Abstract

Breath-hold divers train to minimize their oxygen consumption to improve their apneic performance. Dietary nitrate has been shown to reduce the oxygen cost in a variety of situations, and our aim was to study its effect on arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2 ) after dynamic apnea (DYN) performance. Fourteen healthy male apnea divers (aged 33±11years) received either 70 mL of concentrated nitrate-rich beetroot juice (BR) or placebo (PL) on different days. At 2.5h after ingesting the juice, they were asked to perform 2×75m DYN dives in a pool with 4.5-min recovery between dives. Each dive started after 2-min countdown and without any warm-up apneas, hyperventilation, or lung packing. SaO2 and heart rate were measured via pulse oximetry for 90s before and after each dive. Mean SaO2 nadir values after the dives were 83.4±10.8% with BR and 78.3±11.0% with PL (P<0.05). At 20-s post-dive, mean SaO2 was 86.3±10.6% with BR and 79.4±10.2% with PL (P<0.05). In conclusion, BR juice was found to elevate SaO2 after 75-m DYN. These results suggest an oxygen conserving effect of dietary nitrate supplementation, which likely has a positive effect on maximal apnea performance.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.