Antioxidants for Athletes – Controls Oxidative Stress Damage

Posted by admin September 13th, 2009

Studies have shown that with vigorous exercise you body needs more antioxidant consumption to protect the body from free radical-induced oxidative stress & DNA damage. Endurance exercise can increase oxygen utilization from 10 to 20 times over the resting state. This greatly increases the generation of free radicals, prompting concern about enhanced damage to muscles and other tissues. The question that arises is how effectively can athletes defend against the increased free radicals resulting from exercise? Do athletes need to take extra antioxidants?

Free radical-induced oxidative stress is an inevitable consequence of prolonged exercise and results in tissue damage, excessive fatigue, delayed recovery and overtraining. On a microscopic level, oxidation generally entails molecules or atoms losing electrons. (Gaining electrons is called reduction.) The molecules or atoms that take these electrons are oxidizing agents. Free radicals are substances that can exist with missing electrons, making them readily able to donate or accept electrons and damage structures in cells. As such, they are highly reactive, binding with and destroying important cellular compounds. Most of the free radicals in your body are made during metabolic processes. More are added from the food you eat and environmental pollution.

Most of these free radicals contain oxygen molecules. As each cell makes energy in little structures called mitochondria, free radicals result. These oxidant by-products can damage DNA, proteins and lipids (fats). Consequently, toxic by-products of lipid peroxidation may cause cancer, inhibit enzyme activity and produce mutations in genetic material that make you age faster. Free radical damage to DNA can cause cells to mutate or die. Your body makes enzymes that can repair this damage and slow aging. But, over time, the amount of damage overwhelms the body’s ability to fix things. As cells grow older, their ability to patch up DNA diminishes and the rate of damage proceeds faster than repair. The result: We age and eventually die.

As an active athlete, your body is carrying out higher levels of oxidation to meet the extra energy requirement. This means that the coping strategies for minimizing the negative effects of free radicals will be taxed – sometimes beyond their limits. When this happens, large-scale muscle structures can be damaged; muscles can end up being overly contracted, sore, and less efficient at using energy. Red blood cells can become ‘leaky’, malformed and easily broken, which may lead to anemia.

To prevent free radical damage the body has a defense system of antioxidants. Antioxidants are molecules which can safely interact with free radicals and terminate the chain reaction before vital molecules are damaged. A study, published in the European Journal of Physiology, suggest that taking antioxidants, such as a mixture of vitamins C and E and beta-carotene, provides extra protection during strenuous exercise, and that maintaining adequate levels of antioxidants could decrease the risk of infection. A number of clinical studies have shown that taking a wide range of antioxidants can help to counter free radical damage in endurance athletes. Other studies have shown that taking nutritional antioxidant supplements reduce the risk of developing upper respiratory infections after prolonged exercise, such as running a marathon.

Some well known dietary antioxidants are vitamins A, C, E; ß-carotene, selenium and plant based antioxidants such as curcumin, quercetin, resveratrol and rutin. For example, Curcumin helps control inflammation and speed performance recovery. In addition, melatonin, DHEA and the amino acid compound glutathione may also prove of benefit. Additionally, selenium, a trace metal that is required for proper function of one of the body’s antioxidant enzyme systems, is sometimes included in this category. The body cannot manufacture many of these micronutrients so they must be supplied in the diet.

Athletes need to understand that their body requires a wide variety of antioxidants to deal with the many different types of free radicals that are released during energy production. Athletes need to ensure that they have an adequate intake of a wide variety of effective antioxidants to compromise free radical production.

Free radical-induced oxidative stress is an inevitable consequence of prolonged exercise and results in tissue damage, excessive fatigue, delayed recovery and overtraining Trained athletes appear to require higher intakes of antioxidants to defend against increased oxidative stress during exercise, which can be met through a diet rich in high antioxidant foods Athletes who want to achieve good results can look to their diets and dietary supplements to maintain good health and to improve post-event recovery. In addition they improve post event recovery and accelerate muscle repair – this is especially important for older athletes.

Suggestion: Bio-available curcurmin with selenium http://tinyurl.com/mzf25d

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