Deep Dive into PeptiStrong™: An AI Discovered Ingredient for Muscle Health

Muscle Mastery

Our muscles give us the power to move and so much more. By relaxing, contracting, and producing force, our muscles facilitate movement while providing stability and support throughout the body. The benefit of maintaining healthy muscles during the course of our lives extends far beyond functional strength and can impact our metabolism, weight, longevity, posture, and overall quality of life [1]. However, building and maintaining muscle is biologically expensive and uses a significant amount of the body’s resources and nutrients.

Considering this, it makes sense that if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it, and through a process called deconditioning, muscle will lose its mass, strength, and endurance. This happens naturally as we age through reduced muscle protein synthesis, decreased physical activity, and an overall decline in tissue repair and regeneration. In addition to aging, which cannot be helped, deconditioning can be accelerated by a lack of resistance exercise coupled with a sedentary lifestyle. This is what happens to astronauts in space when the absence of gravitational stress means that muscles don’t need support or resist any weight. Many women experience high rates of muscle loss during menopause due to fluctuations in hormones like estrogen and IGF-1 [2]. Those with sports and gym injuries can also be affected as lengthy recovery periods and immobilization can lead to atrophy in the muscles.

The Power of Peptides

So how do we keep our muscles healthy and feel as strong as Popeye when the odds seem stacked against us? The four pillars of good health; Diet, Exercise, Lifestyle and Sleep, are an excellent place to start. Combined, these form a strong foundation for providing the body with the tools it needs to be healthy. However, we can elevate and transform our health even further using natural plant-based signaling molecules called peptides.

You’ve probably heard a lot about them in the last decade, but what exactly are peptides? They’re essentially cellular post-it notes. Peptides help the body communicate quickly to activate pathways, help transmit signals and regulate cellular processes spanning from growth, to metabolism, mood, appetite, and glucose management to name just a few [3]. Insulin, oxytocin, glucagon and ghrelin are just a few examples of peptide hormones serving as biological messengers. While some peptides exist endogenously, like those mentioned here, peptides can also be produced synthetically as drugs for the pharmaceutical industry. At Nuritas, we unlock these potent molecules from natural sources.

Peptides are made up of building blocks called amino acids that link together in short chains. They are the sub-units of proteins and are therefore contained in every living species. Since the early 1960’s, researchers have understood that peptides, once unlocked from their parent protein using enzymes or microbes, can have powerful effects in the body. A good example is lactoferricin, a peptide which can be released from lactoferrin. The parent protein is present in breast milk, which when digested by a feeding baby, releases the shorter, more potent peptide which has been long recognized for its role in immunity [4]. This is nature’s way of encoding just what we need when we need it. Maybe Popeye knew his spinach contained more than just plant protein.

Bioactive peptides exist all around us in the natural world, however, we have lacked the computational tools to wade through infinite biological space find them, until now. At Nuritas, we use cutting-edge AI driven technology and machine learning to dive deep into nature. By mining the trillions of sequences, we can identify novel bioactive peptides and create ingredients that can advance our health, beyond nutrition, to the next level. One such ingredient is called PeptiStrongTM.

What is PeptiStrong™?

PeptiStrongTM is a patented ingredient containing a network of bioactive peptides which are released via the enzymatic hydrolysis of fava bean protein. It is a non-GMO ingredient that has self-affirmed GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status. PeptiStrongTM is the first ingredient to have been proven from an AI prediction all the way through to pre-clinical and clinical studies and therefore brings true innovation to muscle health ingredients.

How does PeptiStrong™ Work?

PeptiStrongTM is a unique plant-based solution which takes a multi-faceted approach to optimizing muscle health through a network of peptides scientifically proven to stimulate protein synthesis and decrease protein breakdown. These peptides create a matrix effect, so that when combined, their bioactivity is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Given that muscle function, metabolism and energy balance are governed by a complimentary see-saw system consisting of anabolism (build up) and catabolism (break down), having an ingredient with activity on both metabolic processes, maximises the potential benefits.

The Science behind PeptiStrong™

While PeptiStrongTM was born in silico using artificial intelligence, it has undergone substantial lab testing to validate its activity. Prior to the human clinical studies, in-vitro work was done in animal muscle cells to confirm muscle protein synthesis and prevention of muscle atrophy [5,6]. The activity of PeptiStrong has been validated in in vitro, pre-clinical and clinical settings making it the first ingredient proven from digital, to clinical to market.

One such trial was conducted in 30 men and investigated how PeptiStrong™ could improve strength recovery and reduce fatigue. After establishing their baseline strength, the participants began supplementing with 2.4 grams of PeptiStrong™ or a placebo for 14 days. During this clinic visit, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) was induced in the subjects using resistance exercise muscle damage protocol. The strength recovery and fatigue of the subjects was measured (including blood samples) over the course of the following 3 days. As shown in Figure 1A and 1B, PeptiStrong™ was shown to significantly improve strength recovery, restoration, reduce fatigue, and positively modulated markers related to muscle homeostasis [7].

So, what does that mean for consumers? Essentially, this trial shows us that the intense workout induces a loss of strength when performing the leg extension exercise due to soreness and stiffness in the muscle. However, those who took PeptiStrong™ were able recover and build their strength much faster than those on the placebo. They also felt like they were less tired during recovery days allowing them to get back to training and return to peak performance faster compared to those on the placebo.

The pre-clinical and clinical studies conducted with PeptiStrong™ highlight how the signalling peptides within can impact strength, performance, atrophy, recovery, and fatigue all of which are integral to maintaining healthy muscle.

GNC & PeptiStrong™

GNC has recently launched PeptiStrong™ in one of their most popular power brands, Beyond Raw Dynamic Whey. Combined with optimized whey protein for better absorption and probiotic spores to support your microbiome, the addition of PeptiStrong™ supports muscle recovery and reduces muscle fatigue following exercise so you can get back to your regularly scheduled program or healthy lifestyle. Beyond Raw Dynamic Whey comes in three decadent flavors that rival your dessert (without the guilt) – Chocolate Lava Cake, Tiramisu, and & Vanilla Ice Cream.

Source: GNC