Do Fat Supplements Increase Physical Performance?

doi:10.3390/nu5020509

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Nutrients 2013, 5(2), 509-524; doi:10.3390/nu5020509

Review

Do Fat Supplements Increase Physical Performance?

Filippo Macaluso, Rosario Barone, Patrizia Catanese, Francesco Carini, Luigi Rizzuto, Felicia Farina and Valentina Di Felice*

Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129, Palermo, Italy

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 5 November 2012; in revised form: 7 January 2013 / Accepted: 31 January 2013 / Published: 7 February 2013

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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.

Keywords: fish oil; conjugated linoleic acid; endurance exercise; resistance exercise; steroidogenic cells; steroidogenesis; testosterone

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Macaluso, F.; Barone, R.; Catanese, P.; Carini, F.; Rizzuto, L.; Farina, F.; Di Felice, V. Do Fat Supplements Increase Physical Performance? Nutrients 2013, 5, 509-524.

AMA Style

Macaluso F, Barone R, Catanese P, Carini F, Rizzuto L, Farina F, Di Felice V. Do Fat Supplements Increase Physical Performance? Nutrients. 2013; 5(2):509-524.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Macaluso, Filippo; Barone, Rosario; Catanese, Patrizia; Carini, Francesco; Rizzuto, Luigi; Farina, Felicia; Di Felice, Valentina. 2013. "Do Fat Supplements Increase Physical Performance?" Nutrients 5, no. 2: 509-524.

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