Application of Molecular Hydrogen as an Antioxidant in Responses to Ventilatory and Ergogenic Adjustments during Incremental Exercise in Humans
Alharbi AAD, Ebine N, Nakae S, Hojo T, Fukuoka Y. · Nutrients. 2021;13(2):459.
Study at a glance
Human
Healthy trained young men without cardiac, ventilatory, gas-exchange or musculoskeletal disorders.
Four oral capsules/day for three consecutive days containing 1,500 mg/day H₂-rich calcium powder. · The 1,500 mg daily powder dose was reported to contain 2.544 µg H₂/day.
Three consecutive days per condition; washout details are reported in the linked methods.
At rest HCP reduced ventilation, oxygen uptake and carbon-dioxide output and produced higher PCO₂/HCO₃⁻ with lower pH. During exercise ventilation remained lower and local rectus-femoris oxygen extraction changed, while oxygen uptake, carbon-dioxide output, heart rate, lactate/glucose and exercise performance were not improved.
Small male-only physiological study with many correlated endpoints and no demonstrated performance gain. The powder and placebo were ENAGEGATE products and the article describes a patented H₂-rich calcium technique; a separate sponsor role was not stated in the article's accessible declarations. This article and the 2022 single-dose study share ethics approval 18012 and investigators, so participant independence cannot be assumed.
What kind of evidence is this?
Human
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study
Exercise and recovery
Other forms
Information not yet classified
Some editorial classification fields are still pending. The source-reported outcomes and result are shown below; Hydrogenology does not infer a positive or negative signal from prose automatically.
Methods
Healthy trained young men without cardiac, ventilatory, gas-exchange or musculoskeletal disorders.
18 men; mean age 21±1 years. Each participant received both interventions.
Three consecutive days per condition; washout details are reported in the linked methods.
Four oral capsules/day for three consecutive days containing 1,500 mg/day H₂-rich calcium powder.
Oral H₂-rich calcium powder — not inhaled gas, not hydrogen water and not Brown's gas.
The 1,500 mg daily powder dose was reported to contain 2.544 µg H₂/day.
Identical capsules containing H₂-depleted calcium powder; crossover order was randomized and blinded.
Outcomes and reported result
Resting acid-base and ventilation measures, incremental cycling to exhaustion, pulmonary gas exchange, heart rate, lactate, glucose and local quadriceps oxygenation.
At rest HCP reduced ventilation, oxygen uptake and carbon-dioxide output and produced higher PCO₂/HCO₃⁻ with lower pH. During exercise ventilation remained lower and local rectus-femoris oxygen extraction changed, while oxygen uptake, carbon-dioxide output, heart rate, lactate/glucose and exercise performance were not improved.
The complete MDPI/PMC article, crossover methods, intervention quantity, rest and exercise tables and commercial product information were checked; null performance and gas-exchange outcomes are included.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Small male-only physiological study with many correlated endpoints and no demonstrated performance gain. The powder and placebo were ENAGEGATE products and the article describes a patented H₂-rich calcium technique; a separate sponsor role was not stated in the article's accessible declarations. This article and the 2022 single-dose study share ethics approval 18012 and investigators, so participant independence cannot be assumed.
Healthy trained young men under this short product-specific protocol; not evidence of clinical benefit.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 33573133 · DOI: 10.3390/nu13020459
Open-access full article on MDPI and PubMed Central.
MDPI and PMC full article plus PubMed metadata; full-text and article-status check completed 8 August 2026.
10 August 2026
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