Roughly nine in ten women who menstruate report at least one premenstrual symptom most cycles — cramping, mood swings, bloating, fatigue. Very few interventions have ever been tested against premenstrual syndrome in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. In 2024, one of the newest additions to that short list was a glass of water.
Not just any water. Researchers at Ankara University and Iğdır University in Turkey ran a three-cycle randomized controlled trial testing hydrogen-rich water against premenstrual syndrome (PMS), reported in BMC Women's Health. The design was serious, and the findings are worth walking through in full.
The 2024 Trial: What Was Measured and What Was Reported
Aker and colleagues randomized 65 women with diagnosed PMS into two groups: 33 drank 1,500–2,000 mL of hydrogen-rich water daily, and 32 drank the same volume of ordinary water. Both groups followed the same window, day 16 of their cycle through day 2 of the next, across three consecutive cycles. Neither participants nor the staff scoring questionnaires knew who was in which group.
What the Researchers Measured
Severity was tracked with the Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PMSS); quality of life was tracked with the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. At both follow-up points, the hydrogen-water group scored significantly lower on PMSS than the control group (p<0.05) — the interaction between group and time was statistically significant for that measure (F = 10.54, p<0.001). In the first follow-up, the hydrogen-water group also scored higher on the WHOQOL-BREF's physical health and psychological domains — a psychological-symptom pattern that echoes what our hydrogen water and mood research covers in more depth. The quality-of-life gap between groups narrowed somewhat by the third cycle — a detail the study authors reported plainly — but the severity reduction on the PMSS held across both follow-ups.
The authors' own conclusion was direct: hydrogen-rich water reduced the severity of premenstrual symptoms and improved quality of life in the physical and psychological domains studied.
The Oxidative Stress Connection Behind PMS
Why would water with dissolved hydrogen gas move a symptom scale? The thread traces to a 2007 Nature Medicine paper: Ohsawa and colleagues proposed that molecular hydrogen acts as a selective antioxidant, neutralizing the hydroxyl radical — one of the more destructive reactive oxygen species — while leaving ROS involved in normal cell signaling largely untouched. Nearly every hydrogen study since builds on that finding, including the broader research on hydrogen water and inflammation this site has covered.
A separate pilot study gave hydrogen-rich water to adults with early metabolic-syndrome markers for eight weeks; Nakao and colleagues reported a 39% rise in the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase and a 43% drop in a lipid-oxidation marker — a change in oxidative-stress markers in a different, small, open-label population. Preclinical work points the same direction for hormonal symptoms specifically: a 2023 rat study of letrozole-induced polycystic ovary syndrome found hydrogen-rich water reduced ovarian cysts along with cortisol and testosterone, while raising glutathione. That's rat data, not a human result — worth being precise about. It is part of the background that led researchers to test hydrogen-rich water in women with PMS, and it sits alongside a broader wave of 2025–2026 preclinical studies — on premature ovarian failure and on spermatogenesis under metabolic stress — covered in what the newest reproductive-health research reports.
None of this sits in isolation. A 2024 systematic review of 25 hydrogen-rich water studies reported encouraging results across exercise capacity, liver function, cardiovascular markers, and mental health domains, and a 2025 review mapped the same selective-antioxidant mechanism across delivery methods. The 2024 review's authors reported no significant adverse effects at the concentrations studied and called for larger confirmatory trials.
For the wider hormonal picture beyond PMS specifically, see our article on cycle-syncing nutrition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the 2024 trial on hydrogen water and PMS report?
One 2024 randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 65 women reported lower premenstrual symptom severity scores in the hydrogen-rich water group across three menstrual cycles, along with higher quality-of-life scores at the first follow-up. It is a single trial that has not been replicated, and it is not a claim that hydrogen water treats or cures PMS.
How much hydrogen water did the study participants drink?
1,500 to 2,000 mL daily, starting on day 16 of the menstrual cycle and continuing through day 2 of the following cycle, repeated across three consecutive cycles.
Is hydrogen water a treatment for PMS or PCOS?
No. No published trial has tested hydrogen water as a medical treatment. The PMS trial measured symptom severity and quality-of-life scores; the PCOS research is limited to animal models. Neither is a substitute for medical care.
Why did the trial use a specific window in the menstrual cycle?
The Aker trial dosed from day 16 of one cycle through day 2 of the next because that is when premenstrual symptoms typically occur. The trial did not test other timings, so it says nothing about intake outside that window.
Further Reading
For the broader PubMed literature on hydrogen-rich water and women's health, see PubMed's indexed results for hydrogen-rich water and premenstrual symptoms.
- Aker MN, et al. (2024), BMC Women's Health. PMID: 38532373. The randomized controlled trial covered above — 65 women, three menstrual cycles, hydrogen-rich water versus placebo water, reporting lower PMS severity scores and higher quality-of-life scores in the hydrogen group.
- Dhillon G, et al. (2024), International Journal of Molecular Sciences. PMID: 38256045. A systematic review of 25 hydrogen-rich water studies spanning exercise, liver function, cardiovascular markers, and mental health — encouraging results, with the authors calling for larger confirmatory trials.
- Jin J, et al. (2025), MedComm. PMID: 40297245. A 2025 review mapping molecular hydrogen's proposed mechanisms of action and delivery methods across a range of health applications.
- Nakao A, et al. (2010), Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition. PMID: 20216947. An 8-week pilot study finding that hydrogen-rich water increased antioxidant enzyme activity and reduced a marker of lipid oxidation in adults with early metabolic syndrome markers.
- Ohsawa I, et al. (2007), Nature Medicine. PMID: 17486089. The foundational paper proposing molecular hydrogen as a selective antioxidant — the mechanistic starting point nearly every later hydrogen study, including the PMS trial, traces back to.
- Makav M, et al. (2023), Reproductive Biomedicine Online. PMID: 37797471. An animal study in rats with induced polycystic ovary syndrome, reporting fewer ovarian cysts and lower cortisol and testosterone after hydrogen-rich water — early preclinical evidence, not a human finding.
References
- Aker MN, Gönenç İM, Çalışıcı D, Bulut M, Alwazeer D, LeBaron TW. The effect of hydrogen-rich water consumption on premenstrual symptoms and quality of life: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Women's Health. 2024;24(1):197. PMID: 38532373. PMC: PMC10964576. DOI: 10.1186/s12905-024-03029-8.
- Ohsawa I, Ishikawa M, Takahashi K, et al. Hydrogen acts as a therapeutic antioxidant by selectively reducing cytotoxic oxygen radicals. Nature Medicine. 2007;13(6):688-694. PMID: 17486089. DOI: 10.1038/nm1577.
- Nakao A, Toyoda Y, Sharma P, Evans M, Guthrie N. Effectiveness of hydrogen rich water on antioxidant status of subjects with potential metabolic syndrome-an open label pilot study. Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition. 2010;46(2):140-149. PMID: 20216947. PMC: PMC2831093. DOI: 10.3164/jcbn.09-100.
- Makav M, Kuru M, Aras ŞY, Sarı EK, Bulut M, Alwazeer D. The effect of hydrogen-rich water on letrozole-induced polycystic ovary syndrome in rats. Reproductive Biomedicine Online. 2023;47(6):103332. PMID: 37797471. DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2023.103332.
- Dhillon G, Buddhavarapu V, Grewal H, et al. Hydrogen Water: Extra Healthy or a Hoax?-A Systematic Review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2024;25(2):973. PMID: 38256045. PMC: PMC10816294. DOI: 10.3390/ijms25020973.
- Jin J, Yue L, Du M, et al. Molecular Hydrogen Therapy: Mechanisms, Delivery Methods, Preventive, and Therapeutic Application. MedComm. 2025;6(5):e70194. PMID: 40297245. PMC: PMC12035766. DOI: 10.1002/mco2.70194.
This article is provided for educational and general wellness purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before beginning any new wellness practice, especially if you have a medical condition, are pregnant or nursing, or take prescription medications.