Effects of antioxidant supplementation on oxidative stress balance in young footballers– a randomized double-blind trial

Abstract Background: The intensive physical exercise in which athletes take part in competitive sports can negatively affect the pro-oxidative–antioxidant balance. The use of compounds with high antioxidant potential, which certainly should include chokeberry, can prevent these adverse changes. Methods: The study was conducted as a double blinded randomized trial on a group of football players (mean age=15.8), who underwent 7 weeks of supplementation with 200 ml chokeberry juice per day. The players were randomly assigned to the experimental (supplemented, FP-S; n = 12) and control (placebo, FB-C; n = 8) groups. Before and after the supplementation period, participants performed an beep test . Venous blood was taken for serum isolation before, immediately after, 3 h, 24 h after the test Level of thiobarbituric acid reactive products (TBARS), hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), iron (Fe), hepcidin, ferritin, myoglobin, albumin and morphological parameters (RBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC and lactic acid) were measured.Results: There were no significant impact of the supplementation intervention in response to the physical exercise test in the studied groups.. The post-hoc test showed no effect of chokeberry juice supply on any of the morphological, biochemical or performance parameters analysed.Conclusions: The supplementation of Chokeberry juice shows no effects on measured parameters in studied populations. It may indicate Such results may indicate insufficient antioxidant capacity of the supplemented juice.