Antioxidants Harm Sports Activity

Author: Victoria Aly Time for reading: ~1 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

In this article, learn more about Antioxidants Harm Sports Activity. Resveratrol may block the benefits to the cardiovascular system from exercise..

Resveratrol - a powerful antioxidant, found in wines, teas, some fruits. It can be found in almost all pharmacies in the form of a dietary supplement with vitamins and antioxidants. Its properties to slow down cell aging and help purify cells make it a popular product with a good reputation that has recently been severely damaged.

Danish researchers at the University of Copenhagen say that increased intake of foods rich in antioxidants can reduce and even block the benefits of exercise, including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol.

Their study, published in the international The Journal of Physiology , gives a new perspective on antioxidants: they are obviously not a cure-all, and the oxidative stress they protect against is somewhat necessary for the body to function properly.

According to scientists, some of the reactive oxygen species, which antioxidants indiscriminately and uncritically capture and remove from the body, are useful for the adaptation of the cardiovascular system to the stress to which it is subjected to active sports.

Dr. Ilva Helsten's research found that in several age groups in the range of 30-40 and 50-60 years - mainly men, the intake of supplements containing resveratrol has a very strong effect. The studied groups are conditionally divided into two: receiving antioxidants, including resveratrol and non-receiving. For the first group, even the antioxidants taken with food were limited for the period of the study, while for the second group there was a light diet and daily intake of one tablet of antioxidants enriched with resveratrol.

After 8 weeks of daily and intensive training, all the expected positive results from sports were noted in the first group. In the latter, however, they were greatly reduced and parameters such as blood pressure , blood lipids and maximal oxygen uptake were almost unchanged.

Experts attribute this phenomenon to the effect of increased intake of antioxidants, which do not allow free radicals to perform their adaptive functions during exercise. Scientists advise that antioxidants be taken as antibiotics - only with a doctor's prescription and only when necessary.

Antioxidants Harm Sports Activity

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