You Asked, We Asked the Scientist.

FAQs With Alex Tarnava 

Alex Tarnava's deep dive into molecular hydrogen began after an unexpected personal health crisis. Seeking more effective solutions for his chronic health issues, he began exploring the scientific research surrounding molecular hydrogen. This research quickly revealed the limitations in the existing technology: most hydrogen water machines were unable to produce hydrogen concentrations high enough to deliver a meaningful dose.

Determined to find a better method, he partnered with a pharmaceutical synthetic chemist to develop a more potent and convenient way to produce hydrogen-rich water. Their collaboration became the blueprint for H2Tab's Molecular Hydrogen Drinking Tablets.

Question: Starting with the basics, what is molecular hydrogen?

Answer: “If we think back to grade school, we learned about elements and molecules. Hydrogen is the first element on the periodic table. Molecular hydrogen (H₂) is just two hydrogen atoms joined together. When this happens here on Earth, it makes a clear, neutral, and tasteless gas.”

While hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, molecular hydrogen behaves quite differently in the body compared to many other compounds. Because it is the smallest molecule in existence, it can easily diffuse throughout the body, deep into cells, tissues, and even across biological barriers that many compounds cannot reach.

Molecular hydrogen has been the subject of decades of research for its ability to help regulate stress and support cellular balance, two processes closely tied to energy production, recovery, and overall health. 

Question: How do H2Tab’s tablets generate molecular hydrogen?

Answer: “It's actually a very simple chemical reaction,” explains Alex. “Within this H2Tab tablet is primarily elemental magnesium and organic acids, essential to help catalyze the reaction between the magnesium and the water molecule (H₂O).” 

Known as magnesium-based hydrogen production, our magnesium-based tablets react with water to produce molecular hydrogen gas (H₂). As the reaction takes place, the hydrogen gas becomes suspended in the water as billions of tiny nanobubbles. 

“It's not about how much hydrogen you create with the technology, but how much is retained in the water.” 

Our technology produces bubbles much smaller than the eye can see, only about 10 to 30 nanometers wide, which allows hydrogen to stay suspended in the water rather than escaping into the air. Unlike regular bubbles that quickly rise and dissipate, these nanobubbles behave differently.  

“The nanobubbles simply operate under different physics and don't dissipate, creating a solution stable enough to drink down and get into your body.” 

Because of this stability, the hydrogen remains dissolved long enough for your body to absorb it efficiently—making it possible to deliver high concentrations, up to 12ppm, of molecular hydrogen without machines or complicated equipment.

Question: How quickly should I drink after the tablet dissolves? 

Answer: “You don’t want to sip. You want to chug it all down, quick.” 

Once the tablet finishes dissolving, the water contains billions of hydrogen nanobubbles suspended throughout the solution. However, hydrogen is a very light gas and will dissipate over time.

That’s why timing matters.

“If you sip it throughout the day, you are never sufficiently elevating the cellular concentration, and you likely will not get the therapeutic benefits.” 

For optimal results, it's best to drink the water as soon as the tablet finishes dissolving, within 20 minutes. 

Question: How often do you recommend someone take H2Tab’s Drinking Tablets? 

Answer: “I wish I could give a universal protocol for all people all the time, but that's simply not how therapies work. Not all people are going to require the same amount in all instances. Moreover, we're not the same every day,” he adds, “Hydrogen works by regulating our response to external stressors.” 

Which means optimal intake can vary depending on lifestyle, environment, and overall stress. 

For most healthy people with normal activity levels, a daily intake of 1-3 tablets is generally recommended. However, there are times when increasing hydrogen intake may be beneficial, particularly during periods of elevated stress on the body, such as:

• Intense exercise or increased physical activity

• Periods when routines are disrupted, and nutrition may not be as consistent

• Frequent travel or jet lag

• Insufficient sleep

“These are the instances where you want to scale up hydrogen to help your body respond to normal life conditions, and function as it's supposed to. This is why I recommend listening to your body, considering your stress load and your unique conditions, and scaling up as needed.” 

Question: Are the effects of hydrogen on the body cumulative?

Answer: “Yes and no.” Alex explains that the effects of hydrogen are dependent on the context of the situation. 

“If you think that you can take a hydrogen tablet one time and fix your metabolic health or incur the anti-aging benefits that we've shown in clinical research, you're deluding yourself. We tend to start seeing these results maybe after two to three months, and they start intensifying by six months.”

For longer-term benefits such as metabolic health, aging biomarkers, or gut health, consistent use is key. Like many lifestyle interventions, hydrogen works gradually to help regulate the body's natural biological processes over time.

However, hydrogen can also have more immediate effects in certain situations. In cases such as poor sleep, travel, exercise, or other acute stressors, hydrogen has been shown to support the body’s response to these temporary stressors.

“You can take hydrogen just on that [high-stress] day and feel better. But that’s for that isolated benefit. For the potential metabolic, aging, and gut health benefits, you do need to take hydrogen more consistently for longer durations.”

Question: How is molecular hydrogen different from traditional supplements?

Answer: “Hydrogen is different because it acts as a mild, adaptive stressor. Specifically, it is a form of hormetic stress that works in the mitochondria.” Alex adds, “So it’s working more closely to something like exercise, fasting, or cold exposure than like a vitamin, mineral, nutraceutical, or drug.”

This distinction positions hydrogen apart from conventional products. Instead, hydrogen is better categorized alongside lifestyle-related interventions.