Researchers at the University of Westminster’s Dietary Supplement Center have found that pink energy drinks can make athletes run faster and improve athletic performance by about 4.4% over clear liquids.
The researcher said,Rinse your mouth with a pink non-calorie artificially swept solution to improve self-paced running performance and pleasure for habitually active individuals, ”In the journal Nutrition frontier.
(Photo: Release splash)
Energy drinks are a type of drink that contains sugar and stimulant compounds (usually caffeine) and are marketed as providing mental and physical stimuli. Energy drinks have the benefits of caffeine and sugar, but there is little or no evidence that various other ingredients do. Most of the effects of energy drinks on cognitive abilities, such as increased attention and reaction rate, are primarily due to the presence of caffeine. Other studies have attributed these performance improvements to the effects of the combined ingredients.
Pink energy drinks can help people run faster and farther
According to the university news release Published in PR Newswire, this study was the first to investigate the effect of drink color on athletic performance and provided new insights into future studies of sports drinks and exercise.
Researchers asked participants to run on a treadmill at their own pace for 30 minutes to ensure that their exercise speed remained constant.
They were asked to rinse their mouths with a pink or clear energy drink while exercising. Both the pink artificial sweetener and the clear energy drink were low in calories. Ultimately, both drinks are exactly the same, but with different colors due to the addition of food coloring to the pink drink to change its appearance.
Participants began exercising by drinking clear energy drinks and then those containing pink food coloring. The average distance for those who drank the latter was 3.13 miles (5,047 meters), 696 feet (212 meters) longer than the former, and only 3.00 miles (4,835 meters).
In addition, participants who drank pink energy drinks reported that they found their run more enjoyable.
Read again: A man suffers from heart and kidney failure after drinking energy drinks four times a day in two years
Pink enhances the perception of sweetness
Research author Sanjoy Deb said that the effects of color on athletic performance, from the effects on athletes’ kits to the effects on testosterone power, have recently received a great deal of attention. Daily mail report.
In the field of gastronomy, color has been widely accepted with interest, especially since some researchers published a study on how color affects taste perception when eating and drinking. I will.
“Adding a pink colorant to an artificially sweetened solution not only improved the perception of sweetness, but also the sensation of joy, the speed of choice, and the distance traveled,” said Fat. Says.
The team chose a pink food coloring. This is usually associated with a sweet flavor, which raises expectations for sugar and carbohydrates in energy drinks.
This study builds on the results of previous studies showing that rinsing the mouth with carbohydrates can improve athletic performance by reducing the intensity of perceived activity.
Researchers in this recent study wanted to test whether the use of pink food coloring in carbohydrate-free energy drinks could elicit a similar response through the placebo effect.
“The findings from our research combine the art of gastronomy with performance nutrition,” said Fat.
Future studies on this topic, the team, will determine whether the placebo effect in their study can cause similar effects in activated brain regions, similar to when a person rinses the mouth with carbohydrates. I said I could look it up.
Related article: Black chocolate packaging makes people think it’s bitter [STUDY]
Check out more news and information about color And Perception At Science Times.
