Impact of beverage acceptability on fluid intake during exercise

These two studies investigated the impact of beverage acceptability on volu ntary fluid intake during exercise and the subsequent impact of exercise on the perception and liking of beverages. In Experiment 1, 49 triathletes an d runners first tasted an arl-ay of 10 commercially available flavors of a 6% carbohydrate-electrolyte drink (CE) and water (W) to determine the most- acceptable flavor (M) and least-acceptable flavor (L) for each subject. Sub jects were subsequently given M, L, or W ad libitum during 180 min of exerc ise. Drink acceptability was again measured after 90 and 180 min of exercis e. Drink intake was measured at 15-min intervals. Intake of M was significa ntly greater than L and W throughout the first 75 min and significantly gre ater than W throughout the entire exercise period. In Experiment 2, subject s were given M + W, or L + W, in a two-bottle procedure. Voluntary intake o f M and L exceeded W by 318% and 233%, respectively. An unexpected finding was a strong interaction between drink acceptability and exercise state. Th e acceptability oft increased substantially from sedentary to exercise cond itions. These data demonstrated that the flavored, sweetened beverages used in this study, substantially increased voluntary fluid intake over W. (C) 2000 Academic press.