As I write this, I’m sipping on a glass of pink Cuvee Brut Rose, ‘Goody Two Shoes’, from a bottle J bought and had delivered to my place.

It’s pink. It’s ‘Awesome Wednesday’. And it’s delicious.

Speaking of all things pink, reportedly a new study led by the Centre for Nutraceuticals in the University of Westminster has shown that pink drinks can help to make you run faster and further compared to clear drinks.

I suppose this isn’t quite referring to the rose of drinking.

The study was published in the journal, Frontiers in Nutrition, and is said to be the first investigation to assess the effect of drink colour on exercise performance.

Why pink? You may ask.

Well, the researchers apparently chose pink because it’s associated with perceived sweetness and therefore increases expectations of sugar and carbohydrate intake.

During the study, participants ran on a treadmill for 30 minutes at a self-selected speed ensuring their rate of exertion remained consistent. Throughout the run they either rinsed their mouths with either a pink artificially sweetened drink that was low in calories or a clear drink, which was also artificially sweetened and low in calories.

The results revealed that participants ran an average 212 metres further with the pink drink and their speed during the exercise test increased by 4.4%.

The researchers also found that feelings of pleasure were also enhanced with the pink drink meaning the participants found the run more enjoyable.  

“The findings from our study combine the art of gastronomy with performance nutrition, as adding a pink colourant to an artificially sweetened solution not only enhanced perception of sweetness, but also enhanced feelings of pleasure, self-selected running speed and distance covered during a run,” says corresponding author on the paper from the University of Westminster, Dr Sanjoy Deb.

So, while obviously this story relates to sporting performance, not performance at the bar, learning about the effects of colour on how we feel when we eat, and drink is interesting.

Clearly, as humans, we’re about more than just the macro- or micronutrients.

Could this be why I’ve always preferred red Gatorade on a long ride or run? Hmm.

x G.

Feature image by Anni Roenkae from Pexels.