According to a British study published in the Journal of Physiology , sugary drinks with glucose activate areas of the brain responsible for motor control and reward , which could explain why consuming them improves the physical performance of athletes .
In the study, researchers at the University of Birmingham used nuclear magnetic resonance to measure the effect of different sugary drinks on the brains of cyclists during a workout. And they found that if they were given glucose products to drink, the answer was immediate: detecting the presence of dissolved carbohydrates in the mouth sent reward signals that rapidly increased physical performance. What's more, athletes didn't even need to swallow the liquid to get their power and heart rate up. Study co-author Ed Chambers suspects an unidentified chemical receptor in the mouth, other than taste receptors, is the key, as experiments reveal artificial sweeteners such as saccharin produce no response.
Several recently published investigations had already discovered that the diversity of beverages available to athletes – juices and soft drinks – improved hydration and performance during exertion and after exercise, although the reason was unknown until now.
