Friday, 9 March 2012

Silk Amino Acids, what is all the hype about ?



The researchers, working for Chungbuk National University and Worldway manufacturer, gave male mice a daily preparation containing hydrolyzed silk proteins. The preparation, produced by Worldway[www.worldway.co.kr], consisted of 34 percent alanine, 27 percent glycine, 10 percent serine, 3 percent valine and 2 percent threonine. Most hydrolyzed silk peptides consist of a chain of 18-19 amino acids, so this is probably true of the preparation that the researchers tested. The mice were given doses of 50, 160 or 500 mg/kg silk proteins dissolved in water.

Half an hour after administration, the animals were made to swim for 30 minutes. A control group was given only water, but also made to swim.
On days 14, 18, 28 and 42 a weight was attached to the mice’s tail and they had to swim to the point of exhaustion. The mice that had been given Silk Amino Acids held out for considerably longer than the mice in the control group.



After 44 days the Koreans measured the concentrations of cortisone [the inactive analogue of cortisol] and testosterone in the mice’s blood, after a 30-minute swimming session. The swimming reduced the testosterone in the control group mice, but in the mice that had had Silk Amino Acids it had risen. The effect was particularly noticeable at low doses.
After 44 days the Koreans measured the concentrations of cortisone [the inactive analogue of cortisol] and testosterone in the mice’s blood, after a 30-minute swimming session. The swimming reduced the testosterone level in the control group mice, but in the mice that had had Silk Amino Acids it had risen. The effect was particularly noticeable at low doses.



When the Koreans examined the body composition of the mice after 44 days, they noticed that the Silk Amino Acids had increased the muscle mass.



As far as we can tell from the study, the mechanism behind the performance-enhancing effect is two-pronged. To start with, Silk Amino Acids protect the muscles against damage from radicals that arise from physical exertion. The researchers measured the amount of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARS] in the calf muscle. TBARS arise when radicals attack the fatty acids in membranes. The table below shows mg TBARS/gram tissue after 44 days.



Another mechanism is that the Silk Amino Acids boost the production of glycogen in the liver and the muscles.



The researchers used daily doses of 50, 160 and 500 mg/kg. For an athlete weighing 85 kg that amounts to 4.3, 13.6 or 42.5 g Silk Amino Acids per day. Fortunately rodents’ metabolism is about ten times higher than that of humans, so you can comfortably divide the dosages by 10.

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