Abstract
It has recently been reported that the practice of Tai Chi reduces oxidative stress (OxS), but it is not clear whether walking or Tai Chi produces a greater antioxidant effect. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the practice of Tai Chi and walking on markers for OxS. We carried out a quasi-experimental study with 106 older adults between 60 and 74 years of age who were clinically healthy and divided into the following groups: (i) control group (n = 23), (ii) walking group (n = 43), and (iii) Tai Chi group (n = 31). We measured the levels of lipoperoxides (LPO), antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and total antioxidant status (TAS) pre- and post-intervention in all subjects. The data were subjected to a covariant analysis. We found lower levels of LPO in the Tai Chi group compared with the walking group (Tai Chi, 0.261 ± 0.02; walking, 0.331 ± 0.02; control, 0.304 ± 0.023 µmol/L; P = 0.05). Likewise, we observed significantly higher SOD activity and lower OxS-score in the Tai Chi group (P < 0.05). Our findings suggest that the practice of Tai Chi produces a more effective antioxidant effect than walking.