There’s evidence out in the scientific literature that taking anti-oxidants is actually counterproductive. These are abstracts from 2 recent review articles - others are out there as well. Personally, I do not take any multi-vitamins. The only supplement I will take is Vitamin D, and only during periods when I am not regularly outdoors.
Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2012;2012:707941. Epub 2012 Aug 13.
Does vitamin C and e supplementation impair the favorable adaptations of regular exercise?
Nikolaidis MG, Kerksick CM, Lamprecht M, McAnulty SR.
Department of Physical Education and Sports Science at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 62110 Serres, Greece.
The detrimental outcomes associated with unregulated and excessive production of free radicals remains a physiological concern that has implications to health, medicine and performance. Available evidence suggests that physiological adaptations to exercise training can enhance the body’s ability to quench free radicals and circumstantial evidence exists to suggest that key vitamins and nutrients may provide additional support to mitigate the untoward effects associated with increased free radical production. However, controversy has risen regarding the potential outcomes associated with vitamins C and E, two popular antioxidant nutrients. Recent evidence has been put forth suggesting that exogenous administration of these antioxidants may be harmful to performance making interpretations regarding the efficacy of antioxidants challenging. The available studies that employed both animal and human models provided conflicting outcomes regarding the efficacy of vitamin C and E supplementation, at least partly due to methodological differences in assessing oxidative stress and training adaptations. Based on the contradictory evidence regarding the effects of higher intakes of vitamin C and/or E on exercise performance and redox homeostasis, a permanent intake of non-physiological dosages of vitamin C and/or E cannot be recommended to healthy, exercising individuals.
Sports Med. 2011 Dec 1;41(12):1043-69. doi: 10.2165/11594400-000000000-00000.
Antioxidant supplementation during exercise training: beneficial or detrimental?
Peternelj TT, Coombes JS.
School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. tpeternelj@hms.uq.edu.au
High levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced in skeletal muscle during exercise have been associated with muscle damage and impaired muscle function. Supporting endogenous defence systems with additional oral doses of antioxidants has received much attention as a noninvasive strategy to prevent or reduce oxidative stress, decrease muscle damage and improve exercise performance. Over 150 articles have been published on this topic, with almost all of these being small-scale, low-quality studies. The consistent finding is that antioxidant supplementation attenuates exercise-induced oxidative stress. However, any physiological implications of this have yet to be consistently demonstrated, with most studies reporting no effects on exercise-induced muscle damage and performance. Moreover, a growing body of evidence indicates detrimental effects of antioxidant supplementation on the health and performance benefits of exercise training. Indeed, although ROS are associated with harmful biological events, they are also essential to the development and optimal function of every cell. The aim of this review is to present and discuss 23 studies that have shown that antioxidant supplementation interferes with exercise training-induced adaptations. The main findings of these studies are that, in certain situations, loading the cell with high doses of antioxidants leads to a blunting of the positive effects of exercise training and interferes with important ROS-mediated physiological processes, such as vasodilation and insulin signalling. More research is needed to produce evidence-based guidelines regarding the use of antioxidant supplementation during exercise training. We recommend that an adequate intake of vitamins and minerals through a varied and balanced diet remains the best approach to maintain the optimal antioxidant status in exercising individuals.
Looking for a quality multivitamin to take. I’ve been interested in taking 1st Endurance MultiV but wanted to see if any ST’er have more insight.