Caffeine’s performance-boosting effects sought by athletes
Researchers are always brewing fresh information on caffeine, perhaps because coffee forms such an integral part of many morning routines. It seems the general consensus is that caffeine can be healthy in moderate amounts. However, caffeine works as a central nervous system stimulant that has a variety of physiological effects, which can be seen as either desirable or detrimental.
According to a recently published article in The Atlantic, titled “How Athletes Strategically Use Caffeine,” caffeine has become the performance-enhancing drug of choice in competitive sports, with the author suggesting that “using it in precise ways, and not excessively, seems most effective.”
The article explains that at the Ironman World Championship – a “brutal triathlon” – “most were jacked up on caffeine, the world’s most popular performance-enhancing drug.” Though it was noted that caffeine has varying effects upon individuals, on average, it seems to boost performance.
Typically, we don’t tend to associate the use of caffeine with athletic performance. It makes sense that caffeine could be used to (temporarily) increase endurance in competitive athletic events, such as a triathlon. Health Canada notes that caffeine can be used to promote alertness and wakefulness, enhance cognitive performance, relieve fatigue, and promote endurance.
However, caffeine has diuretic effects, which means that it can also contribute to dehydration. In addition, it’s been argued that people tend to underestimate the negative effects of caffeine.
Men’s Journal recently published an article, titled “7 Worrisome Facts About Caffeine,” that positions caffeine as the “largest, least regulated, and most misunderstood drug trade in America.” Some worrisome claims include the idea that drinking one cup of strong coffee a day is enough to get you hooked; that overdoing caffeine can cause problems, from disrupted sleep to increased anxiety symptoms; that it’s easy to build tolerance for caffeine (and become dependent); and that natural caffeine is no better than synthetic sources, since they have the same effects.
With conflicting viewpoints on caffeine being presented, and its reputation as a performance-boosting substance (or conversely as an anxiety aggravator, and overused stimulant) constantly being debated, it is really up to the individual to choose how they wish to “use” caffeine (or rather, if they wish to consume caffeine at all). We shouldn’t forget, however, that caffeine is a drug.