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Sports and Enzyme Therapy by Dr. Mohamane Mamadou
Sports are characterized by increased physiological and biochemical demands on the
human body. Depending on the nature of the sport activity; some physio-anatomical systems are more
affected than others. In general, any sport will impact the musculoskeletal system. However, some
types of sports will impact the muscles most, whereas other forms of sports will have larger impact
on the tendons and ligaments. In addition to the biomechanics and physiology of the musculoskeletal
system, sports activities affect other systems, such digestion, immune system, endocrinology, and
respiration. The degree of impact on the overall system will depend on the level of training, physical
condition, nutrition, and oxidative stress damage.
Sports, in general, can induce injury or inflammation. For instance, jogging or bicycling will
over-stretch and/or tear muscles. Boxing will cause edema, hematoma, and fractures. Whether injury
is caused by accident or a particular sport, the physiological and biochemical processes taking place
in the body are the same. These processes are collectively referred to as inflammation.
In training and competition, the athlete needs to focus on:
- Increased vascularization and oxygen supply to muscle
- Alleviation and control of pain;
- Adequate supply to provide nutrients for energy and biosynthetic pathways; and
- Minimization of free radicals and/or optimum anti-oxidative reactions in the system.
Increased Blood flow: Oxygen, which is needed by the body to generate the ultimate energy currency, ATP,
must be carried to the tissues by the blood, in order to increase performance and reduce the onset of
lactic acid production. Lack of oxygen supply and accumulation of lactic acid to muscles lead to fatigue,
pain, and poor performance. As oxygen is inhaled, it needs to bind to the hemoglobin contained in the
red blood cells, and carried to the tissues. The red cells travel throughout the blood vessels to
deliver the oxygen and carry away the carbon dioxide resulting from tissue metabolic activities. Any
condition that impedes the flow of the blood, i.e., the free circulation of the red cells, will affect
the athletic performance. This is because of the inadequate supply of oxygen and the accumulation of
carbon dioxide and lactic acid that acidify the tissues.
The acidification of the tissues increases the sensation of pain, and triggers the onset of inflammatory
processes. Proteolytic enzymes, when taken on an empty stomach, are absorbed into the blood stream and
help to break down blood clots, free red cells from aggregation to each other, and improve blood theology
even in the small capillaries that supply the muscle tissues.
Bad diet, free radicals, and excess cholesterol, are some of the few conditions that favor the formation
of red aggregation, plaques, and thrombus within the blood vessels. Any of these conditions will block
the flow of the blood to and from tissues, thus reducing performance and promoting the onset of early
fatigue in the athlete.
Pain is the body's sensory reflex response to cause the individual to remove the stimulus of the pain.
It is a part of the athlete training goal: training helps increase the threshold of the stimulus at which
the muscles will fatigue and experience pain. In many sports, the competitive training causes some micro
traumas that result in various, albeit small, tissue injuries that irritate, cause edema, and sometimes
hematomas. Muscle soreness is often the result of edematous swelling exerting pressures on nerve endings,
and also formation of pain mediators such as histamine and bradykinin. These pain mediators are formed
as the edema blocks the circulation and promotes the acidification of the tissues. Additionally,
substance P is secreted and stimulates the ending nerves for pain.
Other biochemical consequences resulting from the inflammatory aspect of pain are T cell activation and
increased cytokine production. In fact, studies have shown that soon after training, the serum of some
athletes contains myoglobin. Myoglobin is the oxygen carrying protein in muscles. Its presence in the
serum indicates some muscle injury. This released myoglobin stimulates the activation of T cells. This
T cell activation, which is not physiologically normal under these conditions, initiates a series of
immune reactions that will impact the body.
Several studies have further shown that oral proteolytic enzymes along with potent antioxidants help
alleviate these problems. In fact, the micro-traumatic lesions of muscles during training that lead
to several of the physiological and biochemical pain processes mentioned above are suppressed when
enzyme therapy is used. More specifically, there is reduced myoglobin release that in turn halts the
unnecessary T cell activation and cytokine increases. Oral proteolytic enzymes are immunomodulatory
and regulate cytokine production.
Another area where proteolytic enzymes have shown great benefits include the reduction of edemas and
swellings. Blonstein (1969) reported that boxers, who have suffered injuries around the eyes that had
to be sutured, healed within 2 weeks when treated with enzymes. In contrast, the boxers in the study
who were not treated with enzymes required 4 weeks for healing. Furthermore, Rathberger (1971) reported
that following bruises in sports activities, the average time to recover when on enzyme therapy is about
8.5 days whereas the time was 17 days for the subjects who were treated with placebo.
It should be noted that the enzymes used are not as many other pain-killer drugs used in sport medicine
and other pain management programs. Rather, they reduce pain by reducing the swelling, and controlling
pain mediators. The use of enzyme therapy in enhancing performance, through improved circulation and
in managing pain is gaining wider acceptance as more scientific data is collected.
In physical activities, because of the high-energy output demand on the oxidative phosphorylation,
there will be formation of more free radicals. As a function of their diet, exposure to environmental
pollutants, age, poor lifestyle (smoking, alcohol, etc), athletes need to take more antioxidants in
their diets.
Physical activities such as in sports require an ample and adequate supply of good nutrients. As
activities increase, the rates of catabolism and anabolism increase. The body has to be supplied
with nutrients such as amino acids, carbohydrates, and fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. These
nutrients are essential for the body to rebuild itself and provide energy to the cells. However,
all these processes of making nutrients available to cells and using them appropriately depend
primarily on the digestive hydrolytic enzymes. It is important that proper diet and digestion be
part of the athlete regimen. Supplemental digestive enzymes help ensure the availability of the
nutrients in foods.
In summary, the athlete needs to:
- Maintain a good cardiovascular system and oxygen supply;
- Supply the body with adequate nutrients for energy and biosynthesis by proper digestion;
- Help the gastrointestinal flora with adequate microflora note an inadequate flora create toxins and high acid by-products that may impede performance and health; and
- Have an adequate supply of antioxidants to address the aqueous as well as lipid prone free radical damage areas.
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