Inflammation and Immune Function: Can Antioxidants Help the Endurance Athlete?

Antioxidants protect the body from oxidative stress, thereby preventing damage to a wide range of cell structures including lipids, proteins and DNA. Regular physical activity can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, and improve immune function. Several studies have attempted to attenuate the inflammatory effects of exercise using antioxidant-rich supplements. Antioxidant supplementation has the potential to be a useful nutritional strategy for athletes at risk of respiratory illness. A perennial question for athletes is whether they can obtain adequate antioxidant intakes from normal dietary sources or nutritional supplements are needed. Ultra-endurance events are one area of endurance exercise and sport that warrants specific consideration for dietary antioxidant supplementation. Antioxidants can diminish the potential oxidative stress produced by high volume and intensity endurance training. Endurance training with intermittent resting hypoxia resulted in a decrease in resting plasma antioxidant levels, with little change in the control group without the hypoxic exposure.