Natural carbohydrate matches commercial products for sports performance
The study – published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition – examined the metabolic, performance and gastrointestinal (GI) effects of supplementation with a natural food product (in this case raisins) compared to a commercial product (sport chews).
Led by Gretchen Casazza, director of Sports Nutrition at the University of California – Davis, USA, the research team revealed that both the raisins and the commercial sports chews provided increases in running performance compared to water alone – finding that natural carbohydrate matched the commercial product in terms of the performance boost it offered.
“Our study provides evidence that solid carbohydrate consumption during a ~100-min run allows for maintenance of blood glucose levels and improved performance compared to water only,” wrote the researchers.
“Results [also] indicate that ingestion of a natural food product, raisins, had similar performance effects as a commercial sports product in chews and both products improved running time trial performance,” they added.
More to follow
Source: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
Volume 9, Issue 27, doi:10.1186/1550-2783-9-27
“Natural versus Commercial Carbohydrate Supplementation and Endurance Running Performance”
Authors: Brandon W Too, Sarah Cicai, Kali R Hockett, Elizabeth Applegate, Brian A Davis and Gretchen A Casazza
