Effects of pomegranate supplementation on exercise performance and post-exercise recovery in healthy adults: A systematic review

© The Authors 2018. The functional significance of pomegranate (POM) supplementation on physiological responses during and following exercise is currently unclear. This systematic review aimed (i) to evaluate the existing literature assessing the effects of POM supplementation on exercise performance and recovery; exercise-induced muscle damage, oxidative stress, inflammation; and cardiovascular function in healthy adults and (ii) to outline the experimental conditions in which POM supplementation is more or less likely to benefit exercise performance and/or recovery. Multiple electronic databases were used to search for studies examining the effects of POM intake on physiological responses during and/or following exercise in healthy adult. Articles were included in the review if they investigated the effects of an acute or chronic POM supplementation on exercise performance, recovery and/or physiological responses during or following exercise. The existing evidence suggests that POM supplementation has the potential to confer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects during and following exercise, to improve cardiovascular responses during exercise, and to enhance endurance and strength performance and post-exercise recovery. However, the beneficial effects of POM supplementation appeared to be less likely when (i) unilateral eccentric exercise was employed, (ii) the POM administered was not rich in polyphenols (<1·69 g/l) and (iii) insufficient time was provided between POM-ingestion and the assessment of physiological responses/performance (≤1 h). The review indicates that POM has the potential to enhance exercise performance and to expedite recovery from intensive exercise. The findings and recommendations from this review may help to optimise POM-supplementation practice in athletes and coaches to potentially improve exercise-performance and post-exercise recovery

Effects of pomegranate juice supplementation on oxidative stress biomarkers following weightlifting exercise

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that pomegranate juice supplementation would blunt acute and delayed oxidative stress responses after a weightlifting training session. Nine elite weightlifters (21.0 ±1 years) performed two Olympic-Weightlifting sessions after ingesting either the placebo or pomegranate juice supplements. Venous blood samples were collected at rest and 3 min and 48 h after each session. Compared to the placebo condition, pomegranate juice supplementation attenuated the increase in malondialdehyde (-12.5%; p < 0.01) and enhanced the enzymatic (+8.6% for catalase and +6.8% for glutathione peroxidase; p < 0.05) and non-enzymatic (+12.6% for uric acid and +5.7% for total bilirubin; p < 0.01) antioxidant responses shortly (3 min) after completion of the training session. Additionally, during the 48 h recovery period, pomegranate juice supplementation accelerated (p < 0.05) the recovery kinetics of the malondialdehyde (5.6%) and the enzymatic antioxidant defenses compared to the placebo condition (9 to 10%). In conclusion, supplementation with pomegranate juice has the potential to attenuate oxidative stress by enhancing antioxidant responses assessed acutely and up to 48 h following an intensive weightlifting training session. Therefore, elite weightlifters might benefit from blunted oxidative stress responses following intensive weightlifting sessions, which could have implications for recovery between training sessions

Mean ± SD for core temperature recorded at 07:00 h and 17:00 h before and after the no-stretching, static stretching, and dynamic stretching sessions.

<p>***: significant difference between 07:00 and 17:00 h at p<0.001. $: Significant differences between before and after each stretching protocol at p<0.001.</p

Oral temperature (°C) (mean ± SD, n = 12) recorded before (BR) and during (R2) Ramadan, before (B) and after (A) the 5-minute (5WU) and the 15-minute (15WU) warm-up.

<p>#: significant difference in comparison with before warm-up. *: significant difference in comparison with BR. £: significant difference in comparison with the 5-minute warm-up.</p

Mean ± SD for squat jump (SJ) performances recorded at 07:00 h and 17:00 h after the no-stretching, static stretching, and dynamic stretching protocols.

<p>***: significant difference between 07:00 and 17:00 h at p<0.001. +, ++, +++: Significant differences in comparison with NS at p<0.05, p<0.01, and p<0.001 respectively.</p

Study design.

<p>Study design.</p

Peak power (W ∙ kg⁻¹) (mean ± SD, n = 12) determined during the 30-second Wingate test, after the 5-minute (5WU) and the 15-minute (15WU) warm-up, before (BR) and during (R2) Ramadan.

<p>*: significant difference in comparison with BR. £: significant difference in comparison with the 5-minute warm-up.</p

RPE scores (mean ± SD, n = 12) obtained following the 30-second Wingate test, after the 5-minute (5WU) and the 15-minute (15WU) warm-up, before (BR) and during (R2) Ramadan.

<p>*: significant difference in comparison with BR. £: significant difference in comparison with the 5-minute warm-up.</p

Dynamic stretching exercises.

<p>Dynamic stretching exercises.</p

Mean ± SD for counter-movement jump (CMJ) performances recorded at 07:00 h and 17:00 h after the no-stretching, static stretching, and dynamic stretching protocols.

<p>**, ***: significant difference between 07:00 and 17:00 h at p<0.01 and p<0.001 respectively. +, +++: Significant differences in comparison with NS at p<0.05 and p<0.001 respectively.</p