Has one of triathletes’ great villains met its match with a kiwi sports supplement?

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aug14-ingredients-400The UK’s prestigious Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Chichester University has just completed a major peer-reviewed clinical trial on triathletes during cycling, using a sports supplement formulation developed by New Zealand-based company Sujon Berryfruits of Nelson.

The research showed a clear, unequivocal result – that taking the Sujon blackcurrant powder lowered lactate accumulation during the cycling trials for the triathletes, without affecting performance.

Research leader, Professor Mark Willems from Chichester University says “the  finds have positive implications for training practice and aerobic performance for endurance athletes”.

Professor Willems presented the research results to delegates at the International Sports Nutrition Conference in the USA in June and the results will be published in the Journal of International Sports Nutrition.

As part of the research athletes were also checked for the effect of the Sujon powder formulation on cardio-vascular function. “We found that the powder had no negative effect during performance but assisted recovery,” says Professor Willlems.

Sujon Blackcurrant powder is produced by Nelson-based Gibb Holdings. Company Marketing Director Michelle Manson said that the UK Lactate research results confirm what the company had found through its own NZ-based research. The company initiated athlete trials with the New Zealand Nelson Giants basketball team in 2010 and as a result had built an international client base including five teams that are World Champions in their codes as well as a number of individual country and code champions.

“Many of our customers are supplied under confidentiality agreements and we haven’t been able to promote why they use our supplement and what the results are,” says Manson. “But this open research by Chichester University is wonderful and the results so clear. We expect significant global demand for what is quite a unique New Zealand ‘story,’” says Manson.

“Our formulation is derived from specially selected blackcurrant crops. We believe it’s a certain combination of polyphenol in the blackcurrant crops that produce the results, especially the compounds that produce that intense purple-red colour in blackcurrants: known as  anthocyanins. The Cawthron Institute analytical services played a pivotal role in our product development stage by enabling us to confirm, shelf life, product efficacy and dosage rates. The Sujon powder is truly natural and has no other ingredients in it – it’s a formulation unique to NZ-grown blackcurrants and our processing systems. And we’re thrilled the independent research says it works!” says Manson.

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