High-carb Sports Drinks Help a Lot in Boosting Athletic Performance

A new study proves that high-carbohydrate sports drinks can improve a person’s athletic performance, and their effects can take place immediately, at the minute they are consumed.

In the said study, a group of athletes were made to rinse their mouths with either of two carbohydrate drinks, and these athletes improved their work performance. On the other hand, when the same athletes were given flavored water, the same result didn’t occur.

Apart from the physical results, the athletes also went a brain scan, and results showed that by merely tasting the carbohydrate drinks, some areas of the brain were activated with stimulus indicating reward and satisfaction. This also didn’t happen in the case of artificially-flavored water.

“Our study has shown that during intense exercise lasting around one hour, athletic performance can be improved by rinsing a carb solution in the mouth, “says lead researcher Dr. Ed. S. Chambers of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

But athletes and exercises buffs should not just rinse and spit these sports drinks-they need to consume them. These drinks not only energize your brain; they also keep your body hydrated during workout by supplying the electrolytes and other minerals you lose through sweat.

The results of the study are based on two different studies. The athletes, who were composed of eight cyclists and all of them, underwent exercise tests via a stationary bike. During the tests, the participants were served with two carbohydrate drinks, one containing glucose, maltodextrin or saccharin-flavored water.

There was a significant level of improvement in the athletes’ initial performance when they swished their mouths with either of the two carbohydrate drinks, but the same results did not take place when they used the sweetened water. Meanwhile, when checked via MRI, Chambers and his team of researchers discovered that carbohydrate drinks are capable of stimulating brain activity in areas which are associated in pleasure and movement control. The experts also see that the stimuli sent to the brain pushed the athletes to perform better without being conscious of the effort they exert

In one long monitored exercise, Chambers found out that when the brain receives messages that indicate pain and higher temperature, it reacts by decreasing the “drive” to the muscles that are currently at work. This phenomenon thus explains why we lose our strength after workout.

A good suggestion to keep this from happening during exercise is to consume a carbohydrate drink. According to Chambers, when oral carbohydrate stimulus is present during workout, more positive signals are sent to the brain, thus keeping the central drive active and energized-which in turn improves the performance of the working muscles.

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