Micronutrients, including vitamin supplements, are widely used in the general population and by athletes. A variety of claims or areas of interest have promoted the use of vitamin supplements, with antioxidant claims becoming a popular interest over the past two decades. While the antioxidant issue has typically targeted the prevention of ageing or various diseases associated with oxidative damage, it has also been recognised that exercise is a stimulator of the generation of oxygen radical species. Hence, there has been interest in whether athletes might have additional needs for antioxidant vitamins to counteract such damage. Because of the considerable and long-term interest in this topic, we have devoted an entire part of this series on supplements to the antioxidant vitamins, A, C and E.
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