Research summary · Nutrition and energy
Carbohydrate mouth rinse: small, outcome-specific effects
Ninety controlled crossover trials assess acute performance effects of rinsing the mouth with carbohydrate solutions.
- Publication year
- 2026
- First published online
- Publication type
- Systematic review and meta-analysis
- Journal
- Nutrients
- Population / context
- Adult exercise · Endurance and strength tests
What the publication reports
Pooled results suggested small improvements in distance, performance time, speed and workload. No clear effects were found for muscular endurance, maximum power or maximal oxygen consumption. Findings for maximal voluntary contraction were less robust.
Limits and interpretation
Participants were mostly men and varied in fitness and health. Effects depend on the outcome and experimental setting. Mouth rinsing is not equivalent to ingesting carbohydrate and cannot be assumed to replace fuelling during prolonged exercise.
Read the source
Consult the original record for the full author list, methods, references, funding and competing-interest disclosures.
Effects of Carbohydrate Mouth Rinse on Human Capacity and Performance—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 90 Controlled Trials
Original publication / indexed recordPMID: 42797082DOI: 10.3390/nu18183099Full text at the sourceReader discussion
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