Abstract
Choline is an essential nutrient that has been implicated in athletic performance due to its role in maintaining normal muscle function. The concentration of free choline in serum may decrease during long-distance high-intensity exercise, yet few nutritional strategies to counteract this potentially performance-depleting loss in choline have been investigated outside the laboratory. This exploratory field study was performed to investigate if pre-race supplementation with phosphatidylcholine from krill oil can counteract the expected drop in choline and some of its metabolites during triathlon competitions. Forty-seven triathletes, 12 females and 35 males ranging in age from 25 to 61 years, were recruited from participants in the Ironman-distance Norseman Xtreme triathlon and the Sprint/Olympic-distance Oslo Triathlon. Twenty-four athletes were randomly allocated to the krill oil group, receiving 4 g of SuperbaBoost™ krill oil daily for 5 weeks prior to the race, and 23 athletes were randomly allocated to the placebo group, receiving 4 g of mixed vegetable oil daily. Blood samples were obtained before the race, immediately after completion of the race, and the day after the race for analysis of choline and its metabolites. The results showed that serum choline concentrations significantly decreased from pre-race to race finish in all races, with a more pronounced decrease observed in the Ironman-distance Norseman Xtreme triathlon (34% decrease) relative to the Sprint/Olympic-distance Oslo Triathlon (15% decrease). A reduction in betaine was also observed, while dimethylglycine (DMG) concentrations remained stable across all time points. Significantly higher concentrations of choline (9.4% on average) and DMG (21.4% on average) were observed in the krill oil compared to the placebo group, and the krill oil group showed a significantly greater increase in serum choline following race completion. In conclusion, krill oil may help to prevent that circulating choline concentrations become limiting during endurance competitions.
Highlights
There has been a marked worldwide increase in the number of people participating in endurance events over the past decade, with considerable variation in distance and level of difficulty across different competition formats
Krill oil is a dietary supplement extracted from Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), rich in the long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; C20:5 n3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6 n3) [4, 5]
It appears that the krill oil group maintained higher choline concentrations than the placebo group, and this effect was most pronounced in the regular-distance triathlon
Summary
There has been a marked worldwide increase in the number of people participating in endurance events over the past decade, with considerable variation in distance and level of difficulty across different competition formats. Given that prolonged periods of high-intensity long-duration exercise may negatively impact immune function and inflammation, there is considerable interest in marine-based n-3 PUFA supplementation as a means to improve athletic recovery [8]. To this end, studies that have investigated the benefits of krill oil in sports settings to date have focused on post-exercise immune function [9], post-exercise oxidative stress [10], and mTOR signaling [11]. While krill oil is an acknowledged dietary supplement to provide n-3 PUFAs, no sports nutrition studies have looked at the lesser known aspect of krill oil being a rich source of the essential nutrient choline
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