Is caffeine bad for your health? When it comes to fitness goals and performance in the gym, how much coffee should you drink? Or should you not drink it at all? That is what you are about to find out.
It happens almost automatically, without a thought. It is second nature to a majority of people around the world. After waking up, a cup of coffee to start the day. Caffeine will get that feeling of kickstarting the day to go to school, work, or simply not feel tired in the first few hours of the day.
But BOXROX is all about health and fitness. So, in that department, is caffeine bad for you? How much coffee should you drink? In short, the answer is no, and we will explain why.
But before any of this begins, I do not drink coffee at all. Me, Robert Born, a Brazilian, who doesn’t drink coffee advocating for coffee? I know, I never thought I would see the day either, but here we are. All for the name of clearer information and so that you can make good decisions based on scientific evidence and reach your fitness goals!
So let’s dig in.
Is Caffeine Bad For You?
Is caffeine bad for you? No. Caffeine is not bad for you. But like anything in life, you should drink it moderately. If you drink 10 cups of coffee every day for a long time, of course caffeine will be bad for you down the line. But if you drink mildly, sporadically, a cup of coffee or so every day, it can help you not only with waking up in the day, but also in the gym when you are working out.
Before getting into the pros of ingesting caffeine, here are some negative side effects of it:
- It can marginally raise blood pressure
- It can create anxiety
- It can cause mild chemical dependence (headaches, etc)
Caffeine is a stimulant, yes, but a milder one. The pros of caffeine can outweigh the negatives, especially if you drink it responsibly. Actually, if you drink it as a normal person would, the negative side of caffeine might never even get to you. So, win-win scenario.
Caffeine can reduce appetite and increase focus, which is great if you are trying to lose weight and work out.
Furthermore, a scientific study concluded that caffeine has no effect on maximal ability, “but enhanced endurance or resistance to fatigue.” The paper also asserts that caffeine may create a more favourable intracellular ionic environment in active muscle. “This could facilitate force production by each motor unit.”
It states that there is no evidence that caffeine ingestion before exercise leads to dehydration, ion imbalance, or any other adverse effects. No wonder that caffeine is part of many supplements in the market, especially pre-workout blends.
This is why you should include caffeine in your fitness diet. It will make you produce more force when lifting weights and could improve your endurance so that you can train for longer.
Once this is answered, a bigger and more valuable question comes to mind: how much coffee should you drink?
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How Much Coffee Should You Drink?
The follow-up question of “is caffeine bad for you” is naturally “how much coffee should you drink.” Caffeine is naturally present in coffee, tea, cocoa, guarana and yerba mate. People from around the world consume coffee daily, but there should be a limit, no? You might think this answer varies from person to person and, to a certain extent, it does.
As usual, you should pay attention to your body and follow professional medical assessment. This article is not, in any way, aimed at substituting the knowledge and evaluation someone in the health department makes of you.
Now that we know that caffeine has its benefits when it comes to fitness and health, how much is too much? Let’s separate into groups so that you can see where you stand and what is the maximum you should consume in one day:
Children and adolescents:
- 4-6 years – 45 mg per day
- 7-9 years – 62.5 mg per day
- 10-12 years – 85 mg per day
People with cardiovascular health concerns:
- Case-by-case basis – consult your doctor
Breastfeeding and pregnant people:
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Source: Barbara Olsen on PexelsHow Much Can You Drink Before Hitting Your Caffeine Maximum Allowed?
As seen above on how much coffee should you drink, the daily limit should be around 400 milligrams. That might look like just another number for you. What you want are palpable examples, correct?
The examples below, although not recommended, are for you to have an idea of how much you could have of one or another drink to reach the 400 milligrams of caffeine in your daily allowance. This was extracted from research made by Michael Hull for Examine.
As you can see from the list above, it can be difficult to reach 400 grams of caffeine in a day if you drink only Red Bull, for example. However, as mentioned earlier, caffeine is found in many other drinks such as tea and guarana.
Source: Breakingpic on PexelsFurthermore, drinking 80 cups of hot chocolate might keep you within limits of your daily caffeine, but in no way is healthy for your body because of the amount of sugar you are ingesting. So do not use the above list as an excuse for drinking that amount of caffeine.
A great way of ingesting a healthy amount of caffeine for your workout is to have pre-workouts timed an hour or so before you hit the gym. Just make sure to read the package in advance, so that you are not consuming more caffeine than you should in case you decide to meet a friend later for a couple of coffee down the road.
Read More: Healthy Pre-Workout Energy Foods for Athletes
Conclusion
Is coffee bad for you? No. How much coffee should you drink? It depends, but if you are a healthy adult, you should not ingest more than 400 milligrams every day. In any way, you should always consult a doctor.
Caffeine is good for your health and it can help you push more in the gym, which in turn, will make you gain muscles faster and help you lose weight faster.
But as we concluded above, the more caffeine is not always the better. There is a limit that you should stick to. For some people, that limit might be lower than what we prescribed here. As with anything, pay attention to what your body is telling you and never shy away from getting proper advice from someone with a medical background.
Source link: https://www.boxrox.com/is-caffeine-bad-for-you/ by Robert Born at www.boxrox.com