ComputerHunter.org |
|
|
|||
|
 |
Coffee, Caffeine & Fitness
One look at a line at the local Starbucks in the morning and you don't need to be convinced of the huge amount of coffee consumption in the U.S. The National Coffee Association found in 2000 that 54% of the U.S. adult population drinks coffee daily. Guess there's nothing like the first double espresso in the morning to clear the cobwebs from our heads so we can face the day. But what are the effects relating to fitness? If that grande-no-foam-double-whipped-extra-shot-no-fat latte gives us the get-up-and-go to start our day at work, will it do the same if we're headed to the gym? Physiological Effects The main ingredient in coffee that gives us that jolt is caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant. Caffeine is found naturally in coffee beans, tea leaves, and chocolate, and is a popular added ingredient in carbonated beverages and some over-the-counter medications such as cold remedies, diuretics, aspirin, and weight control aids. It is estimated that in the U.S., 75% of caffeine intake comes from coffee. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system by blocking adenosine, a neurotransmitter that normally causes a calming effect in the body. The resulting neural stimulation due to this blockage causes the adrenal glands to release adrenaline, the "fight or flight" hormone. Your heart rate increases, your pupils dilate, your muscles tighten up, and glucose is released into your blood stream for extra energy. Voila? you now have the caffeine buzz. But wait?we're not done yet. Caffeine also increases dopamine. Dopamine activates the pleasure in parts of the brain. It has been suspected that this also contributes to caffeine addiction. Physiologically, caffeine makes us you feel alert, pumps adrenaline to give you energy and changes dopamine production to make you feel good. Another espresso, anyone? Ergogenic Effects of Caffeine to Performance In addition to various psychological and physiological benefits, numerous studies have documented caffeine's ergogenic effect on athletic performance, particularly in regard to endurance. Studies show that caffeine ingestion prior to exercising extended endurance in moderately strenuous aerobic activity. Other studies researching caffeine consumption on elite distance runners and distance swimmers show increased performance times following caffeine consumption. Despite effects on endurance, caffeine produced no effect on maximal muscular force in a study measuring voluntary and electrically stimulated muscle actions. However, the same study did show findings that suggest caffeine has an ergogenic effect on muscle during repetitive, low frequency stimulation. Caffeine's positive performance-enhancing effects have been well documented. So much so that the International Olympic Committee placed a ban leading to disqualification for an athlete with urinary limits exceeding 12 mg/mL. Roughly 600 to 800mg of caffeine, or 4 to 7 cups of coffee, consumed over a 30-minute period would be enough to exceed this level and cause disqualification. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has a similar limit, set at 15 mg/mL. Coffee: A Pre-Workout Drink? Before you make Starbucks part of your pre-workout warm-up in order to harness the effects of caffeine, be aware that simply downing a grande may not give you similar benefits found in these studies. A recent Canadian study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology compared the effect of coffee and caffeine on run time to exhaustion. A group of nine men took part in five trials. Sixty minutes before each run, the men took one of the following:
Performance times were up to 10 times longer in subjects using the caffeine capsules, with no differences in times among the other trials. Since the level of caffeine absorption was similar during the caffeine trials, researchers concluded something in the coffee itself that interferes with caffeine's performance-enhancing effects. This makes sense considering that there are literally hundreds of compounds dissolved when coffee beans are roasted, ground and extracted. Results of this research suggest that if benefits of caffeine on endurance times are desired, caffeine capsules work better than coffee. Caffeine and Creatine Supplementation Although caffeine has been shown to increase endurance time, further research shows it may actually blunt the effect of creatine, a popular and well-researched compound known for its consistent ergogenic effects. In a study evaluating the effect of pre-exercise caffeine ingestion on both creatine stores and high-intensity exercise performance, caffeine totally counteracted any effects of creatine supplementation. It was suggested that individuals who creatine load should refrain from caffeine-containing foods and beverages if positive effects are desired. The Downside of Caffeine Despite coffee/caffeine's positive effects on psychological states and performance, there are numerous documented risks that must considered when consuming caffeine, whether for performance-enhancing effects or simply as a part of daily dietary consumption. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system and can produce restlessness, headaches, and irritability. Caffeine also elevates your heart rate and blood pressure. Over the long-term as your body gets used to caffeine, it requires higher amounts to get the same effects. Certainly, having your body in a state of hormonal emergency all day long isn't very healthy. Caffeine is also a diuretic and causes a loss of fluid, which then leads to a dehydrating effect. This is obviously not conducive to fitness activities such as resistance training, as fluid is needed for the transfer of nutrients to facilitate muscular growth. It is also important when considering the further loss of fluid while exercising in hot environments. Perhaps the most important long-term problem is the effect of caffeine on sleep. The half-life of caffeine in the body is about 6 hours. If you drink a big cup of coffee with 200 mg of caffeine at 4PM, at 10PM you still have about 100mg in your body. By 4AM, you still have 50mg floating in your system. Even though you may be able to sleep, you may not be able to obtain the restful benefits of deep sleep. What's worse, the cycle continues as you may use more and more caffeine in hopes of counteracting this deficit. Caffeinated Conclusions? Though caffeine has some benefits in relation to exercise performance, risks have been documented. Most problems seem evident with very high consumption. The American Heart Association says that moderate coffee drinking (one or two cups per day) does not seem to be harmful for most people. As with everything else, moderation is the key to healthy caffeine consumption. Further research is needed to clearly determine whether the performance-enhancing benefits of caffeine outweigh the potential risks. About The Author Jon Gestl, CSCS, is a Chicago personal trainer and fitness instructor who specializes in helping people get in shape in the privacy and convenience of their home or office. He is a United States National Aerobic Champion silver and bronze medalist and world-ranked sportaerobic competitor and editor of the fitness ezine "Inspired Informed and Inshape." He can be contacted through his website at http://www.jongestl.com.
Google News - Top Stories
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Brewing the Perfect Cup of Coffee Do you remember your first experience with coffee? I'm sorry to say that I do. All I remember is that it was powdered and freeze dried and worst of all, decaf. I remember sitting in a restaurant with my mother and stepfather asking a waitress for Sanka, and explaining to my mother that I'd had it before and avoiding her disapproving stare. What was wrong with a ten year old drinking coffee? It was Sanka for God's sake! How to Make Restaurant Quality Coffee At Home Have you ever wondered how restaurants get their coffee to taste so good? Those Elusive Coffee Beans! With the spread of various coffee beans into our lives, it can be more and more difficult to discern what you're buying at the market. And that's not surprising given the sheer numbers game. Coffee is a commodity At Starbucks they obviously need coffee. To insure that they get the coffee at a good price, Starbucks has chosen to buy the coffee fields, rather than pay an advanced contract price for the coffee beans. Just think it's Starbucks was buying coffee from Cuba, and that hurricane that came through Cuba two months ago destroyed all the coffee beans, in this case Starbucks cannot sell you your Latte. That would really piss you off. Starbucks knows that if they piss you off; you may never come back again. Also if Starbucks kept raising and lowering the price of coffee they sell in the store you might get upset. But since the coffee is a commodity, the price would fluctuate. And Starbucks knows since they buy so much coffee, that they would have to guarantee they have the coffee, and then they would have to pay a premium price for the contract for coffee. History of Instant Coffee Mention instant coffee to any connoisseur and you are sure to get a frown of disgust. Yet, who among us hasn't, after finding the coffee tin empty, scoured the cupboard in desperation with hopes of finding a long since misplaced jar or 'hotel packet' of instant coffee? And, after sighing in relief, relished in amazement that it is still good after all those years of obscurity, abandonment and outright neglect on the dusty top shelf at the back of the pantry. You haven't? Well maybe I just like to live dangerously. Russian Tea drinking - The beginning It is believed history of Russian tea drinking tradition have began at 1638. Coffee from Guatemala In Guatemala coffee grows in the heart of what was once the center of the Great Mayan Civilization. The Maya ruled this region of Central America from around 2500 B.C. until the arrival of Spanish Conquistadors in mid 1500 A.D. Coffee Breaks - Do They Create Stress? The American custom of taking break during the working hours. Thus coffee breaks began in the early 20th century. At the end of the 19th century, the American workplace was a dreadful place for a break. La Minita Coffee ? It?s in the Green Beans La Minita; Spanish for "The Little Gold Mine" says it all. La Minita is arguably the best coffee in the world and is sipped by the who's who in the specialty coffee industry as well as by those of us who have access to it in our businesses. Similar to the wine industry, the best coffees are not always the most expensive. There are many factors involved in determining the final price of a coffee, unfortunately the quality of the bean is only one of them. The Great Bean Mystery - Find the World?s Best Coffee Who doesn't love solving a good mystery? Is the Loch Ness monster real? Who built Stonehenge? Does Big Foot really exist? What is the world's best coffee? While you may need to be an expert to solve the first three, no advanced degree or special knowledge is required to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the 21st century: What is the world's best coffee? The History Of Coffee Coffee - THE Drink of Choice A Coffee Roaster For All Occasions Coffee roasters and those who roast, brew and serve the ultimate cup of coffee are now esteemed professionals within the social fabric of our community at large. A good coffee roaster is a little like a celebrity chef these days, complete with loyal followings, highly descriptive reviews and the ability to command premium prices for their products and services. As coffee continues to grow in elevation from merely a mundane beverage to something of art form, a good coffee roaster has begun to take on a glamorous aura. Gourmet Flavored Coffee Coffee tastes great by itself, but for an extra special taste sensation, try gourmet flavored coffee. There are many flavoring substances which can be added to coffee to give your daily cup of Java an out of the ordinary flavor experience. Gourmet Coffee Stops Decrease Gas Mileage;Home Brewed Premium Coffee Reduce Traffic Congestion A researcher has stirred up the commuter coffee mug with the suggestion that morning rush hour traffic is worsened by stops for daily morning gourmet coffee at Starbucks and other premium coffee houses. Nancy McGuckin, a travel behavior analyst, studied a report called "National Household Travel Survey" by the U.S. Department of Transportation as the basis for her provocative conclusions. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Coffee Consumption Coffee is heavily studied, but study results contradict one another. If science says that it is bad for you today, wait a day or two and another study will be published claiming the exact opposite findings. Who is Juan Valdez? Juan Valdez is a fictitious character who was created in 1959 to represent the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Columbia, founded in 1926. Kenya Coffee History In Kenya coffee production dates back several hundred years. Coffee was originally discovered in Ethiopia, Kenya's neighbor to the north. Unfortunately, just as in other coffee growing regions of the world, the coffee trade in Kenya triggered heated and bloody battles over the prime growing lands. The Arabs, who monopolized the coffee trade for several hundred years, killed and enslaved many thousand Kenyans and put them to work in coffee production both in Kenya coffee fields and on Arabian coffee plantations. Creating the Perfect Foam Most places that serve cappuccinos in the United States have not trained their baristas in the art of properly frothing milk. The foam that they create is usually a dry, tasteless, large celled collection of bubbles that sit on top of the espresso like a meringue. 11 Effects of Caffeine on The Body Caffeine is big business. There are new coffee shops popping up all over the place. You can't go far without running into a Starbucks. "Let's get together for coffee. Time for a coffee break. Coffee pot goes off before my feet hit the floor. Travel mugs for sipping coffee on your way to work. I'll just have this chocolate bar to pick me up this afternoon." Caffeine - It's everywhere! It's everywhere! English Coffee With English Tea being a very familiar term, English coffee may seem as contrary a term as Arctic bananas; however, England's impact on the coffee trade and the world of business is undeniable. The history of English coffee began in 1650 at Oxford University when a Lebanese immigrant opened the first coffeehouse on campus.
|
|
|
|
|
