CLINICAL TRIAL PROVES FOR GOODNESS SHAKES HELPS ATHLETES DO 40% MORE
It's well known that sports nutrition can significantly aid athletic performance in terms of power, strength and stamina.
Over time, our understanding of sports nutrition has evolved. Water alone was once thought adequate for hydration; we now know that proper sports hydration requires the addition of electrolytes to prevent vital salts from leaching.
Then came the creation of isotonic, carbohydrate with electrolyte, drinks prescribed for before, during and after sport. We now know that isotonic drinks alone are inadequate for proper recovery after sport.
The presence of amino acids (protein) was discovered to play a key role in helping the body to repair and regenerate muscle after exercise.
An Omnibus survey commissioned by For Goodness Shakes! revealed that the vast majority of sportsmen in the UK still continue to consume just water and isotonic sports drinks as their preferred recovery drink.
In a recent clinical trial it was found that drinking For Goodness Shakes after a workout enabled athletes to do 40% more in the next session compared to just water or isotonic sports drink.
THE CLINICAL TRIAL
The Test
In the study, 24 athletes (see understanding the test) were matched based on hamstring strength into groups and allocated to one of the nutritional supplements: water, a leading isotonic sports drink or For Goodness Shakes! On each of the three days of the test the athletes completed a warm-up and before the initial measurement of height and weight. On each of the 3 test days a blood sample was taken and then the athletes completed some muscle performance measures.
On day one only following this they then completed a hamstring muscle damaging exercise on a Cybex machine. The athlete was trying to resist the machine pulling his leg straight using on his hamstring muscles. Upon completion of the exercise they immediately consumed 500ml of their allocated nutritional supplement (water, a leading isotonic sports drink or For Goodness Shakes) and a second within 2 hours.
The athletes then returned 24 and 48 hours later to have blood samples collected and completed the muscle performance measure again.
An athlete on the Cybex
machine during testing
Understanding The Test
We’ve been asked is 24 athletes a good sample size for a sports clinical trial?
It is actually a fairly large sample size for a sports clinical trial. This is due to the nature of sports clinical trials. The athletes have to commit a lot of time, as well as undergo some very rigorous intense exercise, in this case muscle damaging exercise as well as invasive measurement including have blood taken, so 24 is a strong number of athletes. Other clinical trials that have been published have used significantly less athletes, Lucozade’s 33% claim used 9 recreational football players. Other published trials have used: 7, 11, 7, 10, 6, 9, 15; by comparison 24 is significantly more robust as a sample size.
The 24 athletes were healthy male participants (age 21 ± 3 years; height 180.8 ± 5.7 cm; mass 80.2 ± 9.1kg) who regularly competed in team sports (football, rugby, hockey and cricket) and volunteered to take part in the study. Before beginning the study institutional ethical approval was obtained, the experimental procedures, associated risks, and benefits were explained before each participant gave their written informed consent. Participants were fully familiarized with all testing procedures prior to commencing the study. Participants were instructed to maintain their habitual diet throughout and arrive at the laboratory in a rested state, having avoided strenuous physical activity for at least 48 h and not taken any nutritional supplements, caffeine, alcohol, or anti-inflammatory drugs.
THE RESULTS OF THE TEST
Work Completed
On day three (48 hours) when muscle damage and soreness is usually at its highest, the athletes drinking water or the isotonic sports drink completed 43% & 45% less work respectively than on day one. Those drinking For Goodness Shakes completed just 17% less on day three compared to day one, which equals 40% more work than the athletes using water or isotonic sports drink (see graphs below).
Peak Torque
Torque, the force to rotate an object, was measured as the Cybex machine works around a fixed point in an arc (part of a circle). On day three the athletes using isotonic sports drink and water were able to produce 31.5% and 27% less torque compared to day 1, whilst the For Goodness Shakes users produced 3.5% less, almost the same as on day one.
Creatine Kinase (marker of muscle damage)
Creatine Kinase (CK) is an enzyme that is released when muscles become damaged. As a result levels of CK are often used as a sign of muscle damage; the higher the level the greater muscle damage. Between day one and day three athletes drinking the isotonic sports drink showed an increase in CK levels of over 1000%, those drinking water 1200%, whilst those consuming For Goodness Shakes! showed an increase of only 92%, more than 10 times less.
Additionally the results for For Goodness Shakes were well within the normal values for CK between 60 and 400 U/L whilst water and isotonic sports drink were significantly higher.
Myoglobin (marker of muscle damage)
Myoglobin (Mb) is a single chain protein. When muscle damage occurs, as with CK, it is released from muscle protein into the blood. The results for Mb mirrored those for CK, the athletes who used For Goodness Shakes had levels increase by 2.7 times, Water increased 4 times and the isotonic sports drink 17.9 times.
DOMS
Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS) was measured during the test. Athletes are asked to assess their perception of muscles soreness on a scale of 1-10. The results for the test showed no statistical difference between the different nutritional products tested, this may be due to the significant muscle damage that the Cybex machine caused.
THE CONCLUSION
The athletes drinking For Goodness Shakes recovered more power than the athletes consuming water or the isotonic sports drink – enabling them to do 40% more work on day three.
The results suggest that the combination and ratio of protein & carbohydrate in For Goodness Shakes reduced muscle damage by providing the material (protein) for muscle regeneration. The protein-carbohydrate complex could also help to re-energise the body by increasing the uptake and storage of carbohydrate by creating a stronger insulin reaction than carbohydrate on its own.
To Feel The Benefits
Swap your water or isotonic sports drink for For Goodness Shakes after sport and you could recover more power and do 40% more at your next session.
Why Is This Trial Important?
After sport most people do not recover properly, they typically consume nothing, water or an isotonic sports drink*. This research has shown Britain's athletes could be missing a very big and very simple opportunity to dramatically improve their performance. And that drinking the right thing, like For Goodness Shakes! after sport could fast track their performance, seeing results faster and setting new personal bests.
Senior Brand Manager and GB Triathlete Alex Brooks says:
"The days of an isotonic sports drink being good for all occasions – before, during and after sport – are over. It’s old science. These results confirm that athletes’ nutritional needs are very different after sport compared to what they require before and during sport. Protein, added at the right ratio of protein to carbohydrate, provides the essential ingredient to help the body repair, rebuild and recover power. Too little protein and the body is unable to repair adequately; too much protein and the body can turn sluggish and hydration becomes less efficient."
Our advice is simple: Recover straight after sport and you’ll reap the benefits.
OTHER SUPPORTING RESEARCH:
Chocolate Milk as a Post-Exercise Recovery Aid:
Jason R. Karp, Jeanne D. Johnston, Sandra Tecklenburg, Timothy D. Mickleborough, Alyce D. Fly, and Joel M. Stager. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2006, 16, 78-91
Essential amino acids and muscle protein recovery from resistance exercise:
Elisabet Børheim, Kevin D. Tipton, Steven E. Wolf and Robert R. Wolfe. Metabolism Unit, Department of Surgery, Shriners Hospital for Children/Galveston, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77550. American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology Metabolism 283: E648–E657, 2002; 10.1152/ajpendo.00466.2001
Milk as an effective post-exercise rehydration drink:
Susan M. Shirreffs*, Phillip Watson and Ronald J. Maughan, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK. British Journal of Nutrition (2007)
Recovery from a cycling time trial is enhanced with carbohydrate-protein supplementation vs. isoenergetic carbohydrate supplementation
RESEARCH INFORMATION:
Acute milk-based protein-CHO supplementation attenuates exercise-induced muscle damage
Cockburn, Hayes and Stephenson, Division of Sports Science at Northumbria University. Published NRC Research Press at apnm.nrc.ca July 2008.
MyGoodness Ltd provided the CHO-protein product.
No finance was provided for conducting the study.
* Drinks currently consumed after sport:
For Goodness Shakes!: 11% Nothing: 7% Source: ID Factor 18-40yr old males, London Sept 08