Rice Germ Supplementation on Swimmers (RGS swimmers)

Azienda di Servizi alla Persona di Pavia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Sports; Athletes

Treatments: Dietary Supplement: Wheat-based supplement; Dietary Supplement: Rice germ

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03918785

1114/06072014

Details and patient eligibility

About

In order to enhance the effects of training and improve performance, athletes often turn to nutritional supplements. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), adequate selection of nutrients and supplements, adjusting intake according to the exercise performed, is necessary for optimal performance in athletes. The most recent consensus from the International Society for Sport Nutrition (ISSN), The American Dietetic Association (ADA) and ACSM on sport nutrition have been reviewed by Potgieter, stating that a single guideline is not sufficient to elaborate an individualized and focused nutritional management of athletes. Moreover, apart from the abovementioned guidelines, sport-specific nutritional strategies, including quantity, structure and timing of food (or supplement) intake should also be followed in order to maximize sports performance and recovery. The importance of dietary supplementation is of particular interest in swimming, where athletes usually undertake a training approach characterized by a high volume of training during aerobic development and high intensity training during the competition phase, coupled with strength training.

The size and market value of the sports supplement industry is continuing to grow, with health, safety and contamination concerns becoming more pressing. Therefore, it is important to identify dietary supplements that are safe and effective in supporting swimmers. Rice germ could be a safe and effective dietary supplement for swimmers. In the last few years, scientific research is trying to use waste rice products in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields, considering the potential value of nutrients they contain. In particular, rice germ has a high protein and essential amino acids, such as lysine, histidine and valine content, a good lipid content (with prevalence of mono- unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids - in particular linoleic and linolenic essential fatty acids and oleic acid), an high fiber presence; regarding water-soluble vitamins, rice germ has high content if thiamine (B1) and pyridoxine (B6), while vitamin E prevails for liposoluble vitamins. About minerals, are most present iron and magnesium. All these nutrients play important roles in maintaining the health of athletes. Currently, despite these characteristics, no study has evaluated the potential beneficial effect of RG supplementation on athletes. Given this background, the purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether performance in swimmers could be improved by a 5-weeks of RG supplementation.

Enrollment: 27 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• moderately trained athletes
• regularly involved in regional and national competitions

Exclusion criteria

• No history of cardiac or respiratory disease
• no medication at the time of the study
• no abnormalities on physical examination or on resting electrocardiogram

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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27 participants in 2 patient groups

Rice Germ

Experimental group

Description:

The Rice Germ was supplied in vacuum jars of a weight of 130 grams. These jars once opened, were stored in the refrigerator (-3-4°C). Together with cans, small containers were provided to act as dosers and served to determine the correct dose to be taken (25 grams, twice a day). The rice germ or placebo were continually taken every day twice a day (25 grams in the morning with breakfast and 25 grams in the afternoon as snacks) for 5 weeks. The rice germ was supplied by the company "Acquerello" (TenutaColombara, Livorno Ferraris, Vercelli, Italy).

Treatment:

Dietary Supplement: Rice germ

Control group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Active comparator, which consisted of an isocaloric wheat germ-based supplement. Characteristics of supplementation are the same of experimental group.

Treatment:

Dietary Supplement: Wheat-based supplement