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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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30.01.2013 |
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Fish oil helps athletes' immune system to fight cancer cells
The Brits decided to go in a different direction and examined the effect of fish-oil capsules. They were inspired by a study done in 2007 at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, which showed that post-training fish-oil supplementation improved the functioning the immune system of swimmers. [Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2007 Oct-Nov; 77(3-4): 139-45.]
The Brits did an experiment with 17 male subjects, all of whom were in their mid-twenties. The researchers got their subjects to cycle for an hour at 70 percent of their VO2max.
Half of the men had taken 3 g olive oil in capsule form [Control] for a period of six weeks up to the cycling session; the other half took 3 g fish oil [Fish Oil] daily. The 3 g fish oil contained 1.3 g EPA and 0.3 g DHA.
After the session the researchers analysed the men's blood. They discovered that the immune cells of the men who had been given fish oil three hours after the workout produced more interleukin-2. Interleukin-2 inhibits the immune system's activities against healthy cells, as happens in people suffering from arthritis and diabetes. Interleukin-2 also activates Natural Killer cells, the immune system's primitive but effective storm troopers, which spring to action immediately a pathogen enters the body and decimate cells that develop abnormally.
The researchers added immune cells to human cancer cells in test tubes and then counted how many cancer cells the immune cells destroyed. The figure above shows that the immune cells killed more cancer cells three hours after the session if the men had taken fish oil.
"The findings in the current study demonstrate that supplementation with fish oil rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can enhance aspects of the innate and acquired immune system after exercise and it would be of clear interest, therefore, to determine whether over the longer term fish oil could decrease the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections associated with intense exercise training", the researchers write.
The British study was not financed by a supplements manufacturer.
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