Strong tendons and ligaments for athletes

White Tissue, Part 1:
TENDOFORTE^®

Until now, sports nutrition has focused on muscles. Now a rethink is taking place and the focus is shifting to white connective tissue – with good reason: Tremendous physical strength comes from strong joints, tendons, ligaments and fascia. And injuries to this tissue are responsible for 70 percent of downtime in sports.

A complex network of connective tissue connects and protects the human body’s entire musculoskeletal system. This white tissue, as the tissue is also called, also consists of collagen. Collagen supplements are an important support for athletes in particular because too much physical strain can cause collagen to be broken down faster than the body can synthesize it, causing injury to white tissue. It is therefore not surprising that injuries to this connective tissue are extremely common in amateur and professional sports. Achilles tendinopathy, ankle sprains, patella tendon injuries or tears of the anterior cruciate ligament are then the diagnoses. Because more and more people want to be active, there is a growing interest in nutritional strategies to strengthen white tissue.

TENDOFORTE^® is in high demand

GELITA’s bioactive collagen peptides (BCP^®) can help athletes maintain or improve their performance. TENDOFORTE^® is very popular because most injuries result from the overuse of tendons and ligaments. The specific TENDOFORTE^® peptides stimulate the connective tissue cells in tendons and ligaments to produce new collagen matrix proteins. This allows athletes to train at high intensity while minimizing activity-related wear and tear on white tissue.

Two studies prove the effectiveness of the collagen peptide. In a placebo-controlled cross- over study conducted by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), the benefit of TENDOFORTE^® was investigated over a period of six months. The runners who participated suffered from chronic inflammation of the Achilles tendon and were unable to train. None of them had responded to traditional treatment. Half of the participants took five grams of TENDOFORTE^® daily, the other half took a placebo. All completed a special exercise program. A total of 12 out of 20 participating athletes were able to start running again after taking 5 grams of TENDOFORTE^® daily for just three months.

Scientifically proven effect

second study conducted by the Institute for Sport and Sport Science at the University of Freiburg, Germany, shows that TENDOFORTE^® can do even more: Six months of TENDOFORTE^® supplements resulted in significant improvement in ankle stability and reduced ankle sprains. Even in the three months following the study, there was still a positive effect, as there were fewer re-injuries.

The good news for producers: GELITA’s bioactive collagen peptides can be formulated into a variety of applications – beverages, shakes, powders or protein bars. They are natural, easily digestible foods that are free of allergens and do not contain any E-numbers (clean label). And this is important too: They do not affect how the end product tastes or feels in the mouth.

By the way, TENDOFORTE^® is not the only champion in GELITA’s portfolio for strengthening white tissue. In the next uptodate we will show how BODYBALANCE^® can optimize body composition and help you to cut a fine figure.