NUTRITION, INFLAMMATION AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES

Inflammation = pain = take ibuprofen = reduced inflammation = reduced pain = yay! Right?!

Given that you are about to read a blog on this, you might have already guessed that things are not this simple. 

Ibuprofen is just one example of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Depending on the report you read, up to 50% of elite and recreational athletes regularly take NSAIDs to reduce pain and inflammation. The question is whether this has a positive or negative impact on long term performance. 

 The highlights of what is currently understood is below, and you can read more here. 

Inflammation and Training Adaptations

 Training adaptations are a stress response. When you exercise, the body is put under stress. Training adaptations are simply the body altering so that the next time you do that exercise it doesn’t hurt quite so much!

The inflammatory response is part of the body signalling that it is stressed. As NSAIDs work by stopping the inflammatory response (Wikipedia has a great page on these drugs if you want to know more!), it seems plausible that NSAIDs may prevent or reduce training adaptations. 

More research is certainly needed before we can draw a conclusion, but if you are taking NSAIDs for an extended period it is something to consider if you are not seeing the improvements in your performance that you expect. Particularly in strength sports. 

Inflammation and Competition

 The above is NSAIDs in the context of long-term adaptation to training. Competition is very distinct to training. The adaptations have already taken place and you now need to do everything you can to maximise performance in one or more events over a short time period. In this setting, reducing pain and inflammation through use of NSAIDs may enhance performance by enabling you to recover rapidly and push harder … particularly across multi-day events as tissue damage and fatigue accumulate. 

Pathological Inflammation

 An inflammatory response to an injury, autoimmune reaction, pathogen or other adverse event may be causing trauma or greater harm to the body (see a medical professional). And / or inflammation related pain may be so great you cannot carry out your daily activities. In these cases, NSAIDs may well be necessary. If this is the case, by being aware of the potential impact on training adaptations and nutrient availability, you can better understand your performance in response to training and the changes you may want to make to your diet across this period. 

In summary, individuals should weigh up the cost: benefit of taking these drugs in the short and long term. As ever, context is everything!

 
Dr Sinead Roberts,PhD