Thursday, April 26, 2018

Caffeine for Athletes

            Caffeine is a part of most people’s daily routine. A new study came out on the genetics of caffeine metabolism that proved that some athletes have a particular variant of one gene that shows improvements in their endurance performance after drinking caffeine. There are some athletes who show the opposite effect after drinking caffeine, they perform worse. Different people respond differently to caffeine which is a known side effect. Some people may get very antsy or have trouble sleeping 12 hours after a single cup of coffee, while others can increase their alertness and sleep just fine with the same cup. This range of reactions also occurs in athletes and effects their ability to perform. Some athletes were faster or stronger after a moderate dose of athletes while others performed the same, and others performed worse. 
A professor of nutritional science in Canada who studies how genes influence the body’s reaction to food and diet was interesting in this topic. By the time he was interested, other geneticists already discovered that one specific form of one gene affects how people digest and metabolize caffeine. There are different variants of this gene that give you different reactions: a quick metabolism of coffee making you hyper or jittering for a short period of time and then feeling regular shortly, a moderate metabolism that makes you just digest coffee regularly with a prolonged greater alertness and no crash, and a slow metabolism. The Canadian professor studied the effect on athletes specifically and found that they had the same reaction; he concluded that athletes should get a genetic testing to see what kind of caffeine metabolizer they are before blindly trying to increase their athletic abilities. 

2D structure of caffeine


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/well/move/can-coffee-rev-up-your-workout-it-may-depend-on-your-genes.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29509641

9 comments:

  1. I think this is really important and interesting, especially for college students and college athletes. Knowing about the way that you metabolize caffeine could (hopefully) help influence how much caffeine a student athlete would consume while studying if they had a game/practice the same day.

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  2. This article is very important. Because college students and/or athletes have a high caffeine intake, it is essential to keep in mind how much one consumes. High caffeine intakes can lead to serious problems in the body and affect one's health. Students and athletes should not rely on caffeine for energy.

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  3. Being an athlete, I found this incredibly interesting. I have noticed that "pre-workout" beverages and powders often contain a high amount of caffeine, and I had no idea why. This article can serve as an important tool for not only athletes, but students and adults, as well. Knowing the way our bodies metabolize caffeine can determine how much caffeinated beverages we consume, and if the caffeine has any effect on us.

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  4. As a runner I often feel that I can not perform as well as I do without caffeine, however I have always just attributed that to my addiction to caffeine haha I can't do much without it.

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  5. This article is very useful for students and athletes. I always wondered why some people have great reactions to coffee and others are extremely bothered by it. However, I still wonder why sometimes I react great to it and other times I react badly. Is that a different gene?

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  6. When I was younger, I used to drink an energy drink before my swim meets. Some days I would drop time. While others i would gain. I had always thought the extra boost would assist me. This article now shows me that I was actually harming my swims.

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  7. I find this article very interesting, as someone who feels that caffeine increases my alertness and productivity, I find caffeine before exercise to negatively impact my performance as I become too jittery and burn out faster. I wonder in general why some individuals are incredibly sensitive to caffeine intake and others are not.

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  8. This is an interesting article, I have tried different caffeinated drinks throughout my life and it seems like caffeine barely has an effect on me, maybe I am a fast metabolizer.

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  9. For me, caffeine is not necessary to function as long as I am drinking a sufficient amount of water. However it seems as though people have become more dependent than ever on caffeine in it's many forms so this information is very relevant and useful.

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