Wellmune WGP Improves Runners' Immune Health

SAN FRANCISCOA study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine 59th annual meeting showed marathoners taking a gluco polysaccharide nutraceutical (as Wellmune WGP®, from Biothera) for four weeks experienced a significant reduction in upper respiratory tract infection (URI) symptoms.

The double-blinded study involved 182 runners (96 men and 86 women with an average age of 34)who completed the 2011 LiveStrong Marathon in Austin, Texas with an average finish time of four hours.  Participants were given either 250 mg/day of Wellmune soluble, Wellmune dispersible or a rice flour placebo to take for four weeks following the marathon.

Subjects taking Wellmune soluble experienced a 45-percent reduction in the number of days that they reported both general health problems and URI symptoms, while subjects taking Wellmune dispersible reported 34-percent fewer days of symptoms, compared to placebo. Overall, the average reduction of symptoms between the two Wellmune groups was 40 percent.

The study confirms previous clinical research showing that Wellmune WGPs support of the immune system has real health benefits for individuals under physical stress, said Rich Mueller, CEO of Biothera.  This applies to both elite athletes as well as recreational athletes.

Researchers targeted marathon runners because endurance runners commonly suffer URIs following competitions, and prior physical stress studies demonstrated Wellmune WGP supplementation was connected to improvements in certain biomarkers and improved health. Specifically, University Houston studies linked health improvements in participants taking Wellmune to changes in monocytes, plasma cytokines and improved mucosal immunity.

Wellmune is the first ingredient weve tested that showed measurable improvements in key immune system biomarkers, said study leader Brian McFarlin, Ph.D., FACSM, associate professor of exercise physiology, nutrition, and immunology in the department of health and human performance at the University of Houston.