FREE-RADICALS AND ANTIOXIDANT STRATEGIES IN SPORTS

Reactive oxygen species are continuously produced in the human body. Some of these have beneficial effects but when produced in excess, beyond the antioxidant capacity of the body, they can cause tissue damage. Exercise causes an increased oxygen consumption in vivo; however a small part of the oxygen consumed leads to formation of reactive oxygen species. This review discusses the possibility that use of a range of antioxidants combined with new methods for measuring oxidant generation would help to delineate the contribution of nutrients to the modulation of the consequences of free radicals in the human body during exercise.