Deuterium, deuterium-depleted water, the ketogenic diet, and fasting — what do they have in common?
What is deuterium?
Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen. Unlike ordinary hydrogen (also called protium), deuterium has an extra neutron that makes it twice as heavy as ordinary hydrogen. For this reason, another name for deuterium is "heavy hydrogen." As an isotope of hydrogen (a variant of hydrogen), deuterium can take the place of ordinary hydrogen in any chemical or physical reaction in which a hydrogen atom is used. This means that it is in your body, in the food you eat, and in the water you drink. When deuterium replaces protium (ordinary hydrogen) in a water molecule (H2O), the result is called "heavy water." Heavy water has different physical properties than ordinary water. On the Earth's surface, there is on average about one deuterium atom in seawater for every 6420 hydrogen atoms. In other words, the deuterium concentration in most of the planet's water is about 150–160 parts per million (ppm), or 0.000156%.
Health benefits of drinking deuterium-depleted water (DDW):
- Strengthens the immune system and detoxification
- Improves blood sugar metabolism and regulation
- Counteracts insulin resistance
- Improves energy production (metabolism)
- Has a protective effect on several organ systems, including the heart and liver
- Improves mood and memory
What is deuterium depletion?
Deuterium depletion includes any method of lowering deuterium levels in the body. Humans, animals, plants, and other living beings naturally excrete deuterium when they are young and healthy. Healthy cells, mitochondria (the cell's "powerhouses"), and the gut flora have the ability to excrete deuterium on their own. Studies of cells and plants show that deuterium depletion can slow cell growth, while increased levels of deuterium can increase the rate of fast-growing cells (such as cancer cells). Deuterium may be useful for development and normal cell growth, while too much deuterium can promote cancer cell growth and cause cell damage. Growing plants tend to store excess deuterium in fruit, sugar, or leaves. The deuterium content of modern processed foods containing grains, sugar, or corn is relatively high. Elevated deuterium levels may cause higher rates of obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Much suggests that low-deuterium diets such as the paleo diet and the ketogenic diet have anti-inflammatory properties and may help people with cancer, epilepsy, and type 2 diabetes.
Excess deuterium is used during the synthesis of hormones, fats, enzymes, and cells. And the unusual properties of heavy water and deuterium can cause problems when your body uses deuterium instead of ordinary hydrogen. Water containing deuterium gives off and receives electrons more slowly than normal water and has a "braking effect" that we do not want in a number of reactions involving hydrogen.
Health benefits of deuterium reduction
Faster and healthier metabolism
Reducing deuterium can increase energy production and help repair your mitochondria. It may be an excellent way to lose unwanted body fat and maintain a healthy weight. Remember that high deuterium levels damage your mitochondria.
Better blood sugar and insulin balance
According to an animal study from 2017, deuterium-depleted water (DDW) may increase glucose transporter expression and promote glucose uptake, which may also prevent or counteract diabetes. People who have difficulty losing weight, struggle with sugar addiction, or have metabolic issues such as type 2 diabetes may benefit from reducing deuterium levels in the body.
Better mood and brain function
Of all your organs, the brain uses the most energy relative to its mass. As a result, it is incredibly dense with energy-producing mitochondria. Researchers believe mitochondrial dysfunction may be responsible for many brain-related problems such as psychiatric symptoms, migraines, headaches, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and even Alzheimer's disease. Even if you do not have any brain health issues, the colony of mitochondria in your brain still affects your mental function, ability to think, and memory.
The authors of a scientific article from 2014 state the following: "The brain appears to be most vulnerable to failures in the mitochondria, suggesting that neurons are particularly sensitive to bioenergetic fluctuations, and consequently that mitochondria regulate fundamental aspects of brain function." Therefore, it is no surprise that depleting deuterium to improve the function of mitochondria in brain cells [m1] [HL2] may improve mood, prevent diseases of the brain, and increase mental sharpness.
An animal study from 2014 also found that deuterium-depleted water improved the animals' long-term memory. Not only that, deuterium reduction may improve the production of neurotransmitters in the brain. According to the authors of a study from 2015, the deuterium-depleted water they gave to mice appeared to mimic the effects of antidepressant substances.
Effects that counteract cancer
Deuterium reduction is a promising experimental cancer treatment. In addition to all the other benefits of deuterium reduction, there are good studies showing effects against cancer. At present, deuterium reduction and deuterium-depleted water are used as adjunctive treatment. Researchers and specialists in deuterium reduction have documented a clear increase in lifespan across several studies in the following types of cancer:
- Lung cancer
- Breast cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Brain tumor
This is probably how the benefits work:
Deuterium reduction may counteract DNA damage associated with cancer mutations. The reduction may induce oxidative stress in cancer cells. Warburg metabolism (anaerobic glycolysis) in many cancer cells is associated with the accumulation of deuterium. Deuterium reduction may reverse this effect by promoting healthier metabolism and the "recycling" of cancer cells. Essentially, deuterium reduction may be a non-invasive way to counteract cancer, slow its growth, or even reverse it.
Improved cardiovascular health
Deuterium reduction may improve cardiovascular health and heart function by helping the mitochondria function better. Deuterium reduction may also benefit heart health by maintaining an orderly composition of phospholipids.
The best methods for reducing deuterium in the body
Our diet is an important factor in regulating the body's deuterium levels. A whole-food low-carb diet high in naturally healthy fats, green vegetables, and animal products can lower deuterium levels. On the other hand, a diet high in sugar, starch, or processed foods can increase the deuterium level in your body. As you may have noticed, foods with low deuterium levels as mentioned above overlap considerably with diets such as the ketogenic diet, the paleo diet, and the carnivore diet. (It is probably no coincidence that these low-deuterium diets may help prevent or treat conditions such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and heart disease).
Examples of deuterium content in foods
Here is an overview of the deuterium content in some foods (sourced from Preventa):
Wheat flour: 150 ppm
Grains: 145 ppm
Potatoes: 143 ppm
Oats: 141 ppm
Pork: 138 ppm
Beef: 138 ppm
Spinach: 136 ppm
Peanut butter: 131 ppm
Olive oil: 130 ppm
Butter: 124 ppm
Fat from beef: 121 ppm
Fat from pork: 116 ppm (also confirmed by Basov et al. (2014))
For the most part, carbohydrates, sugar, and starch have a higher natural deuterium content. Grass-fed animal products, fats, and green vegetables contain the opposite. Processing and preparation also affect deuterium content. First, refined flour, sugar, or other plant products contain more deuterium because the production process removes the low-deuterium part of the plant. One should avoid all processed or so-called ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods are pure industrial products that do not resemble the raw materials they come from. They consist largely of extracts of raw materials (vegetable oils, sugar, and starch), as well as ingredients produced in laboratories (flavorings, flavor enhancers, colorings, and texturizing agents). If you eat foods that have less than 140 ppm, it will help reduce deuterium in your body.
Deuterium-depleted water (DDW)
Deuterium-depleted water is exactly what it sounds like: water with reduced deuterium content. Water with deuterium content far lower than naturally occurring levels is commercially available. Using a special distillation process that exploits the differences in boiling points between light water and heavy water, manufacturers produce water with deuterium content ranging from 5 to 125 ppm. Drinking ultra-pure deuterium-depleted water with added hydrogen gas (H2) has a number of positive health effects and is one of the smartest investments one can make for health.
Consumption of deuterium-depleted water has been shown to be even more effective and to provide faster weight reduction than dietary change. Food and water are the main sources of deuterium in the body, but commercially available deuterium-depleted water has much lower deuterium levels than naturally deuterium-reduced foods, making it the fastest method. Unlike most other methods, deuterium-depleted water does not depend on the body’s natural reduction mechanisms. Therefore, it is a good choice for people with cancer or who have difficulty achieving healthy deuterium levels in other ways.
How can deuterium-depleted water be used?
It is common to use deuterium-depleted water with 25–105 ppm as drinking water in a treatment period of 4–16 weeks, depending on your health condition and goals for the regimen. A combination with a ketogenic, animal-based diet consisting of meat from animals that have eaten grass, herbs, berries, leaves, etc. will provide the fastest results.
For maintenance, well-being, and to possibly slow aging, more and more people are drinking deuterium-depleted water with 125–136 ppm long term and not only as a regimen. In our online store (shop.unovita.com), we have two good options:
Fasting and dry fasting
Regular fasting may help reduce deuterium concentration by shifting the body’s metabolism toward fat burning. When you burn fat (either stored or recently eaten), the mitochondria produce 1.1 kilos of water for every 1000 grams of fat the body burns. This "metabolic water" is deuterium-depleted and is usually about 115 ppm. Like a ketogenic diet, fasting may help counteract obesity, cancer, and diabetes. These benefits may be due to the reduction of deuterium in cells and tissues. Dry fasting is similar to fasting, but involves neither eating nor drinking during the fast. A study from 2013 found that a five-day dry fast was safe for healthy adults. The small study does not document that it is safe for everyone and must be evaluated. The metabolic water production that occurs during dry fasting may help explain why dry fasting appears to be safe and effective for some people.
Infrared light and sunlight
Infrared light (IR) increases the body’s energy production by charging the mitochondria. You can get infrared light from light therapy devices or from sunlight, which is approximately 49.4% infrared light. As a result of the increased energy production, your mitochondria also produce extra metabolic water, which is naturally deuterium-reduced. So-called metabolic water or EZ water will automatically try to “exclude” (separate out) deuterium in both animals and plants. Last but not least, infrared light, sunlight, and sauna heat help you sweat. Sweating is one of the body’s natural mechanisms for deuterium reduction.
Cold exposure (hypothermia)
When the body is exposed to cold, metabolic activity increases, which generates heat by dispersing protons. Proton dispersal during heat production is beneficial for deuterium reduction. Some people’s bodies can adapt to cold better than others, so this is not a therapy that suits everyone. If your ancestors lived far from the equator, you will tolerate cold exposure better than the opposite. 
Exercise and physical activity
Exercise helps reduce deuterium levels by increasing the body’s production of deuterium-reducing metabolic water and making it sweat. Aerobic exercise (below 65% VO2 max – maximum oxygen volume) is the best form of exercise for increasing the body’s production of metabolic water because it burns the most fat.
Breathing clean air
Breathing clean air is not enough to reduce deuterium levels, but air pollution can make it more difficult to reduce deuterium levels in the body. The air pollution found in buildings and around roads can increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and mitochondrial damage, as well as make it difficult to lose weight if desired. Low oxygen levels in the blood caused by pollution can increase dependence on sugar, cause insulin resistance, and lead to loss of mitochondria. Remember that when the body depends on carbohydrates and cannot burn fat efficiently, the result is higher deuterium levels. Essentially, clean air is needed for good mitochondrial function and to maintain healthy deuterium levels. In addition to getting enough fresh air, you can also improve mitochondrial function (and thus deuterium depletion) by breathing slowly to get plenty of oxygen throughout the body. Slow breathing (at six breaths per minute) increases oxygen saturation in the blood, which may help reduce deuterium levels. Combined with inhalation of hydrogen/oxygen (2/3 H2 and 1/3 oxygen) (hydrogen therapy), this provides a series of positive health effects.
Conclusion
Most deuterium-reducing methods are very good for health. In addition, most people will benefit from a healthy diet, regular fasting, sunlight, exercise, and breathing clean air, and not least from drinking deuterium-depleted water. Using deuterium-depleted water is the fastest way to get rid of deuterium, but also the most expensive. Most people do not use deuterium-depleted water long term, but if you have a health issue or the financial means to fund a long-term anti-aging regimen, deuterium-depleted water is absolutely recommended for long-term use as well.
Do not forget that food and drinking water are the main sources of deuterium in your body. This means that if you are in ketosis but still drink water that has the usual 150–155 ppm deuterium content, the results of your efforts to reduce deuterium levels will not be as good. Deuterium depletion is a groundbreaking method for lowering deuterium levels in the body. It can result in higher energy levels, faster metabolism, anticancer effects, and much more. Deuterium-depleted water can actually stop the growth of cancer cells and can slow the further development of tumors. If you drink deuterium-depleted water, the deuterium level in the body will be reduced over time, which can support mitochondrial function, metabolism, and have a preventive effect in the long term.
Get deuterium-depleted water today, and combine it with a natural lifestyle that promotes a long and healthy life!
Research links on deuterium depletion:
https://deuteriumdepletedwaterresearch.com/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3613976/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6723318/
https://scholar.google.no/scholar?as_ylo=2020&q=deuterium+depleted+water+and+human+health+&hl=no&as_sdt=0,5&as_vis=1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=deuterium+depletion+and+health
