The Effects of Peppermint on Exercise Performance

[Mark Weaver]

Just read an interesting article.  Contents are below.  I'm not much for understanding the technical stuff.  Anyone want to comment?  I use peppermint oil quite frequently, mostly in my drinking water with lemon oil.

 

 

"Enhancing athletic performance is a great desire among the athletes, coaches and researchers. Mint is one of the most famous natural herbs used for its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antioxidant, and vasoconstrictor effects. Even though inhaling mint aroma in athletes has been investigated, there were no significant effects on the exercise performance.

METHODS: Twelve healthy male students every day consumed one 500 ml bottle of mineral water, containing 0.05 ml peppermint essential oil for ten days. Blood pressure, heart rate, and spirometry parameters including forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow rate (PEF), and peak inspiratory flow (PIF) were determined one day before, and after the supplementation period. Participants underwent a treadmill-based exercise test with metabolic gas analysis and ventilation measurement using the Bruce protocol.

RESULTS: The FVC (4.57 ± 0.90 vs. 4.79 ± 0.84; p < 0.001), PEF (8.50 ± 0.94 vs. 8.87 ± 0.92; p < 0.01), and PIF (5.71 ± 1.16 vs. 6.58 ±1.08; p < 0.005) significantly changed after ten days of supplementation. Exercise performance evaluated by time to exhaustion (664.5 ± 114.2 vs. 830.2 ± 129.8 s), work (78.34 ±32.84 vs. 118.7 ± 47.38 KJ), and power (114.3 ± 24.24 vs. 139.4 ± 27.80 KW) significantly increased (p < 0.001). In addition, the results of respiratory gas analysis exhibited significant differences in VO2 (2.74 ± 0.40 vs. 3.03 ± 0.351 L/min; p < 0.001), and VCO2 (3.08 ± 0.47 vs. 3.73 ± 0.518 L/min; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The results of the experiment support the effectiveness of peppermint essential oil on the exercise performance, gas analysis, spirometry parameters, blood pressure, and respiratory rate in the young male students. Relaxation of bronchial smooth muscles, increase in the ventilation and brain oxygen concentration, and decrease in the blood lactate level are the most plausible explanations.

THE EFFECTS OF PEPPERMINT ON EXERCISE PERFORMANCE. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013 Mar 21;10(1):15. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-10-15. Meamarbashi A, Rajabi A. Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil 56199-11367, Iran. a_meamarbashi@yahoo.com.

[Joshua Naterman]

Good critical review.

 

With something like this, you typically want to see at least one repeat in the crossover design... meaning each person serves as their own control several times. Peppermint, placebo. Peppermint, placebo. Peppermint, placebo.

 

Peppermint has shown some efficacy in increasing 1RM trials, but not by very much, and I don't know how much replication there is for that work.

 

Even if it's placebo, the intervention works. It would just happen to show something a bit different: If you can successfully trick your athlete into believing they have an edge, then they really DO have an edge. Which, of course, we know is true.

 

We often forget that talismans have very real power. Yes, the power is that of our own mind exerting control over our physiological processes, but without an external object to provide true belief we tend to be unable to access these benefits of placebo. Your belief is a very real thing, and it does affect how your body works.