Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Caffeine is considered a performance enhancement drug. Did you know that? I didn’t until I looked up all the studies that were registered in the American Journal of Physiology over the last few years. It seems that a lot of money is being spent on finding out exactly how much caffeine an athlete can consume, perform well and still be under the tested caffeine limits.

The reason I started looking up all the research registered in the American Journal of Physiology is because it was mentioned in this article about caffeine and performance:

• The London Times – A coffee to go at the gym – Peta Bee

Caffeine can substatially affect the performance of an athlete. Here are some of the most important quotes that I found from the article.

“A response to caffeine is individual and depends on your body size, metabolism and how much you are used to taking.”

“It works in small doses and there are no gains in performance by taking larger doses.”

“Taken in excess, caffeine is known to have unhealthy side- effects. It is addictive and consuming the equivalent of six or more cups of coffee a day has been shown to trigger migraines, irritable bowel syndrome and other gastrointestinal problems.”

I’ve had a lengthy dance with caffeine. I stopped drinking it because my Weight Watcher leader recommended it and was shocked at how much it affected me. Now, I pretty much treat caffeine like a drug. If I have a headache, I take aspirin. If I’m incredibly tired and need to be alert, I drink a caffeinated beverage. It’s very rare. Considering that taking too much caffeine can get athletes kicked out of events, it sounds like something that should be avoided completely.

Via: SportsGeezer – The Caffeinated Workout Really Works