Day 9: Aronia effects on sport performance in rowers
1. This was a study of the effects of an aronia juice (note: not Tohi, as this study was published in 2014) administered 3 times a day every day for 8 weeks, in members of a Polish Olympic Rowing Team.
2. The challenge was a 2,000m rowing test, which is a standard test of performance among rowers.
3. The outcome measures were not just physical performance, but cellular measures of stress to the stress imposed by such a difficult rowing challenge (equivalent of a race competition).
TAKE-HOME
Drinking aronia juice 3 times per day for 8 weeks did not improve performance on the 2,000 meter rowing test, but did have significant effects on markers of inflammation and antioxidant activity after the 2,000 meter rowing test.
We will discuss more research in the coming days to understand the differences in amounts of aronia provided in supplementation protocols and what the different papers mean in terms of how aronia supplementation might be helpful for our athletes and in what types of circumstances.