What Are the Benefits of Increasing O2 Saturation with H2
There are 3 very interesting points here with Hydrogen therapy with increasing saturation of oxygen.
- The benefits for an athlete to help with performance and recovery.
- For people with lung disease or Covid to help reduce their symptoms.
- For longevity with increasing peoples VO2 Max reading which is a leading indicator for longevity (VO2 Max = the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise)
We will look in some more details with these 3 areas in this blog.
H2 Therapy for Athletes
As we exercise our heart rate increases. The fitter we are, the more efficient our cardiovascular system becomes, and our heart rate during exercise reduces. Our heart develops the ability to do the same amount of work in fewer beats per minute through training.
Research shows that when people are exposed to hydrogen therapy, their heart rate is lower during exercise. This improves exercise performance, allowing people to train and maintain physical performance for longer.
Energy levels are key to performance, and hydrogen therapy has been shown to improve our ability to generate energy, by helping with ATP production.
One of the by-products of, intense exercise is oxidative stress. This is where the body accumulates oxygen-reactive species (ROS) in cells and tissues faster than it can remove them and detoxify.
Oxidative stress is damaging to cells and tissues, as well as general wellbeing. Research shows hydrogen therapy to eases oxidative stress levels.
Sports today is like many things very competitive, and any tiny advantage is worth looking into and as these points are backed by research evidence it is well worth considering.
Myself personally, I work often at my desk on my laptop in the morning breathing in hydrogen and around 11.30am I have a workout, the days I do not use my hydrogen machine before my workout, I can tell the difference, and on the days, I use it the benefits I can feel that I have a bit more energy and I feel my recovery is better less achy afterwards.
H2 For Lung Disease & Covid
For people with lung disease or covid that are short of breath, any improvement is gladly welcomed, although hydrogen therapy is no cure for either of these issues, what hydrogen therapy has been shown in research, is that it can help increase the absorption and saturation of oxygen which in turn help with easing any symptoms of shortness of breath.
From my own experience with covid, when I was short in breath, within 30 mins of breathing H2 I noticed a very clear improvement with ease of breathing.
H2 For Increasing VO2 Max
Scientific Research Resources
- Molecular hydrogen as an adjuvant therapy may be associated with increased oxygen saturation and improved exercise tolerance in a COVID‐19 patient
- Can Hydrogen Water Enhance Oxygen Saturation in Patients with Chronic Lung Disease? A Non-Randomized, Observational Pilot Study
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Short-term H2 inhalation improves running performance and torso strength in healthy adults
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6425901/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332334918_Hydrogen_gas_From_clinical_medicine_to_an_emerging_ergogenic_molecule_for_sports_athletes
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303095007_Effects_of_hydrogen_bathing_on_exercise-induced_oxidative_stress_and_delayed-onset_muscle_soreness
- https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjpp-2019-0067
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5731988/