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Carbohydrate drinks and athletic performance

High-carbohydrate sports drinks can boost athletic performance and their effects begin as soon as they enter the mouth.

Carbohydrate drinks and athletic performance

High-carbohydrate sports drinks can boost athletic performance and their effects begin as soon as they enter the mouth. Researchers from United Kingdom conducted two studies, each involving 8 trained cyclists who underwent exercise testing on a stationary bike once at the start of the study and again on a separate visit to the exercise lab, to find out how rinsing the mouth with solutions containing glucose and maltodextrin, disguised with artificial sweetener, would affect exercise performance. The second objective of the study was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain regions activated by these substances. During the tests, the study participants were given one of the two carbohydrate drinks containing glucose, maltodextrin or water sweetened with saccharin. It was found that the athletes improved upon their initial performance when they rinsed their mouths with either one of the carbohydrate drinks, but not when they used water. Using a brain imaging technique called MRI, it was found that the carbohydrate drinks sparked activity in the brain areas related to both movement control and pleasure. Again, the artificially sweetened water did not have the same effect. The researchers speculate that the brain activation allowed the athletes to work harder without feeling like they were. During a long exercise bout the brain receives negative messages from the body, like elevated temperature and joint pain. The brain reacts by reducing the central drive to working muscles, curbing their power output. The findings suggest that during intense exercise lasting around one hour, performance can be improved by simply rinsing the mouth with a carbohydrate solution. However, that does not mean that hard-working exercisers should simply rinse and spit. Sports drinks also help keep the body hydrated and supply electrolytes and other nutrients. The researchers concluded that the improvement in the exercise performance that was observed when a carbohydrate drink was in the mouth might be due to the activation of the brain regions believed to be involved in pleasure and movement control.
Journal of Physiology
April 2009
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