The ergogenic activity of cider vinegar: A randomized cross-over, double-blind, clinical trial

Hui-Fang Chiu; Michael Chiang; Hui-Ju Liao; You-Cheng Shen; Kamesh Venkatakrishnan; I-Shiung Cheng; Chin-Kun Wang

doi:10.1016/j.smhs.2020.02.001

The ergogenic activity of cider vinegar: A randomized cross-over, double-blind, clinical trial

Sports Med Health Sci. 2020 Feb 11;2(1):38-43. doi: 10.1016/j.smhs.2020.02.001. eCollection 2020 Mar.

Authors

Hui-Fang Chiu¹, Michael Chiang², Hui-Ju Liao³, You-Cheng Shen⁴, Kamesh Venkatakrishnan³, I-Shiung Cheng⁵, Chin-Kun Wang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chinese Medicine, Taichung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Well-being, Taichung, Taiwan, China.
² Pai Chia Chen Brewery & Foods Co., Ltd, Taipei, Taiwan, China.
³ School of Nutrition, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan, China.
⁴ School of Health Diet and Industry Management, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan, China.
⁵ Department of Physical Education, National Taichung University of Education, Taichung, Taiwan, China.

Abstract

This randomized, double-blind, clinical trial was designed to compare the endurance capacity (ergogenic property) in healthy athletes after consumption of apple cider vinegar (ACV) and a commercial sports drink (CSD) before and during endurance exercise. Fourteen healthy participants were enrolled in this trial and were divided into two groups as ACV and CSD with seven participants in each. Participants were requested to consume 500 mL of either commercial ACV or CSD 1 h before endurance exercise (bicycle ergometer). Blood samples were collected at baseline, 0, 20, 40, 60 min until exhaustion to assess glucose, lactate, ammonia and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA). Respiratory exchange rate (RER) score was measured every 15 min and the heart rate (HR) was measured every 5 min. The outcome of the present trial clearly showed that no significant differences were observed between ACV and CSD except in the blood level of ammonia (only at exhaustion time). Thus, these results show that ACV and the CSD both possessing the ergogenic property, enhanced blood glucose, NEFA, and suppress the production of lactate as well as maintains normal RER score, and HR throughout the endurance exercise. Overall this trial showcases that ACV did not significantly improve the ergogenic activity over the CSD.

Keywords: Ammonia; Apple vinegar; Endurance; Lactate; Physical performance; RER score.