By reader Gino Ng

It seems rinsing your mouth with but not swallowing a sports drink can help you perform on the day of your running or triathlon event. Two different studies support this.

In the first study, runners were asked to run as hard as they could on a treadmill. Before one run, they rinsed their mouth with a sports drink of 6 % glucose but didn’t swallow. Before their second run, they rinsed their mouth with an identical placebo drink with no calories and also didn’t swallow the drink.

Results? The runners ran faster and felt better when they rinsed their mouths with the sports drink.

In the second study, cyclists were made to do an all out 60-minute time trial while a) consuming a placebo drink with no sugars or electrolytes, b) a common sports drink, c) rinsing their mouth with the sports drink but not swallowing any. Here’s the funny result – the cyclists performed best while rinsing their mouths with the sports drink but NOT swallowing.

Go figure.

So if you are feeling bloated on the bike or after the run and can’t get any fluids down, just rinse and spit out your sports drink. You can still do well.

All the best to our patients taking part this weekend at the Osim Singapore International Triathlon.

References
Rollo I, Williams C Et al (2008). The Influence of Carbohydrate Mouth Rinse on Self -selected Speeds during a 30-min Treadmill Run. The International J of Sp Nutrition & Ex Metabolism. Dec 18(6) : 585-600.

Potter A, Bouckert J et al (2008) Mouth Rinse of a Carbohydrate Solution Improves 1hour Cycle Time Trial Performance. Scandinavian J of Med and Science in Sports. Nov 3 Epub.

About Gino Ng
Prior to joining Physio Solutions, Gino Ng worked as a senior sports physiotherapist at the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) from 1999-2009. He graduated with a double masters in Musculoskeletal and Sports Physiotherapy from the University of South Australia on a Singapore Sports Council sponsorship.