Efeito do enxágue bucal com carboidrato no desempenho de testes de curta e longa duração

Abstract

In order to examine the kinetics of exogenous and endogenous glucose during high intensity exercise, a group of researchers tested six athletes for 1 hour at 75% of maximum power through the infusion of 20% glucose. No improvement in performance was observed after administration of glucose intravenously, which suggests that the carbohydrate (CHO) during exercise may exert its ergogenic effect acting through the central nervous system, possibly mediated by glucose receptors in mouth. To test this hypothesis, researchers investigated the effect of oral rinse with CHO on performance in a one-hour race against the clock. The authors concluded that oral rinse with CHO improves performance in tests of high intensity and short duration, and that the mechanism responsible may be a central or mediated glucose receptors in the mouth. Thus, the mere presence of glucose or maltodextrin in the mouth is able to activate brain regions associated with reward, such as the insula/frontal operculum, orbitofrontal cortex and striatum. Accordingly, improvements in performance mediated by rinsing with CHO may occur, but more studies in order to demonstrate the effects of the rinse on physical performance are still needed.