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Exercise-Induced Oxidation

Physical exercise is associated with an increase in oxidation in the body (which contributes to fatigue, but also mediates beneficial adaptations to exercise), and ingestion of some antioxidant supplements may reduce oxidation and are thought to prolong endurance.

Kamal Patel
Research analysis led by Kamal Patel.
All content reviewed by the Examine.com Team. Published:
Last Updated:

Human Effect Matrix

The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (it excludes animal and in vitro studies) to tell you what supplements affect exercise-induced oxidation
Grade Level of Evidence
Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials
Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled
Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies
Uncontrolled or observational studies only
Level of Evidence
? The amount of high quality evidence. The more evidence, the more we can trust the results.
Outcome Magnitude of effect
? The direction and size of the supplement's impact on each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.
Consistency of research results
? Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.
Notes
grade-b Coenzyme Q10 Minor Moderate See all 4 studies
Mixed effects on exercise-induced oxidation, but there appears to be some potential for CoQ10 supplementation to reduce oxidation.
grade-b L-Carnitine Minor Very High See all 5 studies
A decrease in the exercise-induced increase in MDA levels is seen with carnitine supplementation, possibly secondary to reducing damage to muscle tissue. The degree of MDA reduction is not overly remarkable
grade-c Methylsulfonylmethane Notable - See study
A decrease in exercise induced oxidation is noted with MSM supplementation and thought to be the underlying reason for reductions in muscle damage and soreness. The degree of reduction seems to be notable, as the increase in MDA and protein carbonylation were fully abolished
grade-c Resveratrol  
grade-c Fish Oil  
grade-c Green Tea Catechins  
grade-c Melatonin  
grade-c Astaxanthin  
grade-c Phosphatidylserine  
grade-c Vitamin C  
grade-d Cocoa Extract  
grade-d Blueberry  

All comparative evidence is now gathered in our ​A-to-Z Supplement Reference.

The evidence for each separate supplement is still freely available ​here.

This page is regularly updated, to include the most recently available clinical trial evidence.

Each member of our research team is required to have no conflicts of interest, including with supplement manufacturers, food companies, and industry funders. The team includes nutrition researchers, registered dietitians, physicians, and pharmacists. We have a strict editorial process.

This page features 0 references. All factual claims are followed by specifically-applicable references. Click here to see the full set of references for this page.

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