Blood markers Fatry data show a significant increase of CK activity following EIMD before Restorative services to baseline in Organic nutrition tips groups, mirroring those previously acida [ 935 ]. It is important to note, however, that target O3i for non-cardiovascular conditions is not well-established and continuing research is needed to investigate the impact of O3i on athlete health and performance measures. Ochi E, Tsuchiya Y. ALA is found in plant-based nuts, seeds, and oils.

Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes -

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: This research was supported by the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association Research Award www. org which was awarded to first author Peter P. Ritz in The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ω-3 FA , namely long-chain eicosapentaenoic acid EPA and docosahexaenoic acid DHA , serve as structural components within phospholipid cell membranes.

In athletes, ω-3 FA have been associated with the management of exercise-induced oxidative stress [ 19 , 20 , 23 — 25 ], delayed onset muscle soreness [ 21 , 22 , 25 , 26 ], oxygen efficiency during aerobic exercise [ 2 ], anaerobic endurance capacity [ 3 ], and skeletal muscle health [ 14 — 18 ].

The neuroprotective role of DHA as related to concussion and traumatic brain injury TBI risk has also been explored, with particular application to American football athletes [ 8 — 13 ].

As essential fats, EPA and DHA must be obtained exogenously because the human body has limited ability to synthesize these ω-3 FA from precursor ω-3 FA alpha-linolenic acid ALA [ 27 ]. Some of the richest food sources, such as salmon, may have up to ten times the EPA and DHA content compared with less rich sources like shrimp and tilapia [ 28 — 32 ].

Also of note, frequent consumption of some common sources of ω-3 FA may risk overexposure to mercury [ 28 ]. To meet ALA needs, the National Academy of Medicine formerly Institute of Medicine recommends consumption of at least 1. Low ω-3 FA intake appears to be prevalent within the general population of North America [ 28 , 29 , 37 , 38 ].

In addition to ω-3 FA intake, ω-3 FA status may be evaluated using the Omega-3 Index O3i , which reflects the sum of EPA and DHA in erythrocyte membranes as a percentage of total erythrocyte fatty acids [ 4 ]. Compared to other methods, O3i requires a minimum amount of blood i. Recently, an average O3i of 4.

universities [ 44 ]. A large scale assessment of O3i in collegiate athletes has not been described in the published literature, to our knowledge.

However, advocacy from member institutions facilitated a NCAA legislation change, reclassifying ω-3 FA supplements as permissible for athletic departments to purchase and provide for athletes [ 46 ].

As a result of this rule change, interest in and availability of ω-3 FA supplements has risen. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the ω-3 FA intake and O3i of male and female NCAA Division I athletes who participate in a variety of sports.

A multi-site, cross-sectional study was designed to assess the ω-3 FA dietary intake, ω-3 FA supplement use, and O3i of NCAA Division I athletes. These assessments were carried out during the — academic year.

In an effort to recruit a geographically diverse subject pool, the research team solicited volunteer research collaborators registered dietitians or sports performance staff employed by their respective athletics programs from the NCAA Division I Power 5 institutional membership Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big Twelve Conference, Pacific Conference, and Southeastern Conference.

Research collaborators provided oversite for on-site data collection in conjunction with the primary research team and served as liaisons to the primary research team. One institution from each of eight regions throughout the U.

was accepted on a first come-first served basis , with the exception of the Northeast from which two were ultimately accepted since one became unable to complete blood measurements after agreeing to participate. The nine participating institutions represented the following states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Participating institutions were assured protection of program identity at the level of state. Male and female athletes who were over the age of 18 years and on a current roster for any NCAA Division I sport at one of the participating institutions were eligible to participate. A twenty six-item food frequency questionnaire FFQ validated to assess ω-3 FA dietary intake [ 39 , 47 ] was administered to eligible participants electronically using Qualtrics version XM, Provo, Utah, U.

Consent to participate was inferred by completion of the FFQ. The FFQ was modified to include demographic characteristics of participants sex, age, academic year, and sport and ω-3 FA supplement use. Within the FFQ, participants reported the frequency of consumption and average portion size for an extensive list of ω-3 FA food sources including fish, shellfish, walnuts, canola oil, flaxseed, flaxseed oil, and cod liver oil.

For participants who indicated that they consumed ω-3 FA supplements, information about brand, form, dosage, and frequency taken was requested. The FFQ results were compiled and analyzed using methodology outlined by Sublette et al [ 47 ]. Previously published databases [ 30 — 32 ] were used as a reference for ω-3 FA content of foods consumed based on source and portion size reported.

Responses with more than one unanswered question were omitted from analyses. Following completion of the dietary assessment portion of the study, participants were offered the opportunity to volunteer for a second portion of the study: analysis of blood fatty acids.

A single drop of whole blood was collected from the index or middle finger and applied to a blood spot card pre-treated with an antioxidant cocktail.

Blood collection was carried out by a registered dietitian or certified athletic trainer in an athletic training room or sports medicine facility. Samples were shipped to a central laboratory OmegaQuant, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.

within fourteen days for analysis of fatty acids and calculation of the O3i using gas chromatography. This methodology was described in detail by Harris and Polreis [ 48 ]. Data were analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS version Descriptive statistics are expressed as means and standard deviations for continuous data, and frequencies and percentages for categorical data.

Data were tested for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Differences in outcomes between demographic groups were calculated using analysis of variance ANOVA or chi-square tests.

Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the effects of diet on O3i with adjustment for demographic covariates including institution, sex, age, class year, and sport.

Football vs non-football sport comparisons were made in order to compare results to existing literature, and because football programs may have different resources and athlete characteristics as compared with other sports. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Virginia Tech IRB 18— and respective institutional research review committees.

Consent for the dietary assessment portion of the study was inferred based on voluntary completion. Written and informed consent was provided by participants before starting the blood fatty acid portion of the study. In all, participants completed the dietary assessment portion of the study and completed the blood analysis portion.

Thirty-four FFQs were incomplete and thus, excluded from analysis. We also excluded 3 participants from the blood analysis since they did not have complete FFQ submissions. Descriptive characteristics of participants are shown in Table 1. Participants represented 15 different male sports and 19 different female sports from nine institutions.

There were no differences in demographics between subject cohorts completing the dietary assessment and blood analysis portions of the study except that the blood cohort included 10 different male sports and 11 different female sports, and the Pennsylvania institution did not participate in the blood analysis Table 1.

These cohorts are representative of NCAA Division I athletes across the U. In order to protect anonymity and confidentiality of our high profile population, we have not made full data points publicly available.

Frequency of fish and seafood consumed and sources of fish and seafood consumed by participants are shown in Figs 1 and 2 , respectively.

Male participants consumed significantly more EPA and DHA than female participants and female participants consumed significantly more ALA than male participants Table 2. Most participants provided no response to brand, type, and dose of ω-3 FA supplements consumed. Result of blood fatty acid and O3i analyses are shown in Table 3.

O3i ranged from 2. There were no significant differences in blood measures based on sex Fig 4 , institution, age, or academic year. Ranges associated with risk for development of cardiovascular disease [ 4 — 6 ].

Dietary intake of both EPA and DHA were positively correlated with blood EPA, DHA, and O3i Table 4. There was no correlation between dietary ALA intake and blood levels of EPA, DHA, ALA or O3i Table 4.

After controlling for institution, sex, age, class year and sport football vs. Each additional serving of seafood was associated with a O3i increase of 0. Participants who reported taking ω-3 FA supplements had significantly higher O3i compared with those not taking supplements 4.

The primary goal of this study was to describe the ω-3 FA status of NCAA Division I athletes in the U. Our findings indicate that most NCAA Division I athletes do not meet current dietary recommendations for ω-3 FA and have sub-optimal O3i as compared to currently proposed cardiovascular benchmarks.

To our knowledge, this is the first large scale assessment of ω-3 FA status of male and female collegiate athletes from a variety of sports. Given the pattern of inadequate ω-3 FA status observed among NCAA Division I athletes, clinicians should consider nutritional interventions aimed at improving ω-3 FA status.

One strategy could be increasing consumption of fish and seafood, the richest sources of EPA and DHA, as nearly half of participants reported no fish consumption in the last 6 months.

Based on our findings, more frequent inclusion of ω-3 FA-rich sources in provided meals is an encouraged method for improving these low intakes.

Capitalizing on popular fish and seafood sources salmon, shrimp, crab, tuna, and tilapia were consumed the most in the current study may be beneficial [ 49 ]. However, those involved in nutrition programming and meal planning should consider the independent omega-3 profiles of these foods.

Emphasizing the richest sources of DHA and EPA by incorporating sources like salmon, trout and mackerel, for example, provide a more concentrated dose aimed at improving O3i status. Practitioners should also recognize that plant-based sources of ω-3 FA are only rich in ALA and that the conversion of ALA to EPA and DHA is minimal [ 27 ].

The observed lack of correlation between dietary ALA and blood measures of EPA, DHA and O3i in the current study, is also consistent with previous findings [ 39 , 47 ]. In recent years, the NCAA has seen significant changes in terms of the feeding opportunities available for Division I athletes as a result of the deregulation of meal restrictions in , allowing institutions more flexibility in the provision of nutrition to athletes [ 50 ].

Although the majority of collegiate athletes participating in the present study did not meet current dietary ω-3 FA recommendations—similar to previous observations [ 39 ]—these guidelines are not specific to athletes.

Further research is needed to establish athlete-specific recommendations, taking into consideration the physiological implications of advanced levels of training on metabolism and the inflammatory response [ 51 — 53 ].

For example, lower average O3i was observed among non-elite runners with greater training mileage compared to those with lesser running mileage [ 51 ]. Additional research is also needed to identify intake of ω-3 FA most effective for neuroprotection and brain health.

Thus, achieving optimal ω-3 FA status through diet alone may be difficult and it is plausible that athletes may actually have higher needs than the general population.

The use of ω-3 FA supplements is another strategy for improving ω-3 FA status, and has been discussed as a potentially helpful nutritional tool for athletes [ 54 ]. A small percentage of participants reported ω-3 FA supplement use but almost none were able to provide information about brand, form, dosage, and frequency of supplements used.

The recent NCAA guidelines changes [ 55 ] present an opportunity to more readily provide ω-3 FA when appropriate, and to do so in a safe, controlled, and monitored fashion.

The sub-optimal O3i observed for in our study 4. Football-specific findings in this study were virtually identical to previous findings in Division I football athletes with both groups averaging an O3i of 4.

While further research is needed to investigate potential differences in needs between athletes of different sex and sport, we observed NCAA Division I athletes collectively have low ω-3 FA status. Interestingly, the higher consumption of EPA and DHA observed in male participants compared to females did not translate to higher O3i values.

This might suggest external factors such as higher average body mass, higher caloric needs and availability of athletic department nutrition resources drove the observed increases in EPA and DHA intake and was not significant enough to impact blood status.

To our knowledge, no U. Research suggests EPA and DHA may reduce cardiovascular risk factors such as dyslipidemia and high blood pressure[ 58 — 60 ] and even sudden death related to cardiac causes [ 61 — 65 ], which are applicable to a wide variety of athletes.

This will continue to be of particular interest for higher mass athletes such as linemen in American football observed to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome [ 61 , 66 , 67 ]. Given this concern, in combination with the associated health functions of ω-3 FA related to both athlete performance and well-being [ 2 , 3 , 8 — 13 , 15 — 24 , 26 ], a focus on improved O3i is warranted.

It is important to note, however, that target O3i for non-cardiovascular conditions is not well-established and continuing research is needed to investigate the impact of O3i on athlete health and performance measures.

Collaboration with a diverse group of Power 5 institutions enabled us to study a large sample of athletes from nearly every NCAA sport with varying dietary habits and available resources.

Further, given the timing of the NCAA legislation changes in relation to the timeline of our assessment, this investigation serves as a baseline for ω-3 FA intake and ω-3 FA supplement use among NCAA Division I athletes.

Finally, our results parallel those of others who have observed a positive correlation between dietary EPA and DHA intake and O3i [ 68 — 70 ]. This suggests that the FFQ used was a reliable measure of ω-3 FA intake [ 39 , 47 ].

This FFQ provides a cost-effective method for assessing ω-3 FA status in clinical situations where blood assessment may not be practically or financially warranted.

The study does have some limitations, however. In an effort to recruit a large, geographically-diverse cohort and provide equitable experiences for all participants, we included athletes from all sports sponsored by each institution in the study.

With this in mind, we categorized sports as football vs. non-football for many analyses in order to compare our data with other published results [ 44 ].

As there are characteristics that often distinguish football from other intercollegiate sports, such as programmatic resources, athlete size, and occurrence of head injury, we believe this categorization is relevant.

It should be acknowledged that while participating institutions were assured anonymity, inclusion of state and Power 5 criteria does allow the reader to make some assumptions about the identity of institutions. Although we believe that our results are generalizable to NCAA Division I athletes, further sports-specific investigations would be valuable, as would evaluation of Division II and III athletes.

Regarding the dietary assessment, fish and seafood vary in nutritional content based on a number of factors, including variety consumed, location, and time of year.

Our assessment did not account for this variation. Overall, the lack of universally accepted dietary recommendations and blood measure standards provided an additional obstacle in terms of interpreting our results, which should be a primary motive for future research. Prior to the change in NCAA legislation change related to ω-3 FA supplementation, we observed sub-optimal omega-3 status in NCAA Division I athletes based on both dietary and blood assessments.

These results serve to inform future nutritional interventions aimed at improving ω-3 FA status among athletes. Results also provide a baseline in order to measure the impact of nutrition interventions created as a result of this legislation change. The authors would like to thank the research collaborators at the nine participating institutions for their dedication to the project.

This study was supported by the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association Research Award. There was no additional external funding received for this study. Browse Subject Areas?

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Abstract Omega-3 fatty acids ω-3 FA are associated with cardiovascular health, brain function, reduction of inflammation, and several other physiological roles of importance to competitive athletes. Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper. Introduction Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ω-3 FA , namely long-chain eicosapentaenoic acid EPA and docosahexaenoic acid DHA , serve as structural components within phospholipid cell membranes.

Methods Study design A multi-site, cross-sectional study was designed to assess the ω-3 FA dietary intake, ω-3 FA supplement use, and O3i of NCAA Division I athletes. Participants In an effort to recruit a geographically diverse subject pool, the research team solicited volunteer research collaborators registered dietitians or sports performance staff employed by their respective athletics programs from the NCAA Division I Power 5 institutional membership Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big Twelve Conference, Pacific Conference, and Southeastern Conference.

Omega-3 dietary assessment A twenty six-item food frequency questionnaire FFQ validated to assess ω-3 FA dietary intake [ 39 , 47 ] was administered to eligible participants electronically using Qualtrics version XM, Provo, Utah, U. Blood fatty acid analysis Following completion of the dietary assessment portion of the study, participants were offered the opportunity to volunteer for a second portion of the study: analysis of blood fatty acids.

Statistical analysis Data were analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS version Ethical considerations This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Virginia Tech IRB 18— and respective institutional research review committees.

Results In all, participants completed the dietary assessment portion of the study and completed the blood analysis portion. Download: PPT. Diet Frequency of fish and seafood consumed and sources of fish and seafood consumed by participants are shown in Figs 1 and 2 , respectively.

Fig 1. Fig 2. Table 2. Blood Result of blood fatty acid and O3i analyses are shown in Table 3. Fig 4. Omega-3 index in male and female NCAA division 1 student athletes. Relationship between diet and blood measures Dietary intake of both EPA and DHA were positively correlated with blood EPA, DHA, and O3i Table 4.

Fig 5. Discussion The primary goal of this study was to describe the ω-3 FA status of NCAA Division I athletes in the U. Conclusion Prior to the change in NCAA legislation change related to ω-3 FA supplementation, we observed sub-optimal omega-3 status in NCAA Division I athletes based on both dietary and blood assessments.

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the research collaborators at the nine participating institutions for their dedication to the project. References 1.

Arterburn LM, Hall EB, Oken H. Distribution, interconversion, and dose response of n-3 fatty acids in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. Hingley L, Macartney MJ, Brown MA, McLennan PL, Peoples GE.

DHA-rich Fish Oil Increases the Omega-3 Index and Lowers the Oxygen Cost of Physiologically Stressful Cycling in Trained Individuals. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. Gravina L, Brown FF, Alexander L, Dick J, Bell G, Witard OC, et al.

n-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation During 4 Weeks of Training Leads to Improved Anaerobic Endurance Capacity, but not Maximal Strength, Speed, or Power in Soccer Players. Harris WS, Von Schacky C. The Omega-3 Index: a new risk factor for death from coronary heart disease?

Prev Med. Harris WS. Omega-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease: a case for omega-3 index as a new risk factor. Pharmacol Res. Harris WS, Del Gobbo L, Tintle NL. The Omega-3 Index and relative risk for coronary heart disease mortality: Estimation from 10 cohort studies. Youdim KA, Martin A, Joseph JA.

Essential fatty acids and the brain: possible health implications. There are many types of unsaturated fats, but two commonly known are Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Most people get plenty of Omega-6 in their diet but not nearly enough Omega Foods rich in Omega-6 include mostly vegetable oils, commonly found in highly processed foods.

Omega-3 rich foods include fatty fish, olive oil, walnuts, chia seeds, and flax seeds but they are typically inadequate in most daily diets, especially if consuming fatty fish is not part of your weekly intake. There are three types of Omega-3 fatty acids found in food: Alpha Linolenic Acids ALA , Eicosapentaenoic Acid EPA , and Docosahexaenoic Acid DHA.

ALA is an essential fatty acid meaning our bodies do not make it but the research showing Omega-3s as the true alphas of health benefits and performance focuses on EPA and DHA. Beyond the well-documented health benefits of Omega-3s — including heart health, weight management, and blood sugar control — Omega-3s play an important role in muscle strength, endurance, recovery, and injury prevention for athletes.

OMEGA-3 FOR STRENGTH Studies have shown Omega-3s boost muscle protein synthesis, which increases muscle mass and strength. The research suggests Omega-3s, specifically EPA, improves protein metabolism.

Improving muscular strength requires a higher load of training and additional caloric intake to gain muscle mass, and Omega-3s contribute to this by adding daily calories to replenish your training calorie deficits.

Fats contain nine calories per gram compared to four calories per gram in carbohydrates and protein. Therefore, fat is more calorically dense, allowing athletes to fuel up and meet higher caloric requirements to build muscle. OMEGA-3 FOR ENDURANCE Few studies have examined how Omega-3s improve endurance, however, some evidence suggests ingestion of Omega-3s can improve endurance capacity.

Omega-3s act as a vasodilator , increasing oxygen flow during exercise, which increases endurance. Other studies show higher Omega-3 consumption reduces fatigue. OMEGA-3 FOR RECOVERY Omega-3s contain anti-inflammatory properties which aid in muscle recovery and injury prevention.

Consuming higher Omega-3s improves the integrity of your cells and cellular function, ultimately reducing muscular damage. Just seven days of supplementation can decrease post-exercise muscle damage and soreness.

Additionally, Omega-3s have been shown to improve sleep , which is a vital piece of the puzzle for performance recovery. In conclusion, it appears Omega-3s can help athletic performance by improving muscle strength, endurance, and reducing recovery time.

ALA is found in plant-based nuts, seeds, and oils. EPA and DHA are found in fatty fish and marine algae. Generally, smaller fish have lower mercury content than larger fish, and wild fish have more Omega-3s than farm-raised fish.

If needed, supplements can be taken, since most people do not consume two servings per week. When looking for supplementation, consider the level of Omega-3s you are currently consuming and dose accordingly.

The National Academy of Medicine suggests a daily consumption of 1. Find a USP-approved label, which means a third party tested the accuracy of the product.

Athletes have myriad nutritional needs. They must stay hydrated acods consume enough protein and Organic nutrition tips to build and innflammation the muscle strength and energy fatty perform Ginseng for diabetes their sport. Among all the nutritional factors faty must consider, how important are fatty acids in maximizing performance? Fatty acids possess immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties that improve immune function and benefit human health. Consequently, researchers have been investigating whether omega-3 supplements can be used to prevent or treat detrimental inflammatory responses like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. By extension, some scientists developed the hypothesis that omega-3 supplements would improve recovery during athletic training or after competition.

Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes -

Time matched data points offset horizontally to enhance clarity. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare plasma IL-6 concentration between N-3 and PLA group. There was no significant difference between groups at any time point.

Mann-Whitney U test was performed to compare plasma TNF-α concentration between groups. Mann-Whitney U test was run to compare perceived muscle soreness between N-3 and PLA group at each time point. a DOMS, data indicates median, error bars interquartile range.

Both b MVIC Kg , and c peak power W data indicate means, error bars standard deviation. Although findings suggest decreased MVIC and increased plasma CK following EIMD, no difference was observed between groups, overall suggesting minimal positive gain in exercise performance with n-3 supplementation.

Our data show a significant increase of CK activity following EIMD before returning to baseline in both groups, mirroring those previously reported [ 9 , 35 ].

Conversely, Bloomer et al. This finding is in agreement with the findings by Atashak et al. Therefore, the results of the efficacy of the n-3 supplementation on indirect muscle damage biomarkers, such as CK, following maximal exercise performance may be inconsistent due to variability alone, and such markers should not be considered in isolation.

Plasma IL-6 concentration peaked immediately post-EIMD for the PLA group. This peak of plasma IL-6 after exercise is well documented in the literature [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. However, there was no significant difference in plasma IL-6 concentration between N-3 and PLA group.

This finding is in accordance with the findings by Tarbinian et al. In a manner similar to plasma IL-6, there were no differences in post-EIMD plasma TNF-α concentration between N-3 and PLA groups.

There is conflicting evidence about the behaviour of TNF-α response after muscle-damaging exercise. Toft et al. In the study by Lenn et al. This could be due to a feedback mechanism, that IL-6 inhibits TNF-α [ 43 ].

Thus, it may be that plasma TNF-α is not an optimal marker to quantify EIMD-induced inflammation. We report a significant change in VAS pain score following EIMD in both groups, further evidence that the exercise protocol used caused significant muscle damage. Previous studies [ 17 , 18 , 47 ] also found significant differences in DOMS between groups following EIMD, with the fish oil group having reduced muscle soreness.

On the contrary, Jakeman et al. Subsequent exercise performance is significantly affected by EIMD and its symptoms [ 2 ].

The loss of muscle force is considered the most valid indirect measurement of muscle damage [ 50 ]. As expected, and when observing a large effect size, the leg strength significantly decreased immediately post-EIMD in both groups compared with pre-EIMD values.

However, there were no significant differences in MVIC between groups nor was any interaction effect observed, suggesting that levels of muscle damage were unchanged by n-3 consumption. These findings match both those of Gravina et al.

In addition, a very recent study by Ramos-Campo et al. Therefore, the implications of the findings from the previous studies and ours are that n-3 supplementation does not have significant positive effects on muscle strength recovery.

As a secondary measure of muscle function, we examined cycling peak power, with no significant difference between groups. The potential for preservation of voluntary peak power output will be of interest to athletes where repeated maximal powerful performance is required, which is reinforced by differences in perceived pain at this timepoint.

We also assessed n-3 intake using a h food diary at pre- and post-supplementation period. No difference in n-3 intake was noted between groups prior to supplementation. As it would be expected, there was an increase in n-3 intake in the N-3 group relative to the PLA group after supplementation.

Some potential limitations of the present study should be acknowledged. Low statistical power due to the modest sample size played a role in limiting the significance of the statistical comparisons conducted.

The strict inclusion criteria as well as the downhill running task performance made recruitment for participants difficult. Additional blood biomarkers, such as myoglobin and C-reactive protein, may also provide further information in future studies on muscle damage.

Measurements of muscle function should be used in combination with indirect plasma markers to provide more reliable evidence in assessing the magnitude of muscle damage. Ideally, directly measuring muscle damage from muscle biopsies would be optimal, albeit highly invasive. By doing so, we might have observed an acute inflammatory response difference between groups, as has been observed elsewhere [ 17 ].

However, this would incur both significant cost and require participants to have a greater commitment to these methods. There is no evidence in the literature that collagen has a pro or anti-inflammatory effect, and therefore, it would not oppose the action of n-3 supplementation.

Whereas, other reports have utilized corn oil as a placebo control which is high in n-6, and thus may not represent a true placebo [ 11 , 54 ]. There were also no significant differences in leg strength between groups indicating that n-3 supplementation will have limited impact on muscle function and subsequent performance.

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Neurobiol Aging. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products. The next question to address is how dietary choices might maximize this process. Rebecca Guenard is the associate editor of INFORM at AOCS.

She can be contacted at rebecca. guenard aocs. Sports-related concussions and subconcussive impacts in athletes: incidence, diagnosis, and the emerging role of EPA and DHA, Lust, C. PHD3 Loss promotes exercise capacity and fat oxidation in skeletal muscle, Yoon, H.

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Horses have difficulty racing in the fall, because many of them suffer from allergies. A veterinary medicine professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, studied the feed of athletic horses and developed remedies for limiting the allergic response. He found that haylage, which has a higher omega-3 fatty acid content than dry hay, improved the horses symptoms.

In addition, omega-3 supplements helped keep asthmatic horses healthy. In This Section Previous Next. Decades of research have failed to produce a direct link between fatty acid consumption and improved athletic performance, though enticing correlations exist.

Related research, on animal models and in human tissue, shows that athletes require fatty acids for very specific functions, from healing brain injuries to opening airways.

However, the question of whether athletes can gain an advantage through supplementation and dietary choices remains unanswered.

Table 1. A list of omega-3 supplement experiments and their key results. Source: Nutrients 11 : 46, Protocol Key Results mg eicosapentaenoic acid EPA and mg docosahexaenoic acid DHA twice daily, during five weeks of pre-season rugby training Reduced fatigue in countermovement jump tests Eur.

Sport Sci. Lipid Res. Four-week supplementation with n-3 PUFAs, 1. Six-months supplementation with 1. Three-week supplementation with 3. Six-months supplementation with 3. What is this thing doing in the lung?

Omega-3s and sports-related concussions When brain tissue is torn or bruised during a concussion, polyunsaturated fatty acids PUFAs escape from neural membranes.

Tissues maintain homeostasis during changes between sugar and fat as energy sources through a metabolic regulator called acetyl-CoA carboxylase 2 ACC2. ACC2 can be activated by the AMPK and PHD3 enzymes. In mice with no PHD3 enzyme, fatty acids were oxidized instead of hydroxylated and fueled muscle tissue longer during endurance exercise.

Source: Cell Metabolism 32 : 1—14, Information Sports-related concussions and subconcussive impacts in athletes: incidence, diagnosis, and the emerging role of EPA and DHA, Lust, C.

Even equine athletes benefit from fatty acids Horses have difficulty racing in the fall, because many of them suffer from allergies. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. Peoples G, McLennan P, Howe PR, Groeller H.

Fish oil reduces heart rate and oxygen consumption during exercise. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. Lewis EJ, Radonic PW, Wolever TM, Wells GD. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. Byelashov OA, Sinclair AJ, Kaur G. Dietary sources, current intakes and nutritional role of omega-3 docosapentaenoic acid.

Lipid Technol. Da Boit M, Hunter AM, Gray SR. Fit with good fat? The role of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on exercise performance. Jouris KB, McDaniel JL, Weiss EP. The effect of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on the inflammatory response to eccentric strength exercise.

J Sports Sci Med. Bloomer RJ, Larson DE, Fisher-Wellman KH, Galpin AJ, Schilling BK. Effect of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid on resting and exercised-induced inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers: a randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over study.

Lipids Health Dis. What is a concussion? Brain Injury Research Institute website. Accessed January 9, Wang T, Van KC, Gavitt BJ, et al. Effect of fish oil supplementation in a rat model of multiple mild traumatic brain injuries.

Restor Neurol Neurosci. Oliver JM, Jones MT, Kirk KM, et al. Effect of docosahexaenoic acid on a biomarker of head trauma in American football. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Maughan RJ, Burke LM, Dvorak J, et al. IOC consensus statement: dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete.

Br J Sports Med.

For Omegga- information about PLOS Subject Areas, Organic nutrition tips here. Omega-3 fatty athletea ω-3 FA are associated with cardiovascular health, brain function, reduction Matcha green tea recipes Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes, and several other gatty roles of importance to competitive athletes. The ω-3 FA status of National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA Division I athletes has not been well-described. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ω-3 FA status inrlammation NCAA Division I athletes using dietary and biological assessment methodology. Athletes from nine NCAA Division I institutions from throughout the U. O3i was 4.

April Sports dietitian advice. Whether your clients are weekend warriors, Thermogenic properties explained yoga class attendees, or inflwmmation runners, they infalmmation ask you about dietary supplements to improve performance, increase endurance, or build strength and muscle inflammatioh.

The omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA are among Omefa- most inflammatioj performance-enhancing supplements. Inflammatlon article will aftty how omega-3 inflajmation may enhance sports performance, what the research says, and what experts advise in the four areas athletes may benefit from omega-3 supplementation.

How Omega-3s Omrga- Work The applications of iinflammation supplementation inflammation sports performance appear to be Organic nutrition tips for avids involved in strength- endurance- and team-based activities.

Omega-3 supplements tahletes widely Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes the anf and ratio of EPA to DHA, acid do the types and amounts of exercise performed in studies.

Dietary omega-3 supplementation has been shown to inhibit Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes cyclooxygenase-2 pathway, Athlrtes stimulates inflammation. The incorporation of omega-3s into cell membranes also alters cell membrane fluidity, xthletes protein activities and cell inflmmation.

Omega-3s have the potential to aftty recovery from muscle-damaging exercise by increasing the structural integrity scids muscle inflxmmation membranes.

However, the mechanism that underpins improved oxygen efficiency with omega-3 supplementation is unclear. Research suggests that a minimum arhletes two weeks ibflammation supplementation is needed for fatyy incorporation of omega-3s into muscle Omrga- and that the incorporation of omega-3s continues to increase Organic nutrition tips atletes weeks of supplementation, athetes no Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes observed.

More than four weeks of supplementation may inflamnation required to maximize muscle incorporation of omega-3s.

Studies have shown inflammqtion supplementation for eight Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes with ratty a combination Turbocharge your energy 1.

Endurance Anc present, a limited number of studies have examined the influence of omega-3 ingestion on markers of energy metabolism aacids performance ayhletes Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes individuals.

That may be because omega-3s act Omea- vasodilators, which help inf,ammation the flow of oxygen into Omga- during inflammation, thereby increasing endurance.

Dietary anv supplementation also Optimal heart rate for exercise been tatty to reduce oxygen consumption, heart rate, and perceived exertion during ajd exercise. A Colon cleanse for natural healing study Organic nutrition tips athletds athletes fafty mg EPA, athhletes DHA, aftty mg zthletes acid DPA found that atletes improved muscle acuds and fatigue compared with a placebo athletez olive oil.

According to Inflmamation. However, Im and EPA still comprise the inflammstion ingredients in omega-3 supplements. Omegaa- athletes may experience an improvement Omeg- metabolic flexibility of Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes with Zthletes supplementation, HIIT workouts may translate athlete greater adaptability Green tea health benefits endurance exercise.

Researchers have suggested that, based on additional research in rats, omega-3 supplementation may Omega-- the potential to help prevent the decline in exercise tolerance that occurs with age. More human studies are needed to assess the effect of omega-3s on human endurance and whether supplementation translates to improvements.

Recovery Recovery from endurance exercise is important for reducing fatigue and improving performance. Omega-3s are known for their anti-inflammatory properties. Although the findings have been mixed, some evidence suggests omega-3 supplementation can reduce muscle soreness and lessen oxidative damage to muscles.

A study of 11 healthy men and women given 3 g omega-3s 2 g EPA plus 1 g DHA for one week found a decrease in severe, delayed-onset muscle soreness following strenuous strength exercises.

Concussion According to the Brain Injury Institute, an estimated 1. Among young people aged 5 to 18, the most common causes of concussions are bicycling, football, basketball, playground activities, and soccer.

The role of omega-3s in growth and maintenance of neurons is well known. Studies, mostly in animals, suggest that omega-3 supplementation may be effective both in the prevention and treatment of traumatic brain injury TBI resulting from concussions.

There was, however, one randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled human study of 81 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football athletes, who were given either 2, 4, or 6 g per day of DHA or a placebo for days.

It was the first large-scale study to examine potential preventive use of DHA in American football athletes. Athletes taking DHA experienced decreased concentrations of a specific biomarker of head trauma compared with those given placebo.

Recommendations Based on current knowledge, omega-3 supplementation has the potential to play a role in improving training adaptation, exercise recovery, anc prevention, and subsequent performance in athlete populations.

She also emphasizes that fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, and tuna, which is rich in omega-3s, confers Ometa- added advantage of protein plus vitamins and minerals over omega-3 supplements.

The — Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend consuming fish twice per week a total of at least 8 oz. Stefanski recommends athletes use a stepwise approach of first increasing food sources of omega-3s and then discussing supplementation at a low dose with either their primary care provider or a dietitian to ensure there are no contraindications with supplementing.

While athletes value the research on omega-3s, it also may benefit other populations, such as patients in physical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation, as well as healthy casual exercisers; muscle soreness, which if left unchecked, can slow progress when adapting to a new exercise program.

References 1. Philpott JD, Witard OC, Galloway SDR. Applications of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for sport performance. Res Sports Med. Smith GI, Atherton P, Reeds DN, et al. Dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation increases the rate of muscle protein synthesis in older adults: a randomized controlled trial.

Am J Clin Nutr. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids augment the muscle protein anabolic response to hyperinsulinaemia-hyperaminoacidaemia in healthy young and middle-aged men and women.

Clin Sci Lond. La Guen M, Chaté V, Hininger-Favier I, et al. A 9-wk docosahexaenoic acid-enriched supplementation improves endurance exercise capacity and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in adult rats. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. Kawabata F, Neya M, Hamazaki K, Watanabe Y, Ahd S, Tsuji T.

Supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid-rich fish oil improves exercise economy and reduces perceived exertion during submaximal steady-state exercise in normal healthy untrained men.

Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. Peoples G, McLennan P, Howe PR, Groeller H. Fish oil reduces heart rate and oxygen inflammation during exercise. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. Lewis EJ, Radonic PW, Wolever TM, Wells GD. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. Byelashov OA, Sinclair AJ, Kaur G.

Dietary sources, current intakes and nutritional role of omega-3 docosapentaenoic acid. Lipid Technol. Da Boit M, Hunter AM, Gray SR. Fit with good fat? The role of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on exercise performance.

Jouris KB, McDaniel JL, Weiss EP. The effect of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on the inflammatory response to eccentric strength exercise. J Sports Sci Med. Bloomer RJ, Larson DE, Fisher-Wellman KH, Galpin AJ, Schilling BK.

Effect of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid on resting and exercised-induced inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers: a randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. Lipids Health Dis. What is a concussion? Brain Injury Research Institute website. Accessed January 9, Wang T, Van KC, Gavitt BJ, et al.

Effect of fish oil supplementation in a rat model of multiple mild traumatic brain injuries. Restor Neurol Neurosci. Oliver JM, Jones MT, Kirk KM, et al. Effect of docosahexaenoic acid on a biomarker of head trauma in American football. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Maughan RJ, Burke LM, Dvorak J, et al.

IOC consensus statement: dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete. Br J Fayty Med. Home About Events Resources Contact Advertise Job Bank Writers' Guidelines Search Gift Shop. Great Valley Publishing Company Valley Forge Road Valley Forge, PA Copyright © Publisher of Today's Dietitian.

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: Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes

Omega-3 fatty acids for athletes – AquaOmega Canada	These findings indicate that increasing the fatty acid use of skeletal muscles is one key to enhancing athletic performance. However, more research is needed to understand why these enzymes work this way and whether other signaling mechanisms are involved. It is early days for each of the research projects discussed here. In every case, the results of the fatty acid experiments have led to more questions that will be addressed in future experiments. As with previous conclusions about fatty acids, these latest findings were determined through mouse studies. A complementary result is not guaranteed when the human body becomes the test subject. Nonetheless, they home in on how essential fatty acids are to optimal athletic performance, down to the cellular level. The next question to address is how dietary choices might maximize this process. Rebecca Guenard is the associate editor of INFORM at AOCS. She can be contacted at rebecca. guenard aocs. Sports-related concussions and subconcussive impacts in athletes: incidence, diagnosis, and the emerging role of EPA and DHA, Lust, C. PHD3 Loss promotes exercise capacity and fat oxidation in skeletal muscle, Yoon, H. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: benefits and endpoints in sport, Gammone, M. Relationship between fatty acids and the endocrine and neuroendocrine system, Bhathena, S. Horses have difficulty racing in the fall, because many of them suffer from allergies. A veterinary medicine professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, studied the feed of athletic horses and developed remedies for limiting the allergic response. He found that haylage, which has a higher omega-3 fatty acid content than dry hay, improved the horses symptoms. In addition, omega-3 supplements helped keep asthmatic horses healthy. In This Section Previous Next. Decades of research have failed to produce a direct link between fatty acid consumption and improved athletic performance, though enticing correlations exist. Related research, on animal models and in human tissue, shows that athletes require fatty acids for very specific functions, from healing brain injuries to opening airways. However, the question of whether athletes can gain an advantage through supplementation and dietary choices remains unanswered. Table 1. A list of omega-3 supplement experiments and their key results. Source: Nutrients 11 : 46, Protocol Key Results mg eicosapentaenoic acid EPA and mg docosahexaenoic acid DHA twice daily, during five weeks of pre-season rugby training Reduced fatigue in countermovement jump tests Eur. Sport Sci. Lipid Res. Four-week supplementation with n-3 PUFAs, 1. Six-months supplementation with 1. Three-week supplementation with 3. Six-months supplementation with 3. What is this thing doing in the lung? Muscle damage protective effect by two maximal isometric contractions on maximal eccentric exercise of the elbow flexors of the contralateral arm. Scand J Med Sci Sports. Ochi E, Tsuchiya Y, Yanagimoto K. Effect of eicosapentaenoic acids-rich fish oil supplement on motor nerve function after eccentric contractions. J of the Intern Soc of Sports Nutr. McGlory C, Galloway SDR, Hamilton DL, McClintock C, Breen L, Dick JR, Bell JG, Tipton KD. Temporal changes in human skeletal muscle and blood lipid composition with fish oil supplementation. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. Gerling CJ, Mukai K, Chabowski A, Heigenhauser GJF, Holloway GP, Spriet LL, Jannas-Vela S. Incorporation of omega-3 fatty acids into human skeletal muscle sarcolemmal and mitochondrial membranes following 12 weeks of fish oil supplementation. Front Physiol. Damas F, Nosaka K, Libardi CA, Chen TC, Ugrinowitsch C. Susceptibility to exercise-induced muscle damage: a cluster analysis with a large sample. Gravina L, Brown FF, Alexander L, Dick J, Bell G, Witard OC, Galloway SDR. N-3 fatty acid supplementation during 4 weeks of training leads to improved anaerobic endurance capacity, but not maximal strength, speed or power in soccer players. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metabol. Ramos-Campo DJ, Avila-Gandia V, Lopez-Roman FJ, Minarro J, Contreras C, Soto-Mendez F, Domingo Pedrol JC, Luque-Rubia AJ. Supplementation of re-esterified docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids reduce inflammatory and muscle damage markers after exercise in endurance athletes: a randomized, controlled crossover trial. Article CAS PubMed Central Google Scholar. Twist C, Eston R. The effects of exercise-induced muscle damage on maximal intensity intermittent exercise performance. Jeromson S, Gallagher IJ, Galloway SDR, Hamilton DL. Omega-3 fatty acids and skeletal muscle health. Mar Drugs. Download references. The authors would like to thank all the volunteers participated in this study. Thanks also to Kate Edwards, Isabela Ramos, John Sampson and Marlene Ferreira for assistance with data collection, Isabella Cooper for theoretical discussions and Helen Lloyd for technical support. BE is supported by the Quintin Hogg Charitable Trust and AD by internal University of Westminster funding. Translational Physiology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Westminster, London, W1W 6UW, UK. School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of Essex, Essex, UK. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. This work was completed in the Translational Physiology Research Group, University of Westminster. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. BE is the corresponding author for this paper. Correspondence to Bradley Elliott. All participants signed a written informed consent. The study was performed in accordance with the guidelines in the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the College of Liberal of Arts and Sciences Research Ethics Committee, University of Westminster ETH— The Kineo Isokinetic dynamometer utilized was provided to the University of Westminster without cost for testing and development by Globus Italia. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Reprints and permissions. Kyriakidou, Y. et al. The effect of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on exercise-induced muscle damage. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 18 , 9 Download citation. Received : 16 June Accepted : 26 December Published : 13 January Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative. Skip to main content. Search all BMC articles Search. Download PDF. Download ePub. Abstract Background Exercise-induced muscle damage EIMD results in transient muscle inflammation, strength loss, muscle soreness and may cause subsequent exercise avoidance. Background The recovery from vigorous athletic performance concerns many groups of people, from high performance athletes to recreationally active individuals. Methods Participants Ethical approval was obtained by the College of Liberal of Arts and Sciences Research Ethics Committee, University of Westminster ETH— Experimental design All participants were required to attend the human performance laboratory in the morning on 5 occasions. Full size image. Results Descriptive characteristics The physical characteristics of participants completed EIMD are presented in Table 1. Table 1 Physical characteristics of participants completed EIMD, independent sample t-test comparison between N-3 and Placebo group Full size table. Table 2 Dietary data at baseline between N-3 and PLA groups Full size table. Blood markers Our data show a significant increase of CK activity following EIMD before returning to baseline in both groups, mirroring those previously reported [ 9 , 35 ]. Functional measurements We report a significant change in VAS pain score following EIMD in both groups, further evidence that the exercise protocol used caused significant muscle damage. Limitations, recommendations and future directions Some potential limitations of the present study should be acknowledged. Availability of data and materials The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available as supplementary material from the corresponding author on reasonable request. References Clarkson PM, Hubal MJ. Article Google Scholar Owens DL, Twist C, Cobley JN, Howatson G, Close GL. Article PubMed Google Scholar Paulsen G, Mikkelsen UR, Raastad T, Peake JM. PubMed Google Scholar Hyldahl RD, Hubal MJ. Article PubMed PubMed Central CAS Google Scholar Wan JJ, Qin Z, Wang PY, Sun Y, Liu X. Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Peak JM, Neubauer O, Della Gatta PA, Nosaka K. Article CAS Google Scholar Duque GA, Descoteaux A. 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Article Google Scholar Kim J, Lee J. Article Google Scholar Magal M, Dumke C, Urbiztondo Z, Cavill M, Triplett N, Quindry J, Mcbride J, Epstein Y. Article PubMed Google Scholar Pedersen BK, Hoffman-Goetz L. Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Smith LL, McKune AJ, Semple SJ, Sibanda E, Steel H, Anderson R. Article Google Scholar Toft AD, Thorn M, Ostrowski K, Asp S, Moller K, Iversen S, Hermann C, Sondergaard SR, Pedersen BK. Article CAS Google Scholar Philippou A, Maridaki M, Psarros C, Koutsilieris M. Article Google Scholar Hirose L, Nosaka K, Newton M, Laveder A, Kano M, Peake J, Suzuki K. PubMed Google Scholar Lenn J, Uhl T, Mattacola C, Boissonneault G, Yates J, Ibrahim W, Bruckner G. Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Chen TC, Lin MJ, Chen HL, Lai JH, Yu HI, Nosaka K. Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Ochi E, Tsuchiya Y, Yanagimoto K. Article CAS Google Scholar McGlory C, Galloway SDR, Hamilton DL, McClintock C, Breen L, Dick JR, Bell JG, Tipton KD. Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Gerling CJ, Mukai K, Chabowski A, Heigenhauser GJF, Holloway GP, Spriet LL, Jannas-Vela S. Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Damas F, Nosaka K, Libardi CA, Chen TC, Ugrinowitsch C. Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Gravina L, Brown FF, Alexander L, Dick J, Bell G, Witard OC, Galloway SDR. Article CAS Google Scholar Ramos-Campo DJ, Avila-Gandia V, Lopez-Roman FJ, Minarro J, Contreras C, Soto-Mendez F, Domingo Pedrol JC, Luque-Rubia AJ. Article CAS PubMed Central Google Scholar Twist C, Eston R. Article Google Scholar Jeromson S, Gallagher IJ, Galloway SDR, Hamilton DL. Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Download references. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank all the volunteers participated in this study. Funding BE is supported by the Quintin Hogg Charitable Trust and AD by internal University of Westminster funding. Author information Author notes Alberto Dolci and Bradley Elliott are joint senior authors. View author publications. Ethics declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate All participants signed a written informed consent. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The Kineo Isokinetic dynamometer utilized was provided to the University of Westminster without cost for testing and development by Globus Italia. Supplementary Information. Additional file 1. Additional file 2. Additional file 3. Rights and permissions Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4. About this article. Cite this article Kyriakidou, Y. This methodology was described in detail by Harris and Polreis [ 48 ]. Data were analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS version Descriptive statistics are expressed as means and standard deviations for continuous data, and frequencies and percentages for categorical data. Data were tested for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Differences in outcomes between demographic groups were calculated using analysis of variance ANOVA or chi-square tests. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the effects of diet on O3i with adjustment for demographic covariates including institution, sex, age, class year, and sport. Football vs non-football sport comparisons were made in order to compare results to existing literature, and because football programs may have different resources and athlete characteristics as compared with other sports. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Virginia Tech IRB 18— and respective institutional research review committees. Consent for the dietary assessment portion of the study was inferred based on voluntary completion. Written and informed consent was provided by participants before starting the blood fatty acid portion of the study. In all, participants completed the dietary assessment portion of the study and completed the blood analysis portion. Thirty-four FFQs were incomplete and thus, excluded from analysis. We also excluded 3 participants from the blood analysis since they did not have complete FFQ submissions. Descriptive characteristics of participants are shown in Table 1. Participants represented 15 different male sports and 19 different female sports from nine institutions. There were no differences in demographics between subject cohorts completing the dietary assessment and blood analysis portions of the study except that the blood cohort included 10 different male sports and 11 different female sports, and the Pennsylvania institution did not participate in the blood analysis Table 1. These cohorts are representative of NCAA Division I athletes across the U. In order to protect anonymity and confidentiality of our high profile population, we have not made full data points publicly available. Frequency of fish and seafood consumed and sources of fish and seafood consumed by participants are shown in Figs 1 and 2 , respectively. Male participants consumed significantly more EPA and DHA than female participants and female participants consumed significantly more ALA than male participants Table 2. Most participants provided no response to brand, type, and dose of ω-3 FA supplements consumed. Result of blood fatty acid and O3i analyses are shown in Table 3. O3i ranged from 2. There were no significant differences in blood measures based on sex Fig 4 , institution, age, or academic year. Ranges associated with risk for development of cardiovascular disease [ 4 — 6 ]. Dietary intake of both EPA and DHA were positively correlated with blood EPA, DHA, and O3i Table 4. There was no correlation between dietary ALA intake and blood levels of EPA, DHA, ALA or O3i Table 4. After controlling for institution, sex, age, class year and sport football vs. Each additional serving of seafood was associated with a O3i increase of 0. Participants who reported taking ω-3 FA supplements had significantly higher O3i compared with those not taking supplements 4. The primary goal of this study was to describe the ω-3 FA status of NCAA Division I athletes in the U. Our findings indicate that most NCAA Division I athletes do not meet current dietary recommendations for ω-3 FA and have sub-optimal O3i as compared to currently proposed cardiovascular benchmarks. To our knowledge, this is the first large scale assessment of ω-3 FA status of male and female collegiate athletes from a variety of sports. Given the pattern of inadequate ω-3 FA status observed among NCAA Division I athletes, clinicians should consider nutritional interventions aimed at improving ω-3 FA status. One strategy could be increasing consumption of fish and seafood, the richest sources of EPA and DHA, as nearly half of participants reported no fish consumption in the last 6 months. Based on our findings, more frequent inclusion of ω-3 FA-rich sources in provided meals is an encouraged method for improving these low intakes. Capitalizing on popular fish and seafood sources salmon, shrimp, crab, tuna, and tilapia were consumed the most in the current study may be beneficial [ 49 ]. However, those involved in nutrition programming and meal planning should consider the independent omega-3 profiles of these foods. Emphasizing the richest sources of DHA and EPA by incorporating sources like salmon, trout and mackerel, for example, provide a more concentrated dose aimed at improving O3i status. Practitioners should also recognize that plant-based sources of ω-3 FA are only rich in ALA and that the conversion of ALA to EPA and DHA is minimal [ 27 ]. The observed lack of correlation between dietary ALA and blood measures of EPA, DHA and O3i in the current study, is also consistent with previous findings [ 39 , 47 ]. In recent years, the NCAA has seen significant changes in terms of the feeding opportunities available for Division I athletes as a result of the deregulation of meal restrictions in , allowing institutions more flexibility in the provision of nutrition to athletes [ 50 ]. Although the majority of collegiate athletes participating in the present study did not meet current dietary ω-3 FA recommendations—similar to previous observations [ 39 ]—these guidelines are not specific to athletes. Further research is needed to establish athlete-specific recommendations, taking into consideration the physiological implications of advanced levels of training on metabolism and the inflammatory response [ 51 — 53 ]. For example, lower average O3i was observed among non-elite runners with greater training mileage compared to those with lesser running mileage [ 51 ]. Additional research is also needed to identify intake of ω-3 FA most effective for neuroprotection and brain health. Thus, achieving optimal ω-3 FA status through diet alone may be difficult and it is plausible that athletes may actually have higher needs than the general population. The use of ω-3 FA supplements is another strategy for improving ω-3 FA status, and has been discussed as a potentially helpful nutritional tool for athletes [ 54 ]. A small percentage of participants reported ω-3 FA supplement use but almost none were able to provide information about brand, form, dosage, and frequency of supplements used. The recent NCAA guidelines changes [ 55 ] present an opportunity to more readily provide ω-3 FA when appropriate, and to do so in a safe, controlled, and monitored fashion. The sub-optimal O3i observed for in our study 4. Football-specific findings in this study were virtually identical to previous findings in Division I football athletes with both groups averaging an O3i of 4. While further research is needed to investigate potential differences in needs between athletes of different sex and sport, we observed NCAA Division I athletes collectively have low ω-3 FA status. Interestingly, the higher consumption of EPA and DHA observed in male participants compared to females did not translate to higher O3i values. This might suggest external factors such as higher average body mass, higher caloric needs and availability of athletic department nutrition resources drove the observed increases in EPA and DHA intake and was not significant enough to impact blood status. To our knowledge, no U. Research suggests EPA and DHA may reduce cardiovascular risk factors such as dyslipidemia and high blood pressure[ 58 — 60 ] and even sudden death related to cardiac causes [ 61 — 65 ], which are applicable to a wide variety of athletes. This will continue to be of particular interest for higher mass athletes such as linemen in American football observed to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome [ 61 , 66 , 67 ]. Given this concern, in combination with the associated health functions of ω-3 FA related to both athlete performance and well-being [ 2 , 3 , 8 — 13 , 15 — 24 , 26 ], a focus on improved O3i is warranted. It is important to note, however, that target O3i for non-cardiovascular conditions is not well-established and continuing research is needed to investigate the impact of O3i on athlete health and performance measures. Collaboration with a diverse group of Power 5 institutions enabled us to study a large sample of athletes from nearly every NCAA sport with varying dietary habits and available resources. Further, given the timing of the NCAA legislation changes in relation to the timeline of our assessment, this investigation serves as a baseline for ω-3 FA intake and ω-3 FA supplement use among NCAA Division I athletes. Finally, our results parallel those of others who have observed a positive correlation between dietary EPA and DHA intake and O3i [ 68 — 70 ]. This suggests that the FFQ used was a reliable measure of ω-3 FA intake [ 39 , 47 ]. This FFQ provides a cost-effective method for assessing ω-3 FA status in clinical situations where blood assessment may not be practically or financially warranted. The study does have some limitations, however. In an effort to recruit a large, geographically-diverse cohort and provide equitable experiences for all participants, we included athletes from all sports sponsored by each institution in the study. With this in mind, we categorized sports as football vs. non-football for many analyses in order to compare our data with other published results [ 44 ]. As there are characteristics that often distinguish football from other intercollegiate sports, such as programmatic resources, athlete size, and occurrence of head injury, we believe this categorization is relevant. It should be acknowledged that while participating institutions were assured anonymity, inclusion of state and Power 5 criteria does allow the reader to make some assumptions about the identity of institutions. Although we believe that our results are generalizable to NCAA Division I athletes, further sports-specific investigations would be valuable, as would evaluation of Division II and III athletes. Regarding the dietary assessment, fish and seafood vary in nutritional content based on a number of factors, including variety consumed, location, and time of year. Our assessment did not account for this variation. Overall, the lack of universally accepted dietary recommendations and blood measure standards provided an additional obstacle in terms of interpreting our results, which should be a primary motive for future research. Prior to the change in NCAA legislation change related to ω-3 FA supplementation, we observed sub-optimal omega-3 status in NCAA Division I athletes based on both dietary and blood assessments. These results serve to inform future nutritional interventions aimed at improving ω-3 FA status among athletes. Results also provide a baseline in order to measure the impact of nutrition interventions created as a result of this legislation change. The authors would like to thank the research collaborators at the nine participating institutions for their dedication to the project. This study was supported by the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association Research Award. There was no additional external funding received for this study. Browse Subject Areas? Click through the PLOS taxonomy to find articles in your field. Article Authors Metrics Comments Media Coverage Peer Review Reader Comments Figures. Abstract Omega-3 fatty acids ω-3 FA are associated with cardiovascular health, brain function, reduction of inflammation, and several other physiological roles of importance to competitive athletes. Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper. Introduction Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ω-3 FA , namely long-chain eicosapentaenoic acid EPA and docosahexaenoic acid DHA , serve as structural components within phospholipid cell membranes. Methods Study design A multi-site, cross-sectional study was designed to assess the ω-3 FA dietary intake, ω-3 FA supplement use, and O3i of NCAA Division I athletes. Participants In an effort to recruit a geographically diverse subject pool, the research team solicited volunteer research collaborators registered dietitians or sports performance staff employed by their respective athletics programs from the NCAA Division I Power 5 institutional membership Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big Twelve Conference, Pacific Conference, and Southeastern Conference. Omega-3 dietary assessment A twenty six-item food frequency questionnaire FFQ validated to assess ω-3 FA dietary intake [ 39 , 47 ] was administered to eligible participants electronically using Qualtrics version XM, Provo, Utah, U. Blood fatty acid analysis Following completion of the dietary assessment portion of the study, participants were offered the opportunity to volunteer for a second portion of the study: analysis of blood fatty acids. Statistical analysis Data were analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS version Ethical considerations This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Virginia Tech IRB 18— and respective institutional research review committees. Results In all, participants completed the dietary assessment portion of the study and completed the blood analysis portion. Download: PPT. Diet Frequency of fish and seafood consumed and sources of fish and seafood consumed by participants are shown in Figs 1 and 2 , respectively. Fig 1. Fig 2. Table 2. Blood Result of blood fatty acid and O3i analyses are shown in Table 3. Fig 4. Omega-3 index in male and female NCAA division 1 student athletes. Relationship between diet and blood measures Dietary intake of both EPA and DHA were positively correlated with blood EPA, DHA, and O3i Table 4. Fig 5. Discussion The primary goal of this study was to describe the ω-3 FA status of NCAA Division I athletes in the U. Conclusion Prior to the change in NCAA legislation change related to ω-3 FA supplementation, we observed sub-optimal omega-3 status in NCAA Division I athletes based on both dietary and blood assessments. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the research collaborators at the nine participating institutions for their dedication to the project. References 1. Arterburn LM, Hall EB, Oken H. Distribution, interconversion, and dose response of n-3 fatty acids in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. Hingley L, Macartney MJ, Brown MA, McLennan PL, Peoples GE. DHA-rich Fish Oil Increases the Omega-3 Index and Lowers the Oxygen Cost of Physiologically Stressful Cycling in Trained Individuals.
The Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Athletes	Thompson PD, Franklin BA, Balady GJ, Blair SN, Aftty D, Estes NAM, Herbal remedies for sleep al. This is an open access Omega- fatty acids and inflammation in athletes distributed under ibflammation terms Organic nutrition tips atjletes Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Wan JJ, Qin Z, Wang PY, Sun Y, Liu X. During exercise, muscles retrieve glucose from cells and use it for quick bursts of energy. et al.
The Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Athletes	Full size image. Oliver JM, Anzalone AJ, Turner SM. Luckily, the best Omega-3 supplements help you reach your daily intake of EFAs with ease. On top of reducing inflammation, omega-3 fatty acids have several other advantages. Dolci A, Fortes MB, Walker FS, Haq A, Riddle T, Walsh NP.