DO GINGER & TURMERIC SHOTS HELP WITH RECOVERY?

Ginger and turmeric are the rock stars of the spice world and the leading heroes in our MOJU range. They’ve been consumed for thousands of years, and for very good reason. Ginger and turmeric shots provide a plethora of different benefits, but today we want to focus on how they can supercharge recovery.

First up, let's tackle turmeric. There are over 100 different molecules within this root, but the one most people know about, and most of the research has focused on is curcumin. From a family known as curcuminoids, of which there are three, it’s curcumin that provides the amazing recovery benefits found in turmeric shots; but the other compounds play their part, too. This is the very reason why MOJU champions the use of whole roots, fruits and veg rather than extracts. After all, nature knows best.

MOJU’s ginger and turmeric shots are used by elite athletes in a range of professional sports; from Premier League football to Formula 1, consumed as part of their everyday protocols to keep their athletes on the field. When it comes to recovery however, there is arguably no better place to put ginger and turmeric to the test than on the rugby field. Elite rugby professionals push their bodies to the absolute maximum, and recovery is vital to allow them to keep on performing week in, week out. We have been fortunate to carry out research with two elite rugby teams in the UK - Munster Rugby Club and Edinburgh Rugby Club. They included our ginger and turmeric in their nutritional set up to support the players and manage their recovery. First, Munster Rugby Club.

Recovery is a vital component of an athlete’s training and competition programme. Munster Rugby understood the benefits of ginger and turmeric shots in managing the damaging effects of training and games on players and how they can assist in their recovery procedures. The players absolutely loved having a natural food product to benefit their performance, and it tasted so darn good, so there were no issues with the players consuming the turmeric shots, bonus!

To review how effective the ginger and turmeric shots were, Munster ran a number of trials with different recovery markers. One test that is used quite frequently in sport is called the ‘drop jump’ test. Players step off a bench onto a mat and jump as high as they can whilst their reaction time is recorded. This test assesses their neuromuscular fatigue, which shows how well the muscles can develop force and power. If this level is reduced, you know the players are not recovering well from training and games. As a result, changes are made to the training and nutrition protocols to get on top of this! It was evident that the ginger and turmeric shots worked for Munster’s rugby players as they saw improvements in jump scores throughout the season; the prime time when typically, fatigue would build up and the scores would drop off, especially when approaching the end of the season. However, the scores showed that players were making small to moderate improvements in their jump performance, indicating a well-recovered player. This is fantastic news for Munster Rugby and allowed them to see the changes in performance in an elite setting. In the past, the changes have been minuscule, but they saw much more significant positive effects this time. The turmeric shots played a major role in this as it was not part of the protocol the previous season; it is a new process that was introduced that is paying dividends.

Moving onto Edinburgh Rugby, who focused on a different element of recovery within their squad – tendinopathy. If you are yet to experience tendinopathy, you’ve been lucky as it is quite debilitating. So, what is tendinopathy? It is defined as a failed healing response of a tendon, which attaches muscle to the bone, and can be a common issue within the world of sport. Athletes put their bodies through a lot during their careers. Managing tendinopathy is a key priority for their support and medical staff as it will prolong the athlete’s career and ensure they can perform to the best of their ability. Everyone knows pain can be all-consuming, and not much else matters when you have it. Managing this will also reduce the reliance on painkillers, which there is some evidence of their impact on the health of your microbiome

So, we teamed up with Edinburgh Rugby Club as they were aware of the benefits of ginger and turmeric shots, having had several players with historical tendon pain issues. During the 2020/21 season, Edinburgh Rugby Club introduced our recovery-focused, MOJU tumeric shos into their post-game nutritional strategy, focusing on the 20 players suffering from tendon problems. A number of those players were part of the squad before Edinburgh Rugby Club introduced MOJU’s ginger and tumeric shots. Data was pulled from the previous season (without MOJU’s turmeric shots) and compared to the 2020/21 season in which MOJU's turmeric shots were used. Several tests were used as subjective measures of pain, with the players reviewing the benefits of MOJU's turmeric shots. The results showed a decrease in Achilles’s tendon pain, which is the tendon at the back of the foot, and the Patella tendon which runs across the front of the knee.

The turmeric shots had a positive contribution to the subjective pain measures for the rugby players. As you can see, the lower scores during the 2020/21 season indicated that players’ tendon pain was reduced compared to the 2018/19 season. This had such a positive impact on Edinburgh Rugby Club that they still use turmeric shots as part of their protocols during the 2021/22 season.

Back to the other root, Ginger! Not only is it a culinary delight, but it is also thought to have multiple recovery benefits. Again, it is a root that is packed full of different compounds, which include, if you are interested, gingerols, shogaols and parasols, amongst the many, many more. When you are stressed, or under threat, this typically leads to a reaction from your body. ginger is used to counteract this response and bring you back into balance. Our bodies love to be in balance. It is reported to have the ability to assist the body in taking care of the molecules that cause the reaction and restore your body’s balance.

They were consumed following games and training alongside a good quality diet. Ensuring a balanced diet along with nutritional boosters, such as MOJU's Ginger and Turmeric Shots, will go a long way to help players stay on top of their ‘A’ game.

Are you considering integrating ginger and turmeric into your diet? Well, the great news is ginger and turmeric shots can be added to your lifestyle easily. MOJU provides these in two different formats, 60ml shots and 500ml multiserve dosing bottles. First up, the 60ml shot. It is designed for when you are on the go; chuck a shot in your bag and enjoy it after your favourite activity or when you are roaming the city streets. The 500ml dosing bottleis designed to be purchased and put in your fridge at home to chill. Containing 8+ shots per bottle, we recommend shooting it straight or try adding to your daily smoothie.

The two root spices work well when mixed together; it’s a great way to spice up your salad dressings, sauces and stir-fries, guaranteeing you get a double helping of health benefits. Ginger makes a soothing cup of tea even better when you add a dash of lemon or add to soups, curries and smoothies for that warming kick to sustain you in the horrible, cold winter months.

Turmeric brings a splash of colour to your culinary dishes and is great in casseroles, rice, dressings and dips. Add a bit of black pepper to turmericblack pepper to help its absorption rate into your body, too.