Abstract
BackgroundRecently, there has been an increased interest in the effects of essential oils on athletic performances and other physiological effects. This study aimed to assess the effects of Citrus sinensis flower and Mentha spicata leaves essential oils inhalation in two different groups of athlete male students on their exercise performance and lung function.MethodsTwenty physical education students volunteered to participate in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned into two groups: Mentha spicata and Citrus sinensis (ten participants each). One group was nebulized by Citrus sinensis flower oil and the other by Mentha spicata leaves oil in a concentration of (0.02 ml/kg of body mass) which was mixed with 2 ml of normal saline for 5 min before a 1500 m running tests. Lung function tests were measured using a spirometer for each student pre and post nebulization giving the same running distance pre and post oils inhalation.ResultsA lung function tests showed an improvement on the lung status for the students after inhaling of the oils. Interestingly, there was a significant increase in Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second and Forced Vital Capacity after inhalation for the both oils. Moreover significant reductions in the means of the running time were observed among these two groups. The normal spirometry results were 50 %, while after inhalation with M. spicata oil the ratio were 60 %.ConclusionOur findings support the effectiveness of M. spicata and C. sinensis essential oils on the exercise performance and respiratory function parameters. However, our conclusion and generalisability of our results should be interpreted with caution due to small sample size and lack of control groups, randomization or masking. We recommend further investigations to explain the mechanism of actions for these two essential oils on exercise performance and respiratory parameters.Trial registrationISRCTN10133422, Registered: May 3, 2016.
Highlights
There has been an increased interest in the effects of essential oils on athletic performances and other physiological effects
In vapor forms in the folk medicine Citrus sinensis flower oil used as sedative and Mentha spicata leaves oil used as bronchodilator, for that our study aimed to investigate their effects on the lung function and to evaluate their effects on athletic performance [21, 22]
Our findings showed that the essential oils isolated from M. spicata leaves and C. sinensis flowers enhanced athletic performance and lung function
Summary
There has been an increased interest in the effects of essential oils on athletic performances and other physiological effects. The natural plant’s essential oils are widely used in medicine and pharmacy for many purposes due to their evidence based physiological and psychological effects [3, 4]. Essential oils can cleanse cellular receptor sites of medications, petrochemicals and other disruptors of intercellular communication and can chelate heavy metals and other toxins, helping to remove and flush them through the kidneys, lungs, sweat, colon and liver. They increase the body’s ability to absorb nutrients and vitamins [9,10,11]. Many of the essential oils are used in the pharmaceutical industry as an active ingredient in the pharmaceutical formulations such as Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Thyme, Anise, Fennel oils and many others or they are used in the pharmaceutical industry as excipients as well as most of the flavoring agents which are used to improve the odor and taste of drugs that are isolated from various plants containing essential oils [12,13,14,15]
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