Reduced inflammation: DSM natural ingredient to aid Tour de France team performance

09 Jul 2018 --- Royal DSM is continuing to supply professional cycling team, Sunweb, with sports nutrition solutions in the form of its dietary antiplatelet, Fruitflow, at this year's Tour de France. The supplement is said to reduce the “toxic effects of exercise” which can include inflammation and an increased risk of blood clots due to platelet aggregation. The mainstreaming of sports nutrition is facilitating an increasing amount of research into all factors of sports recovery and performance, and DSM is seeing a lot of room for growth for products targeting consumers ranging from professional athletes to the more casual sports enthusiast.

Intense exercise activates the body’s blood platelets within approximately three minutes, which leads to the production of thrombin and adrenaline in the blood vessels. This can cause inflammation for up to 48 hours, which slows down recovery and affects performance. Additionally, activated platelets can also cause increased blood clotting and is linked to deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Studies cited by DSM have shown that formulations containing Fruitflow, a natural ingredient, can reduce the toxic effects of exercise by more than half. Extracted from the jelly around the seeds of sun-ripened tomatoes, Fruitflow is a highly concentrated form of over 30 water-soluble bioactive compounds that are clinically proven to help with platelet aggregation. 

“For top athletes, the margins between victory and failure are slim. Professional athletes need their nutrition to support them in every way possible, through both training and events,” says Ruedi Duss, Global Business and Marketing Manager at DSM Nutritional Products. “Fruitflow was the first natural cardio-protective functional ingredient to receive approval of an Article 13.5 claim from the European Commission and is ideal for cyclists that need to support their recovery for maximum performance.”

Sports nutrition mainstreams
The boundaries between sports nutrition and mainstream nutrition are blurring, as everyday consumers become increasingly health-focused and seek to reap the benefits that seasoned athletes have known for years.

Duss explains to NutritionInsight how the needs of health and exercise enthusiasts differ from those of the professional athlete, which can influence how products are formulated and marketed, for example, in the case of whether or not clean label is a top concern. “Different consumers have different drivers. For performance athletes, proven effectiveness is key – they want products to help them perform. For health and fitness enthusiasts, organic or plant-based sources may be more important than performance.” 

However, he adds, Fruitflow taps into a range of market areas: “As the category expands with a range of consumers, suppliers will need to reflect their needs in product offerings. Excitingly, Fruitflow is a supplement that not only helps with recovery, for improved performance gains, but is 100 percent natural and plant-based, so it is possible to deliver products that work for different consumer groups.” 

Essentially, “Companies can differentiate themselves in this category with proprietary research data on their own, unique formulations. Also, products like Fruitflow are patented, so can only be accessed through the brand owner.” 

NutritionInsight has previously reported in the partnership between DSM and team Sunweb. The creation of ISO PRO+ – an energy beverage with muscle recovery benefits that contains DSM’s Peptopro which claims to aid faster protein absorption – was the results of a three-way partnership between DSM, Team Sunweb and sports nutrition specialists, BORN. The aim: to maximize the Sunweb cycling team’s performance throughout this year’s cycling season.

By Laxmi Haigh, with additional reporting by Lucy Gunn