Rice Germ Supplementation on Swimmers

NCT ID: NCT03918785

Last Updated: 2019-04-22

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 27 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-04-01
• Study Completion Date: 2014-12-31

Brief Summary

In order to enhance the effects of training and improve performance, athletes often turn to nutritional supplements. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), adequate selection of nutrients and supplements, adjusting intake according to the exercise performed, is necessary for optimal performance in athletes. The most recent consensus from the International Society for Sport Nutrition (ISSN), The American Dietetic Association (ADA) and ACSM on sport nutrition have been reviewed by Potgieter, stating that a single guideline is not sufficient to elaborate an individualized and focused nutritional management of athletes. Moreover, apart from the abovementioned guidelines, sport-specific nutritional strategies, including quantity, structure and timing of food (or supplement) intake should also be followed in order to maximize sports performance and recovery. The importance of dietary supplementation is of particular interest in swimming, where athletes usually undertake a training approach characterized by a high volume of training during aerobic development and high intensity training during the competition phase, coupled with strength training.

The size and market value of the sports supplement industry is continuing to grow, with health, safety and contamination concerns becoming more pressing. Therefore, it is important to identify dietary supplements that are safe and effective in supporting swimmers. Rice germ could be a safe and effective dietary supplement for swimmers. In the last few years, scientific research is trying to use waste rice products in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields, considering the potential value of nutrients they contain. In particular, rice germ has a high protein and essential amino acids, such as lysine, histidine and valine content, a good lipid content (with prevalence of mono- unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids - in particular linoleic and linolenic essential fatty acids and oleic acid), an high fiber presence; regarding water-soluble vitamins, rice germ has high content if thiamine (B1) and pyridoxine (B6), while vitamin E prevails for liposoluble vitamins. About minerals, are most present iron and magnesium. All these nutrients play important roles in maintaining the health of athletes. Currently, despite these characteristics, no study has evaluated the potential beneficial effect of RG supplementation on athletes. Given this background, the purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether performance in swimmers could be improved by a 5-weeks of RG supplementation.

Conditions

Athletes; Sports

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Rice Germ

The Rice Germ was supplied in vacuum jars of a weight of 130 grams. These jars once opened, were stored in the refrigerator (-3-4°C). Together with cans, small containers were provided to act as dosers and served to determine the correct dose to be taken (25 grams, twice a day). The rice germ or placebo were continually taken every day twice a day (25 grams in the morning with breakfast and 25 grams in the afternoon as snacks) for 5 weeks. The rice germ was supplied by the company "Acquerello" (TenutaColombara, Livorno Ferraris, Vercelli, Italy).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Rice germ

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

25 g twice a day.

Control group

Active comparator, which consisted of an isocaloric wheat germ-based supplement. Characteristics of supplementation are the same of experimental group.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Wheat-based supplement

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

25g twice a day.

Interventions

Rice germ

25 g twice a day.

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Wheat-based supplement

25g twice a day.

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• moderately trained athletes
• regularly involved in regional and national competitions

Exclusion Criteria

• No history of cardiac or respiratory disease
• no medication at the time of the study
• no abnormalities on physical examination or on resting electrocardiogram

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Azienda di Servizi alla Persona di Pavia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Mariangela Rondanelli

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Mariangela Rondanelli, MD, PhD, Professor

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Mariangela Rondanelli, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia

Other Identifiers

1114/06072014

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id