30 May 24
Eben van Tonder

Introduction

I just returned from Lagos and at Coffee & Cream at ORT, my thoughts turn to Richard and my newest creation, the Oake Woods Power Sausage. In the demanding world of combat sports, where every second of performance and recovery counts, athletes are on a constant lookout for nutritional strategies that can give them an edge. The Oake Woods Power Sausage, created by our Oake, Woods & Co, available exclusively in Cape Town through MeatMasters, is a game-changer in this quest. This isn’t just any sausage; it’s a meticulously engineered blend of collagen, pork meat and fat, and a potent beetroot extract rich in nitrite (NO2-), designed to fuel the bodies of UFC fighters, judokas, and boxers like never before. Let me explain why.

The Nitrite to Nitric Oxide (NO) Superhighway

At the heart of the Oake Woods Power Sausage is its innovative use of nitrite, sourced naturally from beetroot extract. This nitrite serves as a precursor for the formation of nitric oxide (NO) in the body, a molecule pivotal for athletic performance and recovery. The process from nitrite to NO is biochemically favoured in conditions mirroring those in active muscles—low oxygen and acidic pH—making it particularly effective during intense physical exertion.

NO’s roles in the body are manifold, crucially including:

• Enhanced Blood Flow: By dilating blood vessels, NO boosts circulation, enabling rapid delivery of oxygen and nutrients to strained muscles, thus supporting both performance and recovery.
• Increased Mitochondrial Efficiency: NO optimizes energy production by making mitochondria, the cell’s energy generators, work more effectively.
• Accelerated Muscle Recovery: Improved circulation, courtesy of NO, means faster clearance of metabolic byproducts like lactate, speeding up the recovery process.

The Guarantee of Safety: No Amine or Nitrosamine Worries

Many still believe that nitrite is something to be fearful of. For a detailed treatment of the subject, please see my series, The Truth About Meat Curing: What the popular media do NOT want you to know! The exact opposite is true. For nitrosamines to form you need amines to be created in the body which is impossible at the low temperature where the Oake Woods Power Sausage is created and heated. The cooking process of the Oake Woodsn Power Sausage, reaching internal temperatures of 82°C, and the strategic inclusion of nitrite significantly diminish the risk of amine and nitrosamine formation, common concerns in meat processing. This approach ensures that nitrite is channelled towards NO production, sidestepping pathways that lead to the formation of potentially harmful nitrosamines, thus prioritizing the consumer’s health.

The Power Trio: Collagen, Pork Fat, and Meat Proteins

Nitrite is not the only weapon in this unique formulation arsenal to equip the modern-day fighter. The others are collagen, animal fat and meat proteins.

• Collagen: Sourced from pork skin, collagen makes up 20% of this sausage, providing essential amino acids for the repair of connective tissues—a boon for athletes subject to intense physical stress.
• Pork Fat: The inclusion of pork fat not only offers a dense energy source but also supplies vital fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins, supporting the rigorous demands of training and competition.
• Meat Proteins and Nutrients: The sausage’s pork meat is a treasure trove of complete proteins, indispensable for muscle repair and growth, alongside a suite of vitamins and minerals crucial for optimal health and performance.

The Physiological Importance of Nitric Oxide

Because most people will be surprised at the importance of Nitric Oxide and the tight link with nitrite, allow me to elaborate. Nitric oxide (NO) is a crucial biological messenger involved in numerous physiological and pathological processes within the body. Its significance spans across the cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems, showcasing a broad impact on health and disease. The body’s ability to generate NO from various nitrogen sources, including dietary intake and endogenous pathways, highlights the versatility and importance of this molecule. Let’s zoom out and first look at the broad physiological importance of NO and its diverse sources:

-> Cardiovascular System

• Vasodilation: NO is best known for its role in maintaining vascular health by inducing the relaxation of smooth muscles in blood vessels, leading to vasodilation. This process decreases blood pressure and improves blood flow to various organs, ensuring adequate oxygen and nutrient delivery.
• Platelet Aggregation: NO inhibits platelet aggregation, reducing the risk of thrombus formation that can lead to cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and myocardial infarction.
• Regulation of Blood Flow: In response to physical activity or changes in oxygen demand, NO adjusts blood flow by altering vessel diameter, crucial for matching oxygen supply with metabolic demand.

-> Immune System

• Defence Mechanisms: NO possesses antimicrobial properties, making it part of the body’s innate defence mechanism against infections. It can directly kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens.
• Modulation of Immune Response: NO plays a role in the regulation of immune cell function, including the activity of macrophages, T cells, and other leukocytes, balancing the immune response to avoid excessive inflammation.

-> Nervous System

• Neurotransmission: NO acts as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator in the brain and peripheral nervous system, influencing memory formation, learning, and neuronal plasticity.
• Blood Flow in the Brain: By inducing vasodilation in the cerebral circulation, NO is involved in regulating brain blood flow, which is crucial for maintaining cognitive functions and overall brain health.

-> Sources of Nitric Oxide

1. “In-body” production of Nitric Oxide: The primary source of NO in the body is the enzymatic conversion of the amino acid L-arginine into NO and L-citrulline, catalyzed by the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enzymes. This pathway is oxygen-dependent and occurs in various cell types, including endothelial cells, neurons, and immune cells.
2. Dietary Intake of Nitrate and Nitrite: The consumption of foods rich in nitrate (NO3-) and nitrite (NO2-) provides an alternative source of NO. Dietary nitrates are reduced to nitrites by oral bacteria, and further to NO in the acidic environment of the stomach or within tissues under specific conditions such as low oxygen levels. This pathway is especially important for cardiovascular health and exercise performance.
3. Nitrate-Nitrite-NO Pathway: This pathway allows the body to generate NO even under conditions where the oxygen-dependent NOS pathway may be less efficient, such as hypoxia or during intense physical exertion.

Nitrate-Nitrite-NO Pathway (Dietary Pathway)

Let’s focus on the dietary intake of components that have a direct bearing on the level of Nitric Oxide in the body. The dietary pathway for NO production begins with the consumption of nitrate (NO3-) and nitrite (NO2-) found in certain foods, particularly vegetables like beetroot and leafy greens, as well as processed meats that contain added nitrites. This pathway can be summarized in several steps:

1. Dietary Nitrate Intake: Nitrate consumed with food is absorbed from the digestive system into the bloodstream.
2. Reduction to Nitrite: Some of the absorbed nitrate is concentrated in the salivary glands and then reduced to nitrite by bacteria in the mouth (oral microbiome). When swallowed, this nitrite can enter the stomach.
3. Further Reduction to NO: In the acidic environment of the stomach, nitrite can be further reduced non-enzymatically to NO. Additionally, under conditions of low oxygen (hypoxia) or low pH, nitrite can be reduced to NO in the blood and tissues by various enzymes and hemoproteins, such as deoxyhemoglobin, xanthine oxidoreductase, and others.

Assisting the Body through Specially Formulated Foods

Integrating dietary intake through specifically formulated products like the Oake Woods Power Sausage, which contains nitrite (NO2-), enriches the narrative around nitric oxide (NO) production and its physiological implications. This product is designed to directly contribute to the nitrite pool in the body, offering a distinct advantage over the traditional dietary pathway of nitrate (NO3-) reduction.

Enhanced NO Production Pathway with the Oake Woods Power Sausage

1. Direct Nitrite Intake: Unlike the conventional dietary pathway that starts with nitrate (NO3-) requiring reduction to nitrite (NO2-) by oral bacteria, consuming products like the Oake Woods Power Sausage that contain nitrite bypasses this initial step. This direct intake of NO2- eliminates variability in nitrate conversion efficiency, which can be influenced by individual differences in oral microbiota composition.
2. Efficient NO Formation: Once ingested, the nitrite from the Oake Woods Power Sausage can rapidly convert to NO in the stomach’s acidic environment and in tissues under hypoxic conditions. This process is more straightforward and potentially more efficient, especially in situations where the body’s oxygen levels are lowered, such as during intense physical exercise or in areas of the body experiencing hypoxia.
3. Immediate Availability for Physiological Functions: The NO formed from direct nitrite intake is immediately available to exert its beneficial effects, such as vasodilation, enhanced blood flow, improved oxygen delivery to muscles, and regulatory functions in metabolism and mitochondrial efficiency. This immediacy and efficiency of NO availability can be particularly advantageous for athletes and individuals with high physical demands.

Advantages Over the NO3- → NO2- → NO Pathway

The direct intake of NO2- from products like the Oake Woods Power Sausage offers several advantages over the traditional dietary nitrate-to-nitrite-to-NO pathway:

• Reduced Dependence on Oral Microbiota: The efficiency of nitrate reduction to nitrite can vary greatly among individuals due to differences in oral microbiome composition. Direct nitrite intake bypasses this variability, ensuring a more consistent and reliable source of NO.
• Faster Response Time: Direct nitrite intake allows for a quicker physiological response, as the conversion to NO can occur rapidly once the nitrite is absorbed, without waiting for the reduction process from nitrate to nitrite.
• Enhanced Performance and Recovery: For athletes and physically active individuals, the prompt availability of NO can support enhanced performance, reduced recovery times, and improved cardiovascular health, making it an ideal dietary strategy to support intensive training and competition.

The Oake Woods Power Sausage, rich in NO2-, into the diet provides a targeted approach to increasing nitric oxide levels in the body. This strategy not only circumvents the limitations of the traditional dietary NO3- to NO2- to NO pathway but also offers an efficient and reliable method to harness the myriad benefits of NO for athletic performance, recovery, and overall cardiovascular health

Conclusion

Crafted with the needs of elite combat sports athletes in mind, the Oake Woods Power Sausage by Oake, Woods & Co, sold through MeatMasters in Cape Town, stands out as a pinnacle of nutritional engineering. It harnesses the power of nitrite to nitric oxide conversion, backed by the nutritional might of collagen, pork meat, and fat, to offer a superior recovery aid and performance enhancer. This sausage is not merely food; it’s a superfood designed to support the heightened physical and recovery demands of UFC fighters, judokas, and boxers, propelling them towards their peak performance while safeguarding their long-term health and vitality.