Major breakthrough in nutrition; Quercetinincreases endurance and fitness

Quercetin is a powerful antioxidant/anti-inflammatory compound found in very healthy foods such as tea, berries, and red wine. A good diet supplies about 25mg to 50mg of Quercetin each day. As it turns out Quercetin significantly boosts endurance and the ability to use oxygen efficiently as measured by maximal oxygen capacity (VO2max) in healthy and active but untrained men and women. VO2max is an important measure of fitness.

The researchers from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health state that the findings provide “great news for those who often think that they’re too tired to exercise.” Quercetin may be important in relieving the fatigue that keeps people sedentary, keeping them from exercising.

For the study, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Defense, 12 participants were assigned randomly to one of two treatments. Half were given 500 milligrams of Quercetin twice a day in a drink for seven days. The other subjects had the drink without Quercetin. After seven days of treatment, during which the subjects were told not to alter their physical activity, the participants rode stationary bicycles to the point of fatigue. Researchers also tested their additional VO2max, one of the most important measures of fitness. Then the participants received the opposite treatment for another seven days before riding the bicycle to the point of fatigue and VO2max tests. “The participants were healthy, relatively active, college-age students, but they were not physically trained athletes, and they were not taking part in a regular exercise training program,” stated the researchers.

After taking Quercetin for only seven days, the participants had a 13.2% increase in endurance and a 3.9% increase in VO2max. The scientist state that “These were statistically significant effects that indicate an important improvement in endurance capacity in a very short time.” “Quercetin supplementation was able to mimic some of the effects of exercise training.” The study was published online ahead of print in the June 9, 2009 edition of the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.