Does hydrogen water improve athletic performance?

According to this rigorous study, hydrogen water provided no performance benefits for trained runners. Athletes showed no improvements in endurance, heart rate, or other performance measures compared to regular water.

How much hydrogen water was tested in this study?

Participants drank 1,260ml (about 42 ounces) of hydrogen-rich water divided into four doses before exercise. This is a substantial amount that would maximize any potential benefits.

What did researchers measure to assess performance?

Scientists measured time to exhaustion during maximum-speed running, heart rate, oxygen consumption, and blood lactate levels. None of these key performance indicators improved with hydrogen water.

Is this study reliable for evaluating hydrogen water?

Yes, this was a high-quality randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study with 24 trained athletes. This design is considered the gold standard for supplement research.

Should athletes use hydrogen water for performance?

Based on this research, hydrogen water appears ineffective for improving running performance in trained athletes. Athletes may want to focus on proven performance strategies instead.

Hydrogen Water Doesn't Boost Running Performance in Athletes

Authors: Michal Valenta, Michal Botek, Jakub Krejci, Andrew McKune, Barbora Sladeckova, Filip Neuls, Robert Bajgar, Iva Klimesova
Journal: PLoS One
Year: 2022
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279307
Study Type: Human
Outcome: Neutral
Peer Reviewed: Yes
Country: Czech Republic
Health Condition: Athletic Performance
Body System: Cardiovascular

TL;DR

Drinking hydrogen-rich water before running didn't help trained athletes run for longer.

Key Finding

Hydrogen-rich water provided no performance benefit for trained runners exercising at maximal aerobic speed, with no significant differences in time to exhaustion, heart rate, oxygen uptake, or post-exercise lactate compared to placebo.

Summary

Researchers tested whether drinking hydrogen-rich water before exercise could help trained runners run longer at high intensity. Twenty-four competitive young runners drank either hydrogen-rich water or a placebo (fake) drink about 2 hours before running to exhaustion. The study found no difference between the two groups in how long runners lasted, their heart rate, oxygen use, or blood lactate levels (a marker of exercise intensity).

Practical Takeaway

This well-designed study in trained athletes found no evidence that hydrogen-rich water improves running endurance, despite theoretical antioxidant properties. However, this was a single study in a specific population (young male track runners), so more research in different groups and exercise types would be needed before drawing broad conclusions.

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of acute, pre-exercise, hydrogen rich water (HRW) ingestion on running time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed in trained track and field runners. Methods: Twenty-four, male runners aged 17.5 ± 1.8 years, with body mass index = 21.0 ± 1.3 kg⋅m-2, and maximal oxygen uptake = 55.0 ± 4.6 ml⋅kg-1⋅min-1 (mean ± standard deviation) participated in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. All runners ingested 1260 ml of HRW which was divided into four doses and taken at 120 min (420 ml), 60 min (420 ml), 30 min (210 ml), and 10 min (210 ml) prior to exercise. The running protocol consisted of three phases: warm-up performed at 10 km⋅h-1 for 3 min, followed by a transition phase performed at an individually determined speed (10 km⋅h-1 + maximal aerobic speed)/2 for 1 min, and finally the third phase performed at individual maximal aerobic speed until exhaustion. Time to exhaustion, cardiorespiratory variables, and post-exercise blood lactate concentration were measured. Results: When running to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed, compared with placebo, HRW had no significant effects on the following variables: time to exhaustion (217 ± 49 and 227 ± 53 s, p = 0.20), post-exercise blood lactate concentration (9.9 ± 2.2 and 10.1 ± 2.0 mmol⋅L-1, p = 0.42), maximal heart rate (186 ± 9 and 186 ± 9 beats⋅min-1, p = 0.80), and oxygen uptake (53.1 ± 4.5 and 52.2 ± 4.7 ml⋅kg-1⋅min-1, p = 0.33). No variable assessed as a candidate moderator was significantly correlated with time to exhaustion (Spearman's correlation coefficients ranged from -0.28 to 0.30, all p ≥ 0.16). Conclusions: Pre-exercise administration of 1260 ml of HRW showed no ergogenic effect on running performance to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed in trained track and field runners.