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ORAL SUPPLEMENTATION WITH BOVINE COLOSTRUM SUPPLEMENT (INTACT®) IMPROVES SPRINT PERFORMANCE IN ELITE FIELD HOCKEY PLAYERS
R. Smeets1, Z. Hofman1, G. Verlaan1, R. vdLugt2, P. Verstappen2
1Numico Research, Bosrandweg 20, 6704 PH, Wageningen, The Netherlands
2Sports practice, Sweelinckplein 46, 2517 GP, Den Haag, The Netherlands
Bovine colostrum is secreted by cows during the first few days after calving and is a rich source of bioactive components. Recently, it has been shown that oral supplementation with colostrum enhances performance in health volunteers (Buckley et al, 1999). The present double blind, randomised, for gender stratified, placebo controlled study investigates the effect of 8 weeks of supplementation with a low fat, low lactose, concentrated bovine colostrum protein powder (intact®) on a number of measures of functional high muscle power output (5x10 meters sprint, vertical jump) and endurance (suicide test, shuttle run test, repetitive quadriceps/hamstring strength) in a group of elite female and male field hockey players, including players from the Dutch national team. All subjects consumed either 60g/day of intact® colostrum protein powder or whey protein powder during the first 8 weeks of competition season. There were no significant differences between the colostrum and the whey group in improvement in the endurance tests during the 8 weeks of supplementation. The improvement in the 5x10 meters sprint test was significantly better (p=0.023) in the colostrum group (0.64 + 0.09 sec, n=12) compared to the whey group (0.33 + 0.09 sec, n=11). There was a strong trend (p=0.119) for a better improvement in jump performance in the colostrum group (2.10 + 0.73cm, n=13) compared to the whey group (0.32 + 0.82cm, n=10). In elite field hockey players, colostrum supplementation does seem to improve performance in high muscle power output better than whey, whereas in endurance type exercises there is no difference in improvement between both groups. It can be concluded that colostrum is an interesting new supplement for enhancing performance in intermittent and power sports.
Reference:
Buckley, J., M. Abbott, G. Brinkworth, P/ Whyte (1999) Oral supplementation with bovine colostrum (intact®) increases vertical jump performance. Proceedings of the 4th Annual Congress of the European College of Sports Science, Rome University of Motor Sciences, July 1999, p658.
Presented at the 2000 National Conditioning and Strength Conference, USA by Dr. Rolf Smeets.
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