In a new study, scientists found that runners who used a pink liquid solution (Pink Drinks) instead of a white mouthwash that tasted the same ran longer, faster on average, and still enjoyed the most interesting races.
“Adding pink food coloring to the artificially sweetened solution not only improves the sweetness but also improves pleasure, optional running speed and distance during running,” explained by sports nutritionist Sanjoy Deb, University of Westminster, UK. However, let us avoid some precautions before heading directly to the beverage aisle of the local supermarket.
This is a small study involving only 10 participants in total, so please consider it. And, like any such experiment, everything the researchers found was related to pink beverages. This is not a definitive scientific confirmation that intake of pink beverages make the legs move faster or more. Coloured beverages can have a significant impact on people’s overall running performance… So what is the possibility?
Researchers believe that the answer is related to the body’s response to energy absorption during exercise, even if it is only considered energy intake.
Previous studies have shown that performance during sports such as running and cycling seems to improve people’s use of carbohydrate mouthwashes. This stimulation is thought to stimulate brain areas related to exercise and reward system function. This effect can make Exercise looks both fun and not so tiring.
As for the specific pink, the research team chose this pink based on previous research, linking pink with sweetness.
“Although if pink is associated with perceived sweetness, there may not be a direct link between the color, taste, and functional nutrition of the drink, so sugar/carbohydrate intake is expected, but provide a flavor pink may be a reasonable exercise mouthwash through the potential placebo effect, it can produce a similar carbohydrate mouthwash to enhance human functions.” Deb and her co-authors write in the new article.
In order to test their hypothesis about the placebo effect, the researchers recruited 10 onset, healthy adults, run them as part of their daily exercise, and asked them to jog on a treadmill for 30 minutes, and instructed them to set their own Exercise speed. In the experiment, volunteers were repeatedly asked to rinse their mouths with artificially sweetened non-caloric solutions (clear liquids or the same pink solution with food coloring (but the same as clear drinks)).
The researchers said that this simple addition had a significant impact on running performance, and the average speed of the pink drink increased by about 0.5 kilometers (about 0.3 miles) per hour, which in the experiment meant an increase of 213 meters (almost is 700 feet) in running, and the overall performance has increased by 4.4%.
“In the pink mouthwash, the pleasure during exercise also increased, which may be psychophysiological mechanism may support the reported performance improvement”, the author writes.
Researchers believe that this mechanism is affected by a placebo Supported by the effect, under this effect, runners may expect to gain energy from the potential consumption of sugar/carbohydrates in the sweet mouthwash they use.
It is worth noting that before the experiment, participants saw Deo They detailed the performance-enhancing benefits of carbohydrate mouthwash, and informed them that the upcoming test was designed to measure the effect of using two commercial sports drinks to rinse their mouths.
Of course, this is a trick to “make” volunteers “Blindly” know the true meaning of the experiment. But it also means that they may be ready to trigger a placebo effect. This method may be difficult to replicate at home, and it is difficult to replicate at home just by swallowing the pink liquid.
(Although it is still worth a try!) is a very fascinating result in any case. The researchers say that further studies are necessary for future studies to observe the effect of this pink placebo. (Or maybe another color).
Oh, if you want to rinse your mouth with something during exercise, you may want to avoid rinsing. This also has some very strange effects.