Any person serious about getting the most from a workout knows that the nutrients you supply before, during, and after exercise can be vital to your meeting your exercise goals. In these studies, researchers looked at specific forms of probiotic and zinc, two nutrients often high on the list of must-haves for the winter season, to see how they might improve the body’s recovery after exercise. Find out more:

Probiotics with protein aid recovery

In this exercise study, 29 recreationally trained men, average age 22, took a daily dose of 20 grams of casein protein alone or with a probiotic containing 1 billion colony-forming units of bacillus coagulans. After two weeks, the men completed a session of intense exercise meant to damage the muscles.

Immediately after, everyone had sore, swollen muscles and difficulty recovering, but within 24 hours, while the protein-only group had not improved, the probiotics group was recovering. By 72 hours, the probiotics group also had less soreness, which doctors confirmed by measuring fewer signs of muscle damage.

In a measure of strength, during the muscle-damaging exercise, the probiotics group maintained the same level of strength as at the start of the study, while the protein-only group did not. Doctors said the probiotic may have made the protein more absorbable, improving strength and accelerating recovery of physical performance.
Reference: PeerJ; July, 2016, Published Online

Zinc improves gut health

Heavy exercise when it is hot can thin the mucosal barrier in the gut that normally keeps bacterial toxins from entering the bloodstream, a condition called “leaky gut.” In this study, eight volunteers took a placebo, zinc carnosine, bovine colostrum, or these two together. The dose of zinc carnosine was 37.5 mg twice per day, for a daily total of 16 mg of elemental zinc. The colostrum dose was 1,000 mg per day.

Two days after starting the study, everyone took a standard exercise test in the heat. Gut thinning increased by 300 percent in all groups except zinc-colostrum, which saw an increase of 210 percent. The volunteers repeated the exercise after 14 days, and zinc or colostrum reduced the rise in gut-thinning to 90 percent.

Doctors said zinc carnosine, alone or with colostrum, increased gut resistance and may help prevent heat stroke in athletes and military personnel, and may help in other gut disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease.
Reference: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; June, 2016, Published Online

Betsy’s Note: This article is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before beginning a supplement, especially if you take medicine or have a medical condition. For example, zinc and some probiotics can thin blood.

Article copyright 2016 by Natural Insights for Well Being. All rights reserved. Used with permission.