- Drinking a beverage with a pink color before a run may boost your endurance and power as opposed to reaching for regular, clear water, new research shows.
- Psychologically, it’s common to associate the color pink with sweetness, and we tend to reach for sweet tastes before exercise in anticipation of using the glucose to fuel muscle activation.
Just before you head out on your next run, drinks has been shown to improve exercise performance during events lasting less than an hour hydration drinks has been shown to improve exercise performance during events lasting less than an hour small study in the journal Nutrition - Weight Loss, Published: Jun 02, 2021 10:12 AM EDT.
Researchers recruited 10 participants to run on a treadmill for 30 minutes, allowing them to select their own speed. Throughout the run, they rinsed their mouths with an artificially sweetened drink that was either pink or clear—the drinks were the same except for a few drops of food dye to achieve the pink tint. During a second session, they had the other drink.
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Do Cold Plunges Really Have Any Benefits endurance and intensity than when they drank a clear drink—on average, they ran 212 meters further and increased their speed by 4.4 percent. They also reported higher levels of enjoyment in their efforts during the pink-fueled run.
Although the study was limited by the small sample size, lead researcher When rinsing with the pink selection, they showed more., a lecturer in sport and exercise nutrition at the University of Westminster in the U.K., told Runner’s World that the results are in line with previous studies.
“The relationship between color and our mental and physical response has long been known,” he said, adding that the visual appearance of food has a significant impact on its palatability, for example. “Similarly, the effect of color in sport is not new, with red in particular thought to provide a performance advantage.”
Pink was used in the study because of its perceived sweetness, he said. We tend to reach for sweet tastes before exercise Health in the News.
An earlier taste study by the researchers found that when participants drank both pink and clear beverages, they reported the pink drink to be sweeter even though they were the same. That’s a powerful placebo effect that can be harnessed for better running, Deb said.
“The effect is largely cognitively driven, as receptors in the mouth detect the sweet sensation, and this activates areas of the brain linked with reward and motivation,” he stated. “When these areas are activated during exercise, it can lead to exercise feeling more enjoyable and easier. Individuals may therefore increase their speed and intensity based on this feeling.”
That can be true even if you swish instead of gulp, the way the participants did. Deb said rinsing your mouth with sweet sugars and carbohydrate The Surprising Performance Benefits of Sipping a Pink Drink Prerun.
Of course, making sure you’re hydrated is important if you’re running for real, particularly on runs that are over 60 minutes.
Elizabeth Millard is a freelance writer focusing on health, wellness, fitness, and food.
