ArticleEuropean journal of applied physiology2025
Determination of the optimal dose and dosing strategy for effective L-menthol oral rinsing during exercise in hot environments.
Article in European journal of applied physiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effects of different menthol administration routes on endurance performance and physiological responses in the heat: a network meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions with and without L-menthol on hydration and performance recovery following simulated firefighting exercise.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2026Trial
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis multi-study programme investigated the optimal concentration of L-menthol delivered as an oral mouth rinse to modulate thermo-behaviour during exercise in a hot environment (35 °C).
methodIn study 1, 38 participants completed a survey to establish an effective and tolerable range of L-menthol concentration. 31 participants completed an RPE-protocol examining 1. the dose-response effect of L-menthol mouth rinse on exercise performance (n = 16) and 2. the temporal effectiveness of administering L-menthol in an incremental and decremental dosing pattern (n = 15). Power output, heart rate, body core temperature and thermal sensation were reported throughout.
resultsThe optimal menthol concentration for peak power was between 0.01 and 0.1% (~ 6% increase, P < 0.05) and 0.5% (~ 9% increase, P < 0.05) with respect to control. Work completed was increased at 0.01% (~ 5%, P < 0.05), at 0.1% (~ 3%, P < 0.05) and had a detrimental effect at 0.5% (- 10% decrease, P < 0.05). There were no differences between an ascending dose protocol (0.01 to 0.5%), descending dose protocol (0.5-0.01%) or a constant 0.01% dose protocol. There were no reported differences in body core temperature or heart rate across trials (P > 0.05).
conclusionThe optimal dose of L-menthol when delivered via oral rinsing is between 0.01 and 0.1%. At lower concentrations, L-menthol appears to be less effective and at higher concentrations (> 0.5%) L-menthol appears to elicit greater irritation and may not positively modulate thermo-behaviour during exercise in a hot environment.
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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 Socratic graph.