Anti-oxidants reduce muscle growth?

Can anti-oxidants hamper muscle growth?

Excessive oxidative stress can cause damage to tissues and is therefore often labeled as ‘bad’. Anti-oxidants can reduce oxidative stress and are therefore seen as ‘good’. However, such oversimplification is wrong.

For example, exercise increases oxidative stress in muscle. This triggers the muscle to adapt to exercise, suggesting that some level of oxidative stress can be beneficial. Therefore, it could be speculated that anti-oxidant supplementation should be avoided around exercise?

This study investigated whether a high-dose anti-oxidant supplement affects lean body mass gains during 12 weeks of resistance training in older adults. One group received vitamin C (500 mg) and E (117.5 mg) before and after each training session, while the other group received a placebo supplement.

The group that received the anti-oxidant supplement showed lower lean body mass gains compared to the placebo group.

However, this does not mean that anti-oxidants should be completely avoided.

The dosages of vitamin C and E in this study were very high. For example, oranges are typically known for a high vitamin C content. You would have to eat 10 oranges before exercise, and 10 again after exercise to get the same amount of vitamin C supplemented in this study. Therefore, it seems unnecessary to avoid antioxidants from regular food.

However, it is probably a good idea to try to avoid high anti-oxidant supplements, especially close to training.

Study:
Bjørnsen et al. Vitamin C and E supplementation blunts increases in total lean body mass in elderly men after strength training. Scand J Med Sci Sport, 2016

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