UGA conducts study to find ways for people to run farther
November 3, 2009 by JORDAN TATE
Filed under News
Need a wake-up call? Grab a Cola.
Miss your morning vitamins? Drink a Vitamin Water.
Going for a run? Down a Gatorade.
Want to run faster? The Coca-Cola Company is still brewing that one up.
UGA researchers tested quercetin – a plant-dervied nutritional supplement – for its ability to improve exercise performance, on behalf of The Coca-Cola Company.
“More and more consumers are looking for beverages that not only just hydrate,” said Allyson Park, communications director for The Coca-Cola Company, “but also provide benefits in the form of vitamins, for example. If the studies show that these types of ingredients can provide a benefit, then we can explore that further and look at [whether] that would make sense for our product portfolio.”
Quercetin is a polyphenolic flavonoid that is commonly found in berries, leafy vegetables, black tea and skins of fruit.
There is interest in the supplement because of a study at the University of South Carolina, which found a 37 percent increase in exercise performance in mice.
“They found increased growth of mitochondria and an increased aerobic muscle oxidative capacity, meaning the muscles in the mice could produce more ATP – more chemical energy,” said Kirk Cureton, a professor of kinesiology and lead author of the University’s study. “That apparently led to improved running performance, although we don’t know that that exactly was the reason.”
The University’s study is the first of its kind to test the effects of quercetin on human subjects who are not endurance trained. The study, published in August, showed there is no correlation between quercetin and higher performance in humans.
“I think the findings are important,” Cureton said. “Mainly because the animal research suggested that this would have a strong ergogenic effect – that it would increase performance, actually much like the effects of exercise training. There’s been a lot of talk about there being an exercise pill and that would be similar to what would be going on here if there was an ergogenic effect in people. We thought we would find positive results, we didn’t. We didn’t really find any effects of the quercetin. Effects on mice and people appear to be different.”
Media outlets, however, have heralded quercetin as a ‘perfect energy supplement’ and an ‘exercise endurance booster.’
Lance Armstrong sponsors FRS, a product that contains quercetin. The product Web site draws on past animal research to support its claims that it helps people ‘fuel up.’ Armstrong’s endorsement is linked to the heavy publicity surrounding quercetin, but Cureton says that his study goes against these claims.
“This [study] sort of counters a lot of the hype associated with this product,” said Cureton. “It hasn’t shown to [enhance performance] yet, at least in people.”
The Coca-Cola Company initially expressed interest in the study because of the potential marketability of quercetin.
Cureton was contacted by The Coca-Cola Company partly because of past work he has done with them. This work includes research with an experimental caffeinated sports drink in addition to research comparing Gatorade and Powerade and how they affect endurance performance.
“They actually were interested in us doing some testing on [quercetin],” said Cureton. “They really expressed an interest in having a study.”
The Coca-Cola Company invests in research in order to be more receptive to possible consumer desires.
“We fund lots and lots of different research,” Park said. “We have some research on polyphenols that’s coming out at the end of this year that we helped fund. We fund this research to look at what consumer benefits are out there that might have application to our products.”
In light of the hypothesis that the study failed to support, Park emphasized that The Coca-Cola Company funds research for the consumer benefit.
“That’s why we fund research, to look at things and see how things perform and how they don’t,” Park said.
