Optimal recovery for the serious athlete

It has to hurt before it does good

But in this article, we will take a closer look into how hydrogen can become a gamechanger for optimal recovery.

DOMS is a term used within the sports world, standing for “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness,” which refers to the pain and stiffness felt in the muscles 24 to 72 hours after intensive physical activity. DOMS is normal, a standard reaction after exercise, and is not necessarily a sign of injury but rather a part of the body's adaptation to new activity levels.

The pain is caused by tiny tears in the muscle tissue as well as inflammation - microscopic damage to the muscle tissue and the surrounding connective tissue when performing an exercise that one is not accustomed to, or when the intensity is increased, the muscles are subjected to stress loads. This causes small tears in the muscle fibres and an inflammatory response, which is a normal and important process for the body to build stronger muscles. In response to the physical strain, strength and endurance increase to prepare the body for an increased load going forward.

Physiotherapist recommends hydrogen

Michael Knudsen from Nordsjælland Fysioterapi is an active recreational cyclist and wanted to try hydrogen inhalation himself before deciding whether it was something he wanted to offer to his clients. Hear about his own experiences here.

Can hydrogen improve your training?

Hydrogen is a super effective antioxidant for the professional athlete and the super fitness enthusiast

Several Danish researchers have found it difficult to integrate this new knowledge, perhaps because it is so controversial. iWater has been far ahead of Danish universities, and Danish researchers have struggled to keep up and understand when other countries have presented their research results.

Researcher and professor Hans-Jørgen Albrechtsen from Water and Environmental Technology at DTU and Morten Elsøe, who is otherwise a Master of Science (cand.scient.) in molecular nutrition and food technology, have not followed the research regarding molecular hydrogen and its selective capabilities. Morten Elsøe states to BT that "A body without inflammation is a dead body" and "...that inflammation, among other things, keeps potential cancerous tumours away and beats back infections. A body without inflammation means that you would very quickly die from anything you get infected with." The article was written by Daniel Nøjsen Fallah, the Superliga section of BT, on December 12, 2020.

Japanese researchers, however, already had their conclusion clear in 2007: Hydrogen has a major effect on recovery and performance. It was Professor Jan Slezak from the "Faculty of Sport and Physical Education" in Novi Sad, Serbia, who proved this through a long series of scientific studies.

That antioxidants can also be helpful in connection with building muscle mass and endurance training is new to many in Denmark, but nevertheless true, provided that the antioxidants come from hydrogen water or hydrogen therapy.

Particularly, football player Erik Sviatchenko was called out in the press because he shared on his own Instagram profile that he had experienced a huge effect from drinking hydrogen water: “I have never played better and never been in better physical condition. I just have to say that it works”.

Faster recovery with hydrogen

To understand the unique effectiveness of hydrogen, it is important to take a closer look at how hydrogen interacts with the body's biochemistry and the reactive compounds found in our system.

Today, we know that hydrogen can alleviate fatigue after high-intensity training, and hydrogen can reduce the harmful inflammation that can increase the risk of injury.

The surprising effect of hydrogen was discovered in 2007 by the Japanese researcher Ohsawa, and it came as a surprise to everyone that such a well-known atom as hydrogen could have such fantastic properties without anyone having previously thought of it as an energy source in the human body. Especially in a body that often has to perform beyond the ordinary, which is precisely what one does as a professional and semi-professional athlete.

Hydrogen is the world's smallest antioxidant with completely unique properties that selectively enter the athlete's mitochondria and remove the toxic hydroxyl radicals (•OH), while other physiologically important muscle-building reactive oxygen/nitrogen species are left unaffected.

The good and the bad inflammation

• Reactive nitrogen species (RNS)
  These compounds contain nitrogen and include species such as nitric oxide (NO), peroxynitrite (ONOO⁻) and other nitrogen-based radicals. RNS play a role in signalling within the cardiovascular system, the immune system, and neurobiology. Like ROS, RNS can also cause damage to cells and tissues, but they often function as signalling molecules and participate in the regulation of various biological processes.
• Reactive oxygen species (ROS)
  These compounds contain oxygen and include species such as superoxide radicals (O₂⁻) hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and hydroxyl radicals (•OH). They play an essential role in the body's defense against infections. ROS are formed as a byproduct of metabolic processes, especially in the mitochondria during respiration, and are involved in cell differentiation, signalling, and immune response, but can also cause oxidative damage to lipids, proteins, and DNA, leading once again to cell damage and fatigue fractures.

ATP stands for adenosine triphosphate, and it is an important molecule in the body that functions as the primary energy source for cells. ATP is used in many biochemical processes, including muscle contraction, the synthesis of biomolecules, and the transport of substances across cell membranes. When ATP is broken down, the energy that cells use to perform necessary functions is released. In short, ATP is crucial for maintaining life and supporting the body's activities.

• Metabolism: During the breakdown of ATP, it is converted into ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and AMP (adenosine monophosphate). These forms can be further broken down into various metabolites.
• Excretion: The waste products can be excreted through various organs.
• The kidneys: They filter the blood and remove waste products, which are excreted with the urine.
• The liver: Here, the metabolites can be further processed and converted into substances that are easier to excrete.

Some of the released metabolites can be used for the synthesis of new molecules or energy sources and are thus recycled within the body. It is important for the body to have efficient methods for removing waste products to ensure optimal function and prevent the accumulation of harmful compounds.

Research over the past 18 years shows that the intake of hydrogen can alleviate exercise-induced oxidative stress and inflammation. Hydrogen can penetrate cell membranes and diffuse rapidly into mitochondria, where it can selectively reduce inflammation.

A review of molecular Hydrogen as a novel nutrition

Fatigue after high training intensity causes high amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria and can lead to dysregulation in the human inflammatory and neuroendocrinological systems.

Although humans have enzymes that detect some ROS, we do not have enough enzymes that can specifically detect hydroxyl radicals, which are known to attack almost all components in cells and cause aging and diseases.

Mitochondria

The inside of the mitochondria is the site where various ROS are generated during respiration along with the harmful hydroxyl radicals. To ensure the greatest recovery effect, it is important to establish a technique that can detect these hydroxyl radicals from deep within the mitochondrial matrix.

Vitamin C is probably our most well-known antioxidant, but it can only penetrate the cytoplasm and not all the way into the cell's mitochondria

The completely correct chemical term is molecular hydrogen, which is abbreviated as H2. Molecular hydrogen is the smallest diatomic molecule, which, due to its very small size, can penetrate cell membranes and enter the body's mitochondria. Inside the body's powerhouse, hydrogen can react with hydroxyl radicals and convert the inflammation-promoting hydroxyl radicals into water molecules through a process called a hydrogen atom abstraction reaction of hydroxyl radicals. The bond of the hydrogen molecule is a relatively strong bond, and therefore molecular hydrogen does not react with other substances in the cell – hence the name selective antioxidant.

Inflammation turns into water

The number of human cells is said to be approximately 37 trillion, and each cell contains 300–400 mitochondria, which are the source of hydroxyl radicals. To eliminate the hydroxyl radicals formed in all mitochondria, it is necessary to inhale a large amount of molecular hydrogen, and to be able to deliver molecular hydrogen to all the many trillions of mitochondria that are actively affected during hard training.