ABSTRACT
Stimulant properties during exercise have been attributed to cafeine (CAF) and tryptophan (Trp). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of CAF and Trp ingestion on rectal temperature (Tre), total exercise time (TET), oxygen consumption (VO2), carbon dioxide production (VCO2) pulmunary ventilation (VE), heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) during exercise on a cycle ergometer at 80 percent of maximal work load, in eight halthy male volunteers. Each subject abstained from caffeine for 48 h and from animal-derived foods for 36 h before each experiment. Aerobic capacity was determined on the first day. In consecutive trials, conducted in a double-blind, randomized, crossed-over manner, each subject recived capsules containing CAF (10mg/Kg), Trp (1.2g), a combination of the two (CAF + TRP), and lactose (PLA), 1 h before exercise. Plasma CAF concentration (PC) was measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), before (basal concentration) and 1 and 2 h after ingestion of the capsules. At both times after CAF or CAF + Trp ingestion, the PC was elevated compared with the basal concentration (P < 0.05). During exercise, significant increases occured with time in Tre, TET, VO2, VCO2, VE, HR and RPE (P < 0.01) while no significant difference was observed when CAF or CAF+ Trp were compared with control values. Under the conditions of this study, CAF and/or Trp did not affect the physiological parameters measured before, during or after exercise at 80 percent of maximal work load