SYNOPSIS:
A seven-day intake duration study has found that New Zealand blackcurrant extract, CurraNZ, improves blood flow after as little as four days, with greater effect after seven days.
CurraNZ is an effective ergogenic aid that improves exercise performance up to 11% and its actions are believed to be linked to its vasodilatory effects.
Blood flow is a limiting factor for performance, therefore nutritional interventions that improve cardiovascular function are considered beneficial to athletes.
The project, involving healthy untrained, but physically active men, took 600mg CurraNZ blackcurrant extract (210mg anthocyanin) daily and were tested on days one, four and seven.
This confirmed the findings of a 2017 study, which found that a week’s intake of CurraNZ had a moderate-to-large effect on increasing blood flow through the femoral artery during exercise (+20%-+35%).
Using the same study design, the study found estimated changes in blood flow during static exercise over the following time points:
- Day 1 +8%
- Day 4 +25%
- Day 7 +45%
Mark Willems, Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Chichester, says: “I’m very pleased with this study, which has a good data set on 19 participants showing clear-cut findings that blackcurrant intake provides meaningful changes to blood flow."
The University of Chichester’s program of New Zealand blackcurrant extract research has found the berry is amongst the most effective performance enhancers in sports nutrition, confirmed by a 2020 meta-analysis.
Effect of Intake Duration of Anthocyanin-rich New Zealand Blackcurrant Extract on Cardiovascular Responses and Femoral Artery Diameter during Sustained Submaximal Isometric Contraction, was published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1080/19390211.2021.1948943
