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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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31.12.2011 |
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Tartary buckwheat for endurance athletes
We have no idea whether you'll be able to find Tartary buckwheat [scientific name Fagopyrum tataricum], but if you can get hold if it, extracts of this relative of common buckwheat are interesting for endurance athletes. According to researchers at the Chinese Yiwu Industrial & Commercial College, they boost stamina.
The two buckwheat varieties have similar protein composition, but Tartary buckwheat probably contains more phenols and potentially bioactive substances. Analyses show that buckwheat consists of 7 percent flavonoids, such as quercetin, kaempferol, rutin and kaempferol-3-rutinoside.
Animal studies show that extracts of Tartary buckwheat offer protection against diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Performance enhancing characteristics had not yet been examined, so the researchers gave mice 0 [First group], 60 [Second group], 120 [Third group] or 240 mg [Fourth group] extract per kg bodyweight for 28 days.
At the end of the 28 days the researchers tied a weight to the mice's tails and got them to swim to the point of exhaustion. The more extract the mice had been given, the longer they managed to hold out.
The researchers are not sure how the Tartary buckwheat extracts cause these effects. "Further study is needed to elucidate the exact mechanism of the effect of Tartary Buckwheat Extracts on fatigue", they write.
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