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
Glycine supplementation improves the quality of sleep and the day after a night of glycine-improved sleep your memory works better too, we wrote recently. According to a recent study done by the Japanese company Ajinomoto, glycine also helps when there is a shortage of sleep. The supplement improves reaction speed. So glycine may be an interesting supplement for gamers.
Glycine & sleep
Human study
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.
Animal study
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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