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Octocosanol Again Shows Promise for Exercise Performance

By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, November 20, 2011, abstracted from “Octacosanol Supplementation Increases Running Endurance Time and Improves Biochemical Parameters after Exhaustion in Trained Rats” in the Journal of Medicinal Food

Octocosanol is the main component of a natural wax product in fruits and leaves and on the surface of plants and whole seeds. It has shown potential for helping maintain healthy cholesterol levels (1) and possibly improving exercise performance (2). Now a study in rats (3) adds more credibility to octosanol’s ability to possibly improve exercise performance.

In the study, 24 rats were put into one of following three groups (8 per group) for 4 weeks. Researchers were blinded* to avoid bias.

Group 1: No exercise and no octocosanol supplementation

Group 2: Exercise with no octocosanol supplementation

Group 3: Exercise with octocosanol supplementation (0.75% of total weight of food eaten – an amount used in previous research (4, 5).

The rats consumed this diet for five days before undergoing an exercise trial where the rats did treadmill running as follows:

Week	Intensity (meters/min)	Duration (min)	Total Running Distance (meters/week)
1	15	20	1,500
2	20	30	3,000
3	25	40	5,000
4	25	60	7,500

At the end of 4 weeks, the rats underwent an exercise test that started with a speed of 12 meters per minute and increased by 3 meters per minute every 3 minutes until reaching 30 meters per minute. The rats ran until they could no longer maintain the pace of the treadmill and were removed once they could not keep pace with the treadmill for up to 10 seconds. The researchers then measured blood sugar as well as blood levels of a protein called Citrate Synthase which has been shown to help increase respiratory capacity (6).

The rats in the octocosanol group showed significant improvement in the exercise test run to exhaustion compared to the other two groups. Specifically, the rats in the octocosanol group ran for 140 minutes before being taken off the treadmill compared to 95 minutes in the exercise-with-no-octocosanol group and 30 minutes in the no exercise-no octocosanol group.

When looking at blood sugar levels, the exercise-octocosanol group had 8% lower blood sugar levels than the no octocosanol-exercise group (141 vs. 154 mg/dL) and 36% lower levels than the no-exercise group (141 vs. 221 mg/dL) as well as having 15% higher citrate synthase levels than the no exercise-octocosanol group (62.6 vs. 54.1 nmol per mg of soleus** muscle per minute) and 33% higher levels than the no-exercise group (62.6 vs. 46.9 nmol per mg of soleus muscle per minute).

They concluded that “octacosanol exerts its ergogenic activity…[by] involving increased activity of Citrate Synthase and enhanced [blood sugar usage for energy] in trained muscle.”

*Blinded means that the researchers did not know which rats received the supplement and which rats did not.

**Soleus is a broad, flat muscle in the calf of the leg.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

Reference:

1. Menendez R, Arruzazabala L, Mas R, et al.: Cholesterol-lowering effect of policosanol on rabbits with hypercholesterolaemia induced by a wheat starch-casein diet. Br J Nutr 1997;77:923–932

2. Cureton TK: Forty-two physiological training program utilizing 894 humans. In: The Physiological Effects of Wheat Germ Oil on Humans. In Exercise, Charles C Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1972,pp. 525–715.

3. Kim H. Octacosanol Supplementation Increases Running Endurance Time and Improves Biochemical Parameters After Exhaustion in Trained Rats. Jou Med Food 2011 2003; 6(4): 345-351

4. Herrera MN, Magraner J, Mas R: Effect of policosanol on isoprenaline- induced myocardial necrosis in rats. J Pharm Pharmacol 1994;46:282–285.

5. Kato S, Karino K, Hasegawa S, et al.: Octacosanol affects lipid metabolism in rats fed on a high-fat diet. Br J Nutr 1995;73: 433–441.

6. Siu PM, Donley DA, Bryner RW, Always SE: Citrate synthase expression and enzyme activity after endurance training in cardiac and skeletal muscles. J Appl Physiol 2003;94:555–560.