As a professional historian, Dr Andrea Löw’s job takes her to some of the most remote corners of the world, including Australia, Morocco, Namibia, Vietnam and Mongolia. And, as a dedicated sportswoman, she can often be found exploring these exotic destinations in a pair of running shoes and a technical T-shirt. However, her passion for running stems from an unlikely beginning as a long-distance athlete.

Shortly after her birth, her parents weren’t even sure whether their daughter would ever be able to set one foot in front of the other. Then, at the age of thirty, Andrea was scheduled to undergo a serious hip operation, with doctors declaring that her physically active life was soon to be over. But, against the odds, she started running extremely long distances and discovered a passion for it, which she shares with her followers as a blogger.

However, despite the many benefits of exercise, you can have too much of a good thing! Commonly referred to as “overtraining”, an excessive or overly intense workout routine can manifest itself as chronic pain and soreness, mood swings and even physical damage.

“As an ultra-runner,” Andrea explains, “I sometimes put my tendons and joints under a lot of strain. And, in recent years, I’ve periodically struggled with an inflamed tendon, most recently at THE TRACK, a race in the Australian outback during which I ran 522 kilometers in nine stages in May 2019.”

Soft tissue injuries of the muscles, tendons and ligaments are extremely common in both amateur and professional athletes. Strong tendons deliver strength, power and speed — derived from their intact composition of extracellular matrix collagens, proteoglycans and elastic fibers. GELITA’s TENDOFORTE^® can act as a nutritional intervention for tendon and ligament problems in overuse injuries, helping athletes — such as the extreme runner – to get back to their former performance levels quicker and more safely.

Andrea continues: “TENDOFORTE^® strengthens and supports my tendons, so I had no problems with my shins during the Ultra Mirage El Djerid, a 100 km non-stop run through the Sahara in Tunisia … and at the GELITA Trail Marathon in Heidelberg in autumn 2019.”

Acting on the whole musculoskeletal system, GELITA offers a portfolio of individual Bioactive Collagen Peptides (BCP^®s) that are all highly suitable for functional sports bars, beverages or functional foods. With their special nutritional properties and clean label profile, their popularity in the food and dietary supplements market is growing and shows no signs of slowing down. Among the many areas of application is active or sports nutrition, which is witnessing a period of strong growth across a wide spectrum of markets.

Globally, more and more athletes are adopting a “DIY” mentality and taking a proactive approach to achieving their personal welfare goals. Increasingly well-informed consumers are boosting demand for supplements and functional food products — especially those using ingredients with proven health benefits, such as TENDOFORTE^® Bioactive Collagen Peptides (BCP^®s) from GELITA.

“I am very grateful for the support and the extremely useful advice I’ve received from GELITA, as I also have big goals for 2020.” In July, this year, Andrea will be running the Ultra Norway Race in the north of Norway (140 km with a 9000 m change in altitude) and, in September, she’ll tackle the 220 km Ultra Bolivia Race in seven stages, all at an altitude of more than 3000 m.

If you’re looking to develop a new sports or active nutrition product and could benefit from our specialist know-how and ingredient expertise, contact us today.