Blackcurrant supplement jump-starts fat burning equivalent to a month’s daily exercise

August 21, 2021 Lisa Baker, Editor, Wellbeing News Food & Drink, News, Supplements Comments Off on Blackcurrant supplement jump-starts fat burning equivalent to a month’s daily exercise
blackcurrant

LOOKING for a natural and scientifically-proven fat-burning plan? New Zealand Blackcurrant extract – CurraNZ® – has become a potent new dietary weapon to help ward off obesity by unlocking the body’s ability to burn more fat during exercise.

World-first discoveries from British Universities have revealed that as little as one week’s use of New Zealand blackcurrant extract supplement, CurraNZ® can increase fat burning to the same degree of exercising every day for up to a month1,4,5.

Plus, it seems the berry can deliver a bigger benefit if you’re female1, overweight or obese2,3 – and the effects improve with longer use2,3.

A raft1,2,3,4,5,6, of gold-standard, peer-reviewed clinical trials show that just one to two weeks’ daily consumption of the high-potency New Zealand blackcurrant supplement CurraNZ® can supercharge fat burning in men and women during exercise.

As little as one week on the supplement has been shown to boost fat burning an average 27%, in men and women – normally only seen after four weeks of endurance exercise. Put another way, blackcurrant helps burn up to an additional 13.2 grams of fat or 116 calories over two hours of moderate-intensity exercise.

The good news is, if you’re overweight, subjects with a higher body fat composition showed the biggest increases of all, up to 66%2,3.

Under normal circumstances, regular exercise conditions the body into using more fat as fuel. To achieve fat burning gains of over 20% would usually require three-to-four weeks of endurance training – but blackcurrant extract is proving a clever and affordable short-cut to jump-start that effect.

And a new project, designed around the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 30 minutes’ brisk walking a day, showed that taking the supplement daily for two weeks led to even greater fat-burning outcomes.

The average values from the men in the University of Chichester study jumped from 11% after week one to 17% after week two. Excitingly, those in the responder group showed average improvements of 21%.

Half an hour of brisk walking is common and popular form of exercise for many, and recommended by the World Health Organisation and American College of Sports Medicine8 for weight loss and improvement of health status.

The pronounced effect CurraNZ® blackcurrant extract can have in unhealthy and overweight individuals is highly significant because of their reduced capacity for fat burning.

The new 30-minute brisk walking clinical trial2,3 is the first to show this remarkable benefit. Intriguingly, all individuals in the study who were classed as overweight and obese were the biggest fat-burning responders with blackcurrant, with increases of 27% to 106%.

The highest responder of the group had 66% enhanced fat burning after 7 days on the supplement and 106% after 14 days. This individual had the second-highest BMI and also had the highest percentage of body fat of the subject group, but the lowest value for fat burning without blackcurrant.

Mark Willems, Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Chichester, who has led the majority of the New Zealand blackcurrant studies, describes these findings as “exciting and a potential game changer”.

He says: “We were hoping to see a difference with longer intake – in clinical studies you see dosing protocols of three months – so we are just starting to think about the effects of longer-term duration intake with New Zealand blackcurrants – CurraNZ.

“This brisk walking study adds to the building picture that New Zealand blackcurrant is beneficial for health and fitness when combined with exercise.

“After one week the fat oxidation effects are just getting started, but if you take it for longer, then the effect of blackcurrant becomes even more beneficial.

“However, we have seen in the studies that it is essential to use it daily to receive the benefit. Intermittent use has no effect.”

Blackcurrants offer additional gains too for anyone who is overweight and looking to exercise more, with muscle recovery, cardiovascular and glycaemic control benefits.

Professor Willems adds: “Blackcurrant may help as well with adherence to exercise programmes, plus general weight management, so has a good public health implication.

“Plus, it is fairly unique for a natural product and a berry to achieve these levels of increases in such a short space of time.”

So, if you’re looking to supercharge your workouts and make those efforts really count, this remarkable berry will help you get results in 2021.

 

curranz.com

References

  1. New Zealand blackcurrant extract enhances fat oxidation during prolonged cycling in endurance-trained females. Strauss, JA, Willems, MET and Shepherd, SO (2018) European Journal of Applied Physiology. ISSN 1439-6327
  2. Daily and Not Every-Other-Day Intake of Anthocyanin-Rich New Zealand Blackcurrant Extract Alters Substrate Oxidation during Moderate-Intensity Walking in Adult Males, was published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, October 2020, https://doi.org/10.1080/19390211.2020.1841356
  3. Intake Duration of Anthocyanin-Rich New Zealand Blackcurrant Extract Affects Metabolic Responses during Moderate Intensity Walking Exercise in Males was published June 2020 in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, https://doi.org/10.1080/19390211.2020.1783421
  4. New Zealand Blackcurrant Improves Performance and Fat Oxidation in Cyclists, Willems ME1, Myers SD, Blacker S, Cook MD. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2015 June 30.
  5. Dose Effects of New Zealand Blackcurrant on Substrate Oxidation and Physiological Responses During Prolonged Cycling, Matthew David Cook, Stephen David Myers · Mandy Lucinda Gault · Victoria Charlotte Edwards · Mark Elisabeth Theodorus Willems, Eur J Appl Physiol (April 2017) 117:1207–1216DOI 10.1007/s00421-017-3607-z
  6. Dietary supplementation with New Zealand blackcurrant extract enhances fat oxidation during submaximal exercise in the heat, Ania M. Hilesb, Tessa R. Flooda, Ben J. Leea,∗, Lucy E.V. Wheelerb, Rianne Costelloa,Ella F. Walkera, Kimberly M. Ashdowna, Matthew R. Kuennenc, Mark E.T. Willems, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports, March 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2020.02.017
  7. 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
  8. Appropriate intervention strategies for weight loss and prevention of weight regain for adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 33(12): Jakicic JM, Clark K, Coleman E, Donnelly JE, Foreyt J, Melanson E, Volek J, Volpe SL. 2001. 2145–2156. 1097/00005768-200112000-00026.
  9. 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

 

About Lisa Baker, Editor, Wellbeing News 4614 Articles
Editor Lisa Baker is a professional writer and the owner of Need to See IT Publishing. However, Lisa is also passionate about the benefits of a holistic approach to healing, being a qualified Vibrational Therapist. Lisa also has qualifications in Auricular Therapy, Massage, Kinesiology, Crystal Healing, Seichem and is a Reiki Master.