Influence of the administration form of menthol in physical performance in endurance exercise: A systematic review

Objectives. - Perform a systematic review of the literature and present the results of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) pointing out under which conditions and forms of administration menthol is really capable of improving performance in endurance exercise. News. - Thirteen studies met the eligibility criteria. The sample size ranged from 6 to 12 athletes and the studies were evaluated between 5 and 9 on the PEDro scale. Six studies evaluated menthol mouth rinse, of which three demonstrated an increase in time to exhaustion between 6% and 9% and two demonstrated a decrease in time trial (2.7% and 3.5%). Five studies evaluated the topical application but without modification of physical performance variables. Two studies assessed the oral intake, of which in one of them there was a decrease in the time trial between 5.2% and 8.2%. Prospects and projects. - Current data point to a good perspective on the determination of menthol as an ergogenic resource, provided that further studies form a body of evidence on each of the forms of administration. Conclusion. - The available evidence suggests that physical exercise practitioners who use menthol orally seem to be able to promoter sport advantage, but these results need to be weighed due to the evidence level is considered to be of low quality due to small sample size, heterogeneous supplementation and exercise protocols and low volume of studies. (c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.