We have heard a lot lately about the benefits of hydrogen therapy. The main ways of getting hydrogen in your system seem to be the following
1. From the gut via hydrogen producing bacteria
2. From drinking water with dissolved h2
3. By breathing free h2 gas
There are other ways including injection, absorbing through the skin, even h2 infused eye drops. Encouraging the production of h2 in the gut seems to be a promising avenue, yet experimental results seem to show that even with a considerable amount of production in the intestines, additional doses of h2 have a substantial effect and are beneficial.
Ease of use is an important factor and since most of us do not want to take injections if there is a better way, we come down to drinking or breathing h2 as the two easiest tecs. There is already a thread on using magnesium and acid to produce h2 which dissolves in the water and can be drunk. This would seem to be a relatively easy way to do it, the drawbacks are the amount of mg compounds ingested and any impurities that may be present since the metal is not usp and not intended for internal use.
I have tried going the route of breathing the gas itself. At first I tried making it via aluminum reacting with lye which creates considerable gas. The troubles were storing it, the time it took to produce and the fact al compounds were formed in the water making it unsuitable for drinking to say nothing of the leftover lye. It did seem to work and I collected the gas in an upside down glass container.
It was a bit tricky getting the glass full of solution upside down over the al metal. Lye is corrosive so you are always dealing with that. It did eliminate any impurities since you only breath the gas and do not drink water with dissolved minerals in it. I had enough results that convinced me ingesting h2 was worth the bother and had health benefits which I could feel.
Since I was going to be doing this long term I looked into getting supplies of gas already made and in a suitable container that could dispense it reliably. I found a tank of h2 at a local welding supply shop, bought it for $90 used already full of gas. I then found a used regulator on ebay for about $35 delivered. You can't use co2 or other types of regulators because they are not designed for it.
The trouble with taking it directly from the tank and breathing it is that you will waste a lot of gas turning it on and off with the valves. I needed a way to store smaller amounts and be able to access it easily. I came up with the idea of using a balloon made to hold helium which has similar properties to h in that it is hard to hold except in proper containers. The balloon I got was extremely cheap, it is vinyl coated with aluminum called a foil balloon.
I did not expect it to hold it long since I've heard many times h2 will escape even through thick plastic or glass but I suspect the glass would hold it a long time. However, I filled the balloon, fitted it with a little valve and have been taking tokes off it every day, sometimes twice in a day and have not quite used up the balloon after a month of use.
The tank was a tiny one, 20 cu ft, the pressure on the gauge was 1800 lb, after filling the balloon it did not go down appreciably and it looks like I could fill the balloon at least 20 more times, perhaps 40 more. It works out to no more than about $1 a month for gas since it costs $20 to refill. That of course neglects the initial $125 or so for the tank and regulator.
If I was going to start over from scratch I would not bother with a valve but simply put a plastic tube in the opening, seal around it with hot glue and put a plug in the end. The gas has shown little propensity to escape much to my surprise. I didn't expect the balloon to last over a week and was pleased at how long it has lasted.
From a cost prospective, its very cost effective in the long run compared to buying mg rods and malic acid. Convenience wise it is very good since you don't have to prepare it or drink lots of water. It also eliminates the worry about whether or not there is enough gas dissolved in the water, eliminates taking too much mg, eliminates worries about contaminants. If you just wanted to try hydrogen on a whim I would say try one of the other methods until you are sure you will stay with it. Then consider buying a tank
I will gladly answer any questions.