Energy drinks work as soon as they touch your tongue

Crapaud
Crapaud Posts: 2,483
edited May 2010 in Training, fitness and health
Posting this more for curiosity value than anything else.
[url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627584.600-energy-drinks-work-as-soon-as-they-touch-your-tongue.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news]New Scientist[/url] wrote:
IF YOU spit out an energy drink after taking a sip, it could still boost your strength. This pre-digestive effect is immediate and seems due to a newly discovered neural pathway that links taste buds to muscles. ...
If there's a message that my legs need it's ...
... "that help is on the way" ...
:D
A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject - Churchill

Comments

  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    if you spit it out i'd imagine you could make yourself bonk really really really fast!
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
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  • shockedsoshocked
    shockedsoshocked Posts: 4,021
    Read an article a few years back about Roger Hammond keeping gels on his tongue a little bit longer before he swallowed them to get the same response.
    "A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"

    PTP Runner Up 2015
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,700
    That does entail keeping the gel on your tongue where you can tast it though SSS, I'm yet to find one that I could manage that with!
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • 58585
    58585 Posts: 207
    A few studies been done on this one I think. Something to do with having a hard boiled sweet in your mouth while TTing I seem to remember, bit of a risk for choking though.

    Personally I'm NOT getting into a debate on the benefits of spitting or swallowing.
  • shockedsoshocked
    shockedsoshocked Posts: 4,021
    ddraver wrote:
    That does entail keeping the gel on your tongue where you can tast it though SSS, I'm yet to find one that I could manage that with!

    Bannoffee flavoured torq gels :wink:
    "A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"

    PTP Runner Up 2015
  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    There's some even more recent research:

    http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/conten ... a921273806

    Which is relevant here, which suggests that the benefit only applies if you're starting from a glycogen reduced state.

    Of course you never know when during your exercise that your body is going to decide it's glycogen short and consider it relevant that more is available to you, so it's always worth doing I'd say.
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • simon_e
    simon_e Posts: 1,707
    High5 recommend swill & spit:
    If your ride is less than one hour: swill EnergySource around your mouth for a few seconds and spit it out (like mouth wash). If you swallow it does not work. Repeat every 5 to 10 minutes. If it’s hot or your race lasts more than one hour, ignore this advice and instead start drinking EnergySource 10 minutes before the start and during your race.
    http://www.highfive.co.uk/pdf%27s/RoadCycling_RFG_ENGLISH_LR.pdf
    Aspire not to have more, but to be more.
  • Gav888
    Gav888 Posts: 946
    I was going to take part in some testing at a local uni, energy drink mouth wash vs drinking it vs water, but ended up getting ill and couldnt take part....
    Cycling never gets any easier, you just go faster - Greg LeMond
  • Edwin
    Edwin Posts: 785
    Which university was that by the way? I participated in a study on carbohydrate mouth rinse at the Universty of Birmingham, but as always, they never got back to me with the results as promised. That's one of the reasons I don't volunteer for research any more, the other reason relates to a study where temperature was a factor, and involves the location of the thermometer! :oops:
  • shockedsoshocked
    shockedsoshocked Posts: 4,021
    Edwin wrote:
    the other reason relates to a study where temperature was a factor, and involves the location of the thermometer! :oops:

    I did one of those recently. I almost burst out laughing when the guy running it told me he'd "prepared the anal probe" in advance.

    I did find out however I have an abnormally high core temperature. (I was the only one who performed the test, apparently in -2 and windchill, who actually sweated. And I wore the least clothes)
    "A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"

    PTP Runner Up 2015
  • Gav888
    Gav888 Posts: 946
    Edwin wrote:
    Which university was that by the way? I participated in a study on carbohydrate mouth rinse at the Universty of Birmingham, but as always, they never got back to me with the results as promised. That's one of the reasons I don't volunteer for research any more, the other reason relates to a study where temperature was a factor, and involves the location of the thermometer! :oops:

    It was at University Campus Suffolk, part of the testing was finding your Vo2max, which was the main reason I wanted to do it, thought it might be useful to know :)
    Cycling never gets any easier, you just go faster - Greg LeMond
  • ut_och_cykla
    ut_och_cykla Posts: 1,594
    Starch digestion starts in the mouth - salivary amylase. It could well be that just stimulating that chain of events (by rinsing & spitting) and your tongue/mouth sensing 'sugars!!!' affects glusose blood balance. Saw a popular science programme which suggested teh same idea - rinse & spit boosted performance.
    Coudl also be that using a sweetener would initiate teh same effect - which is a bit scary as i've always disbelieved the idea that artificially sweetened drinks cant make you fat (a popular urban myth) - but perhaps they can :cry:
  • butcher_boy
    butcher_boy Posts: 117
    If your spitting out the Energy drink wouldn't you need another bottle of just water to stop dehydration? :?

    Can maybe see the point with gels but not sure why you would with a drink

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