When it comes to optimising exercise performance or dialing in the best recovery plan, something that is often overlooked is the type of protein powder we use to achieve this.
Using the correct protein powder matters, especially one that contains highly digestible protein, such as our Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder.
Sourced from the best organic and pesticide-free germinated brown rice, our Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder is one of the most nutritionally dense vegan protein powders on the market – Find out why here.
In this article, we’re going to discuss how sprouted brown rice can be used as a nutritional powerhouse to enhance your exercise performance, improve endurance and allow you to actually recover faster.
Optimise Exercise Performance
It’s common knowledge that one of the most important things we need to support our exercise and fitness goals is protein powder.
Of course, you could purchase any ol’ cheap whey protein powder with questionable synthetic flavourings and it might do the trick for a while (assuming you don’t have a whey protein allergy).
Why take this risk though? When you can optimise your exercise performance from the get-go by supplementing with Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder.
When brown rice is germinated (also known as sprouted), the protein digestibility and bioavailability of nutrients is amplified, allowing for more complete absorption and utilisation of nutrients (Gupta et al., 2013).
Minerals such as Iron, Zinc, and Magnesium are extremely bioavailable in Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder, and are essential for optimising muscle function and maximising our recovery (which we’ll uncover later!).
Sprouted brown rice may even have one of the highest vegan essential amino acid indexes (Sibian et al., 2017), allowing for better muscle growth, performance, and overall body function so that we can perform optimally.
That all being said, exercise performance can never be fully optimised if your protein intake isn’t sufficient – make sure you read our how to guide to protein supplementation to make sure you’re consuming enough protein!
Improve Your Endurance
When you think of long-distance endurance running, what’s one thing that comes to mind? Carbohydrates? Energy gels? Ketones?
These are all good answers, but there’s something even more important, and that’s essential amino acids.
Protein is made up of essential amino acids, and these are primary building blocks for our nervous system and without them during a long endurance event, we can experience central nervous system fatigue (Foley & Fleshner, 2008).
We need our central nervous system to move, communicate and remain focused mentally, and when this system is fatigued, we can experience a sharp drop in energy, brain fog and “hit a wall” when we’re going the distance.
This is usually due to a drop in dopamine and acetylcholine, two very important neurotransmitters required for prolonged focus and motor function (which are two pretty important areas if we’re looking to maintain endurance) ).
Like we highlighted earlier, Sprouted Brown Rice Powder has an extremely high vegan essential amino acid index, and is highly digestible, making it a great option to go the distance for longer.
What’s even better, Sprouted Brown Rice Powder works perfectly in baking, like these 3 delicious, nourishing high protein recipes.
Recover Faster
We all want to recover faster so we can get back into the gym and move closer to our fitness milestones, and selecting the right protein powder can help us achieve this.
We’ve touched on the high digestibility of Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder, and this alone can be enough to accelerate our recovery.
Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder is also extremely high in minerals; three that we mentioned earlier being Iron, Zinc and Magnesium (which we actually deplete when we exercise!)
Iron is critical for delivering oxygen-rich blood to our muscles, which is important for not only muscle recovery but performance too (Neidlein et al., 2020).
Magnesium is essential for muscle function, and may actually reduce muscle soreness and improve the rate of recovery post-exercise (Reno et al., 2020).
Lastly, we have Zinc, which assists in tissue repair, healthy nervous system function and is needed to support immune health (Plum et al., 2010).
One final note, Sprouted brown rice protein contains high levels of y-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA), and increasing our levels of GABA improves our ability to relax, rest and recover (Patil & Khan, 2011).
The Takeaway
When it comes to optimising exercise performance, endurance, and recovery, the correct protein powder matters.
With a high protein digestibility, mineral bioavailability, and the correct ratio of essential amino acids, Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder can take your fitness and training goals to the next level.
Better yet, it’s suitable for Vegans, Vegetarians, Flexitarians, or people looking for a great dairy-free alternative.
Our Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder is also sourced from germinated brown rice that’s 100% free from fertilisers and pesticides, ensuring the highest level of nutrients.
If you’re not a fan of brown rice, Designer Physique also offers great alternatives that we also recommend for exercise performance, including our Pea Protein Isolate or Organic Hemp Protein Powder or even our Hemp & Pea Protein Plant Blend.
If you have any success stories with Sprouted Brown Rice Protein, leave it in the comments, otherwise, check out our Testimonials page!
References
- Foley, T. E., & Fleshner, M. (2008). Neuroplasticity of dopamine circuits after exercise: Implications for central fatigue. NeuroMolecular Medicine, 10(2), 67-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12017-008-8032-3
- Gupta, R. K., Gangoliya, S. S., & Singh, N. K. (2013). Reduction of phytic acid and enhancement of bioavailable micronutrients in food grains. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 52(2), 676-684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-013-0978-y
- Neidlein, S., Wirth, R., & Pourhassan, M. (2020). Iron deficiency, fatigue and muscle strength and function in older hospitalized patients. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 75(3), 456-463. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-00742-z
- Patil, S. B., & Khan, M. K. (2011). Germinated brown rice as a value added rice product: A review. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 48(6), 661-667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-011-0232-4
- Plum, L. M., Rink, L., & Haase, H. (2010). The essential toxin: Impact of zinc on human health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 7(4), 1342-1365. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7041342
- Reno, A. M., Green, M., Killen, L. G., O’Neal, E. K., Pritchett, K., & Hanson, Z. (2020). Effects of magnesium supplementation on muscle soreness and performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Publish Ahead of Print. https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000003827
- Sibian, M. S., Saxena, D. C., & Riar, C. S. (2017). Effect of germination on chemical, functional and nutritional characteristics of wheat, brown rice and triticale: A comparative study. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 97(13), 4643-4651. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.8336