A new animal study shows the potential of fucoidan supplementation for sports nutrition.
A recent animal study1 found that supplementation with the polysaccharide fucoidan (Maritech from Marinova; Tasmania, Australia), derived from brown seaweed, may increase muscle size and strength. In the study, mice were given either 400 mg/kg/day of fucoidan or placebo for four weeks. Mice in both the fucoidan and control group were further divided in exercise or non-exercise groups. Exercise was 30 minutes of treadmill training three times per week.
After four weeks, results shows that there was a significant increase in cross-sectional area of muscle fibers in both groups of fuicoidan-treated mice. There was also a significant increase in muscle force production in the fucoidan-treated mice.
“Fucoidan increased muscle size and strength after just four weeks of supplementation in both exercised and non-exercised mice. The findings are extremely exciting as they suggest an important influence of fucoidan on skeletal muscle physiology,” said Marinova’s chief scientist and the paper’s co-author, Helen Fitton, PhD, in a press release. “We look forward to the results of further research currently underway which is examining the effect of fucoidan in muscle maintenance and sports performance. A role for fucoidan in the sports nutrition category certainly looks promising.”
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