Hydrogen Water Boosts Performance and Muscle Recovery in Elite Athletes
- Authors
- Mkrtych Ogannisyan, Anton Slivin, Tyler W. LeBaron, Alex Tarnava, Valeriy Karmazin, Sergey Bazanovich, Vladislav Dolgachev, Anna Vychik, Alexander Strizhkov, Sergey Parastaev
- Journal
- Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
- Year
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.15280/jlm.2025.15.1.8
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Russia
- Health Condition
- Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage
- Body System
- Musculoskeletal
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water helped female elite athletes build muscle, lose fat, and recover better from intense exercise.
Key Finding
Elite female athletes who consumed hydrogen-rich water showed reduced muscle damage markers, increased muscle mass, decreased body fat, and improved maximum strength compared to those receiving placebo.
Summary
This study tested whether hydrogen-rich water could help elite female athletes recover better from intense exercise. Twenty-two athletes in handball and skeleton sports either drank hydrogen-rich water or a placebo for an unspecified period while researchers measured muscle damage, body composition, strength, and inflammatory markers. The hydrogen-rich water group showed increases in muscle mass, decreases in body fat, improved maximum strength (torque), and lower levels of creatine kinase—a marker of muscle damage—compared to placebo.
Practical Takeaway
This small study in elite athletes suggests hydrogen-rich water may support muscle recovery and body composition changes, but the study duration and exact dosing were not reported, making it difficult to know what dose or timeline might be relevant for other athletes. More research in larger, more diverse athletic populations is needed before drawing firm conclusions about practical benefits.
Abstract
Background: Physical activity significantly increases the production of reactive oxygen species in the body. Molecular hydrogen has been shown to have safe and effective antioxidant properties on athletes. However, research on elite athletes is scarce. Methods: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was conducted with 22 female elite athletes participating in handball and skeleton sports. The first group received hydrogen-rich water (HRW)-generating tablets, whereas the second group consumed a visually and organoleptically similar placebo. Various assessments were performed during HRW intake, such as anthropometric and biochemical measurements, stress, and recovery parameters, as well as biomechanical testing. Results: HRW consumption resulted inan increase in muscle mass and a reduction in fat mass (p < 0.05). However, HRW did not significantly affect stress or recovery rates, as determined by the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire-Sport questionnaire. However, the HRW group exhibited a significant increase in torque, particularly after an intensive exercise test (p < 0.05). Moreover, HRW intake led to a reduction in total creatine kinase, vitamin C, and beta-carotene contents (p < 0.05), whereas the vitamin E and interleukin-10 levels increased compared with baseline levels (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The HRW-generating tablets were found to be safe and well-tolerated by the participants. These tablets also exerted ergogenic effects by reducing body fat percentage, increasing muscle mass percentage, improving maximal torque, decreasing muscle damage, and positively modulating the exercise-induced inflammatory and antioxidant responses to exercise. Although the mechanism of action of HRW remains unclear, these effects observed indicate its potential for diverse applications in high-performance sports.