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Sports Drink Intake Pattern Affects Exogenous Carbohydrate Oxidation during Running
Stephen A Mears1, Benjamin Boxer, David Sheldon
1School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UNITED KINGDOM.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|March 14, 2020
Summary
Consuming carbohydrate sports drinks in larger, less frequent doses during endurance running enhances exogenous carbohydrate oxidation. This method did not lead to severe gastrointestinal discomfort in well-trained runners.
Area of Science:
- Exercise Physiology
- Sports Nutrition
- Metabolic Research
Background:
- Optimizing fuel utilization during prolonged exercise is crucial for athletic performance.
- The pattern of carbohydrate intake can influence substrate oxidation and gastrointestinal comfort.
- Understanding how different ingestion strategies affect energy metabolism is vital for sports science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of carbohydrate sports drink ingestion patterns on exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates.
- To assess the effect of different drinking frequencies on gastrointestinal (GI) comfort during prolonged running.
- To compare the metabolic and subjective responses to two distinct carbohydrate feeding strategies.
Main Methods:
- Twelve male runners performed 100-minute submaximal running trials at 70% V˙O2peak.
- Participants consumed 1L of a 10% dextrose solution (enriched with [U-C] glucose) either as 200 mL every 20 min (CHO-20) or 50 mL every 5 min (CHO-5).
- Exogenous carbohydrate oxidation was measured using isotope-labeled glucose, alongside blood glucose and insulin levels, and subjective GI comfort ratings.
Main Results:
- Exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates were significantly higher (23% on average) with the CHO-20 (200 mL every 20 min) strategy.
- Peak exogenous carbohydrate oxidation was also elevated in the CHO-20 trial compared to CHO-5.
- No significant differences were observed in total carbohydrate oxidation, endogenous carbohydrate oxidation, serum glucose, insulin concentrations, or severe GI discomfort between the two ingestion patterns.
Conclusions:
- Ingesting carbohydrate solutions in larger volumes at less frequent intervals enhances exogenous carbohydrate oxidation during prolonged submaximal running.
- Neither the CHO-20 nor the CHO-5 ingestion pattern led to severe gastrointestinal discomfort in well-trained runners.
- This suggests that a less frequent, larger-volume intake strategy may be beneficial for maximizing carbohydrate utilization without compromising GI comfort.
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