{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T17:47:50Z","timestamp":1790790470662,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,15]],"date-time":"2020-04-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1586908800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antioxidants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A range of dietary bioactive ingredients have claimed to improve mental clarity and reduce fatigue, including blackcurrant, pine bark, and l-theanine. These active ingredients provide a good source of dietary polyphenols which could be useful in reducing mental fatigue in a sports setting. The aim of the investigation was to test the effect of \u0100repa\u00ae a blackcurrant-based nootropic-drink also containing pine-bark and l-theanine (BC+), on mental clarity in a sport setting. Twenty-three rugby league players completed a cross-over design, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. Intervention and control phases lasted 7 days, with a washout in between. Cognition was assessed pre and post intervention following a standardized training session. Our study found the total score, accuracy, and average time per response scores improved significantly more after drinking the BC+ drink (p = 0.001, 0.003, and 0.043 respectively). The BC+ improved the perception that participants were reliable (p = 0.02) and less distracted (p = 0.03), while placebo supplementation increased participant perception they could control their nervousness (p = 0.03). Thematic analysis of post-trial questionnaire indicated participants found the BC+ sour, most reported no side effects, and opinion on which drink was more effective was not unanimous. The results indicate that the BC+ drink may be useful for athletes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antiox9040316","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,15]],"date-time":"2020-04-15T09:19:50Z","timestamp":1586942390000},"page":"316","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Improving Mental Performance in an Athletic Population with the Use of \u0100repa\u00ae, a Blackcurrant Based Nootropic Drink: A Randomized Control Trial"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Natalie","family":"Gibson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Nutrition &amp; Dietetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7406-0709","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dane","family":"Baker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"High Performance Sport, AUT Millenium, Auckland 0632, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alice","family":"Sharples","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vodafone Warriors Rugby League, Mt Smart Stadium, 2 Beasley Avenue, Auckland 1061, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6055-0595","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Braakhuis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Nutrition &amp; Dietetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neubiorev.2015.02.014","article-title":"Making the case for mobile cognition: EEG and sports performance","volume":"52","author":"Park","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neurosci. 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