Legal Performance Enhancer

Everybody knows an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

A new USC study reveals a hundred apples a day might win the race.

Of course, that’s a gross oversimplification, and eating 100 apples daily would cause other problems. But the study is a major addition to the growing medical literature on the benefits of quercetin — a substance found in the skins of fruits and vegetables, including apples.

The study found quercetin boosted energy and endurance significantly in healthy college-age participants who weren’t training for athletics. Given 1,000 milligrams of quercetin mixed in liquid with Tang for seven days, the participants saw increases of 13.2 percent in endurance and 3.9 percent in maximal oxygen capacity.

In other words, simply by taking quercetin, these young people increased their fitness. It sounds too good to be true, more suited for a late night infomercial than the pages of the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, where the USC study was published this month.

“Is this the magic exercise pill that we’re all looking for?” said Mark Davis, the study’s lead author and a professor of exercise science at USC’s Arnold School of Public Health. “Of course not. But the results show you do get some of the benefits (normally derived from exercise) without exercise.”

Researchers have been delving into quercetin’s potential in battling cancer and increasing endurance for years, but this is one of the first peer-reviewed studies on the possible performance benefits of the compound, Davis said.

It would be nearly impossible to get the volume of quercetin used in the study in your daily diet. A red apple has about 10 milligrams of quercetin. But there are powder supplements that include quercetin, and quercetin is a major ingredient in FRS Healthy Energy drink, which quickly added a link to the study on its Web site.

Often, these kinds of studies are funded in part by companies that could benefit from the findings. But in this case, the U.S. Department of Defense funded the study to determine if quercetin could be used in its combat feeding program, Davis said.

Some athletes aren’t waiting. Cyclist Lance Armstrong has been preaching the benefits of quercetin for years. Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers also is a spokesman for FRS, which includes about 400 milligrams of quercetin in an 11.5-ounce drink.

Davis’ team began studying quercetin in mice three years ago before moving up to humans. It already is working on a follow-up study that includes examination of muscle cells.

“We believe that this could be a major breakthrough in nutrition,” Davis said.

At the same time, he’s trying to be cautious. Other researchers will have to come up with similar findings before the scientific community gives the absolute, all-clear recommendation on use of quercetin as a performance enhancer. Davis said he especially wants to gain a better understanding of how it works.

The USC study team believes quercetin increases the formation of mitochondria, which produce the energy in muscle and brain cells. If further studies prove that idea, quercetin also could be used to slow age-related dementia, Davis said.

Because quercetin also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, it could help fight colon cancer and heart disease.

Like many of the thousands of flavonoids — compounds found naturally in fruits and vegetables — quercetin seems to be good for just about anything that ails you.

The more scientists look into flavonoids, the more they recognize how smart those parental pleas for you to eat your vegetables were.

Source: TheState.com