The antioxidant market is big business and thousands and thousands of kilos are spent yearly on antioxidant supplements – equivalent to vitamin A, C and E – in addition to fruit and vegetable extracts and juices.
Antioxidants are so popular – particularly amongst individuals who do plenty of exercise – since it is believed they assist to cut back muscle soreness after exercise. It is assumed that by taking antioxidant supplements in doses much higher than the beneficial amounts, muscles get well quicker by reducing a few of the harmful effects of exercise. And for this reason so many individuals swear by antioxidants – equivalent to cherry juice or pomegranate juice – after a workout.
Some people also take antioxidant supplements to enhance their general health or protect against certain cancers however the scientific evidence for that is poor. And similarly, our recent evaluation of the prevailing scientific literature found similar results.
We recently published a Cochrane review which included 50 studies the link between antioxidant use and reduced muscle soreness. And we discovered that there isn’t any solid evidence that antioxidants works.
Aching muscles
Muscle soreness typically occurs following unaccustomed or intense exercise and frequently peaks two days afterwards. This can obviously impair future athletic performance, so it’s not surprising that various interventions have been recommend to cut back exercise related muscle aches and pains.
These range from a variety of different techniques, including whole body cryotherapy – which involves getting exposure to extremely cold temperatures for several minutes in a special chamber where temperatures can range from -110 to -140°C. Then there’s also the usage of compression garments and massagein addition to antioxidant supplementation.
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Some athletes also strategically take antioxidant supplements to speed up recovery during times of intense competition fairly than taking them every single day. In skilled football for instance, when there can often be periods of fixture congestion (a team may play three matches in an eight day period), dietary antioxidants are used to cut back inflammation and muscle soreness. The belief is this can allow the players to get well more quickly in preparation for the subsequent match.
Similarly, in skilled cycling, a Tour de France rider may take antioxidant supplements to speed up recovery after each stage. The belief is this can help them to get well more quickly for the next day’s riding.
Antioxidants debunked
Our recent review compared high-dose antioxidant supplementation with a placebo (a dummy pill or drink with no antioxidant). Various antioxidants were utilized in the studies starting from single vitamins to extracts and juices. These included cherry juice, pomegranate juice, vitamins C and E, black tea extract and others in various doses.
The review included 1,089 participants, nearly nine out of ten of those were male and most participants were recreationally energetic or moderately trained. The age range of the participants varied from 16 to 55 years.
Although we found antioxidant supplementation may very barely reduce muscle soreness in the primary three days after exercise, these reductions were so small, it was unlikely they made any difference in any respect.
So ultimately, we found that top dose antioxidant supplementation – in excess of the conventional beneficial each day dose for antioxidants – doesn’t appear to cut back muscle soreness after exercise.
More harm than good?
Of the studies we checked out, only nine reported on antagonistic effects. Two of those found some individuals who took antioxidants experienced gastrointestinal distress – equivalent to diarrhoea, indigestion and bloating.
On top of our findings, more recently, there was an emergence of studies showing that chronic antioxidant supplementation may very well be counterproductive. For instance, it has been shown that antioxidant supplements may delay healing and recovery from exercisehinder adaptations to trainingand will even increase mortality.
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Taking all of this into consideration, the important take home message is to avoid antioxidants supplements and save your money. Instead, just try to move more, exercise commonly, and eat a balanced weight-reduction plan that features at the least five or more portions of rainbow colored fruit and veggies. Because for now at the least, there isn’t any quick fix to easing muscle soreness after exercise.
In fact, it seems muscle soreness is a very important a part of the recovery process and will help to make your muscles stronger and greater over time. And that can ultimately help to make you fitter and stronger in the long term.