Fish Oils: Helpful for Exercise Performance?
Not only is there a positive relationship existing between good health and nutrition, but the latter has a significant impact on sporting performance. If one is a competing athlete, a dedicated daily exerciser as well as a weekend sports player, the basis of improved performance is a well-balanced diet. An essential training meal must have sufficient nutrients and energy to meet the requirements of exercise and training, improve recovery and adaptation between training sessions, and to promote long-term ad short-term health of athletes. Furthermore, the diet must provide sufficient fluids to ensure adequate hydration before, during, and after training. The wide variety of food comprises of vegetables, cereals, fruits, low-fat dairy products, lean meat to promote nutritional behaviors and habits. Other people choose to use dietary supplements such as fish oils to boosts performance.
Fish Oil
Fish oil has omega-3 fatty acids which are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Being polyunsaturated fatty acids, they have double bonds after a third carbon atom within the carbon chain. Fish, such as salmon and tuna, is considered the primary source of omega -3 fatty acids, even though they do not produce it, they accumulate them through consuming either fish or microalgae that has a considerable quantity of omega-3 fatty acids. Combing EPA and DH appear to lower the chances of cardiovascular illness, decrease the release of inflammatory proteins, and low superoxide anion production. However, an old study revealed that fish oil never lowered the likelihood of cardiovascular disease.
Intense exercise often causes chronic inflammation, which is revealed by the increased tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) and C-reactive protein (CRP) biomarkers. The Omega-3 fatty acids, acting as precursors to prostaglandins, assist in reducing inflammation. They are assumed to transform the muscle cell membrane through influencing the production of cytokines, receptor function, and membrane fluidity that minimizes the effect of training on muscle damage.
The peripheral and central nerves compromise polyunsaturated fatty acids, which the omega fatty acids help to create muscle membranes, myelin, and neurons. Eating fish oil improves the neuromuscular engagements and nerve conduction, at the same time decreasing the exercised-caused inflammation.
Old People
In old age, people lose skeletal muscle with the reactive oxygen species within mitochondria of muscle cells leads to a modification to muscle fibers. Omega-3 supplementation has been established to aid reduce blood markers of inflammation plus cause delayed onset of muscle damage and muscle soreness. The advantages of fish oil for older adults is more for older people compared to younger athletes. It is because PUFAs affect central nervous and cardiovascular systems in old individuals prompting to integrate with exercise. Persons who have experienced before a heart attack or myocardial, EPA/DHA supplementation for some months stabilizes and reduces most post-training cardiovascular markers comprising heart rate variability, stroke volume, and heart rate recovery. Researchers have revealed increased quadriceps strength plus general activation of skeletal muscles well as force in elderly and postmenopausal women who have combined fish oil supplementation with exercise.
Endurance Training
Despite the advantages of fish oil for endurance training, it might not be adequate to call for supplementation just for physical performance. Fish oils perform as a vasodilator, assisting in improving the movement of oxygen into the skeletal muscle when exercising. Research done on rats, the DHA supplementation caused the increase in the endurance of exercise capacity as well as mitochondrial performance within skeletal muscle. Endurance athletes might experience enhancement in muscle flexibility with omega-3 usage. Among the young athletes, the fish oil supplementation could promote reduced heart rate, lower heart rate variability, as well as oxygen utilization needed during training.
Nonetheless, various researches have demonstrated significant improvements in levels of immunity and inflammation. Men who took DHA/EPA supplements for six weeks and climbing a hill while caring for a load had a significantly decreased amount of resting TNF-a a CPR in comparison to the control group. A different group of young women and men conducted maximal endurance tests demonstrated that supplementation with fish oil did not have a transformation in immune function nor markers of exercise performance. The outcomes of those studies suggested that individuals who typically involved in endurance exercise might have minimum oxidative stress responses to training since regular exercise generally improves the body’s antioxidant system. Hence, fish oil supplementation based on an increasing athlete’s performance might not be necessary for endurance.
Strength Training
Studies have been done to explore the importance of fish oil usage for strength training. The omega -3 in the human body promotes nerve conduction hence affecting the muscle activation. Research has revealed that DHA/EPA ingestion before an unconventional bicep twist tests promote more repetition, improve motion, and reduces the amount of inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6. Furthermore, it was reported delayed muscle soreness and improvement of muscle strength three days after exercise. In maximal back squat evaluation, athletes who use omega-3 had lower fatigue and improved muscle activation. Those taking the supplements had a better recovery compared to the control group after doing a squat test.
Supplementation with fish oils has shown to improve cardiovascular and nervous systems as well as anti-inflammatory effects that prevent exercise-caused muscle harm. Whereas the advantage for endurance athletes is unclear, the use of omega-3 appears to be helpful for older adults and persons involved in strength training. The purpose of the fish oils supplementation as part of recovery routing for athletes might be worthwhile depending on an individual and their goals.