Want to get the most out of you run? Drink pink, a new study suggests.
A study led by the Centre for Nutraceuticals in the University of Westminster found that pink drinks can help you run faster and farther compared to clear beverages.
According to the researchers, a pink drink can not only increase exercise performance by 4.4% but can also increase a “feel good” effect that can make exercise seem easier.
Study participants were asked to run on a treadmill for 30 minutes at a self-selected speed that would ensure their rate of exertion remained consistent. Throughout the exercise, they rinsed their mouths with either a pink artificially sweetened drink that was low in calories or a clear drink that was also artificially sweetened and low in calories.
Both drinks were the same except for their appearance — the researchers added food coloring to the pink drink.
Why pink? It is associated with perceived sweetness and, therefore, increases expectations of sugar and carbohydrate intake, they wrote.
“The influence of colour on athletic performance has received interest previously, from its effect on a sportsperson’s kit to its impact on testosterone and muscular power,” said Dr. Sanjoy Deb, corresponding author on the paper from the University of Westminster. “Similarly, the role of colour in gastronomy has received widespread interest, with research published on how visual cues or colour can affect subsequent flavour perception when eating and drinking.
“The findings from our study combine the art of gastronomy with performance nutrition, as adding a pink colourant to an artificially sweetened solution not only enhanced the perception of sweetness, but also enhanced feelings of pleasure, self-selected running speed and distance covered during a run.”
The results showed the participants ran an average 232 yards farther with the pink drink, and their mean speed increased by 4.4%. Feelings of pleasure were also enhanced, meaning participants found running more enjoyable, the researchers wrote.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, is the first to investigate the effect of drink color on exercise performance and provides the potential to open a new avenue of research in the field of sports drinks and exercise.
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