Energy harvesting

In human and animal studies, TWK10^® supplementation was associated with reduced plasma lactate during exercise, indicating a shift away from anaerobic glycolysis toward fatty-acid oxidation. Proteomic analysis in mice showed increased expression of proteins involved in hepatic fatty-acid oxidation and transport, and TWK10^® increased the proportion of type I (slow-twitch) muscle fibers — changes consistent with greater aerobic capacity and preserved muscle glycogen and serum glucose.

Amino-acid digestion and absorption

Lactic-acid bacteria encode proteases and peptidases that assist protein breakdown in the gut. In a human trial combining TWK10^® with pea protein, the TWK10^® group showed higher circulating total, essential and branched-chain amino acids than pea protein alone, together with improvements in muscle and fascia thickness and strength — indicating enhanced amino-acid availability.

Gut microbiota and SCFA production

Short-chain fatty acids (acetate, propionate, butyrate) produced by gut bacteria support skeletal-muscle metabolism, in part through AMPK signaling. In human trials, both live and heat-killed TWK10^® significantly increased faecal SCFA concentrations and shifted the composition of the gut microbiota.

Live and heat-killed: the same axis, reached by different routes

Both forms of TWK10^® raise SCFAs and act through the gut–muscle axis, but they engage it via distinct microbial functional pathways. The live form was associated with oxidative-defence metabolism and with higher serum glucose and greater lactate reduction during exercise — consistent with lactate being converted to propionate and feeding hepatic gluconeogenesis. The heat-killed form was associated with amino-acid and taurine-related metabolism. In short: the same axis, reached by different routes.