Dr. John's Health Matters
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Posts tagged "performance"
Wednesday, Sep 2nd, 2009 ↓High-Carb, High-Fat Diets Better for Cognitive Performance →
September 1, 2009 (Medscape.com) — Diets high in carbohydrates or fat can lead to significantly better cognitive-performance and inflight-testing scores in pilots than diets high in protein, according to results reported in a poster presentation at the Military Health Research Forum (MHRF) 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri.
In addition, a high-carbohydrate diet helped study pilots sleep better, and a high-fat diet appeared to lead to significantly faster short-term memory.
“We started out thinking that the high-protein diet would lead to being the sharpest afterward,” said colead investigator Glenda Lindseth, RN, PhD, licensed registered dietician and professor of nursing at the University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks. “But we were surprised by our findings that it was actually the high-carb or high-fat diets that were the best. Eating a diet that’s high in protein just isn’t going to help you perform optimally.”
“As a retired air-force pilot and a pilot for over 30 years, I believe this type of study is definitely needed,” said the other colead author, Paul Lindseth, PhD, professor of aviation and associate dean at the UND Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. “This is important for pilots in the military and in combat situations, where they need to be sharp and alert.”
For full medical article, see link above.
Tags: high carb carbohydrate fat protein macronutrient diet nutrition cognitive performance testing score sleep short term memory performance alertness
Erythropoietin Boosts Brainpower, Researchers Find →
July 8, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—
Hannelore Ehrenreich led a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Göttingen, Germany, who studied the mice. She said, “Erythropoietin has been in clinical use for over 20 years to treat patients with anemic conditions, ranging from renal failure to cancer. It has recently received attention for its apparent ability to improve cognitive function in people with schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. Here, we sought to investigate erythropoietin’s effects in healthy mice”.
Ehrenreich and her colleagues tested the effects of erythropoietin on the ability of the mice to learn how to exploit an experimental set-up to receive sugared water. Over a series of learning stages, the mice were trained to get their treat by poking their noses into holes lit by LEDs, rather than into unlit holes, within a time limit. The mice that had been treated with recombinant human erythropoietin were significantly more likely to master the task than those that had not. According to Ehrenreich, “Treated mice showed superior performance in associative, operant and discriminant learning as well as in the initial training phases. Moreover, erythropoietin-treated mice demonstrated better task adaptation and higher performance stability”.
For full article see link above.
Healthy young mice treated with erythropoietin show lasting improved performance in learning and other higher brain functions. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology tested the cognitive effects of the growth factor, finding that it improved the sequential learning and memory components of a complex long-term cognitive task.
Tags: brain function cognitive task effect learning memory erythropoietin schizophrenia MS performance
Betaine: Uptake in sports nutrition is ‘fast growing’ →
July 2, 2009 (Nutraingredients.com)Danisco’s betaine ingredient is generating growing interest in the US for its performance enhancing properties, with the sports nutrition market now accounting for the majority of the ingredient’s sales just over a year after its launch.
Sales for the nutrient, which is derived from the molasses of sugar beets, increased 40 percent between May 2008 and May 2009, prompting the firm’s launch this week of a website that consolidates information on the use of betaine for performance boosting applications.
The company introduced its branded BetaPower onto the US sports nutrition market at the end of 2007 and although uptake and awareness is still limited as the market remains young, Danisco said it expects betaine will become “one of the well recognized ingredients used by the sports nutrition industry” over the next few years.
Health benefits
Betaine is a nutrient found in foods such as shellfish, spinach, beets and whole grains. It has been linked to a number of health benefits, particularly heart, liver and kidney health.
In comparison, the sports nutrition market is relatively new, but growing, said Danisco’s business manager for betaine Mika Paulamaki.
“Up until one year (ago), the awareness by the supplements and food industry was mostly limited for the use of betaine for specific health areas (…) We have to bear in mind that the sports performance application was only introduced at the end of 2007 and it always takes time for consumers to find new products and ingredients,” Paulamaki told NutraIngredients-USA.com.
The use of betaine to enhance performance is supported by a number of scientific trials, with demonstrated benefits including less fatigue, greater general strength and greater endurance during recovery.
For full article see link above.
Tags: sport endurance fatigue enhance performance betaine kidney supplement strength recovery nutrition
Sleep Extension Improves Athletic Performance And Mood →
June 10, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com) —Athletes who extended their nightly sleep and reduced accumulated sleep debt reported improvements in various drills conducted after every regular practice, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 8, at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
Results of the study indicated that sleep extension in athletes was associated with a faster sprinting drill (approximately 19.12 seconds at baseline versus 17.56 seconds at end of sleep extension), increased hitting accuracy including valid serves (12.6 serves compared to 15.61 serves), and hitting depth drill (10.85 hits versus 15.45 hits).
According to the lead author of the study, Cheri Mah, M.S., researcher at the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory at Stanford University in CA., many of the athletes who participated in the study realized for the first time the importance of sleep and how it impacts their performance during competitions.
“Traditionally, elite athletes dedicate numerous hours to daily practice, strength training, and conditioning as well as work closely with nutritionists in hopes of optimizing their athletic performance,” said Mah. “However, very little, if any, attention is focused on an athlete’s sleeping patterns and habits. While most athletes and coaching staff may believe that sleep is an important contributing factor in sports, many do not realize that optimal or peak performance can only occur when an athlete’s sleep and sleep habits are optimal.”
For full article see link above.
Power of Music Improves Sport Performance →
Nob 0-3 08 (Mercola.com) More than 7,000 runners who recently raced in a half-marathon in London were under the influence of a powerful performance-enhancing stimulant — pop music.
The music at London’s “Run to the Beat” race was selected on the basis of the research and consultation of sport psychologist Costas Karageorghis. He has learned how to devise soundtracks that are just as powerful, if not more so, as some of the less legal substances that athletes commonly take to excel.
The link between music and athletic performance is just one example of the inroads scientists and doctors are making into understanding the amazing power that music has over your mind and body. Science has shown that music really can kill pain, reduce stress, better your brain and basically change how you experience life.
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