Effect of timing of citrate drink ingestion on blood lactate removal.
Satomi Okano, Honoka Nakayama, Hitomi Nishizawa
PMID 39624347WHAT IT FOUND
Drinking a citrate solution before or after high-intensity exercise made no difference to how quickly blood lactate cleared.
Lactate removal rates were identical regardless of timing, matching water or no intake controls. Clinicians should not expect a performance recovery benefit from citrate timing.
Key findings
01There was no significant difference in blood lactate values or reduction rates between the four conditions, regardless of whether citrate was taken before or after exercise.
02Lactate reduction rates increased significantly over time within the citrate conditions, but this change did not differ between pre-exercise and post-exercise intake.
03The study used a dose of 4 g citric acid in 100 mL water, which the authors note may have been insufficient to induce adequate alkalosis for a measurable effect.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The dose of citric acid (4 g, approx. 63.2 mg/kg) may have been too low to induce significant alkalosis, as previous studies showing effects used much higher doses (500 mg/kg). The study population was exclusively healthy young male students, so results may not apply to older adults, patients with comorbidities, or female participants. The crossover design included a control group where participants were assigned to only one condition (water or nothing), potentially introducing selection bias compared to those who completed all four arms. No blinding of participants or assessors was reported, although the outcome measure (blood lactate) is objective.
Declared interests
The research was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of difference between citrate timing and water as proof that citrate is ineffective. The authors suggest the 4 g dose used was likely too low to cause the physiological change (alkalosis) needed to affect lactate removal, so the study may have been underpowered for the intervention rather than negative for the mechanism.