Hydrogen Water vs Coffee: Better Sleep Deprivation Relief Without Jitters
- Authors
- D. Zanini, V. Stajer, S. M. Ostojic
- Journal
- Neurophysiology
- Year
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11062-020-09852-7
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Serbia
- Health Condition
- Sleep Deprivation
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water (HRW) might be as effective as caffeine in temporarily making sleep-deprived young adults feel more alert, without any side effects.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich water increased alertness in sleep-deprived people by a similar amount as caffeine, with no reported side effects compared to caffeine's negative effects on attention.
Summary
In this small study, researchers gave 23 sleep-deprived young adults either hydrogen-rich water or caffeine and measured how alert they felt and how well they performed on attention tests. Both hydrogen-rich water and caffeine increased alertness similarly (by about 1.6–1.7 points on a rating scale). Caffeine caused some drops in attention and focus in follow-up tests, while hydrogen-rich water caused only a small change in one attention measure. Neither treatment was clearly better than the other overall.
Practical Takeaway
This is a very small pilot study (23 people, 24-hour sleep deprivation only), so the results are preliminary. While hydrogen-rich water showed promise as a caffeine alternative with fewer side effects, much larger and longer studies are needed before drawing firm conclusions about its real-world usefulness for alertness.
Abstract
Molecular hydrogen (H2) has been suggested as an agent capable of exerting neuromodulating effects; yet, its potential to affect brain circuits linked to alertness remains poorly examined. In this randomized controlled cross-over pilot trial, we compared acute effects of single-dose hydrogen-rich water (HRW) and caffeine on estimates by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for alertness and on Attention Network Test (ANT) subscales in 23 young healthy men and women (21.6 ± 1.3 years) who were sleep-deprived for 24 hours. Caffeine induced a significant increase in VAS-estimated alertness (1.6 points, P = 0.01); HRW also increased VAS alertness for 1.7 points on average (P = 0.003). Both caffeine and HRW acutely affected markers of alertness in young sleep-deprived men and women. Caffeine induced a significant drop in alerting (19.9%, P = 0.01) and executive control in a 15-min follow up (7.3%, P = 0.03), while HRW caused a significant reduction in the orientation at post-administration (2.4%, P = 0.05). However, no differences were found between interventions (treatment vs. time interaction) for all evaluated outcomes of alertness (P > 0.05), with the effects similar among interventions. HRW displayed no side effects and, therefore, might be advanced as a safe and effective alternative to caffeine for sleep deprivation, although more studies are needed to corroborate and expand these preliminary findings.