Ganeden probiotic may boost post-exercise recovery: Pilot data

“Several researchers are looking at novel ingredients to speed recovery; however, it is important to understand that gut health plays a critical role in the digestion of all nutrients consumed,”​ said Jacob Wilson PhD, from the Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance at the University of Tampa. “To this end our lab investigated the impact of GanedenBC30on recovery from an intense, muscle damaging resistance training bout.​

“Our preliminary data suggests improved recovery curves which could lead to a new area of research in sports nutrition.”​

The cross-over pilot study included trained athletes who consumed 20g of casein with or without one billion colony forming units (CFUs) of BC30 per day. A dietician monitored the athlete’s diets to ensure comparable total daily protein consumption.

The exact details of the study design will only be available once a larger study is completed, with publication of those results expected Q2 of 2015, said David Keller, VP of Scientific Operations of Ganeden Biotech. NutraIngredients-USA has not seen the full data.

Keller said the company was “very excited and encouraged by the results of this small, pilot”. ​

“Earlier studies on GanedenBC30 that supported digestive and immune health included results that hinted at the positive effect from the concomitant consumption of protein, so it made sense for Ganeden to engage researchers at the University of Tampa to provide objective data in a double blind cross over study.” ​

Power and recovery​

Ralf Jäger, President of Milwaukee-based Increnovo and co-researcher on the new study, told us that previous studies have shown that BC30 can increase the utilization of protein, including an earlier pilot study​ in trained athletes showed that the co-administration of BC30 and casein tends to increase power.

“We speculated that the increased protein utilization and/or a direct effect of BC30 would increase recovery, allowing athletes to get back to their exercise regimen more quickly, resulting in an increase in performance,”​ he said. “Our new pilot study showed that BC30 increased recovery from an intense, muscle damaging resistance training bout, by blunting muscle damage (reduced creatine kinase levels), and reducing muscle swelling and soreness.”​

Dr Jäger stressed that, because the beneficial effects of probiotics are strain specific, the results cannot be extended to other strains until clinical trials have been conducted with those strains showing similar benefits.

BC30 is a spore-forming bacterium, which means that inside the bacterial cell is a hardened structure, or spore, a bit like a seed. This safeguards the cell’s genetic material from the heat and pressure of manufacturing processes, stomach acid and bile.

Probiotics and protein​

Industry observers and experts are watching the probiotics space with interest, with the market growing rapidly and showing no signs of slowing. According to BCC Research, the global market of probiotic ingredients, supplements, and foods reached nearly $27.1 billion in 2013 and will climb at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2% over the next five years to reach $36.7 billion in 2018.

In addition, protein is among the hottest ingredient in food and nutrition with data from the Institute of Food technologists showing that 40% of the best-selling new better-for-you foods/beverages in 2012 carried a high protein claim.

Research firm Nielsen has also reported that US sales of packaged foods with protein-related claims on their labels rose to $7.5 billion in 2014, a gain of more than 50% as compared to the same period four years ago.