Jo Bowtell completed her PhD examining the effects of nutrition and exercise on protein turnover at Dundee University in 1996. She subsequently spent 3 years lecturing and researching at Loughborough University and 12 years at London South Bank University, where she led sport and exercise science research and enterprise activity. She has been at University of Exeter since September 2011, where she is Professor of Exercise Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, and after 5 years as Head of the Sport and Health Sciences Department she is now Associate Dean of Global for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. Jo’s research focus is on exercise and nutrient-induced changes in human physiology and metabolism, especially the effects of polyphenol supplementation on exercise performance and recovery, as well as their potential to support healthy aging of the musculoskeletal and vascular systems. Her group are, for instance, exploring the effects of fruit derived polyphenols on exercise performance, muscle damage and recovery; as well as peripheral and cerebro-vascular function and cognitive function.

Vitor Teixeira is a registered nutritionist and professor at the Faculty of Nutrition at the University of Porto. The best lesson he learned from his masters degree in quality control was that he would have to change to another area of nutrition to be happy. Thus, he studied the effect of antioxidants on muscle damage during his PhD. The best teaching he learned from his PhD was that the reality of the facts pulverizes previous theories. Since then, he has been a nutrition consultant for athletes of many modalities and, since 2007, he is the nutritionist at FC Porto.

On this episode:

• The significance of dietary polyphenols for human metabolism
• The main dietary sources of polyphenols
• Bioavailability through the human gut
• Factors affecting polyphenol content in different foods
• Food VS supplements
• Cherry tart juice supplementation in markets of muscle damage
• Inhibition of training adaptations with chronic use of supplementel polyphenols
• COVID-19 considerations
• Polyphenol supplementation for injury treatment
• Take-home messages
  

Articles mentioned during the episode:

Bowtell, J., & Kelly, V. (2019). Fruit-derived polyphenol supplementation for athlete recovery and performance. Sports Medicine, 49(1), 3-23.

Morgan, P. T., Barton, M. J., & Bowtell, J. L. (2019). Montmorency cherry supplementation improves 15-km cycling time-trial performance. European journal of applied physiology, 119(3), 675-684.

Teixeira, V. H., Valente, H. F., Casal, S. I., Marques, A. F., & Moreira, P. A. (2009). Antioxidants do not prevent postexercise peroxidation and may delay muscle recovery. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(9), 1752-1760.

Sousa, M., Teixeira, V. H., & Soares, J. (2014). Dietary strategies to recover from exercise-induced muscle damage. International journal of food sciences and nutrition, 65(2), 151-163.