In the study, college-age males who received 1,200 IU's of vitamin # for three weeks found that the vitamin in supplement form protected them from muscle damage... The control group, however, received a placebo and showed muscle damage soon after exercise. The study was conducted by Dr. Bruce Craig of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and was made public at a recent meeting of the American Physiological Society. To determine if three weeks of vitamin E supplementation could affect the muscle damage during resistance training, Dr. Craig and his associates studied the effect of vitamin E on the muscle function and hormonal responses. "The result of the study showed that vitamin E significantly reduced the blood levels of creatine kinase, which is an enzyme marker of membrane damage," a report on the study said. "Vitamin E intake can greatly elevate hormonal responses "without influencing the body's ability to remove glucose from the circulatory system."

The study concluded that vitamin # can reduce muscle damage, and may also facilitate insulin production by the pancreas. Dr. Craig said that while he doubts that vitamin E has a direct effect on pancreatic insulin release, he stated that, "It may be possible that vitamin E speeds the interaction between insulin storage areas and body cells."