Anti-inflammatory Dietary Interventions and Supplements to Improve Performance during Athletic Training

Abstract

Despite the numerous positive effects of physical exercise, some negative physiological changes occur in long-lasting heavy training with transient dysfunction of the immune system, increased inflammation, and oxidative stress. This is the case of elite athletes, who train intensively to compete at the highest levels. However, these athletes can counteract the negative effects of heavy training, reducing acute and chronic inflammations and supporting the immune system, with nutritional and supplementation countermeasures. For this purpose, macronutrient manipulation with an appropriate use of certain supplements can be considered as an intervention to reduce exercise-induced immune changes and inflammatory risk. For example, branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation may promote such immune responses in skeletal muscle. Furthermore, micronutrients play an important role in immune function; in particular, the antioxidant capacity of several dietary micronutrients (e.g., tocopherols, docosahexaenoate, and flavonoids) is very interesting to support the endogenous antioxidant defense systems of the athletes, counterbalancing the negative effects of oxidative damage due to free radicals. Some of these nutrients have potential anti-inflammatory properties as assessed by the attenuated levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Key Teaching Points: Long-lasting heavy training plan and competition can lead to chronic immune suppression in athletes, increasing infection risk. Chronic exercise increases mobilization of neutrophils, decreases mobilization of lymphocytes, and decreases the absolute and relative numbers of neutrophils at rest. Nutritional deficiencies alter the immuno-system and increase infection risk. Nutrition can influence exercise-induced immune suppression. Elite athletes competing at the highest levels can benefit from nutritional and supplementation support to improve immunity and reduce acute and chronic inflammations.

Effects of almond, dried grape and dried cranberry consumption on endurance exercise performance, recovery and psychomotor speed: protocol of a randomised controlled trial

“…Exercise performance may also be improved by enhancing postexercise recovery, which may enable greater tolerance to training. One approach to improving training tolerance is to increase the availability of antioxidants which neutralise exercise-induced free radicals and thereby have the potential to reduce muscle damage 8 9. Additionally, NO may promote postexercise muscle repair through activation of satellite cells involved in muscle remodelling and hypertrophy,10 and through increased blood flow, which may enhance nutrient replenishment and muscle protein synthesis in fatigued muscle 11…”

Effects of Protein Versus Carbohydrate Supplementation on Markers of Immune Response in Master Triathletes: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The decreased after-intervention lymphocyte levels along with observed moderate effect size for increasing neutrophils and the concomitant rise in Neutrophils-to-Lymphocytes ratio for the PRO condition together with the absence of changes in cellular immune markers in the CHO group would reinforce the aforementioned statement that carbohydrates would be an effective nutrient to effectively counteract exercise-induced cellular immune dysfunction in endurance athletes [3,29]. Nonetheless, as previously discussed, both groups consumed a similar amount of total daily carbohydrates during the intervention.…”

Effect of n-3 fatty acids supplementation during life style modification in women with overweight

“…Although from prospective long-term studies there has been demonstrated an inverse association between physical activity and inflammatory markers, particularly interleukin 6 (IL-6) (9), increased IL-6 and IL-8 levels were also reported following a 3-day period of intense physical running training (2.5 h/day) (26). Similarly, the transient dysfunction of the immune system, increased inflammation with a chronic increase in IL6, and oxidative stress are negative effects of physical exercise, which occurred in long-duration heavy training athletes (27). Thus, our results also help to clarify some benefits regarding the effects of EPA + DHA on adiponectin and IL6 homeostasis in overweight women with moderate physical activity.…”