Sodium bicarbonate induces alkalosis, but improves high-intensity cycling performance only when participants expect a beneficial effect: a placebo and nocebo study.

Publisher: Springer-Verlag Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 100954790 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1439-6327 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14396319 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Eur J Appl Physiol Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Berlin ; New York : Springer-Verlag, c2000-

Sodium Bicarbonate*/pharmacology ; Sodium Bicarbonate*/administration & dosage ; Bicycling*/physiology ; Alkalosis* ; Athletic Performance*/physiology; Humans ; Male ; Adult ; Double-Blind Method ; Nocebo Effect ; Cross-Over Studies ; Performance-Enhancing Substances/pharmacology ; Performance-Enhancing Substances/administration & dosage ; Female ; Placebo Effect ; Muscle, Skeletal/drug effects ; Muscle, Skeletal/physiology ; Lactic Acid/blood

The study aimed to investigate the effects of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) intake with divergent verbal and visual information on constant load cycling time-to-task failure, conducted within the severe intensity domain. Fifteen recreational cyclists participated in a randomized double-blind, crossover study, ingesting NaHCO 3 or placebo (i.e., dextrose), but with divergent information about its likely influence (i.e., likely to induce ergogenic, inert, or harmful effects). Performance was evaluated using constant load cycling time to task failure trial at 115% of peak power output estimated during a ramp incremental exercise test. Data on blood lactate, blood acid-base balance, muscle electrical activity (EMG) through electromyography signal, and the twitch interpolation technique to assess neuromuscular indices were collected. Despite reduced peak force in the isometric maximal voluntary contraction and post-effort peripheral fatigue in all conditions (P < 0.001), neither time to task failure, EMG nor, blood acid-base balance differed between conditions (P > 0.05). Evaluation of effect sizes of all conditions suggested that informing participants that the supplement would be likely to have a positive effect (NaHCO 3 /Ergogenic: 0.46; 0.15-0.74; Dextrose/Ergogenic: 0.45; 0.04-0.88) resulted in improved performance compared to control. Thus, NaHCO 3 ingestion consistently induced alkalosis, indicating that the physiological conditions to improve performance were present. Despite this, NaHCO 3 ingestion did not influence performance or indicators of neuromuscular fatigue. In contrast, effect size estimates indicate that participants performed better when informed that they were ingesting an ergogenic supplement. These findings suggest that the apparently ergogenic effect of NaHCO 3 may be due, at least in part, to a placebo effect.
(© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

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Keywords: Blood acid–base balance; Cycling performance; Peripheral nerve stimulations; Placebo effect; Supplement expectation

8MDF5V39QO (Sodium Bicarbonate)
0 (Performance-Enhancing Substances)
33X04XA5AT (Lactic Acid)

Date Created: 20231130 Date Completed: 20240427 Latest Revision: 20240510

20250114

10.1007/s00421-023-05368-0

38032386