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News

Sports drinks have mysterious effect

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Man with sports drink

Sweet taste of success: A new study reports that the human brain can detect carbohydrates in the mouth and trigger reward signals that improve exercise performance.

Credit: iStockphoto

These findings, he added, support the "central governor hypothesis" – the idea that it is not the muscles, heart or lungs that limit performance, but the brain itself.

Clyde Williams, a sports scientist with Loughborough University, also in Britain, said the new study builds upon others that have suggested the brain slows exercise after sensing low levels of carbohydrates. "The paper provides good evidence that simply having a carbohydrate solution in the oral cavity is detected by the brain," he said.

Williams added the brain is responding to carbohydrates before they really enter the body. "In some ways the reaction is to the 'promise' of an incoming carbohydrate load," he said, "and so one wonders what happens… when the 'promise' is not fulfilled."

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Readers' comments

properties of sport drinks

being a long time type one diabetic myself i wonder if these findings demonstrate a possible controlled application
of the carbohydrate rinse could stimulate a temporary glucose level burst in the blood there by allowing diabetics to elevate their sugar levels without increasing
their caloric load.?.