Gatorade – Tyrosine Supplementation to Improve Physical and Mental Performance.
The Gatorade Sports Science Institute is investigating performance benefits from Tyrosine supplementation.
Key points from their article:
- Increased dopaminergic and noradrenergic activity in the brain has been associated with feelings of motivation, arousal, reward, and decreased fatigue. This effect has been linked to enhanced performance.
- Both dopamine and norepinephrine are synthesized from it through a shared metabolic pathway.
- Since tyrosine and the other large-neutral amino acids (LNAA) share a common transporter across the blood-brain barrier, an elevation in the plasma concentration ratio of it to LNAA increases its uptake into the brain.
- The increased delivery of tyrosine into the central nervous system may result in higher synthesis of brain dopamine and norepinephrine. However, this relationship may not be straightforward.
- The existing evidence does not support a benefit of consuming tyrosine to improve exercise performance. Longer-term studies might be necessary to provide a definitive answer.
- Tyrosine supplementation does appear to consistently attenuate losses in cognitive function when individuals are exposed to challenging environments. As many sporting situations are highly dependent on effective decision-making and the successful execution of fine and gross motor skills, this would be desirable, despite no apparent benefit to physical performance.
