It is well known that consuming a sports drink before and during longer running races enhances performance. It is also fairly well established that drinking during short races offers no benefit, and may even do more harm than good (by causing hyperventilation or GI distress). But where is the cutoff? What is the shortest race [...]

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Overtraining syndrome is an athletic disorder that involves immune system dysfunction. Elevated levels of cytokines, a class of immune cells, is a known marker of overtraining in athletes. There is some evidence that increased carbohydrate intake may offer some protection against immune system stress during periods of heavy training. Researchers from England’s University of Newcastle [...]

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Increased training loads increase carbohydrate needs disproportionately compared to fat and protein needs. Thus it is reasonable to speculate that increased carbohydrate intake would help runners handle the stress of increased training periods and perform better in key workouts within such periods.
Brazilian researchers recently tested this idea with a group of 24 male runners. [...]

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Researchers from Appalachian State University recently investigated the effects of independent and combined supplementation with omega-3 essential fatty acids and antioxidant vitamins on exercise-induced oxidative stress (i.e. free radical damage) in the muscles of competitive cyclists. The subjects were divided into four groups. For a period of six weeks, each cyclist received either omega-3, antioxidant [...]

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The following as an abstract of a new study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: “Purpose: Dietary supplementation with polyphenols, particularly ellagitannins, may attenuate the muscular damage experienced after eccentric exercise, producing delayed-onset muscle soreness. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ellagitannin supplementation from Wonderful variety pomegranate [...]

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The so-called Western diet, with its high fat composition, is the subject of much abuse because of its connection with elevated risk for numerous chronic diseases. But a new study by researchers at the University of California-Riverside suggests that it may increase voluntary exercise, at least in creatures with an innate predisposition toward exercise. The [...]

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There is evidence that the effectiveness of exercise as a weight-loss method is limited by its effect on the appetite. A new study from the Obesity Research Group looked deeper into the so-called “compensation effect” by investigating the effect of exercise-induced weight loss on appetite-related peptides and the motivation to eat. Twenty-two overweight and sedentary [...]

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We know that the body adapts to exercise in a myriad of ways that enhance health. We also know that none of these adaptations is permanent. If a person ceases to exercise, all of those hard-earned adapations reverse themselves. But exercise scientists are now learning that many of the body’s healthful adaptations to exercise are [...]

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We are all familiar with some of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which include family history, inactivity, high-fat diet, and smoking. Now you can add being stupid to the list. In fact, you can put it close to the top of the list of heart disease predictors. This is the astonishing finding of a [...]

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Most of today’s common major diseases are metabolic in nature, meaning they have to do with how the body processes energy. Diabetes and heart disease top the list of metabolic diseases. In a new study published in Nutrition & Metabolism, researchers from Boston College have proposed that cancer is also fundamentally a metabolic disease. They [...]

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