Blood flow-enhancing effects of CurraNZ may occur earlier than previously thought

A new study¹ has found that CurraNZ improves blood flow after as little as four days, with greater effect after seven days.

As well as having important health implications for the general population, enhanced blood flow is an important factor for sports performance. 

Therefore, nutritional interventions that improve cardiovascular function are considered beneficial to active users and athletes⁵.

CurraNZ is an effective sports nutrition ergogenic aid that improves exercise performance up to 11%.

Until now, New Zealand blackcurrant performance studies across a range of sporting sectors have focused on dosing protocols of seven-day intake. This study confirms that changes occur earlier than previously thought and performance effects may take place after four days of loading.

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. 

The collaboration between the universities of Chichester and Worcester confirmed the fantastic findings of a 2017 study³, which found that a week’s intake of CurraNZ had a moderate-to-large effect on increasing blood flow during exercise (+20%-35%).

Those findings were confirmed in this follow-up project, using the same design with estimated changes in blood flow of 8%, 25% and 45% at 1-day, 4-days and 7-days intake during static exercise because of widening of blood vessels.

Scientist: 'This is a good data set showing meaningful changes'

Mark Willems, Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Chichester (pictured right), 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.

“In general, enhanced blood flow to your tissues, that is having better circulation, may have beneficial health effects. I would not be surprised that the potential health effects by long-term intake of blackcurrant but also by regular consumption of some fruit and vegetables, are linked with effects they have on your circulation.

“With blackcurrant, those changes take place earlier than seven days, but you don’t get a substantial instant, on the day effect.”

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-analysis².

Over 30 clinical studies have been published on CurraNZ, showing its capacity to increase performance up to 11%⁴, in trained and elite athletes, across a range of sporting modalities.

New Zealand blackcurrants are rich in anthocyanins, the bioactives responsible for the deep purple colours in the berry, which have vasodilatory, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

References

1. Effect of Intake Duration of Anthocyanin-rich New Zealand Blackcurrant Extract on Cardiovascular Responses and Femoral Artery Diameter during Sustained Submaximal Isometric Contraction, Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1080/19390211.2021.1948943
2. The effect of New Zealand blackcurrant on sport performance and related biomarkers: a systematic review and meta-analysis. A. J. Braakhuis1* , V. X. Somerville1 and R. D. Hurst2. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-020-00354-9
3. New Zealand Blackcurrant Alters Physiological Reponses and Femoral Artery Diameter during Sustained Isometric Contraction. Matthew David Cook, Stephen David Myers, Mandy Lucinda Gault and Mark Elisabeth Theodorus Willems, June 2017 Nutrients 2017, 9(6), 556; doi:10.3390/nu9060556
4. New Zealand Blackcurrant Extract Improves High-Intensity Intermittent Running. Perkins IC1, Vine SA, Blacker SD, Willems ME. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2015 Mar 26.http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2015-0020
5. Linking skeletal muscle blood flow and metabolism to the limits of human performance. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab.  Boushel R. 2017 Jan;42(1):111-115. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2016-0393.