Luana Farias de Oliveira
Extracellular buffering supplements to improve exercise capacity and performance: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.
Farias de Oliveira, Luana; Dolan, Eimear; Swinton, Paul A.; Durkalec-Michalski, Krzysztof; Artioli, Guilherme G.; McNaughton, Lars R.; Saunders, Bryan
Authors
Eimear Dolan
Dr Paul Swinton p.swinton@rgu.ac.uk
Associate Professor
Krzysztof Durkalec-Michalski
Guilherme G. Artioli
Lars R. McNaughton
Bryan Saunders
Abstract
Extracellular buffering supplements (sodium bicarbonate [SB], sodium citrate [SC], sodium/calcium lactate [SL/CL]) are ergogenic supplements though questions remain about factors which may modify their effect. The aim of this study was to quantify the main effect of extracellular buffering agents on exercise outcomes and to investigate the influence of potential moderators on this effect, using a systematic review and meta-analytic approach. This study was designed in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Three databases were searched for articles, which were screened according to inclusion/exclusion criteria. Bayesian hierarchical meta-analysis and meta-regression models were used to investigate pooled effects of supplementation and moderating effects of a range of factors on exercise and biomarker responses. 189 articles with 2019 participants were included, 158 involving SB supplementation, 30 with SC, and seven with CL/SL; four studies provided a combination of buffering supplements together. Supplementation led to a mean estimated increase in blood bicarbonate of +5.2 mmol/L-1 [95%CrI: 4.7 to 5.7 mmol/L-1]. The meta-analysis models identified a positive overall effect of supplementation on exercise capacity and performance compared to placebo (ES0.5 = 0.17 [95%CrI: 0.12 to 0.21]) with potential moderating effects of exercise type, duration and mode, training status and when the exercise test was performed following prior exercise. The greatest ergogenic effects were shown for exercise durations of 0.5–10 min (ES0.5=0.18 [0.13–0.24]) and > 10 min (ES0.5=0.22 [0.10–0.33]). Evidence of greater effects on exercise were obtained when blood bicarbonate increases were medium (4–6 mmol/L-1) and large ( > 6 mmol/L-1) compared with small ( ≤ 4 mmol/L-1) (βSmall:Medium=0.16 [95%CrI: 0.02–0.32], βSmall:Large=0.13 [95%CrI: -0.03–0.29]). SB (192 outcomes) was more effective for performance compared to SC (39 outcomes) (βSC:SB = 0.10 [95%CrI: -0.02 to 0.22]). The study therefore found that extracellular buffering supplements generate large increases in blood bicarbonate concentration leading to positive overall effects on exercise, with sodium bicarbonate being most effective. Evidence for several group-level moderating factors were identified. These data can guide an athlete's decision as to whether supplementation with buffering agents might be beneficial for their specific aims.
Citation
FARIAS DE OLIVEIRA, L., DOLAN, E., SWINTON, P.A., DURKALEC-MICHALSKI, K., ARTIOLI, G.G., MCNAUGHTON, L.R. and SAUNDERS, B. 2022. Extracellular buffering supplements to improve exercise capacity and performance: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports medicine [online], 52(3), pages 505-526. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01575-x
Journal Article Type | Review |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Sep 23, 2021 |
Online Publication Date | Oct 23, 2021 |
Publication Date | Mar 31, 2022 |
Deposit Date | Oct 20, 2021 |
Publicly Available Date | Oct 24, 2022 |
Journal | Sports medicine |
Print ISSN | 0112-1642 |
Electronic ISSN | 1179-2035 |
Publisher | Springer |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 52 |
Issue | 3 |
Pages | 505-526 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01575-x |
Keywords | Buffering; Supplements; Exercise capacity; Sport performance; Sodium bicarbonate |
Public URL | https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1500125 |
Additional Information | The file accompanying this record includes all tables and supplementary materials at the end. |
Files
FARIAS DE OLIVEIRA 2022 Extracellular buffering supplements (AAM)
(2.6 Mb)
PDF
Copyright Statement
This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use [https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted-manuscript-terms], but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01575-x
You might also like
Downloadable Citations
About OpenAIR@RGU
Administrator e-mail: publications@rgu.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2025
Advanced Search