Performance In A Pill: Are Brain Ergogenics Beneficial?
- By Mario Fraioli
- Published Jul. 1, 2011
- Updated Mar. 15, 2012 at 5:10 PM UTC
There are a wide range of nutrients that can delay central fatigue – ranging from caffeine (the most commonly used brain ergogenic) to branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs including valine, leucine, isoleucine) and other amino acids (like taurine/tyrosine/theanine), to flavonoids like quercetin/reseveratrol/catechins (which have both peripheral effects on blood flow and also central effects on brain neurotransmitters), and even more “exotic” compounds such as choline, fatty acids, and others. Dietary supplements with well-described peripheral endurance benefits, such as Eurycoma (which balances cortisol/testosterone) or Cordyceps (which improves oxygen efficiency) or Ginseng (which controls blood glucose) may also have central brain effects encouraging an endurance athlete to keep going for awhile longer.
Certainly, drugs such as caffeine or Adderall (for ADHD) or Provigil (for daytime sleepiness) can stimulate the brain to “wake up” or “keep going” and are effective enough for Americans to spend several billion dollars annually. Nobody is saying that endurance athletes should turn to pharmacological agents to gain any performance edge in our recreational pursuits, but there is undoubtedly a market for these types of products as subset of the general endurance/sports nutrition category. People will always be looking for that “extra gear” and targeting the central nervous system is likely to be the next frontier.
Some of my own research studies for a range of dietary supplement companies, have looked at the effects of BCAAs, theanine, catechins, cordyceps, eurycoma, etc. on psychological parameters such as “Vigor” (mental/physical energy levels) in endurance athletes. We’ve been able to show that athletes “feel better” (using mood state surveys) – but we have not always been able to show a direct advantage for performance outcomes (power output, time to exhaustion, perceived exertion, etc) – which suggests that it might be difficult to completely harness or control an organ as intricate and complex as the human brain.
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About the Author
Shawn Talbott is an avid endurance athlete (multiple-Ironman and ultramarathon finisher) and scientist (PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry and MS in Exercise Science) in Salt Lake City. He can be reached at www.ShawnTalbott.com
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Pages: 1 2FILED UNDER: Nutrition TAGS: brain ergogenics / central nervous system / dietary supplements / endurance sports performance / energy levels / Fatigue
Mario Fraioli
Mario Fraioli is a senior editor at Competitor magazine. A cross-country All-American at Stonehill College in 2003, he now coaches the Prado Women's Racing Team in San Diego and was the men's marathon coach for Costa Rica's 2012 Olympic team. His first book, The Official Rock 'n' Roll Guide To Marathon & Half-Marathon Training (VeloPress, 2013) is available in bookstores, running shops and online.