scholarly journals Effects of Nutritional Interventions on Accuracy and Reaction Time with Relevance to Mental Fatigue in Sporting, Military, and Aerospace Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Author(s):  
Liam S. Oliver ◽  
John P. Sullivan ◽  
Suzanna Russell ◽  
Jonathan M. Peake ◽  
Mitchell Nicholson ◽  
...  

Background: Research in sport, military, and aerospace populations has shown that mental fatigue may impair cognitive performance. The effect of nutritional interventions that may mitigate such negative effects has been investigated. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify the effects of nutritional interventions on cognitive domains often measured in mental fatigue research. Methods: A systematic search for articles was conducted using key terms relevant to mental fatigue in sport, military, and aerospace populations. Two reviewers screened 11,495 abstracts and 125 full texts. A meta-analysis was conducted whereby effect sizes were calculated using subgroups for nutritional intervention and cognitive domains. Results: Fourteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. The consumption of energy drinks was found to have a small positive effect on reaction time, whilst the use of beta-alanine, carbohydrate, and caffeine had no effect. Carbohydrate and caffeine use had no effect on accuracy. Conclusions: The results of this meta-analysis suggest that consuming energy drinks may improve reaction time. The lack of effect observed for other nutritional interventions is likely due to differences in the type, timing, dosage, and form of administration. More rigorous randomized controlled trials related to the effect of nutrition interventions before, during, and after induced mental fatigue are required.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
MoonKi Choi ◽  
Hayeon Kim ◽  
Juyeon Bae

Abstract Background: Health-promoting interventions are important to prevent frailty and sarcopenia in older adults. However, there is limited evidence that nutritional interventions yield additional effects when combined with resistance training. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the effectiveness of nutritional interventions with resistance training and that of resistance training only.Methods: Randomized controlled trials published in peer-reviewed journals prior to July 2020 were retrieved from databases and other sources. The articles were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using Cochrane’s risk of bias tool 2. A meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.4 program.Results: A total of 26 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results of the meta-analysis showed no significant differences between groups in lean body mass, appendicular skeletal muscle mass, hand grip strength, knee extension, chair stand test results, or the timed up-and-go test results. In the subgroup analysis regarding the types of nutritional interventions, creatine showed significant effects on lean body mass (n=3, MD 2.96, CI 0.76 to 5.16). Regarding the other subgroup analyses, there were no significant differences in the mean age or sex of the participants, type of nutritional intervention, or duration of intervention.Conclusions: This meta-analysis showed that the addition of nutritional interventions to resistance training has no additional effect on body composition, muscle strength, or physical function. Only creatine showed synergistic effects with resistance training on muscle mass.Trial RegistrationCRD42021224843


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (OCE2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea McGrattan ◽  
Carla van Aller ◽  
Alla Narytnyk ◽  
Daniel Reidpath ◽  
Pascale Allotey ◽  
...  

AbstractIntroductionDementia represents one of the impending global health challenges, and low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to greatly contribute to the rising dementia global burden. Currently, there is a lack of pharmacological treatment for dementia and therefore research efforts have focused on prevention, with the identification of early lifestyle, demographic and nutritional risk factors. In particular, diet may be an important modifiable risk factor for maintenance of cognitive health in later life. There are plausible suggestions to support the synergistic effects of certain nutrients, such as polyphenols, unsaturated fats and antioxidant vitamins, in having a beneficial role in the modulation of oxidative stress and neuro-inflammation – processes associated with cognitive decline. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current evidence on nutritional interventions for the prevention of dementia in developing economies in East Asia.Materials and MethodsFour comprehensive medical databases were searched from inception until February 2019: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Scopus. The literature search was restricted to randomised clinical trials [RCTs], conducted in adult humans [ ≥ 18 years], assessing the effect of nutritional interventions on cognitive performance, and / or incidence of mild cognitive impairment [MCI] or dementia. The outcome of interest for the meta-analysis was: [1] global cognitive performance and [2] domain specific cognitive performance. Data was pooled by random model analysis and estimates of effect size were given for each domain and sub-categorised according to the type of nutritional intervention.ResultsTwenty-two RCTs were included, of which, sixteen studies showed significant beneficial effects in favor of the nutritional intervention based on single neuropsychological test scores and / or scores of global cognitive assessment tools. Sixteen studies had sufficient data reported for meta-analysis, and marginally significant beneficial effects were found on global cognitive performance in elderly for micro-nutrient supplementation [n = 4 studies, n = 451 participants, std mean difference: 0.41 [-0.03; 0.84], p = 0.07], and EPA / DHA supplementation [n = 4 studies, n = 373 participants, std mean difference 0.57 [-0.01; 1.14], p = 0.06].DiscussionSeveral promising strategies, such as B-vitamin supplementation, EPA / DHA supplementation and nutrition and lifestyle counselling interventions, seem to be able to decrease age-related cognitive decline in East Asia. Large, good quality, long term trials are needed to confirm these findings, to further evaluate the role of nutritional interventions on cognitive function and to identify if these interventions are feasible and effective to decrease dementia incidence in developing economies, like East Asia.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 868
Author(s):  
Jorge Lorenzo Calvo ◽  
Xueyin Fei ◽  
Raúl Domínguez ◽  
Helios Pareja-Galeano

Cognitive functions are essential in any form of exercise. Recently, interest has mounted in addressing the relationship between caffeine intake and cognitive performance during sports practice. This review examines this relationship through a structured search of the databases Medline/PubMed and Web of Science for relevant articles published in English from August 1999 to March 2020. The study followed PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion criteria were defined according to the PICOS model. The identified records reported on randomized cross-over studies in which caffeine intake (as drinks, capsules, energy bars, or gum) was compared to an identical placebo situation. There were no filters on participants’ training level, gender, or age. For the systematic review, 13 studies examining the impacts of caffeine on objective measures of cognitive performance or self-reported cognitive performance were selected. Five of these studies were also subjected to meta-analysis. After pooling data in the meta-analysis, the significant impacts of caffeine only emerged on attention, accuracy, and speed. The results of the 13 studies, nevertheless, suggest that the intake of a low/moderate dose of caffeine before and/or during exercise can improve self-reported energy, mood, and cognitive functions, such as attention; it may also improve simple reaction time, choice reaction time, memory, or fatigue, however, this may depend on the research protocols.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Andreia Bauermann ◽  
Karina S.G. de Sá ◽  
Zilda A. Santos ◽  
Anselmo A. Costa e Silva

This systematic review aimed to identify nutritional interventions and supplements that improve the performance for wheelchair athletes. Intervention trials involving high-performance wheelchair athletes were analyzed, including those that comprised a nutritional intervention, defined as any intervention related to food, beverages, and supplementation aiming at evaluating the performance of wheelchair athletes. Of the included studies, four evaluated caffeine supplementation, of which one also evaluated sodium citrate supplementation; two studies evaluated vitamin D supplementation; one study assessed creatine monohydrate supplementation; and one assessed carbohydrate supplementation. Most studies were conducted on athletes with spinal cord injury. Athletes who consumed caffeine exhibited an improvement in performance, but this finding is not strong enough to become a recommendation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003435522110432
Author(s):  
Areum Han

Objective: Mindfulness- and acceptance-based intervention (MABI) is an emerging evidenced-based practice, but no systematic review incorporating meta-analyses for MABIs in stroke survivors has been conducted. The objective of this systematic review was to measure the effectiveness of MABIs on outcomes in people with stroke. Method: Three electronic databases, including PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO, were searched to identify relevant studies published in peer-reviewed journals. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed. Data were extracted and combined in a meta-analysis with a random-effect model to compute the size of the intervention effect. Results: A total of 11 studies met the eligibility criteria. Meta-analyses found a small-to-moderate effect of MABIs on depressive symptoms (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.39, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.12, 0.66]) and a large effect on mental fatigue (SMD = 1.22, 95% CI = [0.57, 1.87]). No statistically significant effect of MABIs on anxiety, quality of life, and mindfulness was found, but there was a trend in favor of MABIs overall. Conclusions: This meta-analysis found positive effects of MABIs on depressive symptoms and mental fatigue in stroke survivors, but future high-quality studies are needed to guarantee treatment effects of MABIs on varied outcomes in stroke survivors.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipe Manuel Clemente ◽  
Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo ◽  
Daniel Castillo ◽  
Javier Raya-González ◽  
Ana Filipa Silva ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 1207-1215.e9
Author(s):  
Janneke P. van Wijngaarden ◽  
Julia Wojzischke ◽  
Claudia van den Berg ◽  
Aysun Cetinyurek-Yavuz ◽  
Rebecca Diekmann ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2088-2104
Author(s):  
Mateusz J. Swierz ◽  
Dawid Storman ◽  
Katarzyna W. Jasinska ◽  
Monika Storman ◽  
Wojciech Staskiewicz ◽  
...  

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