IslamicAnswers.com: Islamic Advice

Noha Abd Rabo, a female Taekwondo champion from Egypt, at the 2008 Olympics

Assalamualekyum Friends,

I am an amateur athlete, and also give training advice to other Muslim athletes.  To put this in context, I train in boxing and other martial arts, and use strength training and running, etc. to get in shape for my activities.  I live in the US and work a desk job with long hours.  Naturally, Ramadan is a challenge for us, and we are always trying to perfect our nutrition, meal-timing, workout-timing, etc. to try to optimize our fitness, to the extent possible, while fulfilling our obligations during Ramadan.

I have a specific question about some research that has come out recently regarding a way to "trick" the body into releasing more energy.  Scientists have long noted that athletes respond with more energy and increased performance almost immediately after consuming an energy drink, even though it takes about an hour to deliver the energy from the drink to the cells.

So some research projects have recently been done that have identified that simply swishing the mouth with a carbohydrate solution, then spitting it out, can provide the same athletic performance boost.  Scientists believe there are sensors in the mouth that detect the carbohydrate (the mouth cannot absorb carbohydrates) and then tell the body to fully utilize its energy stores because it can expect food energy in the near future.  Ordinarily, the body will hold back on performance if there isn't any food coming, to preserve some stores for future use.

Here is a link from the New York Times with a nice lay explanation of the research.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/health/nutrition/20best.html?_r=1

I would like to know the opinion of knowledgeable brothers and sisters on whether this will be permissible.  I think it would be, given that we are permitted to use nose drops, eye drops, mouth wash, etc. as long as we don't swallow.  The way I would implement this is to take some solution into the front of the mouth, hold it for some time, then spit out and vigorously wash with water and take care to spit out as much water as possible.

I have tried this and it has greatly boosted my performance, allowing me to train with maximum intensity, though duration is limited due to dehydration.

Many thanks for your time.

Salam,

Hamster