Whey Protein Supplementation is Associated with Antioxidant Markers Following Severe Eccentric Contractions in Obesity

Intense muscle contractions are associated with oxidative stress and immune system deficiency, especially in the presence of obesity. This study aimed to determine the effect of whey protein supplementation following eccentric resistance contractions on some determinants of oxidative stress in non-athletic obese students.

In this double blinded randomized clinical trial study, 24 non-athlete obese male students were divided into two groups: experimental (whey protein supplementation, 0.4 g / kg body weight for 3 consecutive days) or placebo groups by simple random sampling. Blood samples were taken before, immediately, 24, 48 and 72 hours after an intense resistance exercise session with regard to measure Superoxidasedismutase (SOD) and Malodaldoeide (MDA). Subsequently, a two-way repeated measure ANOVA was performed to compare data between groups. P-value of less than 5 percent was considered statistically significant.

No significant differences were observed between two groups in MDA (P-value: 0.211) and SOD (P-value: 0.222) at post-exercise. Based on ANOVA data, significant changes were observed between two groups with regard to MDA (P-value: 0.001) and SOD (P-value: 0.001). On the other hand, MDA activity was significantly lower in experimental than placebo subjects in each stage of study (24 hours recovery, 48 hours recovery and 72 hours recovery with P-value: 0.001). Also, SOD activity was significantly higher in experimental than placebo subjects in each stage of study (24 hours recovery, 48 hours recovery and 72 hours recovery with P-value: 0.001).

Based on this study, it is concluded that whey protein supplementation can be improve antioxidant capacity after intense exercise in non-athletes obese male.