Willems, M. E. T., Bray, P. W., Bassett, H., Spurr, T. J. and West, A. T. (2024) Effects of CurraNZ, a New Zealand blackcurrant extract during 1 hour of treadmill running in female and male Marathon des Sables Athletes in hot conditions: two case studies. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 9 (2). pp. 1-11. ISSN 2411-5142
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Abstract
Four weeks before competition in the 2023 Marathon des Sables, a 6 stage, ~250 km running event in the Sahara Desert, we examined effects of 7-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract (210 mg anthocyanins per day) on 1 h treadmill running-induced physiological and metabolic responses in the heat (~34°C, relative humidity: ~30%) in a non-acclimatized amateur female and male athlete (age: 23, 38 yrs, BMI: 24.2, 28.4 kg·m-2, body fat%: 29.2, 18.8%, V ̇O2max: 50.1, 52.1 mL·kg-1·min-1). During the 1 h run at 50%V ̇O2max (speed female: 7.3, male: 7.5 km·h-1), indirect calorimetry was used and heart rate recorded at 15-min intervals with core temperature monitoring (0.05 Hz). The 1 h runs were 3 h after a light breakfast and 2 h after intake of the final dose of New Zealand blackcurrant extract with water allowed ad libitum during the run. With the New Zealand blackcurrant extract, there were no effects in the female athlete. The respiratory exchange ratio (RER) of the female athlete in the non-supplement control condition was 0.77±0.01, indicating existing ~77% contribution of fat oxidation to the energy requirements. In the male athlete during 1 h of running, fat oxidation was higher by 21% (p<0.01), carbohydrate oxidation was 31% lower (p=0.05), RER was 0.03 units lower (p=0.04) and core temperature was 0.4°C lower (p<0.01) with no differences for heart rate, minute ventilation, oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production for the New Zealand blackcurrant condition compared to the non-supplement control condition. Seven-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract (210 mg anthocyanins per day) provided beneficial physiological and metabolic responses during exertional heat stress by 1 h of indoor (~34°C) treadmill running in a male Marathon des Sables athlete 4 weeks before competition. Future work is required to address whether New Zealand blackcurrant provide a nutritional ergogenic effect for Marathon des Sables athletes during long-duration running in the heat combined with personalized nutrition.