Learn about the benefits and downfalls of consuming caffeine, and how it may help or hurt your athletic training.
By: Hailey Tylisz
Caffeine is a natural central nervous system stimulant found in tea, coffee, nuts, seeds, cacao, and other botanical sources. It is also added to many popular drinks, foods, and supplements, such as soda, energy drinks, pre-workout, candy, and even caffeine pills! But is caffeine safe to integrate into your sports nutrition plan?
When to Use Caffeine
The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) reports that caffeine enhances exercise performance in both trained and untrained people. Caffeine increases muscle endurance, movement velocity, and muscular strength, sprinting, jumping, and throwing performance, along with other various aerobic and anaerobic outcomes. These benefits have been seen when caffeine is consumed in doses of 3-6 mg/kg body weight; any higher dose may be dangerous.
Timing of caffeine consumption also plays an important part in its effectiveness. The ISSN recommends the use of caffeine 60 minute prior to exercise for optimal benefits. However, this is dependent on the source of caffeine, as some forms may take less time and effort to enter the bloodstream than others. Caffeine in the form of energy bars and gels are normally set at standardized amounts, while amounts in coffee, tea, and energy drinks may vary. Paying attention to nutrition labels might be a good place to start when monitoring your caffeine intake.
Caffeine Recommendations
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends consuming no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine (or 4 cups of coffee) per day. Beyond this, an athlete might see adverse health effects including headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and irritability, accelerated heartbeat, and muscle tremors. If you are someone who is consuming energy drinks, pre-workout, and coffee regularly, you may be exceeding the recommendation already. Additionally, if you have been consuming high amounts of caffeine for extended periods of time, you may have built up a tolerance to it and need even more to feel any of its effects!
With all of this being said, it is important to compare the advantages with the disadvantages regarding caffeine use in athletic performance.
Potential Advantages:
- Decreased pain and fatigue resulting in higher intensity training
- Ability to participate in longer training sessions due to decreased perceived exertion
- Improved performance in endurance training or competitions
- Increased body coordination, focus, and concentration to sustain training intensity
Potential Disadvantages:
- GI issues, nausea, shaking, and overstimulation that can negatively affect sleep and athletic performance from high consumption (6-9 mg/kg body weight)
- Highly addictive and may result in withdrawal symptoms
- Sports performance or energy supplements may contain unclear amounts of additional banned stimulants that may result in serious adverse health effects
- It is banned by the NCAA; urinary caffeine concentrations greater than 15 mcg/ml results in a positive drug test and inability to participate in competitions
Caffeine in safe doses may benefit you while participating in various forms of exercise and training. However, it is important not to discount the energy that we get from food alone! Staying consistent with a nutrition plan that aims to meet energy and nutrient needs should be the first step in achieving your optimal athletic performance, and the addition of caffeine can be an integrated later on.
For more information or to ask questions, reach out to Dr. Schubert. Check out these related blogs for information on how to make coffee drinks into healthy recovery options and making seasonal fall coffee drinks into healthy smoothies.
References
Guest NS, et al. International society of sports nutrition position stand: caffeine and exercise performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2021; 18: 1.
FDA. Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much? Published 12/12/2018. Accessed 9/15/2021. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much.
NCAA Banned Substances. Updated 7/6/2021. Accessed 9/15/2021. https://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/topics/2020-21-ncaa-banned-substances.