フィンスイミング競技者における水素水摂取がパフォーマンスおよび生理的指標に与える影響：無作為化二重盲検プラセボ対照クロスオーバー試験
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study enrolled 12 national-level finswimmers (8 females, 4 males; mean ages 21 and 19 years) to examine the effects of 4-day hydrogen-rich water (HRW) supplementation at 0.9 ppm hydrogen concentration. Participants completed morning sessions of 3 sets of 4 × 50-m surface sprints and an afternoon 400-m surface time trial. Daily HRW intake was 1260 mL for the first 3 days and 1680 mL on the day preceding the time trial, with a 1-week washout between conditions. Blood lactate, rating of perceived exertion, and plasma protein carbonyls were assessed as secondary endpoints. The 400-m time trial showed a statistically significant 0.6% improvement with HRW versus placebo (P = .003), whereas 50-m sprint times improved by only 0.5% without reaching significance (P = .12). No significant between-condition differences were detected for blood lactate, perceived exertion, or protein carbonyl levels. These findings indicate that short-term HRW intake may confer a small but meaningful benefit specifically for middle-distance swimming performance, while effects on repeated sprint capacity and measured physiological markers appear negligible.
HRW was hypothesized to reduce oxidative stress, as reflected by plasma protein carbonyls, potentially preserving muscle function during sustained effort; however, no significant changes in oxidative stress markers were observed, leaving the mechanism of the 400-m performance benefit unclear.
Hydrogen-rich water is a low-risk delivery route, but the achievable systemic hydrogen dose is bounded. For clinical applications, inhalation is the most efficient route; inhalation, however, carries explosion risk, and concentration matters (empirical LFL of 10% applies to inhalation environments; high-concentration devices are documented in the Consumer Affairs Agency accident database and are not recommended).
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https://h2-papers.org/en/papers/41991147