The Effect of Bovine Colostrum Supplementation on Exercise Performance in Elite Field Hockey Players
in International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise MetabolismIn a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, we investigated the effect of 8 weeks of supplementation with bovine colostrum (Intact™) on body composition and exercise performance (5 × 10-m sprint, vertical jump, shuttle-run test, and suicide test). Seventeen female and 18 male elite field hockey players, including players from the Dutch national team, received either 60 g of colostrum or whey protein daily. The 5 × 10-m sprint test performance improved significantly (p = .023) more in the colostrum group [0.64±0.09 s (mean ± SEM)] compared to the whey group (0.33±0.09 s). The vertical jump performance improved more in the colostrum group (2.1 ± 0.73 cm) compared to the whey group (0.32 ± 0.82 cm). However, this was not statistically significant (p = .119). There were also no significant differences in changes in body composition and endurance tests between the 2 groups. It is concluded that in elite field hockey players, colostrum supplementation improves sprint performance better than whey. However, there were no differences with regard to body composition or endurance performance.
Z. Hofman, R. Smeets, and G. Verlaan are with Numico Research, Bosrandweg 20, 6704 PH, Wageningen, The Netherlands. R.v.d. Lugt and P.A. Verstappen are with the Sports Medical Centre, Sweelinckplein 46, 2517 GP, Den Haag, The Netherlands.
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