Vitamin E supplementation and endurance exercise - Are there benefits?

It has been widely noted that vitamin E shows numerous beneficial effects t hrough and beyond its antioxidative properties, consequently, vitamin E is expected to prevent degenerative diseases. In the field of sports medicine, many studies dealing with vitamin E have been conducted originally from th e point of view of its effects on physical performance. Although some earli er studies indicated that vitamin E supplementation could improve physical performance, defects in the study design or statistical analysis were point ed out at a later time. The majority of subsequent well controlled studies have reported no significant effect on physical performance from vitamin E supplementation. Recent studies suggest that endurance exercise may promote free radical generation in the body, and vitamin E may play an important r ole in preventing the free radical damage associated with endurance exercis e. Although there is evidence of free radical involvement in exercise-induc ed muscle injury, vitamin E supplementation might not be expected to preven t muscle damage caused by exercise in humans without a vitamin E deficiency . Since it is;Still unclear whether exercise induces lipid peroxidation in the human body, the beneficial effect of vitamin E supplementation on exerc ise-induced lipid peroxidation has not yet been established. However, it is proposed that as a result of exercise vitamin E may be mobilised from stor e tissues and redistributed in the body to prevent oxidative damage. Theref ore, we are convinced that vitamin E contributes to preventing exercise-ind uced lipid peroxidation. It has also been indicated that strenuous enduranc e exercise may enhance the production of oxidised low density lipoprotein ( LDL), which plays a key role in the initiation and progression of atheroscl erosis. It is also suggested that this enhanced production of oxidised LDL could be reduced if a higher vitamin E status is maintained. Supplementatio n with 100 to 200mg of vitamin E daily can be recommended for all endurance athletes to prevent exercise-induced oxidative damage and to reap the full health benefits of exercise.