Haskap berry can boost endurance runners’ performance by ‘game-changing’ levels, study says

Overall time of runners who consumed berry improved by 20 seconds, study finds

Vishwam Sankaran
Tuesday 22 February 2022 17:08 GMT
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<p>Haskap berries </p>

Haskap berries

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Haskap berries, native to the cool temperatures of the northern hemisphere, have the potential to improve the performance of endurance runners by “game-changing” levels, according to a study.

Previous research has found that the berry Lonicera caerulea contains very high concentrations of compounds called anthocyanins with strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, said scientists from Northumbria University.

In the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrients, researchers conducted a series of endurance tests on 30 male recreational runners, and discovered that it took longer for athletes who had consumed haskap berries to fatigue compared with those who hadn’t.

Testing the runners’ speed over a 5km distance, scientists found that runners who had consumed the berry had their overall time improve by around 20 seconds.

“The current study showed for the first time that haskap berry consumption can improve time to exhaustion and 5km time trial running performance by more than 2 per cent compared to a placebo control,” the scientists wrote.

While researchers are unsure of the exact mechanism behind the observed effect of the berry, they speculate it might be affecting the body’s ability to combat exercise-induced inflammation and oxidative stress or improve blood flow and oxygen utilisation or a combination of the three.

“These powerful little berries appear to help runners perform better during fatiguing tasks, and increasing running speed over a commonly run distance of 5km,” Dr Glyn Howatson of Northumbria University said. “We saw around a 2 per cent improvement in running time performance, which is not trivial. In other words, you run about 0.25 km/h quicker over the same distance.”

The research also added to a growing body of evidence that foods rich in polyphenol compounds could boost athletic performance and offer exercisers a non-pharmacological, food-based solution to support training and competition.

“What is exciting is that this is a food that can be easily consumed, is very palatable, and has the potential to improve athletic performance in running, but also perhaps in other endurance sports like cycling,” Dr Howatson said.

Researchers believe future work can shed light on potential biological mechanisms underpinning changes in human performance.

Citing the limitations of the research, the scientists said the study did not assess how much of the phenolic compounds afforded by the haskap berry was absorbed by the participants’ bodies to determine the optimal dose for beneficial effects on exercise performance. Its effects on female athletes is also unclear.

The research was commissioned by superfood company, Haskapa, which produces and distributes haskap berry juice and other products around the world. However, the scientists said the funders had “no role in the study design, data collection, analyses or interpretation of data, in the preparation of the manuscript, or in the decision of where to publish the results”.

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