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• Response to Valerie Bougault, Louis-Philippe Boulet Br J Sports Med 2012;46:402-406
  Harri Hemil
  Published on: 14 June 2012

• Published on: 14 June 2012

  Response to Valerie Bougault, Louis-Philippe Boulet Br J Sports Med 2012;46:402-406

  • Harri Hemil

  Bougault and Boulet write that there is a high incidence of viral respiratory infections in elite swimmers, in particular during heavy training programmes. However, Bougault and Boulet do not mention the evidence indicating that vitamin C may protect against respiratory infections of athletes.

  In five placebo-controlled trials with participants under heavy acute physical stress, vitamin C supplementation halved...

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  Bougault and Boulet write that there is a high incidence of viral respiratory infections in elite swimmers, in particular during heavy training programmes. However, Bougault and Boulet do not mention the evidence indicating that vitamin C may protect against respiratory infections of athletes.

  In five placebo-controlled trials with participants under heavy acute physical stress, vitamin C supplementation halved the incidence of common cold infections (95%CI: -65% to -36%). Three of the trials were with marathon runners, one with Canadian soldiers in a northern training exercise, and one with schoolchildren in a skiing camp in the Swiss Alps [1,2]. Since elite swimmer also have high level physical stress, it is possible that they too might benefit of vitamin C. A recent study on adolescent competitive swimmers in Israel found that vitamin C halved common cold duration in male swimmer (95%CI: -80% to -14%), but no benefit was seen in females [3]. Sex-modification of vitamin C effect on the common cold was previously found in two trials that had been carried out in the UK [4].

  Thus, more research is warranted on the effects of vitamin C on competitive swimmers. Nevertheless, given the consistent benefit of vitamin C for people under heavy acute physical stress, and the low cost and safety, it may be worthwhile for swimmers to test vitamin C on an individual basis if they suffer from repeated respiratory infections.

  References

  1. Hemila H (1996) Vitamin C and common cold incidence: a review of studies with subjects under heavy physical stress. Int J Sports Med 17:379 -383

  2. Hemila H, Chalker EB, Douglas RM (2010) Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev CD000980

  3. Constantini NW, Dubnov-Raz G, Eyal BB, Berry EM, Cohen AH, Hemila H (2011) The effect of vitamin C on upper respiratory infections in adolescent swimmers: a randomized trial. Eur J Pediatrics 170:59-63

  4. Hemila H (2008) Vitamin C and sex differences in respiratory tract infections. Resp Med 102:625-626

  Conflict of Interest:

  None declared

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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