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Research Brief: Black Tea Improves Exercise Recovery
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Research & Development
Apr 2, 2010
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Many studies have shown health and performance benefits of green tea, which is always great news. But what about the "other" tea? In fact, the majority of tea produced in the world is black — and it's got some powerful properties of its own.
Black tea is naturally rich in theaflavins, which have been shown to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in various disease states. A recent report indicates a theaflavin-enriched black tea extract has robust effects on recovery from high-intensity interval training. In this study, healthy subjects performed two intense exercise tests after supplementing for one week with black tea extract (1760 mg/day) and placebo. Several measures of performance, soreness, and stress response were evaluated. The exercise test involved cycling for 30 seconds all-out followed by 8 all out bouts of 10-second sprints. Compared to placebo, black tea extract significantly increased performance as assessed by average power output.
Several measures of antioxidant and oxidative stress were measured also, and indicated that the seven days of supplementation increased antioxidant capacity at the start of exercise, and reduced oxidative stress response during recovery. Black tea was associated with lower cortisol responses, and subjects also perceived less muscle soreness during recovery. Overall, these results show that black tea extract has potential to improve high intensity exercise performance and positively impact several aspects of recovery.
Reference: Arent SM, Senso M, Golem DL, McKeever KH. The effects of theaflavin-enriched black tea extract on muscle soreness, oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine responses to acute anaerobic interval training: a randomized, double-blind, crossover study. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2010 Feb 23;7(1):11.
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