This issue is powered by The Performance Nutrition Network
Dear Performance Nutrition Leaders,
This week: bicarbonate in energy gels during prolonged cycling, the latest industry news and opportunities, and Novamint’s exploration of the mouth as a site for performance interventions.
💡 EXPERT OPINION
We covered MNSTRY’s Bicarb Gel 40 back in March, when research into taking bicarbonate during endurance exercise was still underway. This new paper puts the format to the test.
Bicarbonate could have a place inside the race-day fuelling plan. In Norte and colleagues' study, trained cyclists who took bicarbonate gels during a 3-hour ride averaged 12 W more in a closing 12-minute time trial than when they took carbohydrate-only gels.
Sprints and two-minute performance did not improve significantly. Gastrointestinal symptoms were similar, but taste and texture prevented full blinding. MNSTRY supplied the gels.
Bicarbonate research has largely focused on pre-exercise loading, partly because existing formats are awkward to consume mid-race.
This study suggests that bicarbonate taken through gels during prolonged cycling, without pre-exercise loading, can improve a subsequent 12-minute effort. No significant increase in gastrointestinal symptoms was detected compared with carbohydrate alone.
Will you be trialling this approach with your athletes in training?
📈NEWS
Tottenham Hotspur is recruiting a Lead Performance Nutritionist for its women’s programme.
ELEAT has rebuilt its Protein Cereal as hoops, switching to a rice-protein recipe and boxed packaging. A 50 g serving is reported to provide 15 g protein and 5 g fibre.
Loughborough Sport is recruiting a Performance Nutritionist supporting England Netball’s World Class Programme and Loughborough’s performance programmes.
We Do Science features Dr Dana Lis and Nicki Strobel on culinary nutrition in professional cycling, including the working relationship between nutritionists, chefs and soigneurs.
Tiny Health has announced a $33 million Series B led by B Capital, alongside a $5 million microbiome research programme.
Asker Jeukendrup and Mike Gleeson have a useful paired resource on food allergy, intolerance and commercial sensitivity tests.
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is still advertising its Women’s Performance Nutritionist — Academy/Pathway contractor role.
Have an industry update you’d like to share? Drop us an email → [email protected]
💡PERFORMANCE TECH
Could the way an intervention interacts with the mouth become part of its performance effect?
That is the question behind Novamint, founded by Joe Taylor and James Aldridge. The team has shared an inside look at its approach with PN—INSIDER, including the thinking behind Enduro, its first product in development.
Novamint calls its approach Oral Performance Science: exploring how the biology of the mouth could inform the design and delivery of performance nutrition.
Enduro under polarised microscopy — beta product 2. Image supplied by Novamint.
In its development material, the company outlines several avenues of interest. These include sensory receptors that respond to compounds in the mouth, signals communicated to the central nervous system, absorption of suitable compounds across oral tissues, and transformations involving the oral environment.
Enduro is being developed as a small, dissolvable, water-free oral format for use during training or competition. Its intended areas of interest include alertness, mental focus, perceived effort and sustained performance. The exact ingredients and formulation remain confidential while development continues.
Ease of use is also central to the brief: the team wants something portable and straightforward to incorporate into an athlete’s routine. It is exploring potential research and advisory collaborations across exercise physiology, sports psychobiology, sensory interventions, pharmacology and oral-delivery science.
This is an early look at a development programme. For practitioners, the interesting next step will be seeing how the delivery concept performs when the finished formulation is tested.
