Adding pink coloring to her drink improves pain perception and raises expectations for sugar and carbohydrate intake, leading to better physical performance.
- Consumption of a beverage artificially colored pink increased speed and distance traveled in runners.
- This would be explained by the fact that the color pink increases the expectation of carbohydrates, which are known to reduce the perceived intensity of an exercise.
- Consuming a pink drink led to increased feelings of pleasure during exercise.
The incredible powers of the placebo effect. British researchers suggest that adding colorings to a drink changes the perception that we have of its composition, which can lead to improved physical performance. In a study published May 12 in the journal Frontiers in Nutritionthey show how a pink dye improves pain perception and increases sugar and carbohydrate intake expectations and contributes to 4.4% higher physical performance.
Carbohydrates improve performance
This study is the first to assess the effect of beverage color on exercise performance. The researchers chose pink because the color alters the perception of sweetness and raises expectations for sugar and carbohydrate intake. Previous studies have shown that rinsing the mouth with carbohydrates can improve performance by reducing the perceived intensity of exercise. The researchers therefore wanted to assess whether a pink drink without a carbohydrate stimulus achieves similar benefits through the placebo effect.
For the study, the researchers had ten participants run repeatedly on a treadmill for 30 minutes at a speed of their choice, ensuring that their effort remained consistent. Throughout the exercise, the volunteers rinsed their mouths sometimes with an artificially pink low-calorie sweetened drink and sometimes with a clear, equally sweetened and low-calorie drink. Both drinks had exactly the same composition and only their appearance differed.
4.4% improved speed
The results showed that the participants traveled an average of 212 meters more when they consumed the pink drink and their average speed during the exercise test also increased by 4.4%. In addition, the volunteers explained that they found the race more pleasant when they drank the pink drink. “The results of our study combine nutrition and performance because the addition of a pink dye to an artificially sweetened solution not only improved the perception of pain but also improved sensations of pleasure, running speed and distance covered during training. ‘exercise”, concluded Dr Sanjoy Deb, researcher at the University of Westminster.
The scientists add that future research is needed to find out whether the placebo effect causes similar activation of reward areas of the brain as when consuming carbohydrates.
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