Antioxidant and Exercise Link Examined Further

Antioxidant and Exercise Link Examined Further
A barrage of critical response has greeted new German research on antioxidants and exercise.

Anti-oxidant expert Alexander Schauss PhD. called the study “misleading” in an interview with Nutraingredients.com. He said the paper’s title, implying antioxidants prevent health promoting benefits of physical exercise, misrepresented its contents. Schauss observed that the small study, involving 40 subjects, was designed to look at effects of intensive exercise on insulin resistance. Muscle biopsies used to measure baseline biochemical data were only taken from nine individuals.  Schauss questioned conclusions drawn from such limited data, noting that existing literature does not support the German study’s conclusions.

Nutritional biochemist Dr. Rob Childs echoed Schauss’s comments, calling the German conclusions “a gross over extrapolation of the experimental findings.”

Childs, who advises professional cyclists, said “studies dating back to the 1980’s have shown that antioxidants reduce muscle damage.” He cited newer studies showing antioxidants improving athletes’ lung capacity and exercise performance. Childs concluded that the study’s design produced a lack of clear data, possibly resulting in an “experimental artifact.”