The role of bromelain as a natural remedy in reducing post-exercise muscle soreness

Abstract

Bromelain, an enzyme gotten from pineapples has stirred interest for its ability to reduce muscular pains and slow down delayed onset muscles soreness (DOMS) which occurs after working out or while having exercising routines among athletes and physically active individuals. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of bromelain in attenuating exercise induced-pain, modulating C-reactive proteins and IL-6 levels, stiffness and enhancing recovery. The study involves 30 participants grouped into the experimental and control groups. The intensity of pain was measured by using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain severity at 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours after exercising. Highsensitivity C-reactive protein and IL-6 content of the blood samples were estimated while survey and physical performance tests were used to assess muscle stiffness, strength, and flexibility. The data showed that the differences in the pain intensity between the experimental and the control group were highly significant for all the time intervals: P < 0.001 whilst the reduction of CRP and IL-6 in the experimental group compared to the control was significantly different (p<0.01) by 72 hours. Additionally, participants in the experimental group responded more quickly to improvements in muscle stiffness, strength and flexibility and general recovery. The experimental outcome corroborates the promise of utilizing bromelain as a potential replacement for synthetic recovery enhancement agents, and a successful means of preventing muscular damage associated with exercise, and enhancing recuperation pathways.