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If you’d said to someone 10 years ago that café culture would one day begin to eclipse pub culture in Dubai, you’d have attracted some strange glances.
But here we are in 2016, and it doesn’t look so ludicrous after all. And while that may sound like a step in the right direction from a health perspective, the effects of caffeine on our bodies is something we need to take a serious look at – particularly with regard to coupling caffeine and exercise.
The problem with scientific research is that people read into it too literally. A scientist or researcher may discover groundbreaking evidence that will hold water for a while until another study conflicts with the original findings. This is science, ladies and gentlemen.
Just have a read the following, quoted from an actual scientific study: “Caffeine has been found to increase, decrease or have no effect on heart rate at rest and during exercise”.
Not exactly clear cut is it?
There will always be extremes when it comes to research; the caffeine and exercise debate is no different. And given the ambiguity here, you’ll have one camp telling you to “Drink up to 6 cups of strong coffee a day whilst exercising” and others will say “Steer clear altogether”.
Let’s address some of the common queries that my clients will regularly come to me with regarding caffeine:
The list goes on. These are all reasonable queries, especially when you consider that most recreational athletes just want to get the most out of their 3 or 4 sessions at the gym per week. Why should it all be so complicated?
It doesn’t seem to cause dehydration in athletes: A review of 10 studies found that consuming up to 550 mg of caffeine per day (about five 8oz cups) does not cause fluid-electrolyte imbalances in athletes or fitness enthusiasts, or in ‘normal’ people either.
In another review, researchers concluded that consuming caffeine-containing beverages as part of a normal lifestyle isn’t associated with poor hydration status.
Caffeine can help your muscles’ ability to perform repeated contractions (similar effect had by foods that are high in calcium – I’d recommend green leafy vegetables here). This effect may actually offset the effects of cramp during prolonged exercise.
Coffee is not for everyone, and it’s not a magic bullet; when it comes to nutrition no such bullet exists! Still, it seems to have significant health and training benefits for those who can tolerate it.
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