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RAW ALMOND AND ALMOND MILK CONSUMPTION EFFECTS ON DELAYED ONSET MUSCLE SORENESS AND EXERCISE PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The empirical evidence to support the use of whole, raw almonds (A) and almond milk (AM) consumption is limited. While post-exercise supplementation of A has been utilized in previous studies (Yi et al., 2014), no previous research groups have utilized AM consumption as a form of post-exercise nutrient replenishment. The use of AM may provide a simple alternate form of nutrient supplementation compared to A. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the effects of A and AM on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and exercise performance. METHODS: Nineteen relatively active college-aged males and females (nm= 13, nf = 6) were randomly assigned into one of three conditions, A, AM, or control (C). Participants in each group completed a test session that consisted of countermovement jump (CMJ) tests, 40-yd dash, and Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT) in the hamstrings. At the end of the session, participants performed a drop-jump protocol to elicit DOMS then, immediately post-exercise, they consumed 70 g of A, 8 oz of AM, or nothing based on the condition to which they were assigned. All participants were retested for CMJ, 40-yd dash and PPT 48 hrs following A, AM, or no post-supplementation. A factorial ANOVA (significance level p < 0.05) was utilized to determine significant differences between experimental conditions for each dependent variable. RESULTS: No statistical differences (p = 0.48 - 0.53) were found between supplements for CMJ (C: 0.55 ± 0.15 m v. 0.54 ± 0.14 m, A: 0.56 ± 0.13 m v. 0.56 ± 0.13 m, AM: 0.47 ± 0.12 m v. 0.48 ± 0.13 m), 40-yd dash (C: 5.32 ± 0.68 s v. 5.42 ± 0.75 s, A: 5.19 ± 0.67 s v. 5.21 ± 0.65 s, AM: 5.67 ± 0.63 s v. 5.70 ± 0.65 s), and PPT (C: 18.40 ± 10.33 lbf v. 14.21 ± 6.29 lbf, A: 14.79 ± 5.14 lbf v. 14.29 ± 3.09 lbf, AM: 11.79 ± 4.14 lbf v. 11.02 ± 4.70). CONCLUSION: Under these research conditions, A and AM consumption did not improve anaerobic exercise performance, nor did they improve PPT. A possible explanation for the observed results may have been the small sample size, since the probability of a Type II error was approximately 86%. Larger sample population sizes could have elicited larger effect size and statistical power. However, since there is little empirical evidence in support of A and AM supplementation for exercise performance, it is possible that A or AM simply may have no effect on the observed dependent variables. Lastly, further research is needed to investigate the effect of A and AM consumption on exercise performance and DOMS over a variety of post-exercise durations, such as 24, 48 and 72 hrs.

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