NCT06675305

Acute Effects of Beetroot Juice Ingestion on Cognitive Function and Neuromuscular Performance in Elite Female Taekwondo Athletes

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 7 (actual)
• Sponsor: Universidad Pontificia Comillas · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 16 Years – 40 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Beetroot juice is a good source of nitrate (NO3-), which is a precursor of nitric oxide (NO) through the NO3- to nitrite (NO2-) to NO pathway (Lundberg et al., 2008). Consequently, it is thought that a minimum threshold may exist for dietary NO3- consumption of at least 5 mmol to enhance athletic performance (Senefeld et al., 2020). In turn, systematic reviews have documented that the use of beetroot juice supplementation enhances muscle strength and power-related attributes (Gonzalez et al., 2023), as well as performance in repeated high-intensity activity bouts (Alsharif et al., 2023; Dominguez et al., 2018). However, beetroot juice supplementation has been shown to have equivocal effects on neuromuscular performance specifically among individual sport athletes (e.g. taekwondo). Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of acute beetroot juice ingestion (140 mL, 12.8 mmol NO3-) on neuromuscular performance in elite female taekwondo athletes.

Detailed description

Beetroot juice is a good source of nitrate (NO3-), which is a precursor of nitric oxide (NO) through the NO3- to nitrite (NO2-) to NO pathway (Lundberg et al., 2008). This pathway is thought to promote increased sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium release and re-uptake with ensuing enhancements in force output within type II muscle fibers (Hernandez et al., 2012), as well as increased neurotransmitter release (Esen et al., 2022) and attenuated muscle potassium efflux (Wylie et al., 2013) that could benefit neuromuscular performance. Consequently, it is thought that a minimum threshold may exist for dietary NO3- consumption of at least 5 mmol to enhance athletic performance (Senefeld et al., 2020). In turn, systematic reviews have documented that the use of beetroot juice supplementation enhances muscle strength and power-related attributes (Gonzalez et al., 2023), as well as performance in repeated high-intensity activity bouts (Alsharif et al., 2023; Dominguez et al., 2018). However, beetroot juice supplementation has been shown to have equivocal effects on neuromuscular performance specifically among individual sport athletes (e.g. taekwondo). Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of acute beetroot juice ingestion (140 mL, 12.8 mmol NO3-) on neuromuscular performance in elite female taekwondo athletes.

Conditions

• Dietary Supplements: Beetroot Juice Acute Supplementation
• Dietary Supplement: Placebo Acute Supplementation

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Beetroot juice (James White, UK)	One serving 140 mL of BJ (12.8 mmol of NO3-; Beet-It-Pro Elite Shot, James White Drinks Ltd., Ipswich, UK) after an overnight fast and 2.5 h before initiating the testing session.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Placebo acute supplementation (James White, UK)	One serving 140 mL of BJ (0.04 mmol of NO3-; Beet-It-Pro Elite Shot, James White Drinks Ltd., Ipswich, UK) after an overnight fast and 2.5 h before initiating the testing session.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-05-01
• Primary completion: 2022-07-01
• Completion: 2022-08-15
• First posted: 2024-11-05
• Last updated: 2024-11-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Spain