Best, R.; Maulder, P.S.; Berger, N. Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Carbohydrate and Menthol Mouth-Swilling Solutions: A Repeated Measures Cross-Over Preliminary Trial. Beverages2021, 7, 9.
Best, R.; Maulder, P.S.; Berger, N. Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Carbohydrate and Menthol Mouth-Swilling Solutions: A Repeated Measures Cross-Over Preliminary Trial. Beverages 2021, 7, 9.
Best, R.; Maulder, P.S.; Berger, N. Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Carbohydrate and Menthol Mouth-Swilling Solutions: A Repeated Measures Cross-Over Preliminary Trial. Beverages2021, 7, 9.
Best, R.; Maulder, P.S.; Berger, N. Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Carbohydrate and Menthol Mouth-Swilling Solutions: A Repeated Measures Cross-Over Preliminary Trial. Beverages 2021, 7, 9.
Abstract
Carbohydrate and menthol mouth-swilling have been used to enhance exercise performance in the heat. However, these strategies differ in mechanism and subjective experience. Participants (n=12) sat for 60 min in hot conditions (35°C; 15±2%), following a 15 min control period, participants undertook three 15 min testing blocks. A randomised swill (Carbohydrate; Menthol; Water) was administered per testing block (one swill every three minutes within each block). Heart rate, tympanic temperature, thermal comfort, thermal sensation and thirst were recorded every three minutes. Data were analysed by ANOVA, with carbohydrate intake controlled for via ANCOVA. Small elevations in heart rate were observed after carbohydrate (ES: 0.22 ± 90% CI: -0.09 to 0.52) and water swilling (0.26; -0.04 to 0.54). Menthol showed small improvements in thermal comfort relative to carbohydrate (-0.33; -0.63 to 0.03) and water (-0.40; -0.70 to -0.10), and induced moderate reductions in thermal sensation (-0.71; -1.01 to -0.40 and -0.66; -0.97 to -0.35, respectively). Menthol reduced thirst by a small to moderate extent. These effects persisted when controlling for dietary carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrate and water may elevate heart rate, whereas menthol elicits small improvements in thermal comfort, moderately improves thermal sensation and may mitigate thirst; these effects persist when dietary carbohydrate intake is controlled for.
Keywords
Carbohydrate; Menthol; Thermal Comfort; Thermal Sensation; Thirst; Water
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Anatomy and Physiology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
