Showing posts with label ISSN15. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ISSN15. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Synephrine More Ergogenic, Than Thermogenic? Pump Supps Revisited - L-Arginine, L-Citrulline and Respective Whey-Peptides & -Nitrates | ISSN Research Review '15 #2
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| Synephrine, arginine, citrulline - Which pre-workout ensures that you're "on fire"? |
Accordingly, I am now posting the 2nd serving of what is going to be a multi-part series of articles with brief discussions of the most significant results of the >20 studies and short references to those that didn't make the waredownloadsoft cut in this, previous and future installments of this series for one reason or another.
Read more about ISSN and other studies at the waredownloadsoft
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
- Synephrine More Ergogenic Than Thermogenic? There was not just one, but two poster presentations and a full paper that has been published only days ago on synephrine containing supplements at the ISSN meeting and on the ISSN website, respectively. Synephrine? Yes, that's the supplemental non-starter, ah... I mean allegedly powerful fat burner from orange peels. The one with promising fat loss results in rodents, but discouraging results in practice.
Luckily, the studies that were presented in form of posters by scientists from the Texas A&M University (Jung. 2015 & Dalton. 2015) at the ISSN meeting did not deal with synephrine as fat burner. Rather than that, Jung et al. and Dalton et al. took a look at the short- and long-term safety of synephrine as a pre-workout. A pre-workout that contained either 3g beta alanine, 2g creatine nitrate, 2g arginine AKG, 300mg N-acetyl tyrosine, 270mg caffeine, and 15mg Mucuna pruriens, alone (PLA) or the same baseline ingredients and synephrine.
Now, the fact that some synephrine in your preworkout won't kill you is not really exciting. I have to admit that. What is exciting... at least sort of, though is the fact that the questionable thermogenic turned out to be an effective ergogenic in the already published and thematically related study by Ratamess and colleagues (Ratamess. 2015). A study that shows that p-synephrine of which previous studies indicate that it is a potent, but highly selective β-3 adrenoreceptor may nor be the best fat burner (the good old ephedrine was a pan-receptor activator and clenbuterol & co target the β-3 receptor, maybe that's also why the fat loss results are rather disappointing) , but at least an underestimated ergogenic.
Figure 1: Number of reps on sets 1-3 & 4-6 in the control and treatment conditions (Ratamess. 2015)
Is p-synephrine different from synephrine? That's a good question without a clear question. Most supplements that list synephrine on the label actually contain P-hydroxy-α-{methylaminomethyl}-benzylalcohol aka p-synephrine, a protoalkaloid compound that differs from m-synephrine and o-synephrine structurally and comes in form of to stereoisomers in most supplements - the l-enantiomer and the d-enantiomer as the racemate d,l-synephrine. While the latter have been shown to be present in bitter orange, other forms, like the m,s-isomer may are suspected to be adulterations from synthetic phenylephrine supplement producers use to "spike" (Allison. 2005) their products (I assume this was not the case with the samples the researchers in the study at hand used, but the chaos wrt to the types of synephrine puts a huge "?" behind the assumption that you'll see the same effects from any given synephrine or synephrine + caffeine supplement.
- As the data in Figure 1 goes to show you, the p-synephrine supplement, which was administered to twelve healthy, college-aged men at a dosage of 100mg either alone (S) or in conjunction with 100 mg caffeine (SCF) for three days. On the day on which the subjects participated in a standardized resistance exercise protocol consisting of 6 sets of squats for up to 10 repetitions per set using 80 % of their one repetition-maximum (1RM) with 2 min of rest in between sets, the supplement was ingested 45 minutes before the workout. In comparison to the placebo treatment synephrine alone triggered a significant increase in total repetitions and volume load. When synephrine was combined with 200 mg of caffeine, it also increased the mean power and velocity of squat performance. What did not change in response to either synephrine alone or caffeine and synephrine, though, were the blood lactate levels or the rate of perceived (RPE) exertion the subjects reported on the usual visual analogue scales.
For me personally, that's a surprising result. For the scientists it "indicate[s that] supplementation with S and SCF can enhance local muscle endurance during resistance exercise" (Ratamess. 2015); and I have to admit: They are right. One thing you should keep in mind, though, is that unlike caffeine, where you often see reductions in RPE and thus an effect you will feel, synephrine will - even if it works - do its purported "magic" more subtly. - The Latest on "Pump Supplements" - Creatine, Arginine, Citrulline, Nitrates -- To make sure that this series is not turning into a 12-part article, I will address the results of Moon's, Suzuki's and Vogel's results in one item (since Moon's paper basically summarizes the results of studies by Falcone and Joy, I won't discuss those separately) .
Moon et al.'s comparison of citrulline's and arginine's ability to increase the exercise-induced vasodilation and blood flow yielded unsurprising results that confirm that citrulline-based ingredients are more effective than arginine-based ingredients for modulating vasodilation and blood flow. Now that alone wouldn't be news-worthy if the scientists had not tested the effects of both, rawe L-citrulline (RC) and raw L-arginine (RA) and, citrulline and arginine bound to a whey peptide (CP and AP, respectively).
Figure 2: Increases in blood flow volume (BFV) 33 minutes after the ingestion of 1.87g of RC, 3.67g of CP (citrulline content 1.87g), 1.87g of RA, or 3.07g of AP (arginine content 1.87g) before 3 sets of 15 arm curls (Moon. 2015).
I guess I am not going to surprise you, when I tell you that regular arginine was the worst vasodilator in this quartet. What is more surprising, though, is the extent to which the peptide bonding increased the vasodilating effects of regular citrulline and even arginine. With the the former producing 2x higher increases in vessel diameter and 9% higher increases in blood glow volume than regular citrulline (let's not even mention regular arginine | see Figure 2) the effects are pronounced enough to be potentially "feelable" and "visible" during a workout.
Against that background I would be curious to see, whether the likewise recently reported performance enhancing effects of citrulline Suzuki et al.'s observed in twenty two well-trained young men who consumed 2.4 g / day of L-citrulline or placebo for 7 days and they took 2.4 g of L-citrulline or placebo 1 hour before 4 km cycling time trial on day 8 would be enhanced by bonding citrulline to whey peptides.
Citrulline & Glutathione - GSH Amplifies & Prolongs CIT's NO Boosting Effects During + After Biceps Workout | learn more.
I mean, if citrulline-whey-peptides appear to offer the same effects citrulline does, but at a higher efficacy, their beneficial effect on cycling time trial performance of which the Suzuki et al. argue that it was mediated by an up-regulation of plasma NO availability should be superior to that of raw citrulline, as well, right?
And now that we are already talking about what really matters, i.e. performance enhancements, not increases in blood flow, it would also be interesting to see a follow up on the last "pump supplement" study to be mentioned in this installment of the ISSN Research Review: A study by Vogel et al.'s on the vasolidating effects of an arginine-nitrate based pre-workout supplements that shows significant increases in brachial artery diameter. Increases that are quantitatively similar to those Moon et al. observed for citrulline-whey-peptides in the previously discussed study. That does not mean, though that they are equally effective, though. To be able to say that we would need a study in which both agents are compared head-to-head. Unless this study is done and a follow up on Vogel's study proves that the increases in blood flow will actually produce significant performance gains, the only thing I can say about arginine nitrate is: It's interesting, but with respect to its ergogenic effects more studies have to be done.
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| You don't believe citrulline can do anything for you? Check this out: 8g/day Citrulline Increase Leg Workout Performance - More Reps on Leg Press, Hack Squat & Leg Ext. in Exp. Gymrats (more)! It is thus by no means useful for "cosmetic pumps", only |
- Allison, D. B., et al. "Exactly which synephrine alkaloids does Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) contain?." International journal of obesity 29.4 (2005): 443-446.
- Bouza, Brooke, et al. "Exercise and calorie information on menus is not enough to improve food choices in Hispanic adults." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P3.
- Dalton, R., et al. "Safety and efficacy of a pre-wrkout dietary supplement with and without synephrine." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P5.
- Falcone, Paul H., et al. "Acute hemodynamic effects of L-arginine, arginine nitrate, and arginine peptide on exercise-induced vasodilation and blood flow in healthy men." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P10.
- Joy, Jordan M., et al. "A comparison of raw citrulline and citrulline peptide for increasing exercise-induced vasodilation and blood flow." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P18.
- Jung, Y. P., et al. "Effects of 8 weeks pre-workout dietary supplement ingestion with and without synephrine on blood chemistry panel." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P4.
- Moon, Jordan R., et al. "A comparison of citrulline and arginine for increasing exercise-induced vasolidation and blood flow." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P6.
- O'Connor, A., et al. "Short-term powdered tart cherry supplementation encircling an acute endurance challenge potentially increases running performance and attenuates post-race markers of inflammation." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P7.
- Suzuki, Takashi, et al. "Oral L-citrulline supplementation enhances cycling time trial performance in healthy well-trained males." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P52.
- Vogel, Roxanne M., et al. "Acute hemodynamic effects of a multi-ingredient performance supplement on brachial artery vasodilation and blood flow volume following elbow flexion exercise in healthy young men." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P28.
3.8 vs. 2.3 g/kg Protein + Exercise to Improve Body Comp. | Digestive Enzymes to Pimp Vegan Proteins | High Protein vs. MUFA Meals for GLP1 | ISSN Research Review '15 #3
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| "If some is good, more is better!" Unfortunately, this simple maxime does rarely apply when it comes to the physiological response to certain foods and/or supplements. For protein, however, it appears as if the relation holds - at least as long as protein does not become the only energy source in your diet. |
Well, that's good because it leaves more room for a brief preview of the studies I am about to discuss in today's third serving of the waredownloadsoft ISSN Research Review 2015 - studies that are all related (in one way or another) to increased protein intake. Either in overweight or obese people, for whom higher protein meals increase the post-prandial increase of the "satiety hormone" GLP-1, or in vegans, vegetarians and everyone else who wants to make the most of his vegetable protein sources (pea and rice protein, to be precise) by adding digestive enzymes to the mix, or - last but not least - gymrats who ramp up their protein intake from 2.3 to 3.8 g/kg body weight to see even more pronounced improvements in body composition.
Read more about ISSN and other studies at the waredownloadsoft
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
- High protein, high GLP-1, ... highly beneficial? As a waredownloadsoft reader you are aware of the far-reaching metabolic effects of GLP-1 on appetite (suppression | Näslund. 1999), glucose and fat metabolism, as well as thermogenesis (Lejeune. 2006). Against that background, you will know that the small, but statistically significant increase in GLP-1 Franklin et al. (2015) observed in their latest study which compared the effects of a high protein and high mono-unsaturated fat meal on the well-known incretin hormone may have significant long-term effects even though the blood glucose levels of the study's twenty-four overweight or obese participants (male/female: 12/12; age: 38.7 ± 15.3 (mean ± standard deviation) years; BMI: 31.6 ± 4.0kg/m²), who consumed isocaloric meals containing either 35.2% energy from fat and 20.7% from monounsaturated fat (HMF meal) or 31.9% energy from protein (HP meal), did not trigger differences in post-prandial glucose levels at 30, 60, 120, and 180 min.
To believe that "simply eating more protein" is going to solve all your weight problems, though, would be short-sighted - especially for the overweight obese for whom the study at hand as well as previous studies investigating the effects of GLP-1 on glucose metabolism suggest that they may benefit to a lesser extent from protein induced increases in GLP-1 than lean individuals, in whom the "satiety hormone" will trigger much more pronounced β-cell responses that in in patients with sign. insulin resistance and pre- or full-blown type 2 diabetes (Kjems. 2003).
Figure 1: Levels of active GLP-1 in response to high protein (HP) or high MUFA (HMF) meals (Franklin. 2015).
If that sounds like you, using the high(er) protein meals in conjunction with an energy restricted diet to lose weight and thus to improve your insulin sensitivity can obviously still be beneficial. Without a planned, reasonable caloric deficit, however, high(er) protein intakes alone are probably not going to "cut it" (all puns intended).
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| Even if weight loss is the goal, training fasted and thus hungry does not appear to provide significant benefits. Learn more about this longstanding myth and the reality in my write-up of Schoenfeld et al's seminal paper on fasted cardio and fat loss. A paper that finally had a long-standing and die-hard fat loss myth tumble. |
- Pimp my plant protein - digestive enzymes can do the trick! Despite the fact that pea and other protein powders have become widely (and cheaply) available over the past years, vegan and vegetarian athletes and gymrats are still having a harder time satisfying their protein requirements than their omnivore competition or gym-buddies. Against that background and in view of the fact that more and more athletes are "going vegan" or at least vegetarian, the latest study by Julie Minevich (2015) and colleagues from the University of Tampa and the formulators, manufacturers and vendors of digestive enzymes and respective supplements from Chemi-Source and Increnovo LLC, was in fact published quite timely. A study that was designed...
"to investigate if co-ingestion of a plant protein specific digestive enzyme blend (Digest-All® VP, a proprietary enzyme blend consisting of protease 6.0, protease 4.5, peptidase, bromelain and alpha-galactosidase, Chemi-Source, Inc., Oceanside, CA) can reduce the significant differences in amino acid appearance in the blood between plant and animal proteins" (Minevich. 2015).
To this ends, 11 resistance-trained male subjects (age: 21.4 ± 1.5 years, body weight: 82.5 ± 3.9kg, height: 177.3cm ± 6.1cm | average training status of 2.3 years ± 1.9 years) were randomly assigned to receive either 60 g of whey protein concentrate, or the same amount of protein in form of a 70:30 blend of pea and rice protein concentrates (Veg), either alone or alonside the enzyme blend Digest-All® VP in a double-blind, crossover study. All supplements were provided on an empty stomach after a 12 hour overnight fast. The three testing sessions, in which blood was drawn immediately prior to, and at 30 minutes, 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours following consumption of the supplements, were separated by a washout period of 7 days.
Ok, I have to admit that the differences are not exactly staggering and the standard deviations (see error bars) are large, but still. One potentially important determinant of skeletal muscle metabolism, the time it takes for the serum levels of essential amino acids - including leucine - to peak, i.e. T_max in Figure 2, was visibly improved by the addition of digestive enzymes to the otherwise comparatively slow digested rice + pea protein mix (if you look at the error bars, you will see that this was just a "trend", though).
Figure 2: Time to achieve peak amino acid levels and total amount of amino acids that made it to the blood stream with whey protein, the pea + rice mix and the pea + rice mix w/ digestive enzymes (Minevich. 2015).
If you also take into account that the digestive enzyme blend brought the area under the EAA curve (see Figure 2) and the peak amino acid levels (not shown in Figure 2) of the vegetable protein blend up to the same level as it was observed with whey protein, it would seem as if the study would provide the missing evidence of the usefulness of proteases and co. for people who want to make the absolute most of their vegetable protein supplements - what is missing, obviously, is data that would allow us to quantify the downstream effects on muscle gains and other practically relevant study outcomes. - High protein + training = WIN?! You will certainly remember the impressive results of Antonio et al.'s 2014 study on the effects of a 4.4g/kg protein diet on the body composition healthy resistance-trained men and women (learn more). Right after said study had been published the authors promised a follow up that would combine a similarly high protein intake with a controlled exercise intervention and... voila! The first results of this study were presented at this year's ISSN meeting.
For the corresponding experiment, Ellerbroek et al. recruited forty-eight healthy resistance-trained men and women in their early twenties. who consumed either 2.3g/kg body weight per day (NP) or 3.4g/kg body weight per day (HP) of dietary protein during the treatment period. Moreover, all subjects participated in a split-routine, body part heavy resistance-training program. Training and diet (everyday) logs were kept by each subject.
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| Learn everything about the previous study. |
- As the scientists point out in the results section of the abstract, their two-time point (Pre, Post) by two-group (NP, HP) repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed (a) significant time by group (p ≤ 0.05) changes in body weight with weight gains and loss in the normal and high protein groups, respectively (1.3 ± 1.3 kg NP, -0.7 ± 4.0 HP), as well as reductions in total and relative body fat in both groups (-0.3 ± 2.2 kg NP, -1.7 ± 2.3 HP), and % BF (-0.7 ± 2.8 NP, -2.4 ± 2.9 HP) - both as you can see in Figure 3 with significant advantages for the HP group.
In the absence of any form of ill health effects due to the high protein intake (both groups consumed significantly more than the recommended daily allowance of 0.8g/kg), Ellerbroek et al. also found a significant time effect for the increase in fat-free mass (1.5 ± 1.8 NP, 1.5 ± 2.2 HP), 1-RM on the bench and squats and vertical jump and pull-up performance - albeit without significant diet-induced inter-group differences.
Figure 3: Changes in body weight, fat and fat free mass in the normal and high protein groups during the diet + training intervention; mind the error bars = high inter-individual differences (Ellerbroek. 2015).
So what's not in this issue? Poster presentations I decided not to discuss "at length" in this issue are the allegedly interesting presentation by Galvan et al. on the "[e]ffects of 28 days of two creatine nitrate based dietary supplements on bench press power in recreationally active males." Just as it was the case for the previously referenced studies on BCAAs, I'd rather wait for the full-text to be published before I make up my mind on whether creatine nitrate is the first form of "advanced creatines" that's actually worth it's money (unlike the rest of the pack | Jäger. 2011).
The same must be said of a study by Detzel, et al. (2015) in which the researchers compared the effects of functional animal proteins on mTOR and endotoxins like , pro-inflammatory compounds, that arise as a consequence of intense training. There's no debating: The way serum the derived protein supplements (BioBeef, SerumPro, and SuperSerum) were capable of neutralizing endotoxin is is interesting, but to comment on the practical usefulness of blending of high-quality protein sources with functional serum protein supplements (SuperSerum and SerumPro) the abstract that does not provide numbers to assess the relevance of the reductions in IL-8 cytokine production by THP-1 monocytes is simply not sufficient | Comment!
References: |
| Blocking Inflammation is Like Cho- king the Fire: Long Term Weight-, Visceral- and Android-Fat Gain in Human Study Emphasizes Essential Role of TNF-α in Metabolic Control! |
- Detzel, Christopher J., et al. "Functional animal proteins activate mTOR and bind pro-inflammatory compounds." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P35.
- Ellerbroek, Anya, et al. "The effects of heavy resistance training and a high protein diet (3.4 g/kg/d) on body composition, exercise performance and indices of health in resistance-trained individuals-a follow-up investigation." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P37.
- Franklin, Brian, et al. "The effect of meal composition on postprandial glucagon-like peptide-1 response in overweight/obese participants." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P12.
- Galvan, E., et al. "Effects of 28 days of two creatine nitrate based dietary supplements on bench press power in recreationally active males." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P17.
- Jäger, Ralf, et al. "Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine." Amino Acids 40.5 (2011): 1369-1383.
- Lejeune, Manuela PGM, et al. "Ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide 1 concentrations, 24-h satiety, and energy and substrate metabolism during a high-protein diet and measured in a respiration chamber." The American journal of clinical nutrition 83.1 (2006): 89-94.
- Näslund, E., et al. "Energy intake and appetite are suppressed by glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in obese men." International journal of obesity 23.3 (1999): 304-311.
- Nystrom, M. G., et al. "Nutrient timing habits of Division I NCAA athletes." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P33.
- Minevich, Julie, et al. "Digestive enzymes reduce quality differences between plant and animal proteins: a double-blind crossover study." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P26.
Vitargo™, Red Bull™ + Co. Research - Are They Worth It? Beef Can Keep Up W/ Whey For Gains! "Creatine Loading" = Too Much of a Good Thing - ISSN Research Review '15 #1
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| When you're running on a treadmill it obviously takes more than one serving of Red Bull or other commercial energy drinks to kickstart your workout performance | learn more below. |
Read more about ISSN and other studies at the waredownloadsoft
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
- The latest research on Vitargo(TM) -- The mere fact that the latest study on Vitargo(TM) was presented in "three servings", on the latest ISSN meeting, i.e. (1) on the glucose and insulin response (Almada. 2015), (2) on the incretin response (Anzalone. 2015) and (3) on the power output during a subsequent bout of resistance exercise (Van Eck. 2015), could raise some concerns about the objectivity of the results, but is as Patrick Jacobs kindly reminded me common scientific practice.. So, let's put the skepticism aside and take a look at the study design and results.
Sixteen resistance trained men participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover study, which consisted of three testing sessions, each separated by one week. In sessions 1-3, subjects completed a glycogen depleting cycling bout of 60 minutes at 70% VO2 max, followed by six, one-minute sprints at 120% VO2 max.
Post-Workout Glycogen Repletion | Read the my overview article.
Immediately post-exercise subjects ingested a placebo (PLA), or a low molecular (LMW) or high molecular weight (HMW) CHO (=Vitargo(TM)) solution (10%) providing 1.2g/kg body weight CHO; assigned randomly. Blood samples were taken prior to ingestion and every ten minutes for 2h.
For the "first" and "second" serving of the study this was enough. These mini-presentations dealt with the insulin, glucose and incretin response to the two supplements, only. For the "third serving", however, the scientists included performance data from a subsequent bout of exercise, during which the participants did 5 sets of 10 repetitions of back squats (75% 1RM) "as explosively as possible" (if subjects paused for more than 2 seconds or were unable to complete a rep, resistance was lowered by 13.6 kg | Van Eck. 2015).
As you can see in my overview of the most relevant results, the scientists did not find practically meaningful differences in study I-II. In study III, which compared the effects of low to high molecular weight carbohydrates (LMW vs. HMW) on squat performance 2h after the glycogen-depleting workout, this was slightly different:
Figure 1: Overview of the most relevant results (LMW = low molecular weight CHO vs. HMW = Vitargo (TM) high molecular weight CHO) from Almada (2015), Anzalone (2015) and Van Eck (2015). "HMW conferred a likely beneficial effect in Sets 4 and 5 (92.5% and 88.7% likelihood, respectively), compared to PLA; while ingestion of LMW conferred only a possibly beneficial effect (68.7%) and likely beneficial effect (83.9%) in Sets 4 and 5, respectively" (Van Eck. 2015).
And still, if you read the conclusion, "the ingestion of a HMW CHO solution providing 1.2 g/kg CHO may allow athletes to sustain power output in a subsequent resistance training session when time between training sessions is limited" (Van Eck. 2015), carefully, you will notice the words "likely" and "possibly" which signify the putative nature of the effect. What may be even more relevant than that, is yet that few of you will do glycogen-depleting exercises at 4:00 pm and hit the gym again for an intense leg workout at 6:00 pm. Accordingly, the practical relevance of the "sustained power output" Van Eck et al. observed is probably restricted to a small group of professional athletes. For people who fall into this category or strength athletes training twice a day, though, using Vitargo (TM) may in fact offer significant benefits. - Beef and whey support lean mass gains similarly effectively -- If you are asking yourself if beef isolate protein is a good or at least decent replacement for whey, the post-workout protein supplementation "gold standard" some people can't use due to its (albeit low) lactose content, a recent study from the University of Tampa (Sharp. 2015) has the answer you are looking for.
As the data in Figure 2 tells you, it will make a good replacement! If we go by the average increase in lean mass and loss of fat mass, the beef isolate that was consumed in amounts of 2x20g per day either immediately after each of the 5 weekly workouts (3 resistance training, 2 cardio; 8 weeks total, daily undulating periodization) or at a similar time in the day, you may even argue that the beef protein had the overhand over its "milky" competitor. If we take the individual variations into account, though, the 1% lean mass and almost 3% fat loss advantage (DXA values) of the beef protein turns out to be statistically non-singifican.
Figure 2: Relative improvements in muscle size (hypertrophy) and body fat (fat loss) in response to beef isolate or whey protein supplementation; expressed relative to maltodextrin placebo (Sharp. 2015).
The same goes for differences in strength gains, of which the researchers found that they were identical not just in the two supplement, but also in the supplement and control groups. The lack of additional power during the bench press test may, as the researchers point out, be ascribed to both increases in neural and morphological adaptations" (Sharp. 2015) which would "negate" (ibid.), or as I would phrase it, 'override' potential additive effects of any of the protein supplements (whey and beef, alike). - Energy drinks a waste of money on the treadmill? At first sight, the results of the latest study by Sanders et al. (2015) do in fact suggest that energy drinks were a total waste of money for those of you who are consuming them before a regular cardio workout on the treadmill. After all, none of the tested drinks lead to statistically significant improvements in either perceived treadmill exercise performance or running economy assessed via oxygen consumption at 70% treadmill exercise.
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| In contrast to treadmill running, the performance during a cycling time-trial can be improved by the consumption of an energy drink - a potential explanation for the difference may be that the subjects in the Ivy study consumed 2x more Red Bull than the subjects in Sanders' study. |
- Now, some of you may argue that all you care about when you buy an energy drink is that it makes it easier for you to hit your target time on the treadmill. Well, I can understand that, but in view of the fact that neither of the caffeine laden 8.4 oz. Red Bull®, 16 oz. Monster Energy ®, 2 oz. 5-hour ENERGY® drinks affected the subjects subjective rates of perceived exertion, it does appear questionable that these drinks can actually help you.
It does thus stand to reason that Sanders et al. conclude that the "results [of their latest study] do not support manufacturers' claims regarding their product's ability to boost performance" (Sanders. 2015). The scientists are yet also right that it would be necessary to find out whether time trial or time to exhaustion sprint and endurance performance benefit, as respective studies may be better suited to reliably "assess if these energy drinks can, in fact, improve exercise performance" (ibid.) - and in view of the fact that previous studies with corresponding outcomes yielded conflicting results (see blue box above), I can fully subscribe to that: We need more (non-sponsored) quality studies ;-) - More evidence that creatine loading is not the way to go -- In Gann et al.'s latest study, fourteen (Cr = 7, Pl = 7) non-resistance-trained (i.e. < thrice weekly, 1 year prior) men between the ages of 18-30 were randomly assigned by age and body weight to orally ingest a powdered dextrose placebo or creatine monohydrate (Gann. 2015).
After baseline strength and body composition testing procedures, participants ingested creatine or placebo at a dose of 0.3g/kg lean body mass/day (≈ 20-25g/day) for a 5 day loading phase immediately followed by a 42-day maintenance phase at a dose of 0.075g/kg lean body mass/day (≈ 5-7g/day). The participants followed a periodized 4 day per week resistance-training program split into two upper body and two lower body workouts per week, for a total of 7 weeks. Blood and muscle samples were obtained at Day 0, 6, 27, and 48. Statistical analyses were performed utilizing separate two-way ANOVA for each criterion variable employing a probability level of ≤ 0.05.
As you'd expect, the addition of creatine lead to significant increments in total body mass (p = 0.03) and lean body mass (p = 0.01). What creatine did not do, though, was to affect the amount of body fat the subjects were carrying around. The latter decreased to a similar extent in both groups in response to resistance training, alone (p = 0.001) - without any effect of creatine supplementation. Much to my personal surprise, the same was the case for the subjects' muscle strength, which was - likewise - increased to the same extent in both groups.
Figure 3: Don't be fooled by shiny ads! While there is evidence that some forms of creatine will be faster absorbed than creatine monohydrate, only the addition of dextrose (and ALA or baking soda) have actually been shown to increase the muscular retention of creatine in experiments (Jäger. 2011)
So what? Well, in contrast to the uncommon lack of effect on muscle strength, the lack of effect on body fat is sad, but had to be expected. Both findings are yet not why this study made the waredownloadsoft Cut. That is or rather was Gann's observation that the loading phase lead to significant increases in of urinary creatine (p = 0.036), and urinary creatinine (p = 0.01) in the creatine group compared to placebo. This "excess amounts of serum and urinary creatine and urinary creatinine content" (Gann. 2015) provides further evidence that the (still common) practice of creatine loading is useless and 100% safe certainly only in the short term. In the long term, however, I'd highly suggest that you avoid super-dosing on creatine - I mean, why would you want to use 20g per day, when 3-5 g per day is enough (Wilder. 2001) and more than will "lose" once the creatine levels of your muscles are saturated (the exact washout time is unknown, but studies indicate it may be >40 days of consuming no creatine at all | Deldicque. 2008)?
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| Intra-workout BCAA supplements are marketed specifically to resistance trainees. If they do have anti-catabolic effects, though, those are - just like potential fatigue reducing effects - significantly more likely to occur in endurance trainees | learn more |
References:
- Almada, Anthony L., et al. "Effect of post-exercise ingestion of different molecular weight carbohydrate solutions. Part 1: The glucose and insulin response." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P30.
- Astorino, Todd A., et al. "Effects of red bull energy drink on repeated sprint performance in women athletes." Amino acids 42.5 (2012): 1803-1808.
- Anzalone, Anthony J., et al. "Effect of post-exercise ingestion of different molecular weight carbohydrate solutions. Part II: The incretin response." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P31.
- Candow, Darren G., et al. "Effect of sugar-free Red Bull energy drink on high-intensity run time-to-exhaustion in young adults." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 23.4 (2009): 1271-1275.
- Deldicque, Louise, et al. "Kinetics of creatine ingested as a food ingredient." European journal of applied physiology 102.2 (2008): 133-143.
- Forbes, Scott C., et al. "Effect of Red Bull energy drink on repeated Wingate cycle performance and bench-press muscle endurance." International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism 17.5 (2007): 433.
- Gann, Joshua J., et al. "Effects of a traditionally-dosed creatine supplementation protocol and resistance training on the skeletal muscle uptake and whole-body metabolism and retention of creatine in males." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P2.
- Ivy, John L., et al. "Improved cycling time-trial performance after ingestion of a caffeine energy drink." International journal of sport nutrition 19.1 (2009): 61.
- Jäger, Ralf, et al. "Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine." Amino Acids 40.5 (2011): 1369-1383.
- Kephart, Wesley C., et al. "Ten weeks of branched chain amino acid supplementation improves select performance and immunological variables in trained cyclists." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P20.
- Mumford, Petey, et al. "Effects of sub-chronic branched chain amino acid supplementation on markers of muscle damage and performance variables following 1 week of rigorous weight training." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P29.
- Sanders, Gabriel J., et al. "The effect of three different energy drinks on oxygen consumption and perceived exertion during treadmill exercise." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P1.
- Sharp, Matthew, et al. "The effects of beef protein isolate and whey protein isolate supplementation on lean mass and strength in resistance trained individuals-a double blind, placebo controlled study." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P11.
- Van Eck, Leighsa E., et al. "Effect of post-exercise ingestion of different molecular weight carbohydrate solutions. Part III: Power output during a subsequent resistance training bout." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P32.
- Wilder, Nathan, et al. "The effects of low-dose creatine supplementation versus creatine loading in collegiate football players." Journal of athletic training 36.2 (2001): 124.
Calculated Energy Requirements ±15% & More Off of True Resting Energy Expenditure | Genotyping May Help Maintain Muscle While Dieting -- ISSN'15 Research Review Issue #5
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| In view of the inaccuracy of the standard equations that are used to calculate our energy requirements we are approaching the age of the "misquantified self". |
Complicated, because even though our genes appear to have a determining rule in what's the best diet for us, the "calories in vs. calories out" equation is eventually going to determine whether you are losing or gaining weight. That's problematic, not just because many of us have lost their inborn ability to match their energy intake to their individual requirements. It's also problematic in view of the increasing number of people who rely on the numbers of apps and fitness-trackers which are just as unreliable as the standard equations that were fed into the source code to calculate them.
Read more about ISSN and other studies at the waredownloadsoft
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
- Eating according to your genes may help you retain lean mass -- You will have noticed that the number of companies that do gene testing in order to tell you "exactly" what and how to eat is exploding lately. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of research that would confirm that any of the test results people often pay several hundred dollars for are worth the paper they are printed on.
Against that background, a recent study from the Texas A&M University comes quite handy for the shareholder value of said companies. The corresponding poster presentation at the ISSN Conference 2015 expanded on the results of a 2015 study by Coletta et al. (2015a), in which the researchers observed "that correctly matching diet type to some obesity-related genes promoted greater fat loss during the first 3 months of a diet and exercise intervention" (Coletta. 2015b). In the study at hand the researchers did now examine "whether these changes were observed following a 6-month diet and exercise training program" (ibid.).
Over the course of the 6-months study, fifty sedentary, obese women (41.6 ± 12 yrs, 35.4 ± 8 kg/m²) who had been genotyped before the intervention, were either truly matched (T) to their diet group based on genotype (n = 28) or falsely matched (F) based on genotype (n = 22).
Irrespective of the group they were assigned to, all subjects consumed the same amount of energy (1,500 kcal/d), but with either a high or low ratio of carbohydrate:fat:protein percentages (see Figure 1). But the women didn't just eat less, they also had to perform a supervised circuit-style resistance-exercise program four days/week and followed a standardized walking program that consisted of 10,000 steps/day on three days/week.
Figure 1: Macronutrient composition of the diets (Coletta. 2015b).
High carbohydrate diets for metabolic syndrome? A question of your genes - Study suggests that diets high in carbohydrate may not be appropriate for rs328 G carriers with the metabolic syndrome. In said study, two districts in Shanghai, China were randomly selected to be the intervention and control group, and patients (n=235) with metabolic syndrome within these two districts were selected based on a multistage sampling method.
Fasting glucose was reduced in rs328 CC homozygotes (p=0.028) but not G carriers (p=0.686) within the intervention group.
Also an ancillary study with greater statistical power by combining the baseline measurements across both the intervention and control groups was conducted to test the cross-sectional statistical interactions between carbohydrate/fat and lipoprotein lipase genotypes for homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance/insulin/fasting glucose. Increased carbohydrate intakes were positively associated with homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and insulin in rs328 G carriers but not CC homozygotes (p for interaction was 0.025).
"These results indicate that diet high in carbohydrate may not be suitable for metabolic syndrome rs328 G carriers, calling for the development of personalized dietary intervention for metabolic syndrome subjects," (Zhang. 2015) scientists say.
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| "Three Days on Pasta, Muffin & Bread Diet (84% CHO) = 1kg Add. Lean Mass and a Sign. Trend for Decreased Fat Mass" - Probably the subjects in the study discussed in this SV Classic Article simply had the right genes ;-) |
Also an ancillary study with greater statistical power by combining the baseline measurements across both the intervention and control groups was conducted to test the cross-sectional statistical interactions between carbohydrate/fat and lipoprotein lipase genotypes for homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance/insulin/fasting glucose. Increased carbohydrate intakes were positively associated with homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and insulin in rs328 G carriers but not CC homozygotes (p for interaction was 0.025).
"These results indicate that diet high in carbohydrate may not be suitable for metabolic syndrome rs328 G carriers, calling for the development of personalized dietary intervention for metabolic syndrome subjects," (Zhang. 2015) scientists say.
- Unsurprisingly, the combination of both, diet and exercise triggered significant reductions in weight and body fat in both diet groups (high and low carb). Nevertheless, both, the carbohydrate content of the diet and the genotype < > diet match, had significant effects on the study outcomes, as well. More specifically, ...
- the participants following a more carbohydrate restricted diet experienced significantly greater weight loss and slightly greater body composition changes (the low-carb-fat-loss-advantage), and
- matching diet based on gene-type exhibited better retention of fat free mass, albeit with no significant differences between groups in changes in weight or fat mass (the genotype-lean-mass-advantage).
- How much should you eat, ladies? Study shows: No equation can answer this question exactly -- You may believe that your apps and fitness trackers were able to tell you "exactly" how much energy you need, but eventually their recommendations are also based on equations like those Kisiolek et al. tested in their latest study.
For the experiment on which I base the above statement, the scientists recruited twenty-five recreationally active, college-aged women (20.72 ± 0.97 yrs; 163.04 ± 5.67 cm; 67.08 ± 10.40 kg; 29.04 ± 5.80% BF) who underwent a single day of testing, consisting of determination of REE by indirect calorimetry (TrueOne® 2400 Metabolic Measurement system, ParvoMedics, Sandy, UT) followed by body composition assessment.
Do We Systematically Underestimate the Energetic Costs of Push-Ups, Pull Ups, Squats & Co? Study Says Anaerobic Exercises Burn 2x More Energy Than Previously Thought | learn more
To avoid interferences by exercise or dietary factors, all subjects were instructed to refrain from strenuous exercise 48 hrs prior to testing in addition to fasting >8 hrs prior.
During the actual testing, the participants laid motionless without falling asleep for 15-20 minutes during REE determination. Data were recorded during a period of time in which criterion variables (e.g., VO2 L/min) changed less than 5% every 5 minutes. In addition, the subjects' body composition was assessed using air displacement plethysmography (BODPOD, Cosmed, USA) via the Siri equatio and fed into the three equations the scientists tested, i.e. the (1) Nelson Equation the (2) Mifflin-St. Jeor Equation and the (3) Harris-Benedict Equation (with a moderate activity factor).
For all three tested equations the results were significantly different than indirect calorimetry (p < 0.001; see Table 1). More specifically, ...
Figure 2: Energy expenditure (kcal/24h) according to indirect calorimetry (measured) and the three tested equations (calculated); %-ages indicate differences to measured values (Kisiolek. 2015). - the Nelson and Mifflin-St. Jeor equations underestimated REE when compared to indirect calorimetry by 345.5 ± 51.5 and 220.6 ± 47.3 kcals, respectively,
- while the Harris Benedict overestimated REE by 272.4 ± 49.3 kcals.
Well, "success" or not, the implications of Kisiolek's study should be clear: "Practitioners should exercise caution when providing dietary recommendations based upon predicted REE values as certain equations may over or underestimate energy requirements by several hundred kilocalories" (Kisiolek. 2015); and I would like to add: If you want to make sure you're nailing it, log your dietary intake during a weight stable week - that's the only way to know for sure how much energy you need.
So what didn't make the "cut"? Worth mentioning, but not discussing in detail are the observations Mullins et al. made when they investigated the effects of Iron Cuts®, a thermogenic supplement from MusclePharm, that appeared to improve the subjects strength, but had no significant effects on the health or body composition of 20 recreationally trained men who participated in Mullins' prospective, double-blind, placebo controlled randomized trial (Mullins. 2015).
The increase in fatty acid oxidation Seijo et al. observed when they studies the acute effects of Shred-Matrix® on fat oxidation is certainly more impressive than the results of Mullins study, but eventually it is of even less practical relevance. As a waredownloadsoft reader you should now that the currently available research refutes the existence of a reliable mechanistic link between the acute increases in fatty acid oxidation the scientists observed before and after the workout and long-term fat loss (the post-workout increase in fatty acid oxidation was not even significantly higher than the increase in the placebo group, by the way).
In view of the lack of effect on mood state and perception of hunger it is thus very questionable, whether the supplement can actually do what the scientists say their results would "suggest" and augment "the weight-loss benefits at rest and during exercise" (Seijo. 2015) | Comment!
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| Statistical significance was only observed for the small increase in fatty acid oxidation in response to Shred-Matrix® from -3h to pre-workout not for the post increase (Seijo. 2015). Neither of them means that the supplement will actively promote fat loss, though. |
In view of the lack of effect on mood state and perception of hunger it is thus very questionable, whether the supplement can actually do what the scientists say their results would "suggest" and augment "the weight-loss benefits at rest and during exercise" (Seijo. 2015) | Comment!
References:
- Coletta, A., et al. "Influence of Obesity-Related Genotype on Weight Loss Success and Body Composition Changes While Participating in an a 3-Month Exercise and Weight Loss Program: Preliminary Findings." The FASEB Journal 29.1 Supplement (2015a): LB241.
- Coletta, A., et al. "Effects of matching diet type to obesity-related genotype on body composition changes in women during a six-month resistance-exercise training and walking program." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015b): P16.
- Kisiolek, J., et al. "A comparison of resting energy prediction equations in young recreationally active women." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P50.
- Mullins, Jacy, et al. "Safety and efficacy of a proprietary thermogenic and cutting agent on measures of muscular strength and endurance, body composition, fat metabolism, and hormone levels." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P13.
- Seijo, Marcos, et al. "Effectiveness of multi-ingredient supplement on substrate utilisation, perception of hunger, mood state and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) at rest and during exercise." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P42.
- Zhang, Shixiu, et al. "Diets high in carbohydrate may not be appropriate for rs328 G carriers with the metabolic syndrome." Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 24.3 (2015): Ahead of print
MSM Cures Exercise Related Joint & Muscle Pain, But May Effect Immunity | Arginine Silicate Delivers, but Practically Relevant Data is Still Missing | ISSN Research Review '15 #5
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| Exercise induced joint and muscle pain - Can a few grams MSM help? |
Many people probably don't even know that MSM stands for "methylsulfonylmethane" and the notion that one could benefit from inositol-stabilized arginine silicate was - I openly admit that - complete news to me, too.
Read more about ISSN and other studies at the waredownloadsoft
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
Vitargo, Red Bull, Creatine & More | ISSN'15 #1
Pump Supps & Synephrine & X | ISSN'15 #2
High Protein, Body Comp & X | ISSN'15 #3
Keto Diet Re- search Update | ISSN'15 #4
The Misquantified Self & More | ISSN'15 #5
BCAA, Cholos-trum, Probiotics & Co | ISSN'15 #6
- The benefits of inositol-stabilized arginine silicate as a workout ingredient - Over the past years the way people thought and think about arginine has changed significantly. While it was originally considered a super-supplement that would increase pump, gains and vascularity, most recent studies on its effects on relevant markers of exercise performance and training adaptation yield similarly disappointing results as Gary Cooks honor thesis from 2015 in which he observed that neither arginine supplementation 20 minutes prior to exercise, nor arginine supplementation two hours post exercise had an effect on the increase in strength performance or hypertrophy following a 4-week resistance training regime (Cook. 2015).
With more and more consumers becoming aware of the lack of effect of regular arginine, supplement producers are forced to develop "alternatives" - alternatives that promise to finally do what regular l-arginine supplements promised to do: Boost your nitric oxide levels, exercise performance and overall gym experience. With inositol-stabilized arginine silicate (ASI; Nitrosigine®) there's a true newcomer that is set about revolutionizing the pre-workout supplement scene ... that's at least if we believe in what the patent holders tell us about the "new standard for pumped results" (manufacturer's homepage).
Only few studies show ergogenic effects of plain arginine. This one, however reports a sign. increase in to exhaustion in a group of elite wrestlers.
In fact, ASI has been previously shown to enhance blood levels of arginine up to six hours post-dose and increase nitric oxide levels, acutely (Kahlman. 2014). In the long(er) term, Whether that would produce practically relevant increases in perceived intra-workout energy, muscle pump, and stamina, as well as post-workout muscle recovery was now the subject of a new study by Rood-Ojalvo et al. (2015).
Future (independent) research necessary: When it comes to supplement research it is absolutely normal that the effects of new products are initially tested by the ones who invent / produce it. In the long run, however, it would be nice to see the results of the study being reproduced by independent research... research that would also include actually meaningful (=performance or hypertrophy-related), objectively measurable study outcomes instead of subjective levels of perceived energy and (on their own) practically irrelevant increases in blood flow.
- The randomized double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study study was conducted with 16 male subjects with limited exercise routines prior to participating in the study. The subjects took 1,5g/day of ASI or a placebo supplement daily for 4 days before they completed an intense leg extension exercise protocol to induce muscle soreness. Subjects then returned to the lab after 24, 48, and 72 hours for additional study measurements. After 72 hours, subjects repeated the leg extension exercise protocol to assess whether the provision of ASI (or placebo) had measurable effects on the recovery protocol.
The scientists' analysis of the data they got produced two important results: Firstly, the 19-33 year-old subjects felt significantly more energetic and less fatigued (at least based on inertia sub-scores) on the 72 hour retest compared to placebo (p = 0.039). Secondly, the provision of the supplement lead to significant increases in leg circumference. Unfortunately, this increase in leg circumference is not a sudden muscle gain. Rather than that, the increased leg circumference appears to be a result of increased hyperemia (=increase of blood flow).
Figure 1: In spite of significant changes in blood flow velocity and leg circumference (which is interpreted as increased blood flow / hyperemia by the authors) the study at hand cannot prove practically relevant ergogenic effects of ASI simply because corresponding outcome variables were not assessed (Rood-Ojalvo. 2015). - In conjunction with the significant decrease in CK levels - a purported, albeit unspecific marker of muscle damage - in the ASI group at 24 (p = 0.040), 48 (p = 0.017) and 72 (p = 0.034) hours, the overall results of the study at hand do thus suggest that short-term supplementation with inositol-stabilized arginine silicate could have ergogenic effects. In the absence of meaningful outcome measures such as the number of reps (=volume) or the maximal weight lifted during the exercise tests, it would yet be premature to say that ASI is a proven ergogenic.
- MSM for muscle and joint pain in marathoners and other athletes -- As Withee et al. point out in the introduction of the abstract to their poster presentation "[p]articipants in organized running commonly experience muscle and joint pain while training for and competing in distance events" for them a supplement that is able to reduce the pain associated with osteoarthritis could be a true game changer; and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), a sulfur-based nutritional supplement, could be that supplement.
Several previous studies have shown that MSM has anti-osteoarthritic and anti-inflammatory properties. Whether it would also help managing exercise-induced muscle and joint pain, effectively, was now the research question of a recent study from the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland (Withee. 2015). The design of the study is simple:"Twenty-two healthy females (n = 17) and males (n = 5) (33.7 ± 6.9 yrs.) were recruited from the 2014 Portland Half-Marathon registrant pool. Participants were randomized to take either MSM (OptiMSM®) (n = 11), or a placebo (n = 11) at 3g/day for 21 days prior to the race and two days after (23 total). Pain was recorded using a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for both muscle pain (MP) and joint pain (JP) on a single questionnaire. Participants completed the questionnaire at five time points. Baseline levels (T0) were recorded approximately one month prior to the race. Post-race pain levels were recorded at 15 minutes (T1), 90 minutes (T2), 1 Day (T3), and 2 days (T4) after race finish. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models controlled for baseline, with time point as a repeated factor. Simple contrasts compared post-race time points to baseline, and Student's t-tests assessed between-group time point comparisons" (Withee. 2015)
Unfortunately, this cannot be said for the study results, which showed nothing but a trend of lower pain levels in the MSM group - with non-significant time-by-treatment effects in either of the groups.
In view of the fact that the provision of the 3g of MSM did result "in nearly significantly lower MP at T1 (MSM = 27.3mm vs. placebo = 49.8mm, p = 0.063), and lower MP at T2 (27.1mm vs. 40.0mm; p = 0.300), and T3 (30.0mm vs. 41.9mm; p = 0.306)" (my emphasis in Withee. 2015), as well as similar changes in joint pain (see Figure 2), it does still appear warranted to conclude that MSM supplements (3g/day) may be worth trying for anyone suffering from persistent joint and/or muscle pain after workouts.
Figure 2: Muscle and joint pain 15 minutes (T1), 90 minutes (T2), 1 Day (T3) after half-marathon race with methylsulfonylmethane (MSM | 3g/day) or placebo supplementation (Withee. 2015) - MSM as an inflammatory cytokine modulator -- While the previously discussed study by Withee et al. (2015) clearly indicates that MSM supplementation helps managing the level of exercise-induced inflammation, Withee et al. did not investigate the mechanism that was responsible for their observations. A recent study from the University of Memphis, however, did just that: In said study, Godwin et al. determined the effect of MSM on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) - induced inflammatory mediators after a single bout of acute eccentric exercise.
To do so, they had five recreationally active, healthy men consume either 3g/day of MSM or a placebo supplement for 28 days. At the end of the supplementation program, a single bout of acute exercise (10 sets of 10 repetitions of eccentric knee extensions) was performed and blood samples were collected (immediately = 0 h, as well as 24 h, 48 h and 72 h post exercise) and analyzed.
The most significant results of the analysis are hardly surprising: The supplementation of MSM blunted the increase in the systemic levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and IL-1β) immediately after exercise.
Do you remember that MSM can also act as a GH booster & bone builder | more
What is surprising, though, is the fact that the inflammatory response to LPS exposure in an ex-vivo study with blood that had been drawn at various time-points during the study shows a "dramatic increase in inflammatory cytokine secretion (IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α) only after exercise for samples that was exposed to MSM" (Godwin. 2015).
So what does that mean - practically speaking? Well, the authors are certainly right, when they point out that ..."[t]his response is specific to the stimulation with LPS as secretion of LPS-non responsive proteins is not increased, as evident by the stable levels of IL-17a [... and thus suggestive of the fact that] MSM is able to reduce the initial cytokine surge that is induced by acute exercise, while allowing for an efficient response to infectious stimuli after a single bout of acute exercise" (Godwin. 2015).
On the other hand, this assumption stands in contrast to the 2-3 fold increase in IL-10 production after LPS stimulation for the subjects in the MSM group whose pre-exercise levels of the IL-10 levels before exercise. Previous research did after all suggest that greater IL-10 production my be the motor of the exercise induced "depression of immunity commonly reported in athletes engaged in high training loads" (Handzlik. 2013). Whether the chronic use of MSM supplements entails an increased risk of infection may thus warrant further investigations.
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| 3x 1.3g/day cordiceps synensis can significantly increase time to exhaustion and have (individually different) beneficial effects on the ventilatory threshold (Hirsch. 2015). |
Also worth mentioning, but in the absence of hard evidence of causality hardly worth discussing in much detail is Marc Bubbs' observation that basketball players who are training at high-intensity "seem more likely to have insufficient levels of vitamin 25(OH)D" (Bubbs. 2015) - if a follow up shows that normalizing these levels with supplementation will have performance enhancing effects, though, this would be really news-worthy | Comment on Facebook!
References:
- Bubbs, Marc. "Observational case study-Vitamin 25 (OH) D status of professional basketball players and its impact on athletic performance and recovery." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P55.
- Cook, Gary. The Effects of Chronic Arginine Supplementation on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy Following Resistance Training. Diss. Ohio Dominican University, 2015.
- Godwin, Simone, et al. "MSM enhances LPS-induced inflammatory response after exercise." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P48.
- Handzlik, Michal K., et al. "The influence of exercise training status on antigen-stimulated IL-10 production in whole blood culture and numbers of circulating regulatory T cells." European journal of applied physiology 113.7 (2013): 1839-1848.
- Hirsch, Katie R., et al. "Chronic supplementation of a mushroom blend on oxygen kinetics, peak power, and time to exhaustion." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P45.
- Kalman, Douglas, et al. "A clinical evaluation to determine the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of an inositol-stabilized arginine silicate dietary supplement in healthy adult males.(LB418)." The FASEB Journal 28.1 Supplement (2014): LB418.
- Rood-Ojalvo, S., et al. "The benefits of inositol-stabilized arginine silicate as a workout ingredient." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12.Suppl 1 (2015): P14.
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