An Alkalizing Nutrition Supplement That Positively Influences Measures of Health and Aerobic Performance

Abstract

A previously studied alkalizing nutrition supplement (ANS) was shown to positively influence both anaerobic performance and submaximal exercise capacity, but the influence of this ANS on aerobic performance is less understood. This study tested whether ingestion of the same ANS would influence measures of submaximal and maximal aerobic performance. Twenty-eight participants (16 men, 12 women) performed two incrementally graded treadmill exercise tests to volitional exhaustion using a double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover design. After a 7-day loading phase of either placebo or AlkaPlex®-based ANS tablets (1 tablet/22.7 kg body mass), participants completed a treadmill test that included standardized moderate (MI) and high intensity (HI) submaximal stages for measures of steady-state heart rate (HR), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), blood lactate (BL), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). The submaximal test at HI was continued to volitional exhaustion with successive 1-min stages to measure maximal HR (HRMAX) and RER (RERMAX), maximal oxygen consumption (VO2MAX), and time-to-exhaustion (TTE). Measures of blood pH, bicarbonate, and base excess were also determined for the same testing time points. Two-factor repeated measures ANOVA were used to detect difference by condition (ANS versus placebo tablets) and time point of the measurement with post-hoc planned contrasts (a=0.05). Measures of HR, BL, and RPE were significantly lower (P=0.02-0.001) for the ANS condition, while RERMAX (+0.06), BLMAX (+1.1 mmol/dl), VO2MAX (+1.44 ml/kg/min), and TTE (+0.6 minutes) were all significantly higher (P=0.02-0.002) for the ANS tablet condition. Lastly, blood pH was higher at rest and post-exercise while bicarbonate was non-significantly higher at all measures for the ANS tablet condition. The 7-day ingestion of ANS tablets had small-moderate positive ergogenic effects on submaximal and maximal treadmill exercise test measures, as well as significantly higher blood pH values. These effects are like those described for use of alkalizing agents (but without side effects) and alkaline-promoting diets.