Hydrogen gas: from clinical medicine to an emerging ergogenic molecule for sports athletes

Abstract

H2 has been clinically demonstrated to provide antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, which makes it an attractive agent in exercise medicine. Although exercise provides a multiplicity of benefits including decreased risk of disease, it can also have detrimental effects. For example, chronic high-intensity exercise in elite athletes, or sporadic bouts of exercise (i.e. noxious exercise) in untrained individuals, result in similar pathological factors such as inflammation, oxidation and cellular damage that arise from and result in disease. Paradoxically, exercise-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species largely mediate the benefits of exercise. Ingestion of conventional antioxidants and anti-inflammatories often impairs exercise-induced training adaptations. Disease and noxious forms of exercise promote redox dysregulation and chronic inflammation, changes which are mitigated by H2 administration. Beneficial exercise and H2 administration promote cytoprotective hormesis, mitochondrial biogenesis, ATP production, increased NAD+/NADH ratio, cytoprotective phase II enzymes, heat-shock proteins, sirtuins, etc. We review the biomedical effects of exercise and those of H2, and propose that hydrogen may act as an exercise mimetic and redox adaptogen, potentiate the benefits from beneficial exercise, and reduce the harm from noxious exercise. However, more research is warranted to elucidate the potential ergogenic and therapeutic effects of H2 in exercise medicine.

Study details

Article type

Review

Disease / injury model

Exercise-induced oxidative stress and inflammation (as a model for disease and athletic overtraining)

Dose comparison

The review notes that different doses, durations, and methods of hydrogen administration may yield different effects, and that more research is needed to determine optimal dosing for ergogenic and therapeutic benefits.

Dose-dependent effect

Yes

Outcome

Positive

Findings

Hydrogen gas (H2) shows promise as an ergogenic and therapeutic molecule for sports athletes by providing anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, potentially acting as an exercise mimetic and redox adaptogen. H2 may potentiate the benefits of beneficial exercise, reduce harm from noxious exercise, and improve recovery and performance, with a high safety profile and minimal risk of impairing training adaptations. However, more research is needed to fully elucidate its ergogenic and therapeutic effects in exercise medicine.