Can Quercetin Improve Athletic Performance (and Protect Against Cancer)?
A new study sheds light on one popular supplement—quercetin—which is being examined for its potential not only to improve athletic performance but also to prevent or treat a host of diseases and conditions, U.S. News’s Katherine Hobson reports. The study, published this week in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, looked at quercetin’s effects on endurance in healthy nonathletes. J. Mark Davis, director of the exercise biochemistry laboratory at the University of South Carolina’s department of exercise science and the author of the new study, says quercetin may aid performance through its anti-inflammatory properties or because it increases the number and function of mitochondria, the energy-producing factories found in cells. It may also provide a caffeinelike boost to the central nervous system. When it comes to cancer, quercetin has shown promise in test tubes, seeming to slow the growth of cancer cells or even induce their death. But it’s far too s
