Explaining Energy Drinks
Reported April 15, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) Energy drinks can give you an extra boost but how? New research shows the mechanism may lie in your mouth!
Whether its real sugar or a tasteless carbohydrate, carb-filled energy drinks can significantly boost performance in an endurance event, even if the drink isnt ingested. To better understand why, researchers mixed three different drinks for study participants: one with glucose (a sugar), one with maltodextrin (a tasteless carbohydrate) and one that was carb-free, then mixed all three with artificial sweeteners to so they tasted identical. Endurance-trained athletes then rinsed their mouths with one of the three drinks during a challenging time-trial event.
Researchers found athletes given the glucose or maltodextrin drinks outperformed those given the artificially sweetened beverage by 2 to 3 percent. They were also able to sustain higher average power output and pulse rate, but did not feel they were working any harder. Brain scans taken shortly after athletes were given the three compounds showed areas of the brain associated with pleasure and reward were activated by glucose and maltodextrin, but not with the artificial sweetener. They concluded as-yet unidentified receptors in the mouth independent from the sweet tastebuds are responsible.
“Much of the benefit from carbohydrate in sports drinks is provided by signaling directly from mouth to brain rather than providing energy for the working muscles,” Ed Chambers, Ph.D., was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: The Journal of Physiology, 2009
