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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

04.09.2023

41 percent more endurance after a short monster cycle of ergothioneine

Chastened by an unbroken series of disappointing results from human research, our love for animal studies has diminished considerably. But sometimes we come across an animal experiment on the web that makes us forget all the frustration and disappointment. Such as the wonderful study on the ergogenic effect of ergothioneine, which Theo Fovet published in Frontiers in Physiology.

Study
Theo Fovet, a researcher from the University of Montpellier in France, divided mice into 2 groups. For 7 days, one group received a hefty dose of ergothioneine through the drinking water. The other group received drinking water without additives.

Ergothioneine is an amino acid in mushrooms that, according to dozens of studies, has a broad protective effect. If the mice in the experimental group had been adult humans, they would have received about 50 milligrams of ergothioneine daily.

Results
Before the supplementation period started, all mice were equally fit. At the end of the supplementation period, Fovet had the mice run at a pace of 70 percent of their maximum aerobic speed.

The mice that had been given ergothioneine were able of running 72 minutes. However, the mice in the control group had to give up after 50 minutes [bottom right figure]. This means that supplementation with ergothioneine increased endurance by as much as 41 percent.

Although the mice in the supplement group put in considerably more work than the other animals, the researchers found comparable markers of muscle damage in the muscles of both groups after the session. So ergothioneine not only improves performance, but also protects muscle cells.

This also explains why Fovet found equal activity of catabolic mechanisms in the muscles of both groups of test animals after the session.

Because ergothioneine has a protective effect, Fovet feared that, like megadoses of antioxidant vitamins, ergothioneine could subtly inhibit muscle growth. That was not the case. Anabolic markers such as the activity of 4EBP1 and RPS6, or the production of Akt, IGF-1 and mTOR were not lower in the muscles of the mice in the ergothioneine group after the session than in the control group.

Supplementation also had no adverse effect on markers of stem cell recruitment and the production and repair of mitochondria.

Remark
The human equivalent of the dose studied is on the high side. The highest dose ergothioneine supplements that you can buy as a consumer contain 10 milligrams per capsule. Athletes who want to experiment with such high doses may want to limit the duration of their use.

Source:
Front Physiol. 2022 Feb 9;13:834597.

More:
Ergothioneine, the longevity vitamin from mushrooms, protects against deadly cardiovascular disease (31-7-2021)
Ergothioneine makes mushrooms healthy for your brain 31.12.2018
Ergothioneine loosens up stiff joints 16.07.2012

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