Antioxidants can diminish the potential oxidative stress produced by high volume and intensity endurance training. However, it is not entirely clear whether an increased oxidative stress caused by training is actually harmful to the athlete. The degree that an increase in free radical production during high training loads regulates signalling required for training adaptations warrants further investigation. While these issues are being resolved, athletes should seek advice on antioxidant supplementation from their health care practitioner(s) who should be assessing individual requirements in terms of underlying health, dietary intakes and training loads.
There is some evidence that increased dietary antioxidants modify the disease pattern in illnesses with an inflammatory aetiology. It is likely that diets that increase fruit and/or vegetable intake (and therefore high in dietary antioxidants) have a num
ber of unknown beneficial biological actions that cannot currently be identified or measured. More research is needed to determine whether dietary interventions that benefit disease groups in the general community, such as those with asthma, transfer directly to hardworking but otherwise healthy endurance athletes.
Mixed diets high in antioxidants may be safer than antioxidant supplementation and possibly confer greater benefits. Higher antioxidant intakes may help maintain a normal pro-oxidant/antioxidant balance. Endurance athletes who undertake very high levels of training, either living and/or training at moderate to high altitudes, or who participate in ultra-endurance competitions, may benefit from antioxidant supplementation.
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183
12.1 Introduction ... 184 12.2 Can Supplementation with Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Concentrates
Modulate Redox Homeostasis in Exercising People?... 185 12.2.1 Randomised Controlled Trials That Investigated Fruit
and Vegetable Supplementation on Redox Homeostasis
in Exercising People ... 185 12.2.2 Fruit and Vegetable Supplementation and Adaptation to
Physical Exercise ... 188 12.3 Can Supplementation with Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Concentrates
Modulate the Immune System of Exercising People? ... 189 12.3.1 Recommendations and Practical Considerations for Fruit and
Vegetable Intake ... 189 12.3.2 Fruit and Vegetable Supplementation, Immunity and
Related Studies ... 189 12.3.3 Dosage of Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Supplementation ... 190 12.3.4 Inevitable: Immunity and Performance Are Housed under
the Same Roof... 191 12.4 How Can Sport Nutrition Advisors Decide Whether or Not to
Supplement with Mixed FV Concentrates? ... 194 12.5 Concluding Remarks ... 196 References... 198
Influence of Mixed Fruit
12 and Vegetable
Concentrates on Redox Homeostasis and
Immune System of Exercising People
Manfred Lamprecht, Georg Obermayer and Werner Seebauer
CONTENTS
184 Antioxidants in Sport Nutrition
12.1 INTRODUCTION
Sufficient and regular consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV) is commonly regarded as an essential nutritional, preventive activity to maintain health. A lot of scientific publications demonstrate that adequate consumption of plant foods is asso
ciated with a decreased risk of chronic degenerative diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes or certain types of cancer (Bazzano et al., 2008; Dauchet et al., 2005, 2006; Iqbal et al., 2008; Joshipura et al., 1999; Ness and Powles, 1997;
Nikolić et al., 2008; Nöthlings et al., 2008; Pomerleau et al., 2006; Steinmetz and Potter, 1996; Wright et al., 2008; Yamaji et al., 2008). The risk-reducing effects are attributed to bioactive components including phytochemicals, phytonutrients and vitamins, minerals and fibre (Brown et al., 1999; Dragsted et al., 2004; Herrera et al., 2009; Lampe, 1999).
Around the world, various Public Health Nutrition strategies such as ‘5 a day’ are applied to encourage people to increase consumption of FV. However, these have met with limited success: nutrition reports and surveys reveal that people consume about 300 g of FV per day (Billson et al., 1999; Casagrande et al., 2007; Elmadfa et al., 2008; German Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 2011; Naska et al., 2000), far less than the recommended 400 g up to 650 g per day (Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, 1998; United States Department of Agriculture, 2010; WHO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2003).
Many people rarely achieve the recommended intake of FV due to several rea
sons such as taste preferences, convenience, availability, difficult coordination with their working world, ignorance and so on. FV consumption before exercise training can also lead to digestive discomfort during exercise due to the high fructose and fibre content (Ivy and Portman, 2004; Lamprecht and Smekal, 2004). Inadequate FV intake in a person’s daily diet can lead to underconsumption of bioactive compounds.
This situation provides a rationale for offering concentrated FV nutrition, especially for exercising people.
A well-balanced mixture of phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and other bioac
tives from a variety of FV may lead to additive and synergistic interactions in human metabolism that result in health benefits (Liu, 2003; Oude Griep et al., 2010). Hence, to bring as many as possible of these FV bioactives together in one supplement might be superior to supplements containing only vitamins, phytochemicals, juice or pow
der from just one or a few fruits and/or vegetables.
This chapter refers to studies that used supplementation with mixed FV concen
trates in relation to exercising people and their redox and immune system, indepen
dent of the training status. We address three questions:
• Can supplementation with mixed FV concentrates modulate redox homeo
stasis in exercising people?
• Can supplementation with mixed FV concentrates modulate the immune system of exercising people?
• How can sport nutrition advisors decide whether or not to supplement with mixed FV concentrates?