Health Matters

Caffeine And Athletes

Caffeine may be the most widely used and accepted stimulant in the world. It is found in plants, dietary sources such as coffee, chocolate, cocoa, and colas, and non-prescription medications.

It's considered to be an ergogenic "drug" with beneficial effects on both physical and mental performance with minimal side effects. Caffeine is thought to act as a central nervous system stimulant and have effects on cognitive psychomotor functioning, particularly during mental and physical fatigue, by enhancing alertness and vigilance.

Caffeine may therefore play a role in all types of exercise in which concentration, reaction times, and technical/tactical skills have a major influence on both physical and mental performance such as cycling, orienteering, and ultra endurance events.

Caffeine ingestion before exercise increases performance during exercise. This is true for both elite and recreational athletes.

In addition to the sports performance aspect, caffeine has been shown to positively affect a person's health in the following areas:

  • Alertness, mood change
  • Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases
  • Glucose levels and a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes
  • Gallstones
  • Liver function liver cirrhosis
  • Decreasing LDL-cholesterol
  • Providing antioxidants.

Contrary to what you might expect, in hypertensive subjects, the prolonged administration of caffeine is not associated with a significant elevation in blood pressure.

While athletes often refrain from caffeine use because of its role as a diuretic, caffeine consumption does not result in water-electrolyte imbalances, hyperthermia or reduced exercise-heat tolerance.

The side effects of caffeine ingestion include anxiety, jitters, inability to focus, gastrointestinal unrest, insomnia, irritability, and, with higher doses, the risk of heart arrhythmias and mild hallucinations.

Bottom line

  1. Be aware of how much caffeine is in your food, drinks, and medicine, including nonprescription drugs.
  2. First use caffeine during practice, and not in a competition.
  3. Listen to your body. If you have any unwanted side effects, limit
    your intake.
  4. Caffeine withdrawal can cause mood shifts, headaches, nausea,
    tremors, and fatigue.
Source: SPARC's Relay newsletter