More power, less fatigue: Carbery’s hydrolyzed whey protein Optipep 4Power targets HIIT training

14 Oct 2020 --- Optipep 4Power, Carbery Group’s latest hydrolyzed whey protein powder, can help high-intensity interval training (HIIT) athletes generate more power and experience less fatigue than those taking standard whey protein concentrate.

Specifically, participants in a clinical study generated a 4.3 percent increase in Wingate mean power output taken pre-workout. The protein powder also yielded a 6.1 percent improvement in fatigue index, which indicated a greater capacity for sustaining high-intensity performance during maximal intensity sprint exercise.

“These findings show that Optipep 4Power consumed before exercise can beneficially stimulate some important genes implicated in regulating fatty acid oxidation,” Sarah O’Neill, marketing manager at Carbery, tells NutritionInsight. 

Meanwhile, it showed it could promote critical anaerobic performance adaptations in comparison with protein concentrate.

Targeting wrestling, rugby and squash
Carbery sees this as a “potential game-changer” for brands providing targeted nutritional solutions to consumers participating in sports such as CrossFit, sprinting, wrestling and MMA. 

Optipep 4Power is developed to support nutritional strategies for HIIT, which have been “minimally researched to date,” says Carbery.Other sports with similar activity patterns to HIIT include field sports such as soccer and rugby, as well as racket sports such as tennis and squash.

“We have been developing Optipep over a number of years and were able to identify the optimal hydrolyzed whey protein and validate its potential positive impact on performance outcomes,” says O’Neill.

Optipep 4Power is the latest product in Carbery’s hydrolyzed whey protein portfolio, which includes Optipep 80 SN and Optipep 90 PRO. 

Powdered shakes are the primary format for Optipep 4Power, but the company has also developed a range of flavored prototypes to sample to customers.

Not enough research on HIIT
Carbery highlights that many current nutritional HIIT strategies are “minimally researched.”

“Athletes across a broad range of sports and activities are increasingly building high-intensity interval workouts into their training routines. However, nutritional strategies for HIIT are poorly characterized,” flags O’Neill. 

The clinical study set out to investigate if supplementation of protein in low carbohydrate conditions ahead of HIIT workouts induces favorable muscle metabolic and exercise performance adaptations. 

The study design was developed to address three specific objectives: to determine specific mechanisms underpinning adaptations and establish optimal nutritional strategies to enhance HIIT outcomes. 

Mitochondrial changes
It also aimed to identify mitochondrial changes in the acute and chronic phases, referring to changes after a single exercise and over weeks or months of exercise sessions, respectively. 

Carbery’s protein powder improved the fatigue index by 6.1 percent, indicating a greater capacity for sustaining high-intensity exercise performance.“In the acute phase, nine genes with roles in mitochondrial biogenesis, fatty acid oxidation and NAD+ biosynthesis were differentially regulated from baseline,” explains O’Neill.

“In the Optipep 4Power group, we observed beneficial regulation of CD36, a rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid oxidation, compared with protein concentrate. SIRT4, an important inhibitor of fat oxidation, was downregulated in both groups, albeit to a greater extent in the protein concentrate condition,” says O’Neill.

The researchers observed a similar increase in mitochondrial content and fatty acid oxidative capacity in the chronic phase.

When the clinical study concluded in March this year, Carbery interviewed a cohort of consumers who exercise more than twice a week. 

Having been presented with Optipep 4Power and the benefits measured in the clinical study, 62 percent stated they would be interested in buying the product.

Research technology
The study researchers used advanced mass spectrometry to analyze peptides in Carbery’s latest ingredient. Data interpretation with bioinformatics further enabled them to identify any possible bioactivity within the peptide sequences using predictor algorithms.

“Mass spectrometry gives you a detailed protein and peptide fingerprint, and in combination with bioinformatics (data analysis and interrogation), has value as analytical techniques in several ways,” notes O’Neill.

“The usefulness of these techniques in targeted nutrition strategies will become more valuable as the information in databases is developed and expanded with new scientific substantiation,” she concludes.

By Anni Schleicher