The effect of bovine colostrum supplementation on exercise performance in elite field hockey players.

In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, we investigated the effect of 8 weeks of supplementation with bovine colostrum (Intact) on body composition and exercise performance (5 x 10-m sprint, vertical jump, shuttle-run test, and suicide test). Seventeen female and 18 male elite field hockey players, including players from the Dutch national team, received either 60 g of colostrum or whey protein daily. The 5 x 10-m sprint test performance improved significantly (p =.023) more in the colostrum group [0.64 +/- 0.09 s (mean +/- SEM)] compared to the whey group (0.33 +/- 0.09 s). The vertical jump performance improved more in the colostrum group (2.1 +/- 0.73 cm) compared to the whey group (0.32 +/- 0.82 cm). However, this was not statistically significant (p =.119). There were also no significant differences in changes in body composition and endurance tests between the 2 groups. It is concluded that in elite field hockey players, colostrum supplementation improves sprint performance better than whey. However, there were no differences with regard to body composition or endurance performance.