Hydrogen Water May Fight Exercise Fatigue in Mice Study
- Authors
- Md Faruk Ahmed, Jesmin Ara, Ailyn Fadriquela, Rahima Begum, Johny Bajgai, Kyu-Jae Lee
- Journal
- Korean Journal of Waters
- Year
- 2017
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- South Korea
- Health Condition
- Acute Fatigue
- Body System
- Muscular
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water might help reduce sudden tiredness after intense exercise by fighting oxidative stress and improving muscle energy stores.
Key Finding
The study proposes that hydrogen-rich water may reduce exercise-induced fatigue by neutralizing harmful reactive oxygen species and optimizing muscle metabolism, but the actual results were not reported.
Summary
This study investigated whether drinking hydrogen-rich water could reduce fatigue after intense exercise in mice. Researchers hypothesized that hydrogen might work by reducing harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS) that build up during exercise and by improving how muscles store and use energy. The study was designed to test whether these properties could help muscles recover and perform better.
Practical Takeaway
This is a preliminary mouse study with no reported results or methods, making it impossible to assess whether the findings would apply to humans. While the hypothesis about hydrogen's antioxidant properties is scientifically plausible, human studies with clear results are needed before drawing any conclusions about hydrogen water's effects on fatigue.
Abstract
Acute fatigue is a condition defined as a sudden onset of physical and mental exhaustion particularly after a short but strenuous period of physical exercise due to effect of waste product of muscle contraction within muscle fiber and accumulation of metabolites within the muscle fiber. Until recently, it's believed that lactic acid build-up and reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting oxidative stress are the most common causes of muscle fatigue. With prevalence of this condition and due to the lack of effective therapeutics, fatigue-related disorders turn to alternative medicine and other non-traditional practices. Previous studies on molecular hydrogen have reported that hydrogen exerts antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and metabolic modulation properties that are beneficial to the cell. Herein we hypothesized that hydrogen-rich water (HW) might ameliorate various impairment of acute fatigue through ROS scavenging activity and elevation of metabolic profile which were related to fatigue such as blood lactate and increasing storage of muscle glycogen, thereby improving physical endurance.