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

26.05.2018

What is Spectra doing in your PWO?

When we were looking webshops for fun stuff to put into our body, we suddenly ran into a few pre-workout formulas with a component that we did not yet know: Spectra, a product of FutureCeuticals. [futureceuticals.com] In the electrical library we found a study that suggests that adding Spectra to PWOs might not be such a bad idea. Of course, that study is paid for by... You guessed it.

Spectra
Spectra is a mixture of "broccoli powder and broccoli sprouts concentrate, onion extract, tomato concentrate, dried carrot, spinach, bald concentrate, brussel sprout concentrate, whole coffee fruits extract, acerola extract, camu camu powder, acai berry concentrate, mangosteen concentrate, green tea extract, apple extract, turmeric concentrate, garlic, basil concentrate, oregano, cinnamon concentrate, elderberry concentrate, blackcurrant extract, blueberry extract, sweet cherry powder, blackberry powder, chokeberry, raspberry powder, and bilberry extract."

Spectra is a proprietary blend, which implies that we don't know how much of what component is in Spectra. The table below doesn't clear things up either.

Study
In 2014, a small human study was published with 22 subjects in Food Science & Nutrition. The research was paid for by FutureCeuticals, and carried out by the German Noxygen Science Transfer & Diagnostics. Noxygen has developed a research method which uses blood samples to determine the antioxidant action of all kinds of supplements: the 'Vitality Test'. We do not know to what extent this Vitality Test has been validated.

With this method, the researchers studied the effect of a scanty breakfast of bread and a glass of water, and the effect of a healthy breakfast [according to the researchers] of bread, a glass of water and a capsule containing 100 milligrams of Spectra.

Results
Spectra reduced the production of free radicals [ROS] by the blood cells.

At the same time, the oxygen consumption of the blood cells increased. The researchers discovered that Spectra made the cells' mitochondria work harder, and made the cells apparently produce more energy. It's not surprising that Spectra increased the rate at which the glucose disappeared from the blood after breakfast.

In addition Spectra increased the concentration of nitric oxide in the blood samples.

Cheers & jubilation
The researchers are deeply impressed by themselves, their method and the product they have studied.

Source:
Food Sci Nutr. 2014 Nov;2(6):828-39.

More:
Dealcoholized red wine is a better NO booster than regular red wine 26.04.2018
Athletes who use antibacterial mouthwash won't get anything from nitrates 23.02.2017
Athletes perform better after six days of spinach, collard greens or beetroot 14.01.2017

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Nitric Oxide

Two capsules ViNitrox increase endurance by ten percent Tomorrow you have an important competition or training. In the evening, before you go to sleep, you take a capsule with ViNitrox, which consists of phenols from grapes and apples. And in the morning, an hour before The Great Moment, you take another one.	Older cyclists go faster with Niteworks NO booster Older cyclists will cycle faster if they take antioxidants and five grams of L-arginine and L-citrulline daily.	This is what happens if you combine NO-Shotgun with NO-Synthesize Bodybuilders make slightly faster progress if they take a spoonful of NO-Shotgun before a workout and a spoonful of NO-Synthesize afterwards, than if they take no sports supplements at all during a workout.