Nutritional supplements in sports performance: Role of caffeine and Panax Ginseng
Amit Bandyopadhyay
Stevanato Group, Italy
: J Pharm Drug Deliv Res
Abstract
Dietary supplements are used by athletes not only to avoid doping but also to improve athletic performance. Chronic supplementation of caffeine and Panax ginseng (PG) improves sports performance. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effects of acute supplementation caffeine and PG on endurance running performance in young male university students. Nineteen recreational male runners who were non-users of caffeine and PG were recruited in this placebo-controlled double-blind randomized study. Caffeine (5 mg1.kg-1 body weight), PG (200 mg) or placebo was supplemented in encapsulated form one hour prior to the treadmill running exercise trial at 70% of VO2max. Oxygen uptake was determined every 20 min while heart rate, body and skin temperatures, and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded every 10 min during the trials. Blood samples were drawn every 20 min for the analysis of glucose, lactate, insulin and free fatty acids. Analysis of data by ANOVA indicated that endurance time was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the caffeine trial whereas cardiorespiratory parameters, skin and core body temperature, blood parameters and RPE did not show any significant variation among the trials. Even the combined supplementation of caffeine and PG did not influence the parameters measured in the study. Study showed that ingestion of 5 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight improved the endurance running performance but did not impose any significant effect on other studied parameters. Supplementation of PG or combined supplementation of caffeine and PG did not influence the endurance performance. bamit74@yahoo.co.in
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