ArticlePloS one2015
Ingestion of a cold temperature/menthol beverage increases outdoor exercise performance in a hot, humid environment.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06778252 (UrbanHEAT), which is not on this map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
UrbanHEAT: Pilot of Prospective Observational Study of Health Behaviors, Outcomes, and Disparities in Individually Experienced Temperature Across an Urban Community
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of different menthol administration routes on endurance performance and physiological responses in the heat: a network meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Performance effects of internal pre- and per-cooling across different exercise and environmental conditions: A systematic review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Peppermint essential oil (Mentha piperita L.) increases time to exhaustion in runners.European journal of nutrition · 2023Trial
- Ice slurry ingestion improves physical performance during high-intensity intermittent exercise in a hot environment.PloS one · 2022Trial
- L-Menthol mouth rinse or ice slurry ingestion during the latter stages of exercise in the heat provide a novel stimulus to enhance performance despite elevation in mean body temperature.European journal of applied physiology · 2018Trial
- Nutritional Strategies to Support Performance Maintenance and Recovery in Football Under Hot Environmental Conditions: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Review
- The Effect of Menthol Mouth Rinsing and Fluid Temperature on Male Cycling Performance in Thermoneutral Conditions.Nutrients · 2024Article
- The effect of menthol rinsing before intermittent exercise on physiological, physical, and thermo-behavioral responses of male football referees in hot and humid environment.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- One hour of internal precooling with cold water/menthol enhances cycling performance in a heat/wet stress environment: A pilot study.Biology of sport · 2023Article
- Cumulative pre-cooling methods do not enhance cycling performance in tropical climate.PloS one · 2023Article
- Neuromuscular Activity during Cycling Performance in Hot/Dry and Hot/Humid Conditions.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Temperate Air Breathing Increases Cycling Performance in Hot and Humid Climate Environment.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Can taste be ergogenic?European journal of nutrition · 2021Review
- Face Cooling During Swimming Training in Tropical Condition.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Menthol Mouth Rinsing Is More Than Just a Mouth Wash-Swilling of Menthol to Improve Physiological Performance.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Review
- Menthol as an Ergogenic Aid for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games: An Expert-Led Consensus Statement Using the Modified Delphi Method.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Article
- Hydration and Cooling Strategies for Paralympic Athletes : Applied Focus: Challenges Athletes May Face at the Upcoming Tokyo Paralympics.Current nutrition reports · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeA recent laboratory study demonstrated that the ingestion of a cold/menthol beverage improved exercise performance in a hot and humid environment during 20 km of all-out cycling. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether the ingestion of cold water/ice-slurry with menthol would improve performance in hot and humid outdoor conditions.
methodsTen trained males completed three trials of five blocks consisting of 4-km cycling and 1.5-km running. During warm-up, every block and recovery, the athletes drank 190 ml of aromatized (i.e., with 0.05 mL of menthol) beverage at three temperatures: Neutral (ambient temperature) (28.7°C±0. 5°C), Cold (3.1°C±0.6°C) or Ice-slurry (0.17°C±0.07°C). Trial time, core temperature (Tco), heart rate (HR), rate of perceived exertion (RPE), thermal sensation (TS) and thermal comfort (TC) were assessed.
resultsIce-slurry/menthol increased performance by 6.2% and 3.3% compared with neutral water/menthol and cold water/menthol, respectively. No between-trial differences were noted for Tco, HR, RPE, TC and TS was lower with ice-slurry/menthol and cold water/menthol compared with neutral water/menthol.
conclusionA low drink temperature combined with menthol lessens the performance decline in hot/humid outdoor conditions (i.e., compared with cold water alone). Performances were better with no difference in psycho-physiological stress (Tco, HR and RPE) between trials. The changes in perceptual parameters caused by absorbing a cold/menthol beverage reflect the psychological impact. The mechanism leading to these results seems to involve brain integration of signals from physiological and psychological sources.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.