Glanbia bulks up consumer presence with $144m sports supplements acquisition

Glanbia has kicked off 2011 by making its second major US sports supplements acquisition in three years – with the $144m debt-free acquisition of leading pre-workout powder specialist, Bio-Engineered Supplements and Nutrition.

Glanbia’s new sports supplements buy is a pre-workout powder specialist
Glanbia corporate communications director Geraldine Kearney told NutraIngredients-USA.com the acquisition was “similar but complementary” to the Irish dairy giant’s 2008 acquisition of whey powder supplement specialist, Optimum Nutrition for $315m.

“Optimum was our first consumer supplements brand acquisition and it broke the mould, so we have the experience and now we have welcomed another consumer brand into the family,” Kearney said, adding there were no plans to merge the two businesses.

Glanbia global presence had assisted Optimum Nutrition develop its own international markets, but the company has been left to run with a great amount of independence and a similar strategy was in place for BSN, she affirmed.

She said the investment closely matched the $150m that had been set aside for an acquisition, with no further investment likely in the short to medium term, and no supplement targets in mind in Europe or other regions.

“We are focused now on integrating this purchase and assisting BSN to bolster its US and international presence,” she said.

Glanbia Nutritionals grows

Florida-based BSN joins Optimum Nutrition in the performance division of Glanbia Nutritionals that also includes a customized pre-mixes branch and a business-to-business ingredient technology arm.

Glanbia shares rose 5.09% to £3.49 on the London Stock Exchange on the back of the announcement that was coupled with an improved financial forecast that included a 20 per cent increase in expected share earnings.

In its acquisition presentation Glanbia emphasized the high-margin nature of BSN’s business that includes N.O-xplode and Syntha-6 brands that turned a $16.3m adjusted EBITDA profit on $135.4m revenue in 2009. This figure equates to 21 per cent of Glanbia Nutritionals’ global $661m revenue.

The $144m purchase price represents an EBITDA multiple of 8.3.

John Moloney, managing director of Glanbia Group, said: “BSN is an excellent strategic fit with our performance nutrition business and adds strong brand and market positions that complement and extend our portfolio. Since the acquisition of Optimum Nutrition we have established a market leading, scale position in the attractive, high growth, global sports nutrition sector.”

The US sports supplements market is valued at $2.9bn, according to Nutrition Business Journal, of which $2.46bn is comprised of powder products like the whey powders offered by BSN.

Glanbia put the global sports nutrition market at $4.5bn and growing at more than six percent annually.

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L-Citrulline-malate influence over branched chain amino acid utilization during exercise
Antoni Sureda   Eur J Appl Physiol (2010) 110:341–351

Exhaustive exercise induces disturbances in metabolic homeostasis which can result in amino acid catabolism and limited L-arginine availability. Oral L-citrulline supplementation raises plasma L-arginine concentration and augments NO-dependent signalling. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of diet supplementation with L-citrulline-malate prior to intense exercise on the metabolic handle of plasma amino acids and on the products of metabolism of arginine as creatinine, urea and nitrite and the possible effects on the hormonal levels. Seventeen voluntary male pre-professional cyclists were randomly assigned to one of two groups: control or supplemented (6 g L-citrulline-malate 2 h prior exercise) and participated in a 137-km cycling stage. Blood samples were taken in basal conditions, 15 min after the race and 3 h post race (recovery). Most essential amino acids significantly decreased their plasma concentration as a result of exercise; however, most non-essential amino acids tended to significantly increase their concentration. Citrulline-malate ingestion significantly increased the plasma concentration of citrulline, arginine, ornithine, urea, creatinine and nitrite (p\0.05) and significantly decreased the isoleucine concentration from basal measures to after exercise (p\0.05). Insulin levels significantly increased after exercise in both groups (p\0.05) returning to basal values at recovery. Growth hormone increased after exercise in both groups, although the increase was higher in the citrulline-malate supplemented group (p\0.05). L-citrulline-malate supplementation can enhance the use of amino acids, especially the branched chain amino acids during exercise and also enhance the production of arginine-derived metabolites such as nitrite, creatinine, ornithine and urea.

Introduction :

Arginine displays remarkable metabolic and regulatory versatility as an essential precursor for the synthesis of proteins and other molecules with enormous biological importance (including nitric oxide, urea, ornithine, polyamines, glutamate and creatine) (Wu et al. 2009). Citrulline is a very effective precursor of arginine and consequently it may hold great promise as a nutritional pharmacotherapeutic treatment for a wide array of human diseases (Flynn et al. 2002). It has been clearly demonstrated that L-arginine administration improves endothelial function in various disease states (Creager et al. 1992). In addition, L-arginine infusion at rest induces hormonal changes with increases in plasma insulin, growth hormone, glucagon, catecholamines and prolactin (McConell 2007). However, there has been little examination of the effect of enhanced L-arginine availability during exercise or the effects of exercise on the availability of arginine and citrulline (Aguilo´ et al. 2000). It is important to study whether L-arginine infusion directly or via its precursor citrulline, probably increasing nitric oxide (NO), alters skeletalmuscle metabolism during exercise. Arginine coming from food is mostly withdrawn from the portal blood by the liver; however, the liver is unable to uptake citrulline from portal circulation, which makes it available for the whole body. There is a need for further research, especially to understand the mechanisms of how L-citrulline affects exercise metabolism and also to determine whether the hormonal responses that occur in response to L-arginine at rest are also present to some extent in response to the L-arginine precursor citrulline during exercise. Nitric oxide (NO) is synthesized from L-arginine by NO synthases in virtually all cell types (Jobgen et al. 2006). NO is a gaseous molecule, highly reactive free radical with multiple and complex roles within many biological systems.

Emerging evidence reported that NO at physiological levels regulates the metabolism of glucose, fatty acids and amino acids in mammals (Liaudet et al. 2000). However, at high levels NO acts as an oxidant, inhibiting most enzymecatalysed reactions through protein oxidation. An inhibition of NO synthesis is evidenced to cause hyperlipidemia and fat accretion in rats (Jobgen et al. 2006). Plasma arginine levels are a limiting factor for NO synthesis in endothelial cells (Nussler et al. 1994). Upon stimulation, over 80% of L-citrulline is recycled to arginine in endothelial cells to produce NO (Solomonson et al. 2003). L-citrulline supplementation increases plasma L-arginine concentration to a higher level than that achieved by oral L-arginine supplementation (Hickner et al. 2006). Hence, diet supplementation with L-citrulline could avoid the limitations of L-arginine availability for lymphocytes during exhaustive exercise. In fact, the dietary supplementation with watermelon juice (rich in citrulline) enhances arginine availability and ameliorates the metabolic syndrome in Zucker diabetic fatty rats (Wu et al. 2007).

The aim of this study was to describe the influence of acute administration of L-citrulline on its metabolism during exercise, following the changes in the plasma levels of arginine and in some final metabolites produced, i.e. nitrite, ornithine, creatinine and urea. The purpose of the present study also was to describe the effects citrulline supplementation on the changes induced by intense exercise on plasma amino acids and the possible effects on the hormonal levels. This study may have important therapeutic implications for citrulline as there are indications that L-arginine augments the effects of exercise training on insulin sensitivity and capillary growth in muscles (McConell 2007).

Conclusion :

Citrulline supplementation raises plasma L-arginine concentration and augments arginine-derived metabolites such as nitrite, creatinine, ornithine and urea and hormones such as GH. Citrulline supplementation could also increase whole body nitrogen availability to allow higher protein synthesis and to increase the protein content in muscle during exercise, enhancing the use of amino acids, especially the branched chain amino acids.

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Half of American adults continue to take supplements

Use of dietary supplements in the US has risen slightly, with about 50 percent of Americans reporting supplement use, according to a survey of 20,000 people.

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements also report for the first time the use of botanical supplements amongst a sample of the US population, with about 20 percent of adults using a dietary supplement with at least one botanical ingredient.

Results of the survey are published in the Journal of Nutrition, and used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2003 to 2006.

More women/girls than men/boys were supplement users, with 44 percent of males listed as users, compared with 53 percent of females. Furthermore, multivitamin-multimineral supplements were the most popular, with 33 percent amongst users.

“Without consideration of nutrient intakes from dietary supplements, there is a potential to misclassify the prevalence of nutrient inadequacy and excess,” wrote the researchers, led by . “These data suggest a high prevalence of dietary supplement use in the U.S. population.”

No surprises

Cara Welch, PhD, scientific & regulatory affairs manager from the Natural Products Association (NPA) welcomed the survey’s findings, saying that the results are “what we all expected, and they support what we have been saying, which is that supplement use continues to go up”.

Andrew Shao, PhD, senior VP, scientific and regulatory affairs, at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), echoed these comments, adding: “This survey is consistent with other surveys showing a slight increase in supplement use and appears to be on track with the CRN Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements.”

The main results of the survey include:

49 percent of the US population use dietary supplements
33 percent of users took a multivitamin-multimineral supplement
28-30 percent of users reported taking a supplement that contained the vitamins A, B-6, B-12, C, and E
26-27 percent of users reported taking a supplement that contained zinc and magnesium
18-19 percent of users reported taking a supplement that contained chromium, iron, and selenium
20 percent of adults use a supplement containing at least one botanical ingredient.

The researchers noted that classifications and definition of the various categories of dietary supplements is “inconsistent”. “Current efforts at the federal level to initiate a LanguaL classification system for dietary supplements are being investigated. LanguaL is an automated method for describing dietary supplements; this type of system would harmonize reporting of dietary supplements and allow for cross study comparison on dietary supplement use,” they added.

Source: Journal of Nutrition “Dietary Supplement Use in the United States, 2003–2006”
Authors: R.L. Bailey, J.J. Gahche, C.V. Lentino, J.T. Dwyer, J.S. Engel, P.R. Thomas, J.M. Betz, C.T. Sempos, M.F. Picciano

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Metabolic Alkalosis, Recovery and Sprint Performance
Int J Sports Med 2010; 31(11): 797-802   J. C. Siegler, L. R. McNaughton

Pre-exercise alkalosis and an active recovery improve the physiological state of recovery through slightly different mechanisms (e. g. directly increasing extracellular bicarbonate (HCO3-) vs. increasing blood flow), and combining the two conditions may provide even greater influence on blood acid-base recovery from high-intensity exercise. Nine subjects completed four trials (Placebo Active (PLAC A), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) Active (BICARB A), Placebo Passive (PLAC P) and NaHCO3 Passive (BICARB P)), each consisting of three, 30-s maximal efforts with a three min recovery between each effort. Pre-exercise alkalosis was evident in both NaHCO3 conditions, as pH and HCO3- were significantly higher than both Placebo conditions (pH: 7.46±0.04 vs. 7.39±0.02; HCO3-: 28.8±1.9 vs. 23.2±1.4 mmol·L-1; p<0.001). In terms of performance, significant interactions were observed for average speed (p<0.05), with higher speeds evident in the BICARB A condition (3.9±0.3 vs. 3.7±0.4 m·s-1). Total distance covered was different (p=0.05), with post hoc differences evident between the BICARB A and PLAC P conditions (368±33 vs. 364±35 m). These data suggest that successive 30-s high intensity performance may be improved when coupled with NaHCO3 supplementation.

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Effects of multivitamin and mineral supplementation on adiposity, energy expenditure and lipid profiles in obese Chinese women
Y Li International Journal of Obesity (2010) 34, 1070–1077

Background:

Obese individuals are more likely to have either lower blood concentrations or lower bioavailability of minerals and/or vitamins. However, there are limited data on the effects of nutritional supplementation on body weight (BW) control, energy homeostasis and lipid metabolism in obese subjects.

Objective:

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of supplementation with multivitamin and multimineral on adiposity, energy expenditure and lipid profiles in obese Chinese women.

Design:

A total of 96 obese Chinese women (body mass index (BMI) 28 kg m−2) aged 18–55 years participated in a 26-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention study. Subjects were randomized into three groups, receiving either one tablet of multivitamin and mineral supplement (MMS), or calcium 162 mg (Calcium) or identical placebo daily during the study period. BW, BMI, waist circumference (WC), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass, resting energy expenditure (REE), respiratory quotient (RQ), blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and serum insulin, total cholesterol (TC), low- and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C and HDL-C) and triglycerides (TGs) were measured at baseline and 26 weeks.

Results:

A total of 87 subjects completed the study. After 26 weeks, compared with the placebo group, the MMS group had significantly lower BW, BMI, FM, TC and LDL-C, significantly higher REE and HDL-C, as well as a borderline significant trend of lower RQ (P=0.053) and WC (P=0.071). The calcium group also had significantly higher HDL-C and lower LDL-C levels compared with the placebo group.

Conclusion:

The results suggest that, in obese individuals, multivitamin and mineral supplementation could reduce BW and fatness and improve serum lipid profiles, possibly through increased energy expenditure and fat oxidation. Supplementation of calcium alone (162 mg per day) only improved lipid profiles.

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The effect of L-ornithine hydrochloride ingestion on performance during incremental exhaustive ergometer bicycle exercise and ammonia metabolism during and after exercise
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2010) 64, 1166–1171 S Demura

Objectives:

L-ornithine has an important role in ammonia metabolism via the urea cycle. This study aimed to examine the effect of L-ornithine hydrochloride ingestion on performance during incremental exhaustive ergometer bicycle exercise and ammonia metabolism during and after exercise.

Subjects/Methods:

In all, 14 healthy young adults (age: 22.2±1.0 years, height: 173.5±4.6 cm, body mass: 72.5±12.5 kg) who trained regularly conducted incremental exhaustive ergometer bicycle exercises after -ornithine hydrochloride supplementation (0.1 g/kg, body mass) and placebo conditions with a cross-over design. The exercise time (sec) of the incremental ergometer exercise, exercise intensity at exhaustion (watt), maximal oxygen uptake (ml per kg per min), maximal heart rate (beats per min) and the following serum parameters were measured before ingestion, 1 h after ingestion, just after exhaustion and 15 min after exhaustion: ornithine, ammonia, urea, lactic acid and glutamate. All indices on maximal aerobic capacity showed insignificant differences between both the conditions.

Results:

Plasma ammonia concentrations just after exhaustion and at 15 min after exhaustion were significantly more with ornithine ingestion than with placebo. Plasma glutamate concentrations were significantly higher after exhaustion with ornithine ingestion than with placebo.

Conclusions:

It was suggested that, although the ingestion of L-ornithine hydrochloride before the exercise cannot be expected to improve performance, it does increase the ability to buffer ammonia, both during and after exercise.

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Dairy calcium intake, serum vitamin D, and successful weight loss
Danit R Shahar.  Am J Clin Nutr November 2010 vol. 92 no. 5 1017-1022

Background:

The role of dairy calcium intake and serum vitamin D concentrations in weight loss is controversial.

Objective:

The objective was to assess the association of dairy calcium intake and serum vitamin D with weight loss.

Design:

We analyzed data from participants in the 2-y Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial (DIRECT) [n = 322; mean body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2): 31; mean age: 52 y]. A representative sample (n = 126) was followed for 6 mo for serum vitamin D changes.

Results:

Baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations decreased significantly across the tertiles of baseline BMI (25.6 ± 8.0, 24.1 ± 8.9, and 22.9 ± 6.8 ng/mL, respectively; P for trend = 0.02). Baseline concentrations of vitamin D and dairy calcium intake were not associated with subsequent weight loss. However, in repeated-measures models adjusted for age, sex, baseline BMI, total fat intake, and diet group assignment, higher 6-mo tertile levels of dairy calcium intake (median for tertiles: 156.5, 358.0, and 582.9 mg/d, respectively) and serum 25(OH)D (14.5, 21.2, and 30.2 ng/mL, respectively) were associated with increased weight loss across the 2-y intervention (−3.3, −3.5, and −5.3 kg, respectively, for dairy calcium; P = 0.043; −3.1, −3.8, and −5.6 kg, respectively, for vitamin D; P = 0.013). In a multivariate logistic regression adjusted simultaneously for age, sex, baseline BMI, total fat intake, diet group, vitamin D concentration, and dairy calcium, an increase of 1 SD in dairy calcium intake increased the likelihood of weight loss of >4.5 kg in the preceding 6 mo [odds ratio (OR): 1.45; P = 0.046]. A similar increase was seen for serum 25(OH)D at the 6-mo point (OR: 1.7; P = 0.009).

Conclusion:

Our study suggests that both higher dairy calcium intake and increased serum vitamin D are related to greater diet-induced weight loss.

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