The effect of combined vitamin c, e b-carotene and selenium supplementation on physical performance and antioxidant status in young men

The aim of the research was to evaluate the effect of antioxidant vitamin supplementation on physical performance in young males. The research material included 24 male students, divided into two groups: C – control, S – supplemented with vitamin C, E, b-carotene and selenium. Both groups performed a identical onehour ergocycle effort with varied intensity before and after 3 and 6 weeks of the experiment. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and total work output (TWO) were evaluated for all subjects. Blood concentration of lactate (LA), a-tocopherol, gtocopherol, selenium, retinol, malondialdehyde (MDA), creatine kinase (CK) activity and activities of antioxidant enzymes – SOD, GSH-Px, CAT was evaluated. The students supplemented with antioxidant vitamins increased their VO2max by 11% and TWO by 9%, yet these differences were statistically insignificant. After 3 weeks of supplementation the concentration of a-tocopherol increased significantly, while that of vitamin C did not. The level of g-tocopherol and retinol did not change after 6 weeks of supplementation, the level of the metabolites returned to initial values, except that of g-tocopherol which decreased significantly (p<0,05). The improvement of physical work capacity was much higher for the group receiving antioxidant vitamins, thus the authors suggest supplementation with such vitamins over the period of 3 weeks for endurance athletes. Supplementation with antioxidant enzymes did not changes activities of SOD, GSH-Px and CAT. Since all of the vitamins and selenium present in the Zellschutz products have antioxidant properties, it is difficult to establish which one has the greatest effect on physical work capacity. It seems necessary to conduct further research in this area with particular vitamins at different doses.