Why do athletes spit liquids that they drink and do not swallow?

The Telescope Some of you may have noticed during the World Cup this year that some players are doing something odd: when they take a sip of liquid, they can not afford it. 39; swallow. What they drink during the game spits sometimes instead of drinking it!

According to the New York Times, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and English captain Harry Kane were seen doing the same thing during the matches.

What's the secret behind all this spitting?

Although we do not know why some players do this, others do it as a kind of so-called carb exercise, according to the New York Times.

This rinsing method involves a carbohydrate solution of 5 to 10 seconds then the mouth, although it sounds disgusting, but some studies have shown that the increase in carbohydrates increases the level of intense activity of athletes for about an hour.

For example, in a 2014 study that looked at 11 previous studies on the carbohydrate segment, 8 of these studies showed that the carbohydrate peak several times improved its performance in certain activities such as than cycling and running. Less, compared to a normal liquid rinse that contains no effective substance.

However, three studies have found that this has no effect on the athletes' performance. Overall, according to the latest study that has reviewed other studies, the carbohydrate rinse has improved slightly, about 2% to 3%, and is almost equal to the improvement. performance when ingesting carbohydrates, according to Souvar poddar. Athlete at the UChealth Center in Denver. According to Michel Joyner, aerobics specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, non-ingestion of carbohydrates will prevent athletes from having digestive symptoms: if the concentration of the solution is strong, it will persist in the body. Stomach and body will have to release more fluid. And easy to digest.

The mechanism that improves performance after carbohydrates is still unknown, but one hypothesis suggests that carbohydrate receptors in the mouth activate certain areas of the brain, which improves motor efficiency or body movements in general .

According to Joyner, some studies have shown that the extent to which athletes adapt to difficult exercises can improve as soon as there is a sweet taste in the mouth, so even not swallowing a sweet lotion can help people feel active.

The solution used in these studies is a glucose solution that has a sweet taste, or maltodextrin, which is one of the substances added to the food and that is neither taste nor color.

Joyner told Live Science that most of the studies were done in the lab and that the focus was on cycling. We do not know how these results will be translated and integrated into high-level sports such as football.

According to Poddar, although scientific opinions are not entirely in agreement on the benefits of carbohydrates, they are practical, easy to apply and have little inconvenience.

Poddar pointed out that the carbohydrate solution should be avoided if a person is in a marathon or in exercises that last longer than an hour or two because the person must be fed more carbohydrates in the sports of long duration.

The original time of football matches is 90 minutes.

---

• Verification: Guide to Dreams
• Editing: Hossam Safa
• Source