Day 9: Aronia effects on sport performance in rowers

Next in our series of 12 Days of Tohi, we will share information for research on aronia effects on sport performance. Today we discuss aronia juice supplementation among rowers.

Effect of supplementation with chokeberry juice on the inflammatory status and markers of iron metabolism in rowers. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014; 11: 48.

doi: 10.1186/s12970-014-0048-5

CLICK ON IMAGE for full article

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).

Figure from: Effect of supplementation with chokeberry juice on the inflammatory status and markers of iron metabolism in rowers. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014; 11: 48.

The purple bars represent averages for rowers who consumed aronia juice 3 times per day for 8 weeks. before and after supplementation are 2 times when rowers completed the 2,000 meter rowing test. Any marked effects of supplementation would be observable in the purple bars on the right (AFTER SUPPLEMENTATION).

In this example graph of TAC (Total Antioxidant Capacity), we see that aronia juice was effective in increasing TAC after 8 weeks of supplementation in a number of comparisons. Results from this study are interesting and require further reading to interpret the practical take-home message and value. Come back for more on Days 10-12 of 12 Days of Tohi!

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.