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Certified: National Academy of Sports Medicine

Vitamin E To the Rescue!

Vitamin E may help ease muscle aches after a tough workout, a new study suggests. Researchers believe that the antioxidant mops up the damaging byproducts created by a strenuous workout.

Here's what happens during your workout: As the body increases its use of oxygen, byproducts of oxygen metabolism -- called free radicals -- can do damage to muscle tissue. This damage can result in soreness and fatigue after strenuous exercise.

In fact, "that oxidative stress may increase with age," writes lead author Jennifer M. Sacheck, PhD, a researcher in the Antioxidant Research Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston.

Those who are already physically fit probably do not need to take a vitamin E supplement to ward off what little post-workout soreness they might feel, Sacheck says. However "'weekend warrior' types who are not always exercising on a regular basis may receive greater benefits to supplementation."

Sacheck presented her findings at the annual Experimental Biology 2002 conference this week.

Previous studies conducted by Sacheck's team had already revealed that vitamin E was capable of soaking up excess free radicals.

In their study, they had two groups of men -- one group ages 23 to 35, and older men between 66 and 78 -- take either a placebo or a 1,000 IU supplement of vitamin E every day for three months. They tested the athletes' soreness after a 45-minute downhill run at the beginning of the test -- before they had taken the vitamin E supplement -- and at the end of the three-month period.

"Muscle damage, oxidative stress and inflammation all still occurred following intense exercise," Sacheck says in a news release. "However, these responses (were) blunted in both young and older men" who took vitamin E.

Young men saw the most benefits in terms of reduced muscle soreness and damage, she says, but older men also benefited.

Whether women can get the same benefit is not clear, since circulating estrogens could reduce the potency of the antioxidant. However, "following menopause and the loss of extra estrogen, I would predict that older women would respond similarly to older men," she says.

While her study participants took a relatively high dose of vitamin E, Sacheck comments that the average person could probably get the same benefits from lower doses of between 200 to 400 IU per day.

*Vitamin E eases aching muscles, by Jeanie Davis WebMD 2002

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The information on this web site is intended for information reference purposes only and is not intended as a substitute to professional medical advice. Prior to participating in any exercise program or activity, it is recommended that you seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care professional. None of the information on this web site should be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition.