N3-PUFA Beneficial Only When Combined With Antioxidants
All of you who have been following this blog, lately, will have noticed that I tend to be skeptic whether fish oil and other PUFA supplements are recommendable without certain reservations. A recent study by Filaire et al. ( Filaire. 2011 ) seems to support the view that poly-unsaturated fatty acids increase the potential for oxidative damage and should thus be combined with appropriate amounts of antioxidants to "compensate" this effect. Over a period of 6 weeks the researchers supplemented a group of 36 judoists with either 600 mg EPA and 400 mg DHA per day or the same amount of long chain polyunsaturated fatty [LCPUFA] acids plus 30 mg vitamin E, 60 mg vitamin C and 6 mg β-carotene and measured resting and exercise-induced lipid peroxidation in their subjects. Here are the results: At T (1) [before supplementation], there were no significant differences among treatment groups with respect to lipid peroxidation, lag phase, and levels of α-tocopherol o...