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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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19.02.2013 |
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Glycine boosts reaction time with lack of sleep
A small human study we found in Frontiers in Neurology suggests the same. In this study, the subjects were seven healthy men aged between 30 and 61. The researchers only let the men sleep for 5.5 hours a night for a period of three days so they were sleep deprived. Thirty minutes before they went to bed the men were given a placebo. After the first and the third night the researchers subjected their subjects to a battery of tests.
The researchers repeated the procedure, but gave the subjects 3 g glycine instead of the placebo. The figures below show what the effect of this was on the men's reaction times. The researchers measured this by doing a test in which the men sat at a screen, upon which three different symbols [A, B or C] could appear. When symbol A appeared the men had to press a button as quickly as possible.
The first figure shows the results for day 1, the second the results for day 3. The black circles represent the measurements taken during the glycine supplementation period. In both cases glycine improved the reaction time.
The researchers suspect that glycine interacts in the brain with the NMDA receptor, and via the receptor boosts the production of vasopressin. Vasopressin constricts blood vessels a little, thus ensuring that the urine contains less water. In theory this could raise blood pressure, but the researchers did not observe this.
The Japanese suggest that the measured effects of the glycine supplementation may be partly due to the increased production of vasopressin. How this works exactly they are not sure.
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