The Effect of Acute Rhodiola rosea Ingestion on Exercise Heart Rate, Substrate Utilisation, Mood State, and Perceptions of Exertion, Arousal, and Pleasure/Displeasure in Active Men
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of acute Rhodiola rosea (R. rosea) ingestion on substrate utilisation, mood state, RPE, and exercise affect. Ten males (mean age ± S.D. = 26 ± 6 years) completed two 30-minute cycling trials at an intensity of 70% of following ingestion of either 3？mg·kg？1 body mass of R. rosea or placebo using a double-blind, crossover design. During exercise, heart rate and RPE were recorded. Participants completed measures of mood state and exercise affect before and after exercise. Expired air samples were taken during exercise to determine substrate utilisation. Repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that RPE was significantly lower at 30 minutes into exercise versus placebo ( ). Perceptions of arousal ( ) and pleasure were significantly higher after exercise with R. rosea compared to placebo ( ). Mood state scores for vigor were also higher in R. rosea condition compared to placebo ( ). There were no significant differences in energy expenditure, carbohydrate, or fat oxidation between conditions ( ). Ingestion of R. rosea favourably influenced RPE and exercise affect without changes in energy expenditure or substrate utilization during 30-minute submaximal cycling performance. 1. Introduction Rhodiola rosea (R. rosea) is an herb that grows in mountainous regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. It has been used in traditional folk medicine for centuries as a treatment for fatigue and mood disorders [1]. R. rosea has been extensively studied by scientists in the former Soviet Union and has predominantly been found to result in favourable effects on exercise performance [2]. However, this prior work has been lacking in experimental control [3]. Some recent studies have supported the results of earlier work by identifying antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of R. rosea [3, 4]. Another work has suggested ingestion of R. rosea appears to be effective, either acutely [5] or with daily supplementation [6], for reducing perceived fatigue and improving cognition [5, 7], as well as reducing markers of physiological and psychological stress [7, 8]. Although R. rosea ingestion has been identified as a means to reduce physical fatigue, its efficacy during exercise is unclear. Animal based research has shown increased swim time to exhaustion in rats [3, 9] but the impact of R. rosea ingestion on exercise performance in humans is equivocal. Some studies have shown no effect of R. rosea ingestion on exercise performance [4, 10–12] whilst others have supported its use [13, 14]. The array of protocols and
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