A new study reveals that pink drinks can make you run faster and further compared to clear drinks. This study is led by the Centre for Nutraceuticals at the University of Westminster.
The study found that pink drinks can increase exercise performance by 4.4 percent. It also increases a ‘feel good’ effect which can make exercise seem easier. It is the first attempt to investigate the effect of drink color on exercise performance. This finding opened a new avenue of future research in the field of sports drinks and exercise.
The study participants were asked to run on a treadmill for 30 minutes. Throughout the exercise, they rinsed their mouths with either a pink artificially sweetened drink or a clear drink which was also artificially sweetened and low in calories. Both drinks were exactly the same and only differed in appearance. The researchers added food dye to the pink drink to change the color.
Researcher Dr. Sanjoy Deb said: “The influence of color on athletic performance has received interest previously, from its effect on a sportsperson’s kit to its impact on testosterone and muscular power. Similarly, the role of color in gastronomy has received widespread interest, with research published on how visual cues or color can affect subsequent flavor perception when eating and drinking.”
He also said, “The findings from our study combine the art of gastronomy with performance nutrition, as adding a pink colorant to an artificially sweetened solution not only enhanced the perception of sweetness but also enhanced feelings of pleasure, self-selected running speed and distance covered during a run.”