According to the latest research report from Northumbria University in the United Kingdom, blue indigo has the potential to increase the endurance of long-distance runners by 2%.
Native to boreal forests and low-lying, humid regions of northern hemisphere countries such as Canada, Japan, and Russia, blueberry is rich in vitamin C and, like many purple fruits, contains higher levels of antioxidants.
Glyn Howatson, professor of Human and Applied Physiology at Northumbria University, has led research into the potential benefits of indigo and its ability to improve endurance performance in long-distance running.
Howatson and his team have been conducting pioneering research on the effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on human performance and recovery after strenuous exercise for more than 15 years.
Howatson said that indigo berries contain very high concentrations of anthocyanins and polyphenols, which have strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, but until now there had been no other research on their potential to improve athletic performance.
After conducting a series of endurance tests on 30 male runners, Howatson's team found that runners who ate cymbidium fruit had longer endurance (the time it takes to reach the point of fatigue) compared to runners who didn't.In the subsequent five-kilometer test, the runners who consumed blueberry also improved their overall time by about 20 seconds.
"We've always wanted to explore the energy of the foods we eat and their potential to boost our performance and improve our health. This mighty little berry seems to help runners perform better in endurance and generally increase your running speed during your five-kilometer run," says Howatson."What we found was about a 2 percent improvement in running time performance, which is not trivial."
He also noted that blueberry is an easy-to-eat fruit that is very tasty and has the potential to improve running performance and may also benefit things like cycling. other endurance sports.
"What we love about these applied studies is that we're able to unlock the power of fruits, such as blueberry, to understand what kind of benefits they can have for athletes."
The research was commissioned by superfood company Haskapa, which manufactures and sells products such as blueberry juice and freeze-dried powder around the world.
