A–Z of nutritional supplements: dietary supplements, sports nutrition foods and ergogenic aids for health and performance—Part 27

Acute dietary nitrate supplementation does not augment submaximal forearm exercise hyperemia in healthy young men

“…Thus we were unable to quantify either the contraction intensity or the “relative” exercise intensity associated with each work level of our graded forearm exercise protocol. This is an important consideration given the intensity-dependent role of nitric oxide for muscle blood flow responses to exercise (Ferguson et al 2013a; Wray et al 2011) and the ergogenic/metabolic effects of dietary nitrate supplementation (Bailey et al 2009; Bescos et al 2012; Jones et al 2011; Lansley et al 2011; Vanhatalo et al 2011). To address this issue, we closely compared brachial artery blood flow, shear rate, and dilator responses between our subjects and the handgrip exercise study of Wray et al (2011), which examined the nitric oxide dependency of these responses in healthy young adults using a protocol with a similar number of exercise stages (n=6) and work/rest durations (3 min/1 min).…”

“…As a result, there has been a growing interest in the use of dietary interventions that increase bioavailable NO as both cardiovascular health-promoting (Kapil et al 2010; Lundberg et al 2011; Machha and Schechter 2011) and ergogenic aids (Bailey et al 2009; Bescos et al 2012; Jones et al 2011; Lansley et al 2011; Vanhatalo et al 2011). In particular, dietary supplementation with inorganic salts or high-nitrate containing foods (e.g., beetroot juice) has recently grown in popularity for its potential blood pressure-lowering and aerobic exercise performance-enhancing effects.…”

“…In particular, dietary supplementation with inorganic salts or high-nitrate containing foods (e.g., beetroot juice) has recently grown in popularity for its potential blood pressure-lowering and aerobic exercise performance-enhancing effects. With regard to the latter function, many of the studies performed in humans have largely focused on the influence of dietary nitrate on exercising muscle metabolism, such as a putative ability to reduce the oxygen cost of muscle contraction (Bailey et al 2010; Bailey et al 2009; Bentley et al 2014; Bescos et al 2012; Jones et al 2011; Larsen et al 2011). However, evidence from a rodent model suggests that dietary nitrate supplementation may also improve the perfusion of active skeletal muscles during exercise (Ferguson et al 2013b).…”

A–Z of nutritional supplements: dietary supplements, sports nutrition foods and ergogenic aids for health and performance—Part 29

“…Most commonly, phytosterols are produced from a cycloartenol precursor which makes their synthesis different from animal sterols (zoosterols) which are derived from a lanosterol precursor. Various phytosterols have been discussed previously in this series including γ-oryzanol,12 octosanol and policosanol,13 and supplements containing Cissus quadrangularis 14 15. No direct ergogenic properties have been found from these phytosterols.…”

A–Z of nutritional supplements: dietary supplements, sports nutrition foods and ergogenic aids for health and performance: Part 44

“…As is the case with phaseolamin and hydroxycitric acid, other compounds from herbal sources have been used for weight loss such as γ-oryzanol,29 nootkatone30 and yohimbine 31. All warrant further scrutiny.…”