Defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletes
Background Rectal distension increases regulatory burden to autonomic nervous system in the brain. Purpose To determine the effect of rectal defecation on endurance performance and blood supply to the prefrontal brain and sub-navel regions of elite triathletes. Methods Thirteen elite triathletes com...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2023.2206380 |
| _version_ | 1797678958298267648 |
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| author | Chen-Chan Wei Giancarlo Condello Ai-Lun Yang Szu-Hsien Yu Yi-Hung Liao Chung-Yu Chen Chi-Chieh Hsu Chi-Yang Huang Chia-Hua Kuo |
| author_facet | Chen-Chan Wei Giancarlo Condello Ai-Lun Yang Szu-Hsien Yu Yi-Hung Liao Chung-Yu Chen Chi-Chieh Hsu Chi-Yang Huang Chia-Hua Kuo |
| author_sort | Chen-Chan Wei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Rectal distension increases regulatory burden to autonomic nervous system in the brain. Purpose To determine the effect of rectal defecation on endurance performance and blood supply to the prefrontal brain and sub-navel regions of elite triathletes. Methods Thirteen elite triathletes completed a cycling time trial (80% VO2max) under defecated and non-defecated conditions, using a counterbalanced crossover design. Oxygenation and blood distribution in prefrontal brain and sub-navel regions were monitored by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during cycling. Results Defecation moderately decreased systolic blood pressure (−4 mmHg, p < 0.05, d = 0.71), suggesting an alleviation of autonomic nervous activity. During the exercise trials, fatigue (cycling time to exhaustion) occurred when cerebral oxygenation decreased to ~ 5 % below baseline regardless of treatment conditions, suggesting a critical deoxygenation point for sustaining voluntary exertions. Cerebral blood (estimated by total hemoglobin) increased progressively throughout the entire exercise period. Defecation decreased sub-navel oxygenation levels below the non-defecated level, suggesting an increased sub-navel oxygen consumption. Exercise also decreased sub-navel blood distribution, with minimal difference between non-defecated and defecated conditions. Defecation improved blood pooling in the prefrontal brain during exercise (p < 0.05) and enhanced cycling performance in triathletes (Non-defecated: 1624 ± 138 s vs. defecated: 1902 ± 163 s, d = 0.51, p < 0.05). Conclusion Our results suggest that improved exercise performance after defecation is associated with greater blood availability to compensate deoxygenation in the prefrontal brain region during exercise. Further investigation is needed to examine the role of increasing sub-navel oxygen consumption in the performance improvement after defecation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:07:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-694f692f4ed54afc8443de495e4b8e09 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1550-2783 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:07:26Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj.art-694f692f4ed54afc8443de495e4b8e092023-09-21T12:43:11ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition1550-27832023-12-0120110.1080/15502783.2023.22063802206380Defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletesChen-Chan Wei0Giancarlo Condello1Ai-Lun Yang2Szu-Hsien Yu3Yi-Hung Liao4Chung-Yu Chen5Chi-Chieh Hsu6Chi-Yang Huang7Chia-Hua Kuo8University of TaipeiUniversity of TaipeiUniversity of TaipeiNational Ilan UniversityNational Taipei University of Nursing and Health SciencesUniversity of TaipeiUniversity of TaipeiBuddhist Tzu Chi Medical FoundationUniversity of TaipeiBackground Rectal distension increases regulatory burden to autonomic nervous system in the brain. Purpose To determine the effect of rectal defecation on endurance performance and blood supply to the prefrontal brain and sub-navel regions of elite triathletes. Methods Thirteen elite triathletes completed a cycling time trial (80% VO2max) under defecated and non-defecated conditions, using a counterbalanced crossover design. Oxygenation and blood distribution in prefrontal brain and sub-navel regions were monitored by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during cycling. Results Defecation moderately decreased systolic blood pressure (−4 mmHg, p < 0.05, d = 0.71), suggesting an alleviation of autonomic nervous activity. During the exercise trials, fatigue (cycling time to exhaustion) occurred when cerebral oxygenation decreased to ~ 5 % below baseline regardless of treatment conditions, suggesting a critical deoxygenation point for sustaining voluntary exertions. Cerebral blood (estimated by total hemoglobin) increased progressively throughout the entire exercise period. Defecation decreased sub-navel oxygenation levels below the non-defecated level, suggesting an increased sub-navel oxygen consumption. Exercise also decreased sub-navel blood distribution, with minimal difference between non-defecated and defecated conditions. Defecation improved blood pooling in the prefrontal brain during exercise (p < 0.05) and enhanced cycling performance in triathletes (Non-defecated: 1624 ± 138 s vs. defecated: 1902 ± 163 s, d = 0.51, p < 0.05). Conclusion Our results suggest that improved exercise performance after defecation is associated with greater blood availability to compensate deoxygenation in the prefrontal brain region during exercise. Further investigation is needed to examine the role of increasing sub-navel oxygen consumption in the performance improvement after defecation.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2023.2206380constipationstoolabdominal distensiondantiangut-brain axis |
| spellingShingle | Chen-Chan Wei Giancarlo Condello Ai-Lun Yang Szu-Hsien Yu Yi-Hung Liao Chung-Yu Chen Chi-Chieh Hsu Chi-Yang Huang Chia-Hua Kuo Defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletes Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition constipation stool abdominal distension dantian gut-brain axis |
| title | Defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletes |
| title_full | Defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletes |
| title_fullStr | Defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletes |
| title_short | Defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletes |
| title_sort | defecation enhances cerebral perfusion and delays fatigue in elite triathletes |
| topic | constipation stool abdominal distension dantian gut-brain axis |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2023.2206380 |
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