Nutrients for a Stronger Athletic Body

Immune System

In order to have a healthy body, one must start with a healthy immune system. Without it, the body is unable to handle exercise-induced stress. Gluco polysaccharide, a natural compound isolated from yeast cell calls (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), has been shown to be effective in reducing the influence of colds and flu, and in enhancing phagocytic activity of macrophages, neutrophils and natural killer cells. Wellmune WGP® (from Biothera), the branded name for gluco polysaccharide, was a key player in a double blind, placebo-controlled study.¹ Marathon runners (35 men, 40 women) ages 18 to 53 (mean age 36 years), were recruited at the 2007 Carlsbad Marathon in California. Researchers from Supplement Watch Inc. found marathoners taking 250 mg/d of Wellmune WGP for four weeks reported a 22 percent increase in vigor; 48 percent reduction in fatigue; 38 percent reduction in tension; and 38 percent reduction in stress-related confusion, in contrast with the placebo group. The treatment group also reported 66 percent fewer upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) compared with runners treated with a placebo, and rated their health 44 percent higher as compared to normal.

In a similar study, reported at the 2008 Experimental Biology annual meeting, researchers from the Miami Research Associates reported gluco polysaccharide could reduce the incidence of fever and cold-like symptoms.² During the cold/flu season, healthy subjects were treated with Wellmune WGP or a placebo for four weeks. Although there were no differences in the incidence of symptomatic respiratory illnesses (SRIs), no subjects in the Wellmune group missed work or school due to colds, while subjects with colds in the placebo group missed an average of 1.38 days.

Glutamine, a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid, is circulated throughout the blood as well as stored in the skeletal muscles, and becomes conditionally essential in states of illness or injury. Because it is converted to glucose during periods of heightened energy expenditure, as well as providing fuel for certain cells in the immune system, it is used for ergogenic and immune support for athletes. In a study from the University of Oxford, the effects of feeding glutamine was investigated both at rest in sedentary controls and after exhaustive exercise in middle-distance, marathon and ultra-marathon runners, and elite rowers, in training and competition.³ A marked increase in numbers of white blood cells occurred immediately after exhaustive exercise, followed by a decrease in the numbers of lymphocytes. Researchers found the provision of oral glutamine after exercise appeared to have a beneficial effect on the level of subsequent infections. In addition, the ratio of T-helper/T-suppressor cells appeared to be increased in samples from those who received glutamine, compared with the placebo.

Another study from the same group of researchers found in situations of stress, such as clinical trauma, starvation or prolonged strenuous exercise, the concentration of glutamine in the blood is decreased and provision of glutamine or a glutamine precursor, such as branched chain amino acids, may have a beneficial effect on gut function, morbidity and mortality, and on some aspects of immune cell function.⁴ However, it was admitted that, so far, there is no firm evidence as to precisely which aspect of the immune system is affected by glutamine feeding during the transient immunodepression that occurs after prolonged, strenuous exercise, but there is increasing evidence that neutrophils may be implicated.

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