onset time, and can comprehensively reflect the sleep status.

How does hydrogen - rich water improve sleep? The human body produces free radicals during metabolism. Under normal circumstances, free radicals are in a balanced state and are beneficial to the body. However, under the influence of factors such as stress and environmental pollution, free radicals will be over - produced. Excessive free radicals have strong oxidizing properties and will attack the body's cells and tissues, especially brain nerve cells. They will damage the cell membranes and organelles of nerve cells, interfere with the signal transmission of nerve cells, and thus affect the sleep regulation mechanism. The hydrogen gas in hydrogen - rich water can selectively neutralize excessive free radicals, convert them into water, reduce the damage of free radicals to nerve cells, maintain the normal function of nerve cells, restore the normal sleep regulation mechanism, and thus improve sleep.

However, hydrogen - rich water is not a panacea for treating insomnia. The causes of insomnia are complex. For severe insomnia, comprehensive treatment methods such as psychological and drug treatments are still required. But hydrogen - rich water provides new ideas for improving the condition for insomnia patients. With the in - depth research, hydrogen - rich water may bring more surprises in the field of sleep in the future.