Bio 3BSaddleback CollegeFall 2011The Effect of a Lactic Acid Reducer on Human, (Homo sapiens)George Garcia and Yoon OhDepartment of Biological Science Saddleback College Mission Viejo, CA 92692.Abstract Everyone in the sports community has heard of performance supplements that clam to helppeople in their activity by reducing lactate acid level allowing them to work harder and push more. It was predicted that giving humans a lactic acid reducer well help them finish their activity quicker. Ten subjects were finger pricked to check lactated level before and after they rana flight of stair, and they were also timed running up and down a flight of stair 10 times with and without Tums® and Cytomax®. There was and no significant difference was found (p=0.634043, two tailed ANOVA) between the lactate level (mmol•L-1) in Cytomax® (4.8± 0.6246 SEM) versus Tums® (4.46± 0.2903 SEM) versus no supplement (5.09± 0.4113 SEM). Also no significant difference was found (p=0.711876, two tailed ANOVA) between the time (min) it took to finish running up and down a flight of stairs (2.847± 0.1987SEM) with no supplement, (2.81± 0.1474 SEM) with Tums® and (2.993± 0.1427 SEM) with Cytomax®.IntroductionAfter some physical activities, we start to breathe faster as we need more oxygen since oxygen is main source of producing energy through aerobic method. However, our body sometimes requires more energy production than our bodies can deliver oxygen. Then the working muscles generate energies anaerobically. The energy comes from glucose through glycolysis, and glucose is broken down into pyruvate through series of steps. When oxygen is limited, the body temporarily converts pyruvate into lactate. This temporary energy source is good for short term to cover up the energy needs, but it will eventually increase the acidity of themuscle cells, and it will disrupt other metabolites. That means high lactate level will slow down the key systems to maintain muscle contraction, and it will give some impact on physical activityperformances. Because high lactate level in muscle cells also increases the acidity, and metabolicpathway that breaks down of glucose to energy will work poorly in this acidic environment.Recent studies have shown that the effect of a lactic acid reducer will help to reduce high lactate level and promote the better performance on humans. Polylactate and bicarbonate are some compounds that are known to reduce lactic acid levels. Bicarbonate works by lowering the acidy of blood by lowering the H+ ions in blood reducing lactic acid (Price, et al, 2010; Achtzehn, et al, 2011). Polylactate works by disposal of lactic acid via oxidation results in removal of H+ ions buffering lactic acid (Azevedo JL Jr, et al, 2007; Brown, et al, 2010). Becausebicarbonate and polylactate are lactate acid reducing agents, so they will increase the specimen’s lactate threshold (Artioli, et al, 2011). In theory, increasing the lactate threshold would allow individuals to do an exercise for a longer period of time and enhance better performance.Materials and Methods Experimentation began on the week of November 4th, 2011 and data was collected at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California. Lactate analyzers and lactate test strips are provided by Biological Department of Saddleback College, and Cytomax® and Tums® are purchased to be tested on human subjects. Ten human subjects are recruited and asked to run up and down of the stairs located at Math & Science Building at Saddleback College. Experiments are performed on Friday and Saturday morning for 3 weeks depends on the time availability of each human subject. The experiments are separated into three tests. The first trial was running upand down the stair with normal conditions. Each human subject was checked lactate level before and after run the experiment. The second trial was running up and down the stairs with consumption of Cytomax®. Each human subject drank 10-12 fl-oz of water that is mixed with 25g (approximately 1 scoop) of Cytomax®. After consumption of mixture of Cytomax®, each individual was waited for 30 minutes to be digested then checked the lactate level before and after running up and down the stairs. The last trial was running up and down the stairs with consumption of Tums®. Each human subject took 2 tablets of Tums® (approximately 2000 mg of Calcium Carbonate from total of 2 tablets) and waited for 30 minutes to be digested. Then measured lactate level before and after running up and down the stairs. Results of each trial were recorded individually with the time and lactate level. Running time was measured on time watch and lactate level was measured on alactate meter, SCOUT®, with test strips. Results Lactated is produce during an activity like exercising or anything that cause you to move. But the rate that it takes to be broken down changes when there is a lot more lactated present causing a person to feel that burning feeling or cramping when they are in a physical activity. Lactated was recorded for 10 test subjects who ran up and down a flight of stairs. Lactated levelswas measured prior the activity for no supplement, Cytomax® and Tums® and after the activity(Table 1). No significant difference (p= 0.6634, two tailed ANOVA) was found between the measure of lactate between taking no supplement, Tums and Cytomax (Figure 1).In addition, the time that each subject was able to finish running up and down stairs was recorded. The time that it took to run up and down stairs 10 times was compared between no supplements, Tums® and Cytomax® (Table 1). No significant difference (p= 0.7118, two tailed ANOVA) was found in the time it took to finish the run up and down the flight of stairs when taking no supplements, Tums® and Cytomax® before the activity (Figure 2).. lactate level (mmol•L-1)run time (min)nosupplements5.09 2.847Cytomax 4.8 2.993Tums 4.46 2.81Table 1. Table displays the means values for lactated (mmol•L-1) and run times (min) between nosupplements, Cytomax® and Tums®.Figure 1. There’s no different in the three supplements lactated level (p= 0.6340, two tailed ANOVA. Error bars are mean ± SEM)Figure 2. There’s no different in the three run times up and down stairs when taking any of the three supplements (p= 0.711876, two tailed ANOVA. Error bars are mean ± SEM) Discussion In the study, no significant difference was established between the lactated levels and activity time