Dehydration is well known to reduce endurance exercise performance. This effect is usually blamed on the loss of blood volume that attends dehydration, which increases cardiovascular stress. However, newer research suggests that the negative effect of dehydration on performance may be partly mediated by the brain. Most recently, a new study by researchers at King’s [...]

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Rhodiola rosea is a plant, extracts of which have become popular nutritional supplements among endurance athletes because of their purported ability to promote fatty acids utilisation, to enhance antioxidant function, and to improve the body’s tolerance for physical strenuous efforts. Researchers recently tested the physiological and performance effect of four weeks of rhodiola rosea supplementation [...]

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Gram for gram, calorie for calorie, high fructose corn syrup, the most commonly used sweetener in processed foods today, is more fattening than table sugar. At least for rats. This is according to a new study conducted by researchers at Princeton University and published in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. Rats were given either water sweetened [...]

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A new study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise shows that when it comes to taking in water before running in the heat, temperature matters. On two occasions, 10 male volunteers ran to exhaustion at ventilatory threshold intensity on treadmills in a hot environment. Before one test, they were given cold water. Before [...]

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Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, recently studied the effects of a sports drink on endurance running and sprinting in adolescent team sport athletes. Fifteen subjects between the ages of 12 and 14 years participated in the study. On two separate occasions, they completed workouts consisting of four 15-minute segments of shuttle sprinting followed [...]

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It used to be that sports drinks were just sports drinks. Now there are several subcategories of sports drinks: regular, low-calorie, recovery, extended endurance, etc. One of the newer sports drink subcategories is the pre-exercise category. According to a new study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, “Pre-exercise sports drinks [...]

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We eat junk food mainly because it is delicious, but our best intentions to avoid it are not helped by the fact that most of it is cheap. The results of a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggest that we would in fact eat less junk food if it cost more. [...]

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Most studies on the effects of dehydration on endurance performance in the heat are conducted in a controlled, laboratory environment. Researchers from the University of Connecticut recently sought to determine the effects of dehydration on running performance in the heat in the field.
Seventeen runners were recruited to complete 12 km trail runs on four [...]

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The International Society of Sports Nutrition has published a new position on the use and effectiveness of caffeine as an ergogenic aid to exercise performance. Jointly authored by a veritable Who’s-Who of sports nutrition experts, the paper reaches the following conclusions:
“1.) Caffeine is effective for enhancing sport performance in trained athletes when consumed in [...]

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Quercetin is a plant nutrient in the “flavanoid” class that functions as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and stimulus for mitochondrial biogenesis in the human body. Researchers at the University of South Carolina recently investigated whether quercetin supplementation increases maximal aerobic capacity and endurance in untrained subjects. Twelve subjects received either 1000 mg of quercetin daily or [...]

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