Vitamin E and krill oil have body benefits
- Vitamin E prevents muscle damage after exercise
This review of 44 vitamin E clinical trials covered participants aged 18 to 40 who performed muscle-damaging exercises and took a placebo or doses of vitamin E ranging from 300 to 1,381 IU per day, over various study lengths.
Doctors measured muscle damage through two inflammatory enzymes; creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), which increase after strenuous exercise. Immediately after exercise, trained athletes who had taken vitamin E, but not non-athletes, saw lower increases in CK compared to placebo, with these effects dissipating by 24 hours. LDH levels were lower in all participants after taking vitamin E compared to the start of the study. The greatest improvements in muscle damage occurred in doses at or below 500 IU of vitamin E per day.
REFERENCE: NUTRIENTS; 2022, VOL. 14, NO. 8, 1599
- Krill oil, astaxanthin improved knee OA
In this study, 235 healthy adults with mild to moderate osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, and regular knee pain, aged 40 to 65, took a placebo or 800 mg of DHA/EPA from krill oil plus 450 mcg of astaxanthin per day.
After six months, knee pain, stiffness and function scores improved in both groups, but those taking krill oil and astaxanthin saw greater improvement. Omega-3 levels also increased to 8.9 percent from 5.5 percent for the krill oil group but decreased for placebo. Those who began the study with the highest levels of inflammation reported the largest improvement in pain scores.
Doctors said this is the largest, longest study investigating krill oil effects on OA of the knee.
Reference: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; 2022, Vol. 116, No. 3, 672-85
