Green tea and curcumin enhance performance
Matcha green tea burns fat during exercise
In this innovative study, 12 women with regular menstrual cycles, average age 28, weighing 152 pounds, and 5’3” tall, volunteered for a walking test to determine their individual moderate exercise intensity to prepare for a later 30-minute treadmill test.
The women began taking a placebo or three 1-gram capsules of matcha green tea powder per day for three weeks, with the final 1-gram dose two hours before the treadmill test, timed between day 9 and 11 of their menstrual cycle. Average walking speed was 3.6 miles per hour.
Matcha had no effect on heart rate, but women taking matcha increased fat oxidation by 35 percent during the walk. Also, the matcha group needed less oxygen to get energy into muscle compared to placebo.
Curcumin reduces post- exercise pain
In this study, 29 healthy men, aged 18 to 35, with experience in strength training, drank a placebo beverage or one with 450 mg of curcumin extract before, and immediately after, an exercise routine. The routine consisted of a warm-up stretch, then leg presses and lower-limb resistance exercises to exhaustion.
Compared to placebo, the curcumin group had delayed muscle soreness and reported less pain 48 hours post- exercise. Also, the curcumin group had less accumulation of lactate—a factor in fatigue—which doctors believe was why they maintained higher power in the third set of leg presses.
Discussing the findings, doctors said curcumin appeared to increase sustained power during strenuous exercise, reduce lactate build-up, and permit athletes to return to exercise training sooner than they would without curcumin.
Reference: Journal of Dietary Supplements; September, 2020, 19390211 DECEMBER 2020
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