ReviewSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2015
Impact of Dietary Antioxidants on Sport Performance: A Review.
Review in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 84 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
84 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 162 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of cysteine on lifespan in three model organisms: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Aging cell · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Polyphenol supplementation boosts aerobic endurance in athletes: systematic review.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Pooled it
- Can molecular hydrogen supplementation reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress in healthy adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of dietary supplements on athletic performance in elite soccer players: a systematic review.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of Flavonoid Supplementation on Athletic Performance in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of molecular hydrogen supplementation on fatigue and aerobic capacity in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Nitrate Intake on Recovery from Exercise-Related Fatigue: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review: Role of dietary supplements on markers of exercise-associated gut damage and permeability.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of spirulina in exercise and sport: A systematic review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of food sources of nitrate, polyphenols, L-arginine and L-citrulline on endurance exercise performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Strategies to decrease oxidative stress biomarker levels in human medical conditions: A meta-analysis on 8-iso-prostaglandin FRedox biology · 2018Pooled it
- Cocoa Flavanol Supplementation and Exercise: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2018Pooled it
- Performance and Side Effects of Supplementation with N-Acetylcysteine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2017Pooled it
- Polyphenols and Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2017Pooled it
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24 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many athletes supplement with antioxidants in the belief this will reduce muscle damage, immune dysfunction and fatigue, and will thus improve performance, while some evidence suggests it impairs training adaptations. Here we review the effect of a range of dietary antioxidants and their effects on sport performance, including vitamin E, quercetin, resveratrol, beetroot juice, other food-derived polyphenols, spirulina and N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Older studies suggest vitamin E improves performance at altitude, with possible harmful effects on sea-level performance. Acute intake of vitamin E is worthy of further consideration, if plasma levels can be elevated sufficiently. Quercetin has a small beneficial effect for exercise of longer duration (>100 min), but it is unclear whether this benefits athletes. Resveratrol benefits trained rodents; more research is needed in athletes. Meta-analysis of beetroot juice studies has revealed that the nitrate component of beetroot juice had a substantial but unclear effect on performance when averaged across athletes, non-athletes and modes of exercise (single dose 1.4 ± 2.0%, double dose 0.5 ± 1.9%). The effect of addition of polyphenols and other components to beetroot juice was trivial but unclear (single dose 0.4 ± 3.2%, double dose -0.5 ± 3.3%). Other food-derived polyphenols indicate a range of performance outcomes from a large improvement to moderate impairment. Limited evidence suggests spirulina enhances endurance performance. Intravenous NAC improved endurance cycling performance and reduced muscle fatigue. On the basis of vitamin E and NAC studies, acute intake of antioxidants is likely to be beneficial. However, chronic intakes of most antioxidants have a harmful effect on performance.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.