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Caffeinated chewing gum improves military performances in special forces soldiers
Yi-Jie Shiu1, Che-Hsiu Chen2, Hung-Yu Lin3
1Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of caffeinated chewing gum on the cognitive tasks, strength and military performance of tier 1 special forces soldiers in Taiwan.
Methods:
Sixteen male serving special forces soldiers (age: 34 ± 7 years; height: 172 ± 4 cm; BMI: 25.4 ± 2.7 kg/m²) completed the caffeinated chewing gum (CAF) trial and the placebo (PL) trial using a randomised crossover experimental design. After chewing the caffeinated chewing gum containing 3 mg·kg- 1 of caffeine (CAF trial) or placebo gum (PL trial), participants completed the cognitive tasks, grip strength, weighted vertical jump and the special forces military performance tests which included rapid-fire test and close-quarters battle (CQB) tests. Before, during, and after the experiment, the heart rate variability and salivary α-amylase were collected.
Results:
Grip strength (increase 4.4 ± 7.1 kg; P = 0.037), weighted vertical jump height (increase 1.3 ± 2.1 cm; P = 0.032), cognitive tasks (simple response times, stroop task and visual search reaction time in 20 items) (P < 0.05), shooting scored in rapid-fire test (increase 1.0 ± 2.1 points; P = 0.030), the CQB tests (increase 1.1 ± 1.8 points; P = 0.044) and the completion times of CQB tests (increase 9.8 ± 7.2 s; P = 0.015) of the CAF trial were significantly better than those of the PL trial. The values of LF, LF/HF, salivary caffeine and α-Amylase concentration in the CAF trial were significantly higher compared to the PL trial (P < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Caffeinated chewing gum may improve military performance and cognitive performance by increasing sympathetic nervous system activity, as indicated by heart rate variability and salivary α-amylase concentration in CAF trials.
Trial Registration:
The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT06638372.
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