The UK-based firm will supply its prebiotic pastilles Bimuno Travelaid to the country’s elite rowers in a product designed to increase gut bifidobacteria, a bacteria implicated in improved sporting performance.
“We are delighted to support British Rowing and its talented athletes. Even while sporting events may be postponed, training regimes continue,”
“While the science connecting our gut health to sporting performance may be relatively new, it becomes increasingly clear that good gut bacteria have a part to play in how effectively the human body responds to physical effort and recovery,” says Per Rehné, CEO at Clasado.
“Alongside the additional benefits to physical and cognitive health, it’s clear to see why athletes today are focused on their dietary nutrition and gut health.”
Fencing, hockey & rowing
The use of prebiotics in professional sportspeople has gathered pace in recent years as researchers record distinct microbiome communities common amongst elite level athletes from both a composition and functional perspective.
For example, Streptococcus suis, Clostridium bolteae, Lactobacillus phage LfeInf and Anaerostipes hadrus are associated with sports that contain a moderate dynamic component like fencing.
Meanwhile, Bifidobacterium animalis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Prevotella intermedia and Faecalibacterium prausnitzi were found to be associated with high dynamic and low static component-related sports such as field hockey.
Further analysis revealed that Bacteroides caccae was associated with high dynamic and static component-related sports such as rowing.
The US rowing organisation announced back in 2016 of a deal struck with Thorne Research to be their exclusive dietary supplement partner providing national team members with supplements that include pre- and probiotics.
Since then a host of sports teams have adopted the use of pre and probiotics as well as general supplements in the hunt for incremental physical gains that can make the difference. These include the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and cycling club Team Sunweb.
WADA considerations
Conscious of the increasing use of supplements in sports, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) updated its list of banned substances as the organisation looked to clarify changes relating to supplements and associated ingredients.
Clasado Biosciences said that Bimuno was the only prebiotic ingredient of its kind with Informed Sport accreditation; a quality assurance program that tests supplements for substances banned by WADA.
“The inclusion of key nutrition strategies to support gut health in our athletes can influence their health, well-being and recovery,” adds Wendy Martinson, Lead Nutritionist at British Rowing.
“This impacts their ability to train to the high level required to be competitive at international competition. Bimuno prebiotic products, through their effect on the gut microbiome, will play an important role in our preparation towards Tokyo 2020 (now to be held in 2021) and Paris 2024.”
Rehné adds, “Partnering with British Rowing is a prime example of what motivates us as a business – to make gut health simpler, science-led and more accessible. We look forward to supporting British Rowing and its talented team of athletes.”