Carbohydrate Oral Rinsing, Cycling Performance and Individual Complex Carbohydrate Taste Sensitivity

The aim of this pilot study was to determine the effect of individual complex carbohy- drate taste sensitivity on cycling performance with complex carbohydrate oral rinsing. Ten male participants completed ve cycling time trials in a fasted state with a seven-day washout period between each trial. Participants completed a xed amount of work (738.45 150.74 kJ) as fast as possible on a cycle ergometer while rinsing with an oral rinse for 10 s every 12.5% of the trial. An oral rinse (maltodextrin, oligofructose, glucose, sucralose or water control) was given per visit in a randomised, crossover, blinded design. Afterwards, participants had their taste assessed with three stimuli, complex carbohydrate (maltodextrin), sweet (glucose) and sour (citric acid), using taste assessment protocol to determine individual taste sensitivity status. Participants were subsequently grouped according to their complex carbohydrate taste sensitivity and complex carbohydrate taste intensity. There were no signi cant effects of the oral rinses on cycling performance time (p= 0.173). Participants who did not have improvements in exercise performance with the maltodextrin rinse experienced a stronger taste intensity with complex carbohydrate stimuli at baseline (p= 0.047) and overall (p= 0.047) than those who did have improvements in performance. Overall, a carbohydrate oral rinse was ineffective in signi cantly improving cycling performance in comparison with a wa- ter control. However, when participants were grouped according to complex carbohydrate taste intensity, differences in exercise performance suggest that individual sensitivity status to complex carbohydrates could impact the ef cacy of a carbohydrate-based oral rinse.

This study examines the impact of carbohydrate oral rinsing on cycling performance and taste sensitivity.