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ENLARGE
Sellers of MSM say it can help weekend warriors and elite athletes recover from a hard workout.
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The Ache: A hard workout can result in days of stiffness, pain and fatigue.
The Claim: A bitter-tasting sulfur compound used as a treatment for knee arthritis can also speed recovery of muscles and lessen fatigue after exercise in elite athletes and weekend warriors, say companies that sell it. MSM, as it is known, is available in capsule form, as powder or flakes that dissolve in smoothies or juice, and in a new sports drink.
The Verdict: Methylsulfonylmethane, or MSM, was found in a 2008 review in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage to have “positive but not definitive” evidence as a treatment for knee arthritis. For athletic recovery, a newer area of research, several studies have failed to show a statistically significant benefit on key measures, such as soreness and return to full muscular force.
“I’m not convinced,” says Brent C. Ruby, director of the Montana Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism at the University of Montana, in Missoula. The methodology of the studies is solid, but the positive effects appear to be weak, if there are any at all, he says.
Others take a more positive view. “It’s pretty promising” but more data is needed—particularly on what doses are required and how it will affect different types of athletes, says Jonathan Mike, assistant professor in the exercise science program at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Dr. Mike, an exercise physiologist and competitive strongman, says he tried MSM for a couple months and didn’t notice a difference in his recovery.
MSM, also known as organic sulfur, is present in small amounts in some foods such as milk, grains, fruits and vegetables, says Rodney Benjamin, director of research and development at Bergstrom Nutrition, a Vancouver, Wash., supplier of MSM to the dietary-supplement industry. The company’s product, called OptiMSM, is used in the majority of published studies studying MSM in sports recovery.
Ron Breteler, president of Kala Health Inc., in Falmouth, Mass., says many customers use the company’s powder MSM in smoothies or juice. The product, which contains Bergstrom’s OptiMSM, costs $22.95 for a pound of powder, a three-month supply at a common dose of 6 grams daily. The cost to use Kala Health’s one-gram capsules is about twice as much.
ENLARGE
Play Again Now sports recovery drink.
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Play Again Now
Play Again Now, a berry-flavored sports drink with hyaluronic acid, added MSM in 2015 to help increase the efficacy for sports recovery, says Debbie Ecksten, chief executive of Viscos LLC, of Fortville , Ind. Play Again Now costs $49.95 for 24 ounces, which lasts about three weeks at the recommended maintenance dose.
Some people like the flavor of the drink, Mrs. Ecksten says, but I found its mix of bitter MSM and sweet berry flavor hard to swallow. Kala’s unflavored powder was bitter and metallic tasting but not too bad in a glass of juice.
How MSM works in sports recovery isn’t fully understood, but it is believed to moderate the body’s inflammatory response, Bergstrom’s Mr. Benjamin says. A 2013 Iranian study found it may also reduce post-exercise oxidative stress, or damage to cells caused by chemical reactions in the body.
In a study of 22 participants in a half marathon, funded by Bergstrom and presented at the International Society of Sports Nutrition Conference and Expo in Austin in 2015, half the subjects took capsules containing OptiMSM three weeks before the event and two days after, while the others took a placebo. Muscle and joint pain were lower in the group that took MSM, but the difference wasn’t “statistically significant,” meaning the study didn’t adequately show that the difference wasn’t random chance.
Another study, of 40 people, looked at resistance-trained men at the University of Memphis. Participants who took MSM recovered fully from an intense leg workout in four days. Athletes who took the placebo were still 8% below their maximum force, but the difference wasn’t statistically significant.
ENLARGE
Kala Health MSM Flakes.
Photo:
Kala Health
The study, funded by Bergstrom and presented at the American Society of Biomechanics in Columbus, Ohio, in 2015, found those on MSM had less knee soreness when measured on a “passive” stretch—meaning a tester stretched the leg—but not while doing squats, says co-author Richard J. Bloomer, director of the School of Health Studies at University of Memphis.
MSM can cause mild gastrointestinal upset, which usually goes away after a few uses, Mr. Benjamin says. I got a mild headache.
Clinical studies have shown no serious side effects to MSM, says Mr. Benjamin. Those studies were related mainly to other ailments such as arthritis and generally used doses of MSM of 3 to 6 grams or less daily. However, there is “limited formal safety data and no long-term assessment” of MSM in humans, according to the 2008 review.
Write to Laura Johannes at aches@wsj.com
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