A Few Performance Enhancing Foods and Drinks

A recent paper from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition caught my eye today about the positive effects of drinking green tea and the effect it has on stress reduction. A 20% decrease in psychological distress was reported by the group of researchers from Japan. For this stress reduction to occur, simply start drinking 5 cups of green tea each day.

Here are some additional food/drink choices that were in the November issue of Runner's World (always a great mag). The article talks about coffee, milk, beets and apples. Lets talk about beets and apples first. A published report in the Journal of Applied Physiology states that drinking beet juice can help you exercise 16% longer. Did you know that apples could boost performance? See this paper in the Int J of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism that tells you how and why. The article goes on to say that the Am J of Epidemiology reported people that drink four or more cups of coffee/day have better pulmonary function than those who do not drink coffee on a daily basis. As for milk, a paper in the Am J Clinical Nutrition reported that drinking milk instead of a fruit drink (at breakfast) reduces the number of calories that you will eat at lunch.