Vitamin C damped a training signal without changing fitness
Over 11 weeks of endurance training, markers of muscle building new mitochondria rose on placebo and not on 1000 mg of vitamin C. Both groups gained the same 8% in oxygen uptake.
What the study found
Vitamin C blunted the muscle signal and left performance alone
Eleven weeks of endurance training, with 1000 milligrams of vitamin C and 235 of vitamin E a day. Markers of the muscle building new mitochondria, its energy plants, rose in the placebo group and did not in the supplemented one. Both groups improved maximal oxygen uptake by the same 8%.
The caveat · C and E given together, never apart
Vitamin C and vitamin E were given together, so neither can be credited or blamed on its own. The marker changes carry enormous spread: the placebo group's rise averaged 59% with a standard deviation of 97%. Reviewers add that the blunting is inconsistent and rarely reached in ordinary training.
What we don't know
Vitamin C and vitamin E were given together, so neither can be credited or blamed on its own. The marker changes carry enormous spread: the placebo group's rise averaged 59% with a standard deviation of 97%. Reviewers add that the blunting is inconsistent and rarely reached in ordinary training.