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mountain climbers. These reports describe the use of ciwujia to improve work performance at high altitudes and low oxygen conditions. Additional studies showed that laboratory animals administered ciwujia survived longer under low oxygen conditions and that ciwujia could increase oxygenation of heart muscle tissues. Recently, several specially formulated extracts of ciwujia have been developed; GNC Pro Performance LaboratoriesTM Time Release Ciwujia and ENDUROXTM a product of PacificHealth Laboratories.
Results from extensive research, both by the Academy of Preventive Medicine, Beijing, China and the Department of Physiology, University of North Texas Health Science Center, have shown ciwujia to significantly improve workout performance through a carbohydrate-sparing action. The comprehensive research completed in China on ciwujia was conducted under the guidance of American experts, including T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., a nutritional biochemist and director of the China-Cornell University Research Project which is examining Chinese lifestyle and nutrition for Cornell University.
During exercise, ciwujia shifts the energy source from carbohydrate to fat, thereby increasing fat metabolism up to 43 percent over control groups. This carbohydrate shift also improves performance by delaying the lactic acid buildup associated with muscle fatigue. In addition, ciwujia, in the research, raised lactate threshold by 12.4 percent and increased recovery following exercise as measured by heart rate.
Work completed at the Academy of Preventive Medicine, under the guidance of the Cornell group, initially was conducted with laboratory animals, however it was their human research that was most provocative. In the first trial, eight healthy male adults underwent an aerobic and anaerobic assessment using a stationary bicycle ergometer in which power was increased from 60 to 210 watts at 30-watt intervals. Each interval lasted three minutes. Subjects also had their heart monitored every minute. Energy expenditure, oxygen intake, carbon dioxide expiration, and lactic acid were measured at the end of each interval.
To assess anaerobic power, subjects started at low resistance that increased to a specified load in three to five seconds. Subjects continued at their maximum strength for 30

 
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