VITAMIN E HELPS REDUCE MUSCLE SORENESS

Vitamin E may help ease muscle aches after a tough workout, a new study suggests. Researchers believe that the antioxidant mops up the damaging byproducts created by a strenuous workout. As the body increases its use of oxygen, byproducts of oxygen metabolism -- called free radicals -- can do damage to muscle tissue. This damage can result in soreness and fatigue after strenuous exercise.

Those who are already physically fit probably do not need to take a vitamin E supplement to ward off what little post-workout soreness they might feel.  However "'weekend warrior' types who are not always exercising on a regular basis may receive greater benefits to supplementation."

While study participants took a relatively high dose of vitamin E,  the average person could probably get the same benefits from lower doses of between 200 to 400 IU per day.

EXERCISE CAN EASE FIBROMYALGIA PAIN

Fibromyalgia is a debilitating condition that affects about 1% of the population, mostly women. The medical cause of the severe muscle and joint pain associated with the condition is still under investigation. Many sufferers see minimal improvement with current treatments such as pain medications, anti-inflammatory drugs, and antidepressants.

But a new study in the July 27 issue of the British Medical Journal found that regular aerobic exercise can produce substantial improvements in how fibromyalgia patients feel.

And those beneficial effects were long lasting. One year later, fewer patients in the fibromyalgia exercise group still met the clinical criteria for having the condition. People in the exercise group also had bigger reductions in muscle and joint tenderness and said fibromyalgia was having less of a negative impact on their daily life.