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Abstract
Fish oil and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) belong to a popular class of food supplements known as “fat supplements”, which are claimed to reduce muscle glycogen breakdown, reduce body mass, as well as reduce muscle damage and inflammatory responses. Sport athletes consume fish oil and CLA mainly to increase lean body mass and reduce body fat. Recent evidence indicates that this kind of supplementation may have other side-effects and a new role has been identified in steroidogenensis. Preliminary findings demonstrate that fish oil and CLA may induce a physiological increase in testosterone synthesis. The aim of this review is to describe the effects of fish oil and CLA on physical performance (endurance and resistance exercise), and highlight the new results on the effects on testosterone biosynthesis. In view of these new data, we can hypothesize that fat supplements may improve the anabolic effect of exercise.
Highlights
Many food supplements claim to induce weight loss by increasing lean body mass or reducing body fat mass, only a few of these ergogenic aids have been investigated [1]
The class of commercially available fat supplements includes conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), fish oil, long- and medium-chain triacylglycerols. These ergogenic aids are claimed to be associated with a reduction in muscle glycogen breakdown, improved endurance capacity, reduced body mass and a reduction in muscle damage and inflammatory responses [2]
Food integration with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) seems to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases [4,5], reduce the release of inflammatory acute-phase proteins [6,7], and reduce superoxide anion production from stimulated blood neutrophils [8], an old epidemiologic study stated that fish oil did not lower the risk of cardiovascular disease [9]
Summary
Many food supplements claim to induce weight loss by increasing lean body mass or reducing body fat mass, only a few of these ergogenic aids have been investigated [1]. The class of commercially available fat supplements includes conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), fish oil, long- and medium-chain triacylglycerols. These ergogenic aids are claimed to be associated with a reduction in muscle glycogen breakdown, improved endurance capacity, reduced body mass and a reduction in muscle damage and inflammatory responses [2]. This review describes the various fat supplements pointing out both the known effects produced by these supplements when associated with exercise, and the new data underlying the molecular mechanisms regulating testosterone biosynthesis. It is briefly described how these fat supplements may influence physical performance. Studies available as full papers were deemed eligible if they conformed to the predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria (Figure 1)
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