薬理と治療

Abstract

Background and Objective　The bodyʼs flexibility, muscular strength, peripheral circulation blood flow, which the athlete improved with warm-up, declines over time. Long standby time after warm-up might prevent full performance and increase the possibility of injury. Since cocoa flavanol can improve peripheral circulation, we examined whether it can sustain the effect of warm-up. Methods　A randomized placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover comparative study was conducted in 5 healthy young adult male people aged 20.6±1.14 years. The trial drink contained 200 mg of cocoa flavanols, while the placebo drink was a cocoa-flavored beverage with a similar taste and the same level of energy as the trial drink. Participants ingested 200 g of their drink 30 minutes prior to a warm-up. Then, the effects from their warm-up were assessed using indexes of flexibility, muscle strength, explosiveness, performance, body temperature and muscle hardness. Results　Flexibility, muscular strength, explosiveness, performance, body temperature（deep body temperature, skin surface temperature）and muscle hardness were improved by warm-up. In other indexes excluding deep body temperature, the decrease in measured values from 30 minutes to 90 minutes after warm-up was suppressed by ingesting 200 mg of cocoa flavanol-containing beverages. There was no change in BMI and body fat percentage during the test period. Conclusion　Ingestion of cocoa flavanol elongated the effect of warm-up, by the improvement of peripheral blood circulation observed as suppression of decrease in skin surface tem-perature.