The influence of a sports drink on the postexercise metabolism of elite athletes as investigated NMR-based metabolomics

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the systemic effects of an isotonic sports drink on the metabolic status of athletes of the Italian Olympic rowing team during recovery after strenuous and prolonged physical exercise by means of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics analysis on plasma and urine. Methods: Forty-four male athletes of the Italian Olympic rowing team were enrolled in a double-blind crossover study. All subjects underwent 2 evaluations at 1-week intervals. The evaluation was performed on a rowing ergometer after strenuous physical exercise to produce a state of dehydration. Afterward, the athletes were rehydrated either with a green tea–based carbohydrate-hydroelectrolyte drink or with oligomineral water. Three blood samples were drawn for each subject: at rest, after the exercise, and following rehydratation, while 2 urine samples were collected: at rest and after the rehydratation period. Biofluid samples were analyzed by high-resolution 1H NMR metabolic profiling combined with multilevel simultaneous data-analysis (MSCA) and partial-least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Results: The between-subject variations, as evaluated by MSCA, reflected the variations of lactate levels induced by the physical exercise. Analysis of the within-individual variance using multilevel PLS-DA models of plasma and urine metabolic profiles showed an effect of the green tea–based sports drink on glucose, citrate, and lactate levels in plasma and on acetone, 3-OH-butyrate, and lactate levels in urine. The increase of caffeine and hippuric acid levels in urine indicated the absorption of green tea extract components. Conclusions: NMR-based metabolomics allowed the complex effects of a green tea extract–based carbohydrate/hydroelectrolyte beverage on the energy metabolism of athletes during recovery by postexercise rehydration to be evaluated.