|
Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
|
|
||||||||
11.10.2013 |
|
|
Ferulic acid improves performance over a period of consecutive days
Ferulic acid is abundant in our diet. Besides the foods already mentioned it's also found in the cell walls of grains such as wheat, oats and rice. Because ferulic acid is already used as a performance enhancer in the equestrian sports world, and there are already indications that strength athletes who take ferulic acid perform better [J Appl Sci Res. 1990; 4:104-109.], the Koreans decided to test the stuff on mice.
The ferulic acid led to a considerable improvement in endurance capacity.
The Koreans also did another, 3-day, experiment. On day 1 they got the mice to swim, without giving them ferulic acid. On days 2 and 3 they repeated the swimming test. Before the tests, half of the animals were given 250 micromoles ferulic acid and the other half were given nothing [Control].
On day 3 the mice in the control group performed noticeably worse than on day 1. The mice in the ferulic acid group retained their initial endurance capacity.
The Koreans suspect that ferulic acid keeps performance level up by stimulating endogenous antioxidants such as catalase [CAT], superoxide-dismutase [SOD] and glutathione-S-transferase [GST]. The table above shows the concentrations of the protective enzymes that the Koreans found in the liver of their lab animals after they had done the last swimming test.
The research was funded by the Korean government.
Source:
More:
|
|
