New Zealand-based Plant & Food Research scientists have discovered an extract from New Zealand blackcurrants that could help protect the body from the stresses of exercise.

In the experiment ten healthy everyday people from a wide age range who exercised regularly were chosen and the effects of the blackcurrant extract were measured before and after exercise.

 Researchers have found signs that the extract - taken before and after exercise - has three combined effects:

1. Minimising muscle damage by modulating oxidative stress,
2. Reducing inflammation  
3. Potentially enhancing the body’s natural defences against disease.

 Biomedical scientist Dr Roger Hurst leads the Plant & Food Research team and says blackcurrants have long been known to have health promoting properties.

 The blackcurrant finding is from a preliminary study undertaken and supported by Plant & Food Research and underpins a research programme called ‘New Berries’ funded by the Government and the New Zealand Blackcurrant Industry. This programme investigates the antioxidant and immune supportive properties of berryfruit and products and aims to use this knowledge to breed elite New Zealand berries with assured health-promoting properties that will have multiple end-uses including the development of functional foods.

 “This is early stage research, which by its very nature often raises as many questions as it answers. That is certainly the case here. We know we’re on the right track in our belief that fruit extracts, combined with exercise, can have a beneficial effect on human health. In essence, this latest study is predictive – it is showing us where we need to look if we want to really maximise the health potential of fruit.”

 Science Paper: http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/90740.2008v1