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The soccer team’s 2016 Cinderella win came after the players underwent cryotherapy and drank beet juice. Did that really make a difference?
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FILE – This Saturday 7th May 2016, Leicester City team photo Claudio Ranieri put the crown of the trophy on Leicester’s goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel as they celebrate the English Premier at King Power Stadium in Leicester To become a league football champion. England The preseason longshots of 5,000-1 titles pushed the big spending teams aside to win the biggest prize in English football on Saturday. Photo by Matt Dunham /.AP
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Who doesn’t love a Cinderella story? And we certainly had one in 2016 when Leicester City, a soccer team that finished 14th the previous year, won the English Premier League championship. How did Leicester beat the 5000 to 1 odds and get to the top in a year? According to statistics, the team had the fewest injuries in this fairy tale year and used the fewest players in the league. In the sprint tests, Leicester City had the fastest players, including Jamie Vardy, who recorded the fastest speed in the Premier League at 35 km / h. Had Leicester found a magic formula to win?
The team’s coaches emphasized many 40-meter sprints and exercises to build the thigh muscles. But all teams do that. However, not all teams follow sprints with a break in a cryotherapy chamber, which exposes the players to air that has cooled to around minus 135 ° C. Such whole-body cryotherapy constricts blood vessels and decreases blood flow to the extremities, which is said to reduce inflammation in the area, as fewer inflammation-related white blood cells reach these sites. The contraction of blood vessels also supposedly leaves more blood in the lungs, where it is oxygenated. When the body warms up, the freshly oxygenated blood circulates to the muscles, preventing pain. In addition, the stress of the extreme cold is said to lead to the release of adrenaline, the combat or flight hormone that can relieve pain and create a feeling of energy production.
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In terms of science, however, claims about the benefits of cryotherapy beat the evidence. A Cochrane study, widely regarded as a reliable compilation of evidence-based studies, found that there wasn’t enough evidence for cryotherapy to relieve sore muscles after exercise. There is also a lack of evidence that therapy improves athletic performance. The same goes for claims made about treating arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders, and depression. However, there is consensus that the excruciating experience of being immersed in extremely cold air can produce a potent placebo effect.
If Leicester’s miraculous performance is unlikely to be due to cryotherapy, what other factor could have been involved? It turns out that the players drank beetroot juice all season long!
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There is a surprising amount of research on beetroot juice, with some studies showing that the juice has anti-inflammatory effects and can reduce muscle soreness caused by vigorous exercise. Other studies have shown that beetroot juice may increase stamina. One study included eight young men who consumed 500 ml of beet juice for six days and who had been subjected to exercise tests on a stationary bike for the last three days. The process was then repeated with black currant juice, which replaced the beet juice. The oxygen utilization and the time to exhaustion were slightly better during the beet juice phase. But certainly the subjects could distinguish the taste of the juices they drank and be aware of the supposed beneficial effects of beet juice. However, if you take into account all of the studies that have used beetroot juice, physical endurance appears to improve moderately with regular consumption.
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One possible explanation for the benefits attributed to the juice can be the nitrate content of beets. Nitrates are naturally found in a variety of vegetables such as spinach, celery, cabbage, and beets. Bacteria in the mouth can convert nitrates into nitrites, which are eventually absorbed into the bloodstream and serve as a source of nitric oxide. This in turn; Helps increase blood flow and allows blood vessels to respond to changes in blood pressure with less chance of damage. It is interesting to note that the active ingredient in Viagra increases blood flow to the area of interest by increasing nitric oxide production.
Nitrites seem to be good for us now. This seems surprising after all the negative publicity about nitrite preservatives in cooked meat! There it is argued that nitrites react in the body to form carcinogenic nitrosamines.
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Which is it then? Are nitrites good or bad? When they are found in fruits and vegetables, we may be more likely to see the positive effects as nitrosamine formation is inhibited by the various vitamins and antioxidants in vegetables, but not in processed meat. Proteins in meat are also a source of the amines needed for nitrosamine formation, so nitrites in meat can be more of a problem than nitrites, which are formed in the body as a result of nitrate absorption.
Is There a Downside to Drinking Beetroot Juice? Well, if you forget you pampered yourself, you can have a scary bathroom experience. The betacyanins, which are responsible for the red color of beets, can leak out quite dramatically.
What happened to Leicester City after their Cinderella season? One would assume the training methods haven’t changed, but the team dropped to 12th place. Perhaps the success wasn’t due to cryotherapy or beetroot juice. In sports, sometimes the stars just align.
Joe Schwarcz is Director of the Office for Science & Society at McGill University (mcgill.ca/oss). He moderates the Dr. Joe Show every Sunday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on CJAD Radio 800 AM
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