Hydrogen Baths Don't Help Exercise Muscle Damage, Study Finds
- Authors
- Takuji Kawamura, Katsuhiko Suzuki, Masaki Takahashi, Miki Tomari, Reira Hara, Yuko Gando, Isao Muraoka
- Journal
- Antioxidants
- Year
- 2018
- DOI
- 10.3390/antiox7100127
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Neutral
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage
- Body System
- Muscular
TL;DR
This study found that a certain inflammatory molecule may play a role in muscle damage and soreness after downhill running, but soaking in a hydrogen-rich bath doesn't seem to help reduce these effects.
Key Finding
Hydrogen baths showed no significant protective effect against exercise-induced muscle damage and soreness, despite interleukin-6 being identified as a key player in the inflammatory response to intense downhill running.
Summary
This study examined how hydrogen baths might affect muscle soreness and inflammation after intense downhill running in nine young men. Participants did downhill running and then took hydrogen baths daily for a week. The researchers found that a protein called interleukin-6 (IL-6) was linked to muscle damage and soreness, but hydrogen baths did not reduce these effects.
Practical Takeaway
While this small human study suggests hydrogen baths may not help reduce muscle soreness after intense exercise, the findings are limited to one specific type of exercise (downhill running) and a small group of young, active men. More research with larger groups and different types of exercise would be needed before drawing broader conclusions about hydrogen water's effectiveness for exercise recovery.
Abstract (excerpt)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the involvement of neutrophil dynamics and function in exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and the effect of molecular hydrogen (H2) intake on these parameters. Nine healthy and active young men performed H2…