Can hydrogen water help with exercise recovery?

Research suggests hydrogen water may improve the body's antioxidant capacity during exercise, particularly with intermittent workouts. However, it doesn't significantly reduce direct markers of exercise-induced oxidative stress.

What did this study find about hydrogen therapy for athletes?

The meta-analysis found that hydrogen supplementation enhanced antioxidant potential capacity in healthy adults, especially during intermittent exercise. However, it didn't directly reduce oxidative stress markers like d-ROMs.

How does molecular hydrogen work during exercise?

Molecular hydrogen appears to boost the body's natural antioxidant defense systems rather than directly neutralizing harmful free radicals. This may help protect cells from exercise-induced damage.

Is hydrogen water safe for healthy adults during exercise?

The studies reviewed showed no adverse effects from hydrogen supplementation in healthy adults. However, more research is needed to establish long-term safety and optimal dosing protocols.

What forms of hydrogen were tested in this research?

Researchers examined three delivery methods: hydrogen-rich water, hydrogen bathing, and hydrogen gas inhalation. All forms were administered at different times relative to exercise sessions.

Can Hydrogen Water Reduce Exercise Stress? New Study Results

Authors: Yiting Li, Renjie Bing, Meng Liu, Zhangyuting Zhang, Yan Huang, Kaixiang Zhou, Dapeng Bao, Junhong Zhou
Journal: Frontiers in Nutrition
Year: 2024
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1328705
Study Type: clinical
Peer Reviewed: Yes
Country: China
Health Condition: Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress
Body System: Muscular

TL;DR

Scientists tested whether drinking or bathing in hydrogen-rich water helps your body handle the stress that intense exercise puts on it, and they found it gives a small boost to your body's natural defense systems—but doesn't actually reduce the damage itself, especially when you do quick bursts of exercise instead of steady activity.

Key Finding

Molecular hydrogen supplementation did not significantly reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress markers, but it did show modest improvement in antioxidant capacity, particularly during intermittent exercise.

Summary

Researchers reviewed six small studies (76 total participants) testing whether molecular hydrogen could reduce oxidative stress (cellular damage from exercise) in healthy adults. While hydrogen didn't directly lower oxidative stress markers, it did modestly improve the body's antioxidant defense system (the ability to fight cellular damage), especially during intermittent exercise like interval training. However, the studies were small and used different methods, so more research is needed.

Practical Takeaway

Early evidence suggests hydrogen water may support the body's antioxidant defenses during exercise, especially interval training, but the effect is small and the research is limited to only 76 people across six studies. This is preliminary evidence—much larger and better-designed studies are needed before any health recommendations can be made.

Abstract

Objective: Exercise-induced oxidative stress affects multiple neurophysiological processes, diminishing the exercise performance. Hydrogen (H2) can selectively reduce excessive free radicals, but studies observed its "dual effects" on exercise-induced oxidative stress, that is, increasing or decreasing the oxidative stress. Therefore, we here conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantitatively assess the influence of H2 on exercise-induced oxidative stress in healthy adults. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of publications across five databases. The following keywords were used for search strategy: ["hydrogen"[Mesh] or "molecular hydrogen" or "hydrogen rich water" or "hydrogen-rich water" or "hydrogen rich saline"] and ["Oxidative Stress"[Mesh] or "Antioxidative Stress" or "Oxidative Damage" or "Oxidative Injury" or "Oxidative Cleavage"] and ["randomized controlled trial"[Mesh] or "randomized" or "RCT"]. We included trials reporting the effects of H2 on exercise-induced oxidative stress and potential antioxidant capacity post-exercise in healthy adults. Additionally, subgroup analyses were conducted to explore how various elements of the intervention design affected those outcomes. Results: Six studies, encompassing seven experiments with a total of 76 participants, were included in our analysis. Among these studies, hydrogen-rich water, hydrogen bathing, and hydrogen-rich gas were three forms used in H2 administration. The H2 was applied in different timing, including before, during, or after exercise only, both before and after exercise, and repeatedly over days. Single-dose, multi-dose within 1 day and/or multiple-dose over days were implemented. It was observed that compared to placebo, the effects of H2 on oxidative stress (diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites, d-ROMs) was not significant (SMD = -0.01, 95%CI-0.42 to 0.39, p = 0.94). However, H2 induced greater improvement in antioxidant potential capacity (Biological Antioxidant Potential, BAP) (SMD = 0.29, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.54, p = 0.03) as compared to placebo. Subgroup analyses revealed that H2 supplementation showed greater improvement (SMD = 0.52, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.87, p = 0.02) in the antioxidant potential capacity of intermittent exercises than continuous exercise. Conclusion: H2 supplementation can help enhance antioxidant potential capacity in healthy adults, especially in intermittent exercise, but not directly diminish the levels of exercise-induced oxidative stress. Future studies with more rigorous design are needed to examine and confirm these findings. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=364123, Identifier CRD42022364123.