Why Do Athletes Drink Hydrogen Water?

Hydrogen water is ordinary water with extra molecular hydrogen (H2) dissolved into it. Athletes took an interest after Japanese research suggested that hydrogen acts as a gentle antioxidant in the body. 

What is hydrogen water?

Hydrogen water is normal drinking water with extra hydrogen gas (H2) added to it. Scientists call it hydrogen rich water. It looks and tastes the same as the water in your glass now.

Some years ago, nobody asked me about hydrogen water. This year I have been asked about it by club runners, by gym members and by parents of teenagers who play sport. It turns up in bottles on the sideline. It turns up in kitchens as a tap system.

You may never race at anything. You may just be the parent who plays five a side on a Tuesday and feels it until Thursday. The reason athletes drink this water is the same reason it has reached ordinary homes, so it is worth understanding what the evidence says.

Why do athletes care about oxidative stress?

Oxidative stress is a balance problem inside the cell. Cells produce reactive molecules known as free radicals. These are unstable, and in high numbers they can damage proteins, fats and DNA. Cells also produce antioxidants, which clear free radicals. Oxidative stress is the term used when production runs ahead of that defence.

Free radicals are a normal byproduct of making energy. Exercise speeds up energy production, so free radical output rises with it. The harder and longer the session, the larger the rise.

At rest, the body clears them about as fast as it makes them. During and after hard training, it can make them faster than it clears them. That gap is what sports scientists measure.

While the gap lasts, it is associated with muscles tiring sooner. That is part of why a final hard effort feels heavier than the earlier ones. In the day or two after, the same gap is commonly linked to sore muscles, heavy legs and a slower return to full training. For an athlete training most days, slow recovery adds up and costs training quality. That is why athletes pay attention to it.

None of this is an illness. It is a normal part of training. It is also not something to wipe out. Some free radical activity is part of the signal that tells the body to adapt and get fitter. In one trial, people on high doses of vitamin C and E gained less from their endurance training than those on a placebo.

That leaves a narrow target. The aim is to reduce the damaging excess without switching off the useful signal. That is why hydrogen drew scientific interest.

Does hydrogen water actually work for athletes?

This is where I ask people to slow down. The picture is mixed rather than magic.

A 2024 review pooled the results of many trials in healthy adults. It found that hydrogen lowered blood lactate and made exercise feel easier. It also found a small gain in jumping power. It found no real gain in endurance, in VO2 max or in strength.

Individual studies fit that pattern. In one trial, professional footballers drank hydrogen water before a set of repeated sprints. In another, cyclists showed lower lactate readings at high workloads. In a third, elite fin swimmers who trained twice in one day reported less muscle soreness the following day.

So the signal sits mostly around fatigue and recovery. That is exactly the part of training most athletes complain about.

Is hydrogen water worth it if you are not an athlete?

I think it does, for a simple reason. The oxidative stress studied in sport is the same process at work in daily life. It ticks along after a bad week of sleep, a hard patch at work or a bug that knocked you sideways.

That said, I always start with the basics. Drink enough water. Sleep. Eat properly. Nothing in a glass replaces any of that.

Then comes the quality of the water itself. Most Irish homes drink treated mains water. That supply is tested and reported on every year. Even so, chlorine taste, old lead pipes and hard water vary a lot from house to house. If the water is unpleasant, people simply drink less of it, and that matters more than any supplement.

That is why I prefer systems that clean the water first and add hydrogen second. You get the daily habit right, and the extra sits on top of it.

How can you get hydrogen water at home?

If you want both in one tap, Renewell Water make the Hydro+ system. It cleans the water by reverse osmosis first. It then adds hydrogen, so you can pick either one at the tap. It fits under the kitchen sink and fitting is included.

Renewell Water is Ireland's Number 1 rated water filtration company, with thousands of customer reviews at renewellwater.com/reviews. You can see the system here: Hydro+ Hydrogen Water Ionizer with Reverse Osmosis.

This article is general information and it is not medical advice. If you are worried about ongoing tiredness or poor recovery, speak to your GP.