28-Days Hydrogen-Rich Water Supplementation Affects Exercise Capacity in Mid-Age Overweight people.
Ostojic, Sergej M.; Korovljev, Darinka; Stajer, Valdemar; Javorac, Dejan
Molecular hydrogen (H2) improves body composition, metabolic profiles and mitochondrial function in overweight people, no studies had so far
evaluated the effectiveness of H2 for improving exercise capacity in this population.
WHAT IS VO2 MAX
VO? max is the maximum (max) rate (V) of oxygen (O?) your body is able to use during exercise. Oxygen is a critical ingredient in the respiratory process that?s involved in breathing. As you breathe in oxygen, your lungs absorb and turn it into energy called adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
.
ATP powers your cells and helps release the carbon dioxide (CO?) that?s created during your respiratory process when you exhale. The benefits are simple: The greater your VO? max, the more oxygen your body can consume, and the more effectively your body can use that oxygen to generate the maximum amount of ATP energy.
PURPOSE
To examine the effects of 28-days supplementation with 1 L per day of hydrogen-rich water (HRW) on exercise capacity and quality of life in overweight mid-age people.
METHODS
Twelve people (age 53.8 ± 13.0 years, BMI 28.8 ± 3.3 kg/m2, VO2max 22.3 ± 3.7 ml/kg/min) participated in this randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over, repeated-measure interventional study. All participants were allocated in a double-blind design to receive two randomly assigned trials:
The first group received 1 L per day of HRW (supplying ~ 9 ppm of H2), while the second group, or control group, received placebo (tap water).
Participants were evaluated at baseline, and following 28 days of intervention. The primary endpoint was the change in cardiorespiratory endurance (VO2max) assessed at baseline and at 28 days follow-up. Secondary outcomes included change from baseline to end of treatment in values for work capacity, impact of weight on quality of life (IWQoL), and haematological biomarkers.
Participants were asked to maintain their usual lifestyle, dietary intake and not to use other dietary supplements during the study.
RESULTS
HRW intervention significantly improved VO2max as compared to placebo at 28-day follow-up (26.2 ± 4.8 ml/kg/min vs. 24.2 ± 4.1 ml/kg/min; P = 0.03). Differences were found for time to exhaustion and total work completed during an incremental exercise, with HRW resulting in improvement of both variables as compared to placebo (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
Results indicate that HRW can be used as an alternative hydration formulation to positively affect exercise performance in mid-age overweight people.
Supported by the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (175037), the Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research (114-451-710), the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Sport and PE (2017 Annual Award) and HRW Natural Health Products Inc, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Clinical trial registration ID number NCT02832219.