Great performances depend on how much cells are able to be fueled and how long muscle fatigue can be delayed. Both of these mechanisms are supported when consuming hesperidin, a nutraceutical compound naturally found in citrus fruits, like sweet oranges. Hesperidin moves the needle on NO synthesis as well as mitochondrial efficiency, two vital processes in exercise performance.
The Citrus Super Ingredient
Hesperidin has been studied for its anti-inflammatory and vasoprotective properties, but it can also be very handy when practicing sports. During exercise, our muscles require vast amounts of energy, which leads to increased oxidative stress. Three-week supplementation with hesperidin (500 mg/day) significantly reduced inflammatory biomarkers and increased blood flow compared to control. The researchers explain this by arguing that hesperidin is able to upregulate Nitric Oxide (NO) production, a molecule which is able to improve blood flow to the muscle by dilating blood vessels. This leads to increased transport of oxygen and nutrients to the muscle and improved removal of metabolites that lead to fatigue.
Two birds, one stone
During endurance exercise (e.g. running and cycling), energy demand by skeletal muscle is very high. Repeated endurance training will lead to an increased number of cell energy factories, also known as mitochondria. In vitro studies show that hesperidin is able to stimulate production of new mitochondria (mitochondrial biogenesis), indicating that hesperidin is able to help in increasing the number of mitochondria! Not only that, but hesperidin has also been shown to improve mitochondrial efficiency; requiring less substrate to generate the same amount of energy. This makes hesperidin a perfect partner to support any sports discipline.
Happy Lifting & Running
Bioactor developed Watts’Up®, an all-natural citrus fruit extract and standardized for hesperidin content. Watts’Up® has been evaluated in a randomized double-blind clinical study at Topsport Centrum Limburg, showing an increase in aerobic and anaerobic power, after four weeks of supplementation. These results point towards a potential for improving resistance exercise performance as well as endurance performance.