Why New Zealand blackcurrant is worth a closer look

A natural fruit extract that can improve endurance performance sounds almost too good to be true.

I would have thought the same, if I hadn’t been part of the team producing some of the published research into New Zealand blackcurrant.

Unlike many products labelled as a “superfood”, blackcurrant now has a growing body of research behind it, particularly around endurance performance, fat oxidation and carbohydrate storage.

So, what makes it interesting for athletes?

Why New Zealand blackcurrant?

Blackcurrants are naturally rich in anthocyanins, the pigments responsible for their deep purple colour.

New Zealand-grown blackcurrants are particularly interesting because the intense UV and long sunlight hours encourage the fruit to produce more of these pigments, resulting in higher anthocyanin levels than the same varieties grown elsewhere.

And that appears to matter when it comes to performance.

Performance and fat burning

Most of the research uses a seven-day loading protocol before exercise.

In one study, trained men taking New Zealand blackcurrant for seven days completed a 10-mile cycling time trial 2.4% faster than with a placebo, while also increasing fat oxidation by 27%.

We later found a similar 27% increase in fat oxidation during two hours of exercise in trained women.

Across the research, an effective daily dose is generally considered to be around 105 to 210mg of anthocyanins.

Could it support carb loading too?

This is where the research gets particularly interesting.

In a more recent study I worked on with colleagues at Liverpool John Moores University, athletes followed the same seven-day blackcurrant loading protocol.

We found that their muscle glycogen stores were higher before exercise compared with placebo.

Glycogen is the carbohydrate stored in your muscles and one of the main things you are trying to maximise when carb loading before a race.

From working with athletes, I know that hitting 10 to 12g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight during a carb load can be difficult.

New Zealand blackcurrant is not a replacement for eating enough carbohydrate, but the findings suggest it could be a useful addition to your usual carb-loading strategy.

Getting the dose right

The research currently points towards taking 105 to 210mg of anthocyanins per day for seven days before your event.

There are a couple of simple ways to do that:

CurraNZ provides a ready-dosed capsule format and was used directly within the research. It is also Informed Sport certified.

FLYCARB Antholoading provides 300mg of anthocyanins alongside 20g of carbohydrate and 1,000mg of sodium in a drink format.

Which one you choose mostly comes down to how you prefer to take it.

Personally, I like the simplicity of CurraNZ capsules, particularly when travelling to races, and the Informed Sport certification gives them the edge for me.

But if you would rather include your anthocyanins within a drink, FLYCARB Antholoading is another option worth considering.

Whichever format you choose, the important part is the seven-day loading period before your event.

Explore blackcurrant supplements ›

If you have a race coming up, this is one of those strategies worth testing in training first so you know exactly how it fits into your pre-race routine.