[Are antioxidant supplements effective in reducing delayed onset muscle soreness? A systematic review]

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, antioxidant supplements have become popular to counter the effects of free radicals and muscle damage symptoms, including delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). AIM: To conduct a systematic review in different databases to determine the effects of antioxidant supplements on DOMS. METHODS: We conducted a search in databases; Cochrane, Pubmed, Scopus and SportDiscus and Web of Science (WOS). The words and acronyms used were; Delayed onset muscle soreness, exercise induced muscle damage, DOMS, EIMD, antioxidant and oxidative stress. RESULTS: 54 articles were identified of which 48 were retreived, all in English, 17 related to vitamin C and E, supplements polyphenolic correspond to fourteen, eleven other antioxidant supplements and six to commercial supplements, all of them used to diminish the DOMS and other variables. CONCLUSIONS: Both vitamins and commercial supplements have low effectiveness in reducing DOMS, while polyphenols and other antioxidant supplements show moderate to good effectiveness in combating DOMS. However, most of the studies have effectiveness in reducing other symptoms of muscle damage besides helping in the post-exercise recovery.