Short-Term High-Dose Vitamin C and E Supplementation Attenuates Muscle Damage and Inflammatory Responses to Repeated Taekwondo Competitions: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial

Background: Exercise-induced muscle damage during intensive sport events is a very common

issue in sport medicine. Therefore, the purpose is to investigate the effects of short-term high-dose

vitamin C and E supplementation on muscle damage, hemolysis, and inflammatory responses to

simulated competitive Olympic Taekwondo (TKD) matches in elite athletes.

Methods: Using a randomized placebo-controlled and double-blind study design, eighteen elite

male TKD athletes were weight-matched and randomly assigned into either a vitamin C and E group

(Vit C+E; N = 9) or placebo group (PLA; N = 9). Vit C+E or PLA supplements were taken daily (Vit

C+E: 2000 mg/d vitamin C; 1400 U/d vitamin E) for 4 days (3 days before and on competition day)

before taking part in 4 consecutive TKD matches on a single day. Plasma samples were obtained

before each match and 24-hours after the first match for determination of markers of muscle

damage, hemolysis, and systemic inflammatory state.

Results: Myoglobin was lower in the Vit C+E group, compared to PLA, during the match day (area

under curve, AUC -47.0% vs. PLA, p = 0.021). Plasma creatine kinase was lower in the Vit C+E

group (AUC -57.5% vs. PLA, p = 0.017) and hemolysis was lower in the Vit C+E group (AUC -40.5%

vs. PLA, p = 0.034).

Conclusions: We demonstrated that short-term (4-days) vitamin C and E supplementation

effectively attenuated exercise-induced tissue damage and inflammatory response during and after

successive TKD matches.