Endurance athletes and coaches often pose these questions: How do we maintain good health and optimise performance? Are there nutritional strategies that promote good health during periods of heavy exercise training and preparation for competition? Are diet or supplement intakes of antioxidants beneficial, and if so, which is the best strategy? Researchers and practitioners are also interested in these issues and there has been concerted effort in laboratory and field-based studies to identify the clinical and performance effects of supplementation, and the underlying physiological mechanisms.
This review examines some of the important aspects of antioxidant supplementation in endurance athletes including increases in free radical production and subsequent oxidative stress created by high endurance training loads, the impact of endurance training and oxidative stress on immune function, the impact of improving antioxidant status on factors affecting performance, recovery and adaptation, and whether the source of supplementation is best obtained directly from dietary sources or nutraceutical supplements. Two special circumstances, ultra-endurance events and altitude training, which may invoke specific oxidative stress, are also examined.
© 2015 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.