The primary cause of reduced endurance performance at high altitude is the inability of the body to supply the muscles with as much oxygen as it can at sea level. But there is also a secondary cause, which is increased production of free radicals by the working muscles. And there is a way to address [...]

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Everyone knows fruit is nutritious. It packs lots of vitamins and minerals, plus fiber, and is low in calories. But a new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry suggests that until now, scientists have grossly underestimated the amount of polyphenols - a class of antioxidant - in certain fruits. This means [...]

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A barrage of recent studies has suggested that antioxidant supplementation offers no benefits to trained athletes, and that it may even interfere with some physiological adaptations to training. Now comes a study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise that suggests antioxidant supplementation does not reduce free radical damage to muscle cells in a [...]

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Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have uncovered evidence that drinking tea regularly may slow a process that is believed to be linked to cell aging and death. Telomeres are structures at the ends of chromosomes that shorten each time the cell replicates, limiting the cell to a fixed number of total replications, [...]

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Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are popular nutritional supplements that are used to support joint health. Research on their effectiveness has yielded mixed results. A new study published in Clinical Rheumatology suggests that an extract from eggshells may be an effective alternative to glucosamine and chondroitin, specifically for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Sixty-seven volunteers with osteoarthritis [...]

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If you don’t exercise, taking supplemental omega-3 fatty acids will reduce the inflammation and free radical damage that you experience if you do work out. But if you exercise regularly, a moderate workout will not provoke much of an inflammatory or oxidative stress response anyway, so taking supplemental omega-3 fatty acids will not provide any [...]

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Polish researchers recently studied the combined effects of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and endurance exercise on antioxidant and lipid concentrations in the blood. According to the study abstract, “Two groups of healthy, fit males performed 1 hour of exercise with a constant work load corresponding to 60% of their individual VO(2 max)… before and after [...]

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They say if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But they do not say if it sounds too good to be true, it definitely is. A few years ago, preliminary research suggested that eating small amounts of dark chocolate might provide benefits for cardiovascular health. It sounded too good to be [...]

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There is some scientific evidence that chronic supplementation with the antioxidant compound quercetin improves endurance performance in mice and in highly trained athletes. Researchers from the University of Georgia recently sought to determine whether quercetin would also enhance endurance performance in untrained human subjects.
Thirty subjects received either placebo or a quercetin supplement daily for [...]

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It is well established that creatine supplementation enhances the gains in muscle size and strength that result from strength training. More recently, researchers have explored whether creatine supplementation also enhances the gains in anaerobic and aerobic performance that result from high-intensity interval training.
The latest study in this line of research was published in the [...]

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