Are you having trouble with endurance during your workout? Maybe you aren’t eating enough fruits and vegetables. The key is an antioxidant called quercetin.
A new study examined 12 healthy college students who were not regular exercisers. They were given quercetin supplements for seven days. What the researchers found was that the antioxidant appeared to boost exercise endurance, where a separate 7-day period without supplements did not.
Quercetin is a compound found in abundance in red apples, red onions, berries, cabbages, broccoli, and green and black teas. It’s believed to have multiple antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cell-energy activation properties that can be beneficial.
Most previous studies on quercetin involved animals. To see if the testing on humans was going to work, and boost energy in the subjects, investigators measured students’ maximum oxygen uptake and the number of minutes they could ride a stationary bike.
For seven days, the participants drank Tang with a placebo, then another seven days with 500 milligrams of quercetin.
The quercetin supplement periods showed a moderate four percent increase in maximum oxygen uptake as compared to the week of no supplementation. In terms more understandable to the layperson, the participants were able to ride the stationary bikes for a 13 percent longer duration taking quercetin than they were without.
Via Fox News