The INFINIT Library

What is CoQ10?

23 Jan 2024

What is CoQ10? Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, is naturally made by our bodies and found within every cell of the human body. It is a substance similar to that of a vitamin and our cells use it to produce the energy needed for cell maintenance and production. As it functions as an antioxidant, CoQ10 can protect the body from damage caused by harmful molecules. Additionally, CoQ10 can boost energy and speed up the recovery time from intense endurance efforts. Just as within our bodies, small amounts of CoQ10 are naturally present in many foods, but can be found at much higher levels in foods like peanuts, soy oils, mackerel, sardines, and “organ meats” like hearts, liver, or kidneys.

As we grow older, our bodies’ natural ability to produce CoQ10 diminishes, meaning the level of CoQ10 present within our cells decreases with increased age. Additionally levels of CoQ10 are notably lower in patients with a wide range of diseases, genetic disorders, and those taking certain medications. A person with heart failure will already have low levels of CoQ10 due to their health issues, but the statins used to treat heart failure also block the bodies’ ability to produce CoQ10. Therefore, it is common for patients placed on a statin to also be encouraged to take CoQ10 as a supplement for energy and heart health. CoQ10 levels within white blood cells, plasma, and platelets have been demonstrated to increase with supplementary oral administration of the substance, and these increased levels have demonstrated a positive effect on heart performance in ischemic heart disease, and congestive heart failure, as well as lowering blood pressure.

CoQ10, a naturally occurring enzyme found within your body’s cells, is used by our cells to produce the energy that is needed for cell regrowth. CoQ10 is more and more frequently being used a nutritional supplement, much like a daily vitamin, due to its’ inherent antioxidant properties and promising benefits in treating diseases in humans. Studies show, that when taken orally on a daily basis, CoQ10 can help to slow, improve, or even reverse the symptoms of various cardiovascular diseases. Less research has been done on diseases outside of heart health, but current studies show patients with illnesses ranging from Alzheimer’s and Cancer to Diabetes and Parkinson’s may benefit from a daily dose of CoQ10.

Sources

Chao, J., Leung, Y., Wang, M., Chuen-Chung Chang, R. (2012). Nutraceuticals and their preventive or potential therapeutic value in Parkinson’s disease. Nutrition Reviews, 70(7), 373-386. doi: 10.111/j.1753-4887.2012.00484.x

Cicero, A. F. G., Borghi, C. (2013). Evidence of clinically relevant efficacy for dietary supplements and nutraceuticals. Current Hypertension Report, 15, 260-267. doi: 10.1007/s11906-013-0333-8

Fotino, A. D., Thompson-Paul, A. M., Bazzona, L. A. (2013). Effect of coenzyme Q10 supplementation on heart failure: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 97, 268-275. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.040741

Gao, L., Mao, Q., Cao, J., Wang, Y., Zhou, X., Fan, L. (2012). Effects of coenzyme Q10 on vascular endothelial function in humans: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Atherosclerosis, 221, 311-316. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2011.10.027

Hidaka, T., Fujii, K., Funahashi, I., Fukutomi, N., Hosoe, K. (2008). Safety assessment of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Biofactors, 32(1-4), 199-208.

Kumar, A., Kaur, H., Devi, P., Mohan, V. (2009). Role of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in cardiac disease, hypertension and Meniere-like syndrome. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 124, 259-268. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2009.07.003

Lee, B., Huang, Y., Chen, S., Lin, P. (2012). Coenzyme Q10 supplementation reduces oxidative stress and increases enzyme activity in patient with coronary artery disease. Nutrition, 28, 250-255. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2011.06.004

Littlefield, N. (2013). Statins' effect on plasma levels of Coenzyme Q10 and improvement in myopathy with supplementation. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. doi: 10.1002/2327-6924.12046

Mauskop, A. (2012). Nonmedication, alternative, and complementary treatments for migraine. Lifelong Learning in Neurology, 18(4), 796. doi: 10.1212/01.CON.0000418643.24408.40

Mullin, G. E. (2013). The heart speaks II: Embracing integrative medicine for heart health. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 27(4), 568-571. doi: 10.1177/0884533612452612

Nicolson, G. L., Conklin, K. A. (2007). Reversing mitochondrial dysfunction, fatigue, and the adverse effects of chemotherapy of metastatic disease and molecular replacement therapy. Clinical Experimental Metastasis, 25, 161-169. doi: 10.1007/s10585-007-9129-z

Rasmussen, C. B., Glisson, J. K., Minor, D. S. (2012). Dietary supplements and hypertension: Potential benefits and precautions. The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 14(7), 467-472. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-7176.2012.00642.x

Roffe, L., Schmidt, K., Ernst, E. Efficacy of coenzyme Q10 for improved tolerability of cancer treatments: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Oncology 22(21), 4418-4423. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2004.02.034

Wollen, K. A. (2010). Alzheimer’s disease: The pros and cons of pharmaceutical, nutritional, botanical, and stimulatory therapies, with a discussion of treatment strategies from the perspective of patients and practitioners. Alternative Medicine Review, 15(3), 223-239.

Posted in Science, News and The INFINIT Library

What is Beta Alanine

23 Jan 2024

Beta-Alanine at a glance:

∞ INFINIT offers 725mg per serving as an optional “Extra” for Custom Formulas.
∞ Recommended initial dose of 6g/day for two weeks, then 4g daily as a “maintenance” dose.
∞ Oral ingestion of 4–6 g beta-alanine/day during 4–10 weeks increases carnosine concentrations by 40–80%.
∞ Doses larger than 800 mg (10 mg/kg body weight) can provoke moderate-to-severe paresthesia symptoms.

Beta-alanine is a hot topic in nutrition for exercise performance. Beta-alanine acts as a “muscle buffering agent” within the cells of muscle tissue. It is a naturally occurring amino acid that many athletes take in order to increase their muscles ability to delay fatigue and recover quicker from exercise. But how does it work?

Cyclists racing around a turn

Beta Alanine works by playing a huge part in creating a product called carnosine, this is a dipeptide that functions as an acid buffer as well as a calcium regulator in muscle tissue. This is particularly important in exercise as when the intensity increases, your body moves from an aerobic (using oxygen) to anaerobic (without oxygen) process. Anaerobic processes produce a large amount of hydrogen, creating what's called an acidic environment. This buffering function of carnosine in muscle tissue helps alleviate the acidosis within the muscle, thus combatting fatigue during exercise and enhancing your ability to recover.

Carnosine is also thought to play a role in calcium availability. Calcium is an electrolyte found in our mixes that is crucial to muscle contraction. A recent study supports that there is an increase in calcium sensitivity when more carnosine is present, meaning that the muscle is able to contract more readily. Not only this but, carnosine has been shown to have antioxidant properties. These functions all contributing to carnosine’s ability to maintain and improve homeostasis within the muscle which is vital to your performance.

So why is beta-alanine ingestion so important in the production of carnosine? Well, it’s because beta-alanine is the “rate-limiting” factor in carnosine production. What this means is that the amount of carnosine available to the muscle tissue is dependent on how much beta-alanine is present and available to be used.

While there are some mixed reviews on the effectiveness of B-alanine supplementation, it’s important to understand the types of exercise it has been shown to be of the most benefit. The best results are noticed in high-intensity activities and sports, including endurance events that involve a sprint to the finish such as cycling.

The most common side effect of B-alanine supplementation includes paresthesia, aka 'the tingles'. The cause of this is attributed to pressure on peripheral nerves. To avoid these sensory side effects, divide the daily dose into multiple ingestion times during the day or use specific time-release capsules.

More research is needed to establish clear guidelines about the optimal supplementation dose, but current findings support that benefits of beta-alanine on exercise performance do exist. Future research should also focus on improving our understanding on the vast differences in storage capacity among individual athletes, as well as the effects of co-ingesting beta-alanine with creatine and sodium bicarbonate to examine how these ergogenic aids may alter exercise performance and recovery.

Sources
Blancquaert, L., Everaert, I., & Derave, W. (2014, December 18). Beta-alanine supplementation, muscle carnosine and exercise performance. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, 18(1).
De Salles Painelli V, Saunders B, Sale C, et al. Inﬂuence of training status on high intensity intermittent performance in response to b-alanine supplementation. Amino Acids 2014; 46:1207–1215.
Dunford, M., & Doyle, J. A. (2008). Nutrition for Sport and Exercise (Second ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Kendall, K., PhD, & Hyde, P., BS. (2015). Beta-Alanine Supplementation and Exercise Performance. Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition: Pulse, 34(1), winter 2015, 1-5.
Seher, C., MS, RD (2012, July) Beta-Alanine Supplements — Evidence Shows This Amino Acid Boosts Athletic Performance. Today’s Dietitian, 14 (7), July 2012.

What is Creatine? I Creatine Supplementation

23 Jan 2024

Creatine at a Glance:

- INFINIT offers 400mg non-GMO, vegan friendly Creatine Monohydrate per serving as an optional “Extra” for Custom Formulas.

- Creatine (Cr) is one of the most studied and scientifically supported supplements used by athletes that can enhance performance.

- Creatine supplementation specifically produces significant benefits in performance during short-duration and high-intensity exercise.

So What Exactly is Creatine?

Creatine is a naturally occurring organic acid that essentially acts as a “fuel source” for ATP (the energy currency of the body). Creatine is naturally synthesised in the liver, and transported in the blood to the muscles. Creatine can also be taken in small doses through a healthy diet, and is found in food sources like meat and fish.

In the muscle, creatine works as a part of phosphocreatine (PCr), a high-energy phosphate donor, which acts to restore ATP for short bursts of energy. This particular energy system is mainly used during anaerobic efforts, acting in the first 8-10 seconds of exercise. Supplementing with creatine can help to produce more ATP and therefore increase the intensity of your training.

Creatine supplementation can be a tool to help an athlete do more work as it allows for intermittent sprints or lifting work to be done for a longer period of time, thus increasing training load capacity. One way you can look at it, is to think of creatine like a gas tank: If the tank is topped off, it will allow the car to go further. If your phosphocreatine system is “topped off” with extra creatine, it will allow your body to go further, giving you that last 1%.

Creatine Metabolism

How Creatine Supplementation can Benefit Endurance Athletes

As we know endurance sports are often multifactorial. Race dynamics, elevation changes, course design, and other factors might influence how an athlete paces themselves. Endurance races are rarely performed at a steady pace and often require multiple surges of maxmimal effort and intensities (may it be the sprint to the finish or passing a competitor) these changes in pace requires the recruitment of fast twitch (type II) glycolytic muscle fibers for increased power.

Creatine supplementation can allow for the increase in PCr and free creatine within the body to increase the capacity for faster PCr synthesis during the recovery periods of intense power outputs. The increase in intramuscular concnetrations of PCr leads to the greater reliance on this system during intense efforts and has shown to be associated with improved time until exhaustion, repeated sprints, anaerobic work capacity, and time trial performance.

Creatine Supplementation Practices

So how does creatine supplemention work and how does it influence the availability of creatine and phosphocreatine (PCr) within the muscle? Supplementing has been shown to increase creatine stores in the muscle from 0-40% higher than pre-supplementation storage in muscle tissue (it should be noted that the highest increases are observed in vegetarians and vegans who are new to creatine supplementation).

Most experts recommend two main “phases” of Creatine supplementation: The loading phase and the maintenance phase.

The loading phase generally last about 5-7 days, and calls for the athlete to take in a significant amount of creatine, spread out over 4-5 times per day. Research shows an effective loading phase dosage ranges from 15-30 grams per day. Additional studies also show that lower doses (3 grams per day) over a longer period of time (30 days) produces similar results.
During the loading phase, the body stores muscle creatine to capacity and the remaining creatine is excreted in the urine. These findings suggest that the “loading” phase of creatine supplementation can actually be reduced in duration with the same effect. In fact, some studies speculate that eliminating a “loading” phase all together will produce similar results without the excess urinary excretion.

The maintenance phase follows the loading phase, and involves taking a much lower daily dose of 1.5-3.5 grams spread out over per day for about 3 weeks (although some studies extend the maintenance phase up to 11 weeks in duration).

We now make it easy to hit your maintenance dose levels simply by drinking your INFINIT Custom Mix! Just select the Creatine Monohydrate option when you’re selecting your bag size, and your Custom Fuel Blend will contain a level that aligns with the recommended maintenance dosage (400mg of Creatine Monohydrate per serving).

Not all Creatines are Created Equal

In our INFINIT Custom Mix we use Creatine Monohydrate over the various other forms of creatine because we firmly believe it is the best form of creatine available today. Not only is it the most widely used form of creatine in scientific research but it is also the most pure form found in nature and provides the body with 88% pure creatine per molecule.

Potential Side Effects of Creatine Supplementation

A noticeable side effect of creatine supplementation is a reduction in urine production in the first 3 days of creatine loading. This effect is thought to be attributed to the osmotic load of creatine, which causes water retention, and ultimately accounts for the weight gain that is standard with early creatine supplementation.

Creatine + Beta-Alanine

One particular note of interest comes from the effects of supplementing both creatine and beta alanine on athletic performance. For example, the dual supplementation was tested during a 10 week resistance training program for football players. The study found significant changes in lean body mass and body fat percentage in the combined supplementation group, compared to the creatine only group or placebo group. Along with the difference in body composition, significant improvements in VO2 max and power output at lactate threshold (LT) were also seen in the combined supplementation group.

So, simply put, creatine is a well-researched ergogenic aid, which has been proven to be effective in enhancing athletic performance by helping to combat fatigue during your workouts. Extending the time it takes for your muscles to fatigue allows you to work out longer and with more intensity, ultimately improving your strength and muscle size, which can have profound effects on your training.

As with all exercise and nutritional programs, always consult your physician before starting or changing your regimen.

Sources

A., D., & A. (2015, December). Nutrition and Athletic Performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 543-568.

Buford, T. W., Kreider, R. B., Stout, J. R., Greenwood, M., Campbell, B., Spano, M., . . . Antonio, J. (2007, August 30). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 4(1), 6. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-4-6
Dunford, M., & Doyle, J. A. (2008). Nutrition for Sport and Exercise (Second ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Jenkins, J. A., MD. (n.d.). Creatine Supplementation in Athletes: Review. Retrieved from http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/creatine.html
Kendall, K., PhD, & Hyde, P., BS. (2015). Beta-Alanine Supplementation and Exercise Performance. Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition: Pulse, 34(1), winter 2015, 1-5.
Loon, L. J., Oosterlaar, A. M., Hartgens, F., Hesselink, M. K., Snow, R. J., & Wagenmakers, A. J. (2003). Effects of creatine loading and prolonged creatine supplementation on body composition, fuel selection, sprint and endurance performance in humans. Clinical Science, 104(2), 153. doi:10.1042/cs20020159
Physiological and Health Effects of Oral Creatine Supplementation. (2000). Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 32(3), 706-717. doi:10.1097/00005768-200003000-00024

Premium Fuel I What is it?

11 Jan 2024

Premium Fuel - Fueling with Fructose

Infinit Nutrition Australia introduces Premium Fuel: The perfect custom blended liquid nutrition designed for athletes wanting to 'UP' their carb game.

What makes Premium Fuel stand out is its unique 2:1 blend of Maltodextrin to Fructose, allowing the body to absorb more carbohydrates during those extended training sessions. While typical sports nutrition products allow for an absorbtion rate of 60 grams per hour, Infinit's Premium Fuel increases your carb intake to 90 grams per hour - promoting improved athletic performance and facilitating optimal fluid delivery.

What is Fructose?

Fructose, often associated with high fructose corn syrup in processed foods, is the natural sugar food in fruit. Over the years it's gaining recognition in endurance nutrition for its potential to enhance athletic performance, power output and recovery.

So, lets break it down. What exactly is fructose?

Fructose is a naturally occuring simple carbohydrate. Like glucose, fructose is a monosaccharide - one of the most basic and simplest form of carbohydrates there is. However it is important to note that although glucose and fructose are both simple sugars they differ in a few ways.

Glucose Vs. Fructose

1. Fructose is naturally found in fruits, vegetables, and honey. Where as glucose is found more commonly in starchy carbs like rice, bread, oats and pasta.

In Sports Nutrition, fructose is usually found in the crystalline (granulated) form. Whereas, glucose is often found in the form of dextrose (powdered glucose) or maltodextrin (the long chain form of glucose structures).

2. Sweetness

Fructose as you have probably heard us say if you have had a call with us is FAR sweeter than glucose.

Pure fructose can be up to 2x sweeter than high fructose corn syrup and about 1.5x sweeter than cane sugar. This is often why you see fructose used in products marketed as low sugar as it creates a way higher level of sweetness.

3. Impact on blood sugar

Consuming glucose has a larger effect on blood glucose than fructose does.

Your glyceamic index (GI) is a measure of how carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels. To give you an idea of how this works, glucose has a high GI (100) because it is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, causing levels to increase quickly. High fructose corn syrup has a medium GI (65), similar to table sugar. Whereas Fructose has a low GI (19), meaning it does not cause rapid spikes or drops in blood sugar levels.

4. Absroption and Metabolism

The biggest key difference between glucose and fructose is how they are processed in the body. This difference in metabolism contributes to fructose's effectiveness as a fuel source, especially for athletes.

The absorption process in the gut further highlights the advantages of fructose. Glucose and fructose are absorbed using seperate transporters, fructose having its own (GLUT5). This unique pathway allows fructose to be absorbed and converted into energy even when the system is completely saturated with glucose-based carbs, providing a significant boost in fuel intake.

What does this mean for you and your Performance?

Research shows that consuming both carbohydrate sources (Glucose and Fructose) can help athletes take in more fuel, and in turn produce more energy to enhance their performance. Hence why with INFINIT we can get you up to 90g PER HOUR.

Since glucose is absorbed using one type of transporter in the gut (SGLT1), the system can become overused and thus oversaturated limiting the amount of energy that can be generated. Fructose, with its independant transporter, becomes a game changer in maximising fuel absorbtion and utilisation for optimal athletic performance.