After all, vitamin E is an anti-oxidant' which can protect muscle cell membranes from damage during heavy training. This protection might prevent leakage of key proteins out of muscle fibres after demanding workouts. This lessening of leaking might then enhance recovery from strenuous training sessions and lead to long-term improvements in performance. To determine whether vitamin E might really aid performances, scientists in Freiburg, Germany recently studied 36 racing cyclists from the German men's national team. The cyclists had been cycling competitively for at least seven years. Over a five-month period, one group of athletes ingested 110 mg of vitamin E three times a day (330 mg per day), while other athletes consumed only a similar-tasting placebo. The two groups trained in an identical fashion. After five months, blood levels of vitamin E advanced by about 65 per cent in the supplement group but failed to increase in the placebo-ingesting athletes. Over the five-month period of strenuous training, blood concentrations of creatine kinase, a key enzyme which is often viewed as a marker of muscle-cell damage, increased in the placebo group but tended to decline in the vitamin-E athletes. However, although the E-ingesting athletes had more vitamin E and less creatine kinase in their bloodstreams, they were NOT able to perform at a higher level than the placebo cyclists. In addition, heart rates and blood-lactate levels were absolutely equivalent between the two groups during strenuous exercise. The results of the German research are similar to those obtained in a variety of other studies, which have shown that vitamin-E supplementation doesn't seem to boost the performances of swimmers, runners, or ice hockey players. The German researchers stated, 'We believe that performance capacity cannot be improved by a-tocopherol supplementation.' However, the German study is not without problems. For one thing, the design of the research required that both groups of athletes - vitamin-E supplemented and placebo takers - carry out exactly the same training. However, the whole point behind vitamin E supplementation is to protect your muscle membranes and boost recovery to such an extent that INCREASED training loads are possible. The increased training might then lead to heightened performances. With that in mind, a good follow-up study might involve comparing the naturally chosen training regimes and subsequent performances of E-supplemented and placebo athletes. It's possible that the E athletes might tolerate harder training. Another problem with the German research is that athletes were evaluated during 30-40 minute bouts of exercise. If E's key role is to prevent muscle-cell leakage, it might be more appropriate to look at the vitamin's role during longer-term exercise, say a marathon, triathlon, or long-distance cycling effort. In the meantime, though, it's prudent to say that vitamin E might improve recovery from tough training, but it's not clear yet whether it can have any direct impact on performance. ('a-Tocopherol Supplementation in Racing Cyclists During Extreme Endurance Training, International Journal of Sport Nutrition, vol. 4, pp. 253-264,1994)