RECOVERY
Helping You Shatter Barriers To Recovery Through Plants & Science.
We’ve all been there: haven’t fully recovered, been a little sick, stressed out, running a sleep deficit, and perhaps coming off an injury. All problems seemingly beyond your control and all performance vampires. SmartAthleteFuel & BeetSmartAthleteFuel's ingredients could help give you the power to better control your foundational recovery and well-being while simultaneously fueling your performance.Here’s a Taste of Relevant Research Studies:
- 47% reduction in lab markers of muscle breakdown post marathon (@1).
- Faster muscle strength recovery post event, Nutrients.2016;8:441. (@2)
- 50% reduction in upper respiratory cold symptoms post marathon, J Int Soc Sports Nut.2015;12:22.(@3)
- Improved duration & quality of sleep, Eur J Nutr.2011;8:909.(@4)
- View References Page for 60 additional cited research studies.
- SAF’s founder and research director; a physician, MD, with academic and research experience, Athlete and Cherry Farmer, along with his team have orchestrated the development a stand out natural functional food, concentrate that addresses your Recovery-Well-being and Performance demands simultaneously. Truly a holistic approach, light-years beyond the typical, simplistic, sports energy products that do one thing only, provide energy.
WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR BODY WHEN YOU EXERCISE ?
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Intense exercise produces physical and biochemical microtrauma to your respiratory and immune systems, muscles, joints all the way down to the cellular-subcellular levels (cell membranes, mitochondria and DNA). This sets off a barrage of physiologic events driven by free radical and inflammatory imbalances that can overwhelm your body’s ability to correct them.
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- During your event you experience the wrath of these imbalances as loss of performance, strength, damage to muscle sarcomeres, loss of coordination, pain and cramping. You eventually hit the wall as the wheels fall off your performance bus. Post event, you experience loss of strength, muscle damage and pain, elevated stress hormones, elevated heart rate, elevated blood pressure and increased susceptibility to illness. SAF/BSAF are a natural plant-based food that could help modulate these negative effects. INTERESTINGLY MANY OF THE NEGATIVE PHYSIOLOGIC PATHWAYS OF INTENSE EXERCISE ARE THE SAME PATHWAYS PRODUCING ACCELERATED AGING AND MANY CHRONIC DISEASES, IE, WE ARE TEMPORARILY SUBJECTING OURSELVES TO A STATE OF ACCELERATED AGING DURING AND AFTER INTENSE EXERCISE. THAT’S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO MINIMIZE AND NEGATE. SAF MIGHT BE A TOOL TO HELP DO JUST THAT! Perhaps you are thinking what’s the purpose of intense exercise then? People do this to perform, place, win, feel and look better, have fun, and for the training effect too. Intense exercise stimulates the body to produce more blood vessels, mitochondria (the powerhouse of cells) and muscle. It makes your cells and organ systems more efficient and trains our bodies to burn more fat for fuel. BUT, THE KEY is getting enough of the “negative physiologic stimulus” to signal the training effect, yet not too much to cause overall harm to our bodies. It is the level of, and functional type of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients within SAF that could accomplish this balance. HOWEVER, chronic use of stronger anti-inflammatory agents, Naproxen, Ibuprofen can minimize the beneficial training effect on muscles as Dr. Lilja from Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden has found.
HOW SMARTATHLETEFUEL COULD SPEED & IMPROVE YOUR RECOVERY:
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ANTIOXIDANT EFFECTS: Every ingredient of SAF (except mined sea salt) has antioxidant properties as a direct free radical neutralizer, “neutralizing” a free radical, one and done. This necessitates intaking more antioxidants to continue the free radical cleanse. Fortunately many of SAFs phytonutrients could secondarily turn on your body’s own mechanisms to continue the free radical cleanse,
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SAF could help restore the REDOX balance in your body, and thus performance and recovery (@ 10,11,12). SAF/BSAF's ingredient contain an array of pedigree phytonutrient-based antioxidants that work individually and synergistically. They could work to help protect DNA, mitochondria and stabilize cell membranes helping keep the wheels on your performance and recovery bus. (@14,15).
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IMPROVED BLOOD FLOW: SAF’s ingredients could increase blood flow by two mechanisms.
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1st. Organic ceremonial grade matcha tea leaves contain selected caffeine like substances that are vasodilators that could improve blood flow. 2nd, Phytonutrient Flavonoids could improve blood flow to muscles at rest and exercise through your bodies natural nitric oxide, NO, feedback loop (@6,13). Beets are high in Nitrates which can be metabolized to Nitric Oxide a potent vasodilator (@61).
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INFLAMMATION/PAIN: After the acute trauma, the pain we perceive is, in part, caused by our body’s response through its secondary inflammatory cascade. Thus SAF’s ingredient's anti-inflammatory properties could help alleviate pain and its root cause (@8).
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Two of SAF ingredient Flavonoids, Kaempferol and Quercetin inhibit the body’s cyclo-oxygenase I & II mediated inflammation and pain pathways as well as Aspirin in this study (@16). Additionally, other Flavonoids, Resveratrol, Curcumin, Ellagic acid and EGCG add to SAF ‘s list of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents through similar and different pathways according to these studies.(@17,18,19,20,21).
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JOINTS: During your event you are subjecting our joints to microtrauma and your body responds though its common inflammatory pathway to heal (@22). But, like so many things in life, too much of a “good thing” becomes counterproductive. The body's power of GOOD crosses to the dark side to become EVIL and the net outcome is more "damage" than repair.
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As you reach your 40’s, you have damaged your joints, you don’t like to admit this, but arthritis begins as the balancing act between bone and cartilage formation and loss becomes unbalanced. Of interest, SAF’s flavonoids could down regulate osteoclast production which could mean less bone destruction. (@23)
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IMMUNE STATUS: SAF ingredients could help immune modulation according to some studies.
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You’ve gone deep, really deep at that last event putting yourself deep into unchecked oxidative and inflammatory stress, stressing your immune system and subjecting yourself to microtrauma including your airways. Prolonged rapid respiratory rate, open mouth breathing, a little dehydration and your respiratory tract has gotten a “wind burn” allowing germs easy access into your body’s temporarily stressed immune system. Bang ! You’ve got the post-event upper respiratory tract crud prolonging your recovery. SAF’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients could help keep your immune system from faltering and reduce post-event upper respiratory symptoms of infections by up to 50% by one study (@1,3). Additionally, Flavonoids could have direct antiviral and antimicrobial effects in vitro, according to this study, Int J Antimicrob Agents.2005:26;343.
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SLEEP: The recuperative power of sleep is huge. But, the appropriate quality and quantity of sleep is elusive at times. SAFs cherry concentrate is a good source of melatonin that can aid in capturing that elusive quality sleep shown by Howatson’s 2011 study (@4).
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SAF also contains Tryptophan that our bodies can use to make Melatonin and Serotonin, the feel good neurotransmitter. While Melatonin’s claim to fame is sleep, it is a strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent with a host of other beneficial effects for man, including stabilizing membranes, detoxifying chemicals, and protecting DNA, to name a just a few (@ 24,25) The amount of melatonin in SAF will NOT make you drowsy SAF’s researchers say, but once you are in the pre-sleeping state it could help improve the duration and quality of sleep.
REPLENISH ENERGY & ELECTROLYTES STORES: SAF/BSAF has a full complement of electrolytes and trace minerals and theaflavins that COULD HELP TO INCREASE MINERAL ABSORPTION. Additionally, simple and complex carbohydrates replenish energy stores.
REPAIR AND BUILD MUSCLE: SAF/BSAF contain proteins, amino acids and vitamins to aid muscle recovery and development. One product can be used for both performance & recovery.
HOW TO USE SAF TO MAXIMIZE RECOVERY BENEFIT:
PRE-LOAD, RE-LOAD, REPLENISH: Optimal recovery begins before and continues during & after your event. By appropriately Pre-loading before & Reloading during your event with calories, electrolytes, vitamins, antioxidants and anti-inflammatories and by turning up your own body's defense mechanisms you stay ahead of micro-trauma induced oxidative stress and inflammation that prolong recovery. REPLENISH after your event to aid recovery. Post event your body is in the reparative mode. You have drawn down on your pre-loaded & re-loaded stores & they need to be replenished. Calories, electrolytes, vitamins, proteins, & amino acids for repair & strengthening are needed. In addition, inflammatory & oxidative stress resulting from repetitive microtrauma during your event CONTINUE TO RISE AFTER YOUR EVENT. Unchecked, they will continue to harm your body, immunity & prolong your recovery. Thus, additional antioxidants & anti-inflammatories are needed in the recovery period. Studies based on ingredients contained within SAF/BSAF (Pre-loading, Re-loading & Replenishing for ½ Marathon) showed improved performance, less muscle breakdown, faster strength recovery, fewer upper respiratory tract complaints & improved sleep post event (@1, 2, 3, 4). REPLENISHing post-event for recovery: 1 SAF/BSAF gel ASAP after finish followed with fluids. 1 SAF gel at 2 & 6 hours post event. Try mixing it with chocolate milk. Learn More on our HOW TO USE PAGE.
You don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy the refreshing taste, potential health benefits and focused alertness SAF may bring. The performance, recovery & well-being attributes SAF brings to elite athletes is equally valuable to non-athletes. It naturally brings your body and mind into your game, work or pleasure. It does this in a Cherry-Maple Love Affair, Taste Nirvana that SAF users rave about. At 100 calories it is a healthier alternative to soft and energy drinks cold and a nice stand in for coffee and tea hot. It’s a great topper on yogurt or granola, and even makes a tasty, super refreshing mixer for your favorite spirit and sparkling water. That adds some delicious recovery options !
The researcher’s at SmartAthleteFuel believe Smart People will see the advantage of demanding every energy calorie consumed to simultaneously address their well-being, recovery and performance. They will be the early adopters of the cherry-maple love affair taste experience and will do so with a winning smile.
BEST IN WINS….IN LIFE, COMPETITION & TASTE …….. Game On !