All patients getting cancer treatment should be told to do two and a half hours of physical exercise every week, says a report by Macmillan Cancer Support.

Being advised to rest and take it easy after treatment is an outdated view, the charity says.

Research shows that exercise can reduce the risk of dying from cancer and minimise the side effects of treatment.

 The UK Department of Health says local initiatives can get people moving.

 Macmillan’s report, Move More, says that of the two million cancer survivors in the UK, around 1.6 million are not physically active enough.

 Adult cancer patients and cancer survivors should undertake 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week, the reports says, which is what the UK Department of Health guidelines recommend.

 In the report, the American College of Sports Medicine also recommends that exercise is safe during and after most types of cancer treatment and says survivors should avoid inactivity.

 ”The evidence review shows that physical exercise does not increase fatigue during treatment, and can in fact boost energy after treatment.”

 ”It can also lower their chances of getting heart disease and osteoporosis.

 ”Also, doing recommended levels of physical activity may reduce the chance of dying from the disease. It may also help reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.”

 Previous research shows that exercising to the recommended levels can reduce the risk of breast cancer recurring by 40%. For prostate cancer the risk of dying from the disease is reduced by up to 30%.

 Bowel cancer patients’ risk of dying from the disease can be cut by around 50% by doing around six hours of moderate physical activity a week.

Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said physical activity was very important to the survival and recovery process.

Keeping active after treatment for cancer is now recommended by cancer experts. “Cancer patients would be shocked if they knew just how much of a benefit physical activity could have on their recovery and long term health, in some cases reducing their chances of having to go through the gruelling ordeal of treatment all over again.

Traditionally cancer patients were told to rest after their cancer treatment, but the report says this approach could put cancer patients at risk.

Jane Maher, chief medical officer of Macmillan Cancer Support and a leading clinical oncologist said: “The advice that I would have previously given to one of my patients would have been to ‘take it easy’.

 ”This has now changed significantly because of the recognition that if physical exercise were a drug, it would be hitting the headlines.”

Martin Ledwick, head information nurse at Cancer Research UK, was a little more cautious.

“Anything that improves wellbeing and reduces treatment side effects for cancer survivors has to be a good thing. ”But the evidence that exercise has a bearing on survival is not conclusive. It is important to remember that no two cancer patients are the same, so rehabilitation programmes that include physical activity will need to be tailored to the individual.”

ScienceDaily (July 1, 2011) — Winning margins in the Tour de France can be tight — last year just 39 seconds separated the top two riders after more than 90 hours in the saddle. When every second counts, riders do everything possible to gain a competitive advantage — from using aerodynamic carbon fibre bikes to the very latest in sports nutrition.

 Now there could be a new, completely legal and rather surprising weapon in the armoury for riders aiming to shave vital seconds off their time — beetroot juice.

 Research by the University of Exeter, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, has shown drinking the juice enables competitive-level cyclists to cut down the time it takes to ride a given distance. This is the first study which has shown that beetroot juice can be effective in a simulated competition environment.

 For the study, nine club-level competitive male cyclists were asked to compete in time trials over 4km (2.5 mile) and 16.1km (10 mile). All the riders were asked to do each time trial twice. Each time they drank half a litre of beetroot juice beforehand. On one occasion they had normal beetroot juice, on the other occasion — unbeknown to the triallists — the beetroot juice had a key ingredient, nitrate, removed.

 The researchers monitored athletes’ VO2 levels (showing the amount of oxygen consumed) during exercise to ensure that the cyclists worked at maximum effort on each occasion.

Results showed that when the cyclists drank ordinary beetroot juice they had a higher power output (measured in watts) for the same level of effort — suggesting their muscles and cardio-vascular system were being more efficient.

On average, riders were 11 seconds (2.8%) quicker over the 4km distance and 45 seconds (2.7%) faster over the 16.1km distance.

 Professor Andrew Jones, from the University of Exeter, lead author on the research, said: “This is the first time we’ve studied the effects of beetroot juice, and the high nitrate levels found in it, on simulated competition.

 ”The findings show an improvement in performance that, at competition level, could make a real difference — particularly in an event like the Tour de France where winning margins can be tight.”

 Beetroot juice is a natural source of nitrate, which is thought to be the active ingredient in affecting athlete’s performance.

 The nitrate has two physiological effects. Firstly, it widens blood vessels, reducing blood pressure and allowing more blood flow. Secondly, it affects muscle tissue, reducing the amount of oxygen needed by muscles during activity. The combined effects have a significant impact on performing physical tasks, whether it involves low-intensity or high-intensity effort.

 Previous studies by the University of Exeter uncovered the impacts of beetroot juice and have begun to look in detail at its effects on different kinds of physical activity.

 University of Exeter (2011, July 1). ScienceDaily. July 11

June 2, 2011 (Denver, Colorado) — Resistance training reduces symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), compared with aerobic exercise or no exercise at all, according to research presented here at the American College of Sports Medicine 58th Annual Meeting.

 Patients with GAD tend to be physically inactive, although exercise training has been shown to reduce anxiety symptoms in healthy adults and patients with chronic disease, and to benefit patients with major depressive disorder.

To investigate the potential benefits of exercise on worry symptoms and anxiety remission rates in patients with GAD, researchers randomized a group of 30 sedentary women with a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of GAD to receive a 6-week regimen of either resistance training or aerobic exercise training, or to be placed on a wait list (control group).

 The women were not involved in any treatment other than pharmacotherapy.

 After the 6-week training period, the researchers found rates of anxiety remission to be as high as 60% in the resistance training group, compared with 40% in the aerobic exercise group and 30% in the control group.

 The resistance training consisted of 2 weekly sessions of lower-body weightlifting, starting at 50% of 1 repetition maximum during week 1, and progressing 5% weekly.

The aerobic exercise training involved 2 weekly sessions of leg cycling, matched with resistance training on the body region exercised, and weekly load progression.

 Rates of remission were defined as the number needed to treat (NNT). Worry symptoms were measured with the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and analysed using a mixed-model condition × time (3 × 3) analysis of covariance, adjusted for a baseline and testing period.

 In addition to the improvements in remission rates, an assessment of remission based on NNT showed 3.33 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.72 to 55.56) for resistance exercise training and 10 (95% CI, –6.79 to 2.88) for aerobic training.

The results also showed a significant condition × time interaction for worry symptoms (F[3.962, 49.529], 2.815; P = .035).

 A follow-up contrast showed significant reductions in worry symptoms for combined exercise conditions, compared with the control group (t[25.943], 2.168; P = .039).

 The researchers theorized that because depression and GAD are influenced by similar genetic factors, anxiety might show improvement from exercise similar to that seen with depression.

They also noted that there were exercise effects on other signs and symptoms of GAD, including fatigue, poor concentration, and muscle tension.

 Lead author Matthew P. Herring, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, speculated that the greater improvement with resistance exercise might be related to the intensity of the activity.

 ”Findings of lower rates of remission for aerobic exercise suggest that the effect of exercise was plausibly related to the relative exercise intensity, as indicated by ratings of perceived exertion during each exercise session,” he explained. “Aerobic exercise sessions were perceived as less intense than resistance exercise sessions.”

He added that the study looked primarily at women because they are more frequently affected by GAD than men, and the disparity only increases with age.

 ”Although functional impairments and co morbid conditions are present for both men and women with GAD, disability and rates of co morbid mood disorders are significantly higher among women.”

“Future research trials should examine potential gender differences in exercise effects among men and women with GAD.”

In the meantime, Dr. Herring said, the findings demonstrate a strong potential role for exercise in helping to treat anxiety.

“Our findings suggest that exercise training is a feasible, safe, and well-tolerated short-term treatment option, potential adjuvant therapy, or augmentation for patients with generalized anxiety disorder,” he asserted. “These findings warrant further investigation with larger trials.”

 David B. Coppel, PhD, director of neuropsychological services and research at the Seattle Sports Concussion Program, and professor at the University of Washington, agreed that additional research should look into the effects of exercise in both sexes, but he said the study raises a number of other questions.

“I would particularly like to know the cognitive and emotional shifts made by the subjects and their attributional model. For instance, did it make them feel more effective or participatory in their lives, or just more activated,” Dr. Coppel wondered.

 Other questions to look into are whether the results represented an interaction of medication and exercise, how long the effects of exercise last, and what the results are if there are secondary diagnoses, he added.

“The research is interesting and in line with the ‘exercise as medicine’ idea. Certainly the article suggests results that are consistent with other research from mild depression literature,” Dr. Coppel told Medscape Medical News.

 The study was supported by a grant from the University of Georgia College of Education in Athens. Dr. Herring and Dr. Coppel have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 58th Annual Meeting: Abstract 601. Presented June 1, 2011.

 Source: Medscape News Today

Nancy A Melville  is a freelance writer for Medscape.

Spraining your ankle is no fun, they’re really sore as we all know. And the risk is that if you’ve had one ankle sprain, you’re going to do it again within a year. If you’re a sportsperson, spraining your ankle goes with the territory.

 Researchers in the Netherlands wanted to see if they could prevent this re-spraining of the ankle. They randomly assigned 500 athletes to either a control group or an eight-week, home-based training program. The training program was aimed at giving them exercises to give them more control over their ankle movements. They had to do this so-called proprioception training three times a week for half an hour, and preferably before sport too.

 Those on the program had a one in five chance of respraining their ankles, and that compared to one in three in the control group. That was a significant difference, especially since many of the people in the program didn’t do all their exercises. For some reason, people who had not seen their doctor benefited more.

 So, that’s good news for athletes. But given that ankle sprains are painful, and can mean time lost at work, it may be that proprioceptive training is a good idea for non athletes with ankle sprains.

 Reference Title: British Medical Journal

Author: Hupperets MDW. Effect of home-based proprioceptive training on recurrences of ankle sprain: randomised controlled trial.

URL: http://www.bmj.com/

BMJ 2009;339:b2684

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Consistent lifelong exercise preserves heart muscle in the elderly to levels that match or even exceed that of healthy young sedentary people, a surprising finding that underscores the value of regular exercise training, according to a new study.

The first study to evaluate the effects of varying levels of lifelong exercise on heart mass was presented on Saturday at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans.

It suggested that physical activity preserves the heart’s youthful elasticity, showing that when people were sedentary, the mass of their hearts shrunk with each passing decade.

By contrast, elderly people with a documented history of exercising six to seven times a week throughout adulthood not only kept their heart mass, but built upon it — having heart masses greater than sedentary healthy adults aged 25 to 34.

“One thing that characterizes the aging process by itself is the loss of muscle mass, particularly skeletal muscle,” said Dr. Paul Bhella, a researcher from John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas who presented the study at the conference.

“But we are showing that this process is not unique to skeletal muscle, it also happens in cardiac muscle,” he said. “A heart muscle that atrophies is weaker.”

The study enrolled 121 healthy people with no history of heart disease. Fifty nine were sedentary subjects recruited from the Dallas Heart Study, a large multiethnic sample of Dallas County residents.

Some 62 lifelong exercisers, all over age 65, were recruited mainly from the Aerobics Centre Longitudinal Study, which had documented their exercise habits over a period of 25 years.

In the new study, exercise was assessed by the number of aerobic exercise sessions per week, rather than intensity or duration. Subjects were broken down into four groups: non-exercisers; casual exercisers (two to three times a week); committed exercisers (four to five times a week) and master athletes (six to seven times a week).

Heart mass measurements, taken using MRIs, showed that sedentary subjects had diminished heart mass as they aged, while lifelong exercisers had heart mass expansion with increasing frequency of exercise.

“The data suggest that if we can identify people in middle age, in the 45 to 60 year range, and get them to exercise four to five times a week, this may go a very long way in preventing some of the major heart conditions of old age, including heart failure,” said Benjamin Levine of the University of Texas South-western Medical Centre, who headed the study. (Reuters reporting)

Runners who typically stretch should continue

 A controversy about whether one should stretch before or after running, or not at all, has some new ammunition; it’s possible that stretching can neither prevent nor cause injury.

 A study presented Thursday Feb 17th at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in San Diego, concludes that injuries were more likely depending on the the number of kilometres run, the heavier and older the runner, recent or chronic injury and switching pre-run stretching routines.

 Risk for injury is related to age, weight and distance run. (Joe Brandt, iStock)

 More than 70 million people worldwide run recreationally or competitively and there’s been much debate about stretching before hitting the pavement.

Dr. Daniel Pereles, an orthopedic surgeon from the Washington, D.C. area, and a runner himself, divided 2,729 runners who run 16 or more kilometres per week into two groups, those who stretched and those who didn’t .

Runners in the stretch group stretched their quadriceps, hamstrings, and gastrocnemius/soleus muscle groups. Their routine took three to five minutes and took place immediately before running. The two groups were monitored for three months.

 Some runners in the two groups were randomly chosen to either start stretching or to stop stretching for the study.

“Although all runners switching routines were more likely to experience an injury than those who did not switch, the group that stopped stretching had more reported injuries, implying that an immediate shift in a regimen may be more important than the regimen itself,” noted Pereles.

The study recommends that those who typically stretch now before a run should continue to do so or risk injury.

The most common injuries sustained were groin pulls, foot/ankle injuries, and knee injuries.

New research suggests that walking at least six miles per week may protect brain size and in turn, preserve memory in old age, according to a study published in the October 13, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
________________________________________
“Brain size shrinks in late adulthood, which can cause memory problems. Our results should encourage well-designed trials of physical exercise in older adults as a promising approach for preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,” said study author Kirk I. Erickson, PhD, with the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh.
For the study, 299 dementia-free people recorded the number of blocks they walked in one week. Then nine years later, scientists took brain scans of the participants to measure their brain size. After four more years, the participants were tested to see if they had developed cognitive impairment or dementia.
The study found that people who walked at least 72 blocks per week, or roughly six to nine miles, had greater grey matter volume than people who didn’t walk as much, when measured at the nine-year time point after their recorded activity. Walking more than 72 blocks did not appear to increase grey matter volume any further.
By four years later, 116 of the participants, or 40 percent, had developed cognitive impairment or dementia.
The researchers found that those who walked the most cut their risk of developing memory problems in half.
“If regular exercise in midlife could improve brain health and improve thinking and memory in later life, it would be one more reason to make regular exercise in people of all ages a public health imperative,” said Erickson.The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging

People who take regular exercise could reduce their risk of developing around two dozen physical and mental health conditions – including some cancers and dementia – and slow down how quickly their body deteriorates as they age.

An extensive research review, published in the December issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice, says that apart from not smoking, being physically active is the most powerful lifestyle choice any individual can make to improve their health.

Physiotherapist and lecturer Leslie Alford from the University of East Anglia reviewed 40 papers covering the latest international research published between 2006 and 2010.

“The literature reviewed shows that how long people live and how healthy they are depends on a complex mix of factors, including their lifestyle, where they live and even luck” says Mr Alford. “Individuals have an element of control over some of these factors, including obesity, diet, smoking and physical activity.

“Although the focus of my study was on men’s health, the messages on physical activity are relevant to both sexes and all age groups.”

Health benefits identified by the review include:

Regular moderate to intense physical activity is associated with decreased risk of coronary heart disease and ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.

A growing body of evidence suggests that increasing physical activity can also reduce the risk of certain types of cancers, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure.

Evidence of the beneficial effects of physical activity in the primary prevention and management of cancer is growing and there is an association between higher levels of physical activity and lower cancer death rates.

Research has found that walking or cycling for at least an half-an-hour a day is associated with a reduction in cancer and that when this is increased to an hour cancer incidence falls by 16 per cent.

Evidence is mixed when it comes to specific cancers. Research has shown a strong relationship between increased physical activity and reduced colon cancer in both sexes. And men who are more active at work – not just sitting at a desk – have lower rates of prostate cancer.

Other cancer studies show that physical activity after diagnosis can aid recovery and improve outcomes.

Studies have also shown that men who are physically active are less likely to experience erection problems.

There is growing evidence that physical activity could decrease the risk of dementia in the elderly.

Recommendations identified by the review include:

Healthy adults aged between 18 and 65 should aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week, such as 30 minutes of brisk walking, five days a week. And people who undertake more vigorous intensity exercise, such as jogging, should aim for 20 minutes three days a week.

Healthy adults should aim for two strength-training sessions a week that work with the body’s major muscle groups.

Older people can benefit from exercise that helps to maintain their balance and flexibility.

People who are physically active should continue to exercise even when they become middle aged or elderly and those who aren’t should increase their physical activity.

Not smoking and following a healthy diet is also important.

“Ideally, to gain maximum health benefits people should exercise, not smoke, eat a healthy diet and have a body mass index of less than 25″ says Mr Alford. “The more of these healthy traits an individual has, the less likely they are to develop a range of chronic disorders. Even if people can’t give up smoking and maintain a healthy weight, they can still gain health benefits from increasing the amount of regular exercise they take.

“Physical inactivity results in widespread pathophysiological changes to our bodies. It appears that our bodies have evolved to function optimally on a certain level of physically activity that many of us simply do not achieve in our modern, sedentary lifestyles.

“What is clear from the research is that men and women of all ages should be encouraged to be more physically active for the sake of their long-term health.”

Studies uphold walking’s benefits

Monday, October 25, 2010
By Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Two studies conclude there are many health benefits to walking. More and more benefits are being found from an exercise that requires no expensive equipment or gym membership and no special training: Walking.

Two new studies, including one conducted by University of Pittsburgh researchers, show that lots of walking can benefit not only physical health, but mental health.

One reason why Americans are so much heavier than people elsewhere is because we walk a lot less — sometimes even half as far as those in other countries — suggests a study published in the current issue of the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Adults in Western Australia, for example, take an average of 9,695 steps per day — or a little less than five miles, according to the study. Swiss adults take an average of 9,650 steps. Japanese adults take an average of 7,168. American adults average only 5,117 steps per day. There are roughly 2,000 steps in a mile.

That difference is a big reason the obesity rate in the United States is 34 percent, but only 3 percent in Japan, 8 percent in Switzerland and 16 percent in Australia, said David Bassett Jr., lead author of the study.

“The health benefits of walking are underappreciated,” said Dr. Bassett, of the University of Tennessee Obesity Research Center in Knoxville. “Even modest amounts of walking, if performed on a daily basis, can help to maintain a healthy body weight.”

In the Pitt research, if you’re older, walking also can keep your mind sharp, according to the study published in the Oct. 13 issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

According to that study, walking at least six miles a week retards shrinkage of the brain and preserves memory, said Kirk Erickson, a professor of psychology at Pitt and the lead author of the study.

“Our study suggests that walking is good for the brain and reduces the risk for future memory decline,” said Cyrus Raji, an MD/PhD candidate in Pitt’s school of medicine and co-author of the study.

For the Pitt study, 299 people without dementia recorded the number of blocks they walked in one week. Nine years later, scientists took brain scans of the participants to measure brain sizes. After four more years, the participants were tested to determine if they had developed cognitive impairment or dementia.

The study found that people who walked at least 72 blocks a week — roughly six to nine miles — had greater gray matter volume than people who didn’t walk as much. Walking more than 72 blocks per week did not appear to increase gray matter volume any further.

Of the 299 people in the study, 116 developed cognitive impairment or dementia. Those who walked less than 72 blocks a week were twice as likely to develop memory problems as those who walked that much or more, the Pitt study found.

Dr. Bassett’s walking study, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, compared 1,136 adults wearing pedometers with similar studies conducted by researchers in Australia, Japan and Switzerland.

“It did surprise me how sedentary U.S. adults are,” Dr. Bassett said in a statement.

Fewer than 5,000 steps a day is considered sedentary, he said. You are “low active” if you take between 5,000 and 7,499 steps; “somewhat active” if you take between 7,500 and 9,999 steps, and “active” if you take more than 10,000 steps per day, Dr. Bassett said.

The study found that American males average 5,340 steps per day, but females average only 4,912 steps per day.

Americans should add 30 to 40 minutes of walking to their physical activity regimen each day, Dr. Bassett said.

But much of the difference between the step totals of foreigners and Americans is that they incorporate more walking into their daily routines. They walk to places where we drive.

“In Switzerland and Japan, a much higher percentage of trips are taken by walking,” Dr. Bassett said. “The additional walking seems to have an enormous public health benefit.”

A few modest steps can increase the number of steps you take each day, experts say.

Get a pedometer. They’re relatively cheap. You can get a good one for around $20. Find out how many steps you take in a typical day. You may be shocked by the result.

At work, consider taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If you work on a high floor, get off the elevator a floor or two before yours, and walk the rest of the way. And on your way home, get off the elevator a floor or two before the lobby.

If you work at a desk or in a cubicle, get up at periodic intervals and walk around the office. You’ll be sharper when you return to your desk.

Go out to lunch, provided you walk. If you brown bag it, take a brief walk after lunch.

When you go to the grocery store or the mall, park at the far end of the parking lot. It’ll be easier to get a parking space, and the exercise will be good for you.

Weather permitting, take a post-prandial stroll after dinner. It’ll aid in digestion and help you sleep better in addition to burning a few calories.

Jack Kelly: jkelly@post-gazette.com

When Chris Carver ran an ultra-marathon in Scotland last year, which challenges athletes to run as far as possible within 24 hours, he ran 225 kilometres.

Determined to do better in this year’s race, Carver added something extra to his training regime: beetroot juice. For a week before the race, he drank the dark purple juice every day. Last month, Carver won it by running 238 kilometres.

“The only thing I did differently this year was the beetroot juice,” said Carver, 46, a professional runner based near Leeds, in northern England.

He said more exercise would have improved his endurance, but to get the same result he attributes to the juice – an extra 13 kilometres – it would likely have taken an entire year.

Some experts say adding beetroot juice to your diet could provide a performance boost even beyond the blood, sweat and tears of more training.

In two studies conducted at Exeter University on 15 men, Stephen Bailey and colleagues found cyclists who drank a half-litre of beetroot juice several hours before setting off were able to ride up to 20 per cent longer than those who drank a placebo blackcurrant juice.

By examining the cyclists under a scanner that analyses how much energy is needed for a muscle to contract, Bailey and colleagues discovered beetroot juice allows cyclists to exercise using less oxygen than normal.

“The beetroot juice was effective even without any additional training,” Bailey said. “It reduces the energy requirements on your muscles so you can last longer.” While the beetroot juice was provided free by its manufacturer, Exeter University paid for the research.

Bailey said the high nitrate content of beetroot juice is responsible for its athletic benefits. Scientists aren’t exactly sure how it works, but suspect having more nitric oxide in your body, a byproduct of nitrate, helps you exercise with less oxygen. Bailey said the same effects might be possible if people ate more nitrate-rich foods like beetroot, lettuce or spinach.

Bailey and colleagues calculated beetroot juice could translate into a 1 to 2 per cent better race time, a tiny improvement likely only to matter to elite athletes. They are still tweaking the dosage but say athletes should consume the juice a few hours before training so their body has time to digest it. Their latest study was published in June in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

“Drinking beetroot juice is not going to turn a recreational runner into an Olympic champion, but it might make tolerating more exercise easier so you can train more,” said Dr Andy Franklyn-Miller, a sports medicine expert at the Centre for Human Performance in London. He was not connected to the research and has not received any funding from beetroot juice makers.

Franklyn-Miller said since people often reach an athletic plateau where more training doesn’t help, beetroot juice could give you an extra edge you wouldn’t get otherwise.

“It’s not banned, so there’s no reason not to try it,” he said. Still, he warned drinking too much of the juice could lead to side effects like abdominal cramps, diarrhea or purple urine.

Previous studies in Britain and the US have found beetroot helps the heart by lowering blood pressure.

Other experts warned manipulating your diet can’t replace the benefits of training. “Certain foods can help you maximise the benefits from exercise, not reduce the amount you’re doing,” said Roger Fielding, director of the Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory at Tufts University. He was not connected to any research on beetroot or any other nutritional supplements.

For serious athletes, Fielding said changing your diet could help. “If a very small improvement is valuable to you, it’s possible something like beetroot juice could do that,” he said.

Other studies have shown drinking things like pickle juice or having a small carbohydrate snack during a marathon, can prevent cramps and improve performance. Scientists have also found cherry juice, which helps reduce exercise-induced swelling, could be strong enough to reduce some athletes’ use of anti-inflammatory pain medication.

Fielding said the benefits of beetroot juice and other foods and drinks could have wider benefits and might one day be used to help elderly people with muscle weakness.

Some elite athletes warned beetroot juice may not be to everybody’s taste. “A few of my friends think it’s really disgusting,” said Colin McCourt, 25, a British runner competing at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi this month.

In April, McCourt started drinking cherry and beetroot juice, which he credits with helping him train longer and more often. “I feel like I get a benefit from it, even if it’s minimal,” he told Associated Press Television.

McCourt said he will continue to adjust his training regimen in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics, but plans to maintain his juice habit. “There will be a lot more beetroot juice if my stomach can take it.”

AP