Here’san article from the Times a few weeks back, suggesting that "athletes can improve their performance in intense bouts of exercise, lasting an hour or so, if they merely rinse their mouths with a carbohydrate solution. They don’t even have to swallow it. "
Anyone tried this yet? I’ll volunteer if I can figure out (it’s not in the article) the recipe for the carbohydrate rinse. Someone suggested that you might as well swallow it, and get a little nutrition, but I’m on a no-carbs diet, and want to test it out. Any suggestions for creating the mix suggested here?
From the article:
‘the scientists used a solution of water and a flavorless starch derivative called maltodextrin’
Maltodextrin can be bought reasonably cheap as a body building/sport supplement, mostly to add to shakes for extra calories when bulking, or to provide High GI carbs for energy and what not. You would have to figure out the ratios yourself, but at the end of the day it’s only supplemental.
Unless you’re an elite level athlete I doubt it will have that much of an effect, more could be gained by the layman by improvements in diet, technique and the like (in the same way that elite cyclists can gain milliseconds in lap times by shaving exposed body hair for extra aerodynamic effect, but it wouldn’t make much difference in an amateur who isn’t competing at such a high level where milliseconds make a difference - if that makes sense?).
I wonder if, given more research the rinse could potentially have other uses, maybe quelling carb cravings when on a low carb diet?
Well, that was a thought of mine, since I’ve been on a no-carbs diet for the past few years (and have lost 70 pounds while on it). By no-carbs, what I mean is that I never eat starches (potatoes, pasta, bread, etc.) but I’m sure I get plenty of carbs in other foods like fruit and some other veggies, yogurt, etc. But I do get cravings for a big plate of spaghetti carbonera now and then, and I think the rinse may reduce those cravings. This sounds like I may not have anything to lose, and it might serve as a placebo if nothing else. But maybe it would have an effect on my training–I know I’m often exhausted at the end of a 7 mile run, or atthe end of a workout where I’m straining to lift weights. maybe this would help psychologicly if not physically.
If the carb-rinse is actually effective, is this kind of how it might (biochemically) work? Tricking the body into thinking “Hey, we’ve got some extra fuel to burn now!”?
Malodextrin, as described above is a common way for people to get a little boost of energy as stores of sugars are being depleted in the liver and muscles. I have experience with this as it helps doing something say, a triathelon which takes longer than an hour. It’s recommended to take this every 45 minutes (only 100 calories, which is burnt up pretty quickly in an intense situation), to help with the transition to burning fat stores. The general idea, as I understand it, is that the body has a little bit of a transition phase, and prevent hitting “the wall” when fat stores are just starting to be used.
Of course the question of “does this work”, I don’t really know. It seems possible, that you’d be absorbing some of the sugars directly, but I didn’t realize that 3/4 of an ounce of Gu would cause problems for most athletes.