Sports nutrition formulation combines plant protein with anti inflammatory power of Cat's Claw
Hempeatein Pro is a collaboration between Hill Pharma, the American branch of Chinese company Hill Pharmaceutical Co Ltd., which supplies the mixture of hemp and pea proteins and Optigenix, a Hoboken, NJ-based ingredient developer that brings the ac 11 to the table.
Ac 11 has been under development for more than a decade, said Tony Worth, managing director of Otigenix.
“This ingredient first came to our attention in the mid 1990s through the work of Dr Ronald Pero, of the University of Lund in Sweden,” Worth told NutraIngredients-USA. “We then figured out the actives and were awarded the first patents.”
Ac 11 differs from other Cat’s Claw preparations primarily in its extraction method, Worth said. The company uses a prorprietary water extraction technique that differs from the solvent techniques used by many other manufacturers, Worth said. The company lists 10 patents for the product on its website.
“It’s a hot water extract. We use water from pure acquifers that then goes thorugh membrane filtration. We end up with low molecular weight, soluable esters,” he said.
Cellular repair component
Cat’s Claw is derived from the inner bark of a woody vine that grows throughout the Amazon basin. Chris Kilham, who has popularized many botanical ingredients of Amazonian origin, says Cat’s Claw is unique in that it is used in cultures across the region, lending crecence to its efficacy. On his website, Medicinehunter.com, Kilham says “a number of studies do in fact suggest that [Cat’s Claw]may be beneficial for anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing purposes, and that constituents in the vine may help to inhibit tumor cell formation.”
Worth said the primary activity Optigenix is claiming for AC 11 is as an anti inflammatroy agent and as such it has great potential in the sports nutrition market, especially for recovery.
“Ac 11 is about DMA repair. We downregulate inflammation and upregulate the healing process,” Worth said.
Optigenix had a long road to bringing the ingredient to market, Worth said. He and his associates sold the business a number of years ago to a group that was taking what he called a “pharmaceutical approach” and failed in that endeavor, which is one of the reasons for the ingredient’s exceptinally lengthy gestation. Worth regained control of the company, and over the last several years has helped it rise again from the ashes.
“We have a product that works on evolutionary pathways and we took an evolutionary process in bringing it to market,” he said.
Tested with athletes
Part of that path led thorugh selected locker rooms, Worth said. Through a series of fortuitous relationships, Otigenix was able to test the products effects with a number former and current athletes. The product has gained favor with trainers for several top level professional sports teams, Worth said.
“What we have seen is that ac 11 has a profound effect over time. It has a pronounced effect on joint and hip pain. We have found that these guys can train harder because they can recover better,” Worth said.
The Hempeatein Pro finished formula features hemp and pea proteins. Worth said Optigenix chose the sports protein market and Hill because both are known quantities. The formula is being offered as an ingredient or as a turnkey finished good, ready for private labeling, Worth said. Hill Pharma, based in Fairfield, NJ, has been granted the exclusive rights to develop plant based proteins incorporating Optigenx’s ac-11. Hill Pharma’s core products include plant-based proteins, natural sweeteners, custom botanicals and standardized extracts.
“It is a known market and already there is a demand for the products in that market. And Hill offers a known quantity, too; we have no concerns with them with regards to Prop 65 levels, with the content of heavy metals. They make a high quality product,” Worth said.
