By Kevin DiDonato MS, CSCS, CES
“Caffeine is most powerful when consumed in an anhydrous state (capsule/tablet, powder ) as compared to coffee.”
I am starting with this quote because it of utmost importance. Caffeine can improve performance, increase cognitive function, and increase fatty acid oxidation in the body. In fact, caffeine can also increase metabolism and fatty acid oxidation in obese, lean and older adult subjects.
Why is this important? Caffeine has gotten a bad reputation for a long time!
Caffeine comes in two forms: one is anhydrous form, and the other is from coffee beans or tea leaves. The latter we are most familiar with.
So most caffeine we think of is full of water. Anhydrous caffeine is not. With 0.5 percent or less, this type of caffeine is found as a bitter, white powder. This powder form of caffeine is appealing to many different manufacturers, which use it in their products. Many supplement and soft drink companies use this type of caffeine in their products to increase the caffeine content. You can find this type of caffeine in soda and many energy drinks on the market today.
The process of extracting caffeine from coffee beans is done in two different ways: soaking them in hot water or subjecting them to carbon dioxide. Soaking is the preferred choice, because it is less expensive!
You can also get caffeine by drinking coffee and tea but it is not as effective at increasing performance and weight loss as anhydrous caffeine is.
How does it help in weight loss? Let me explain.
Caffeine has direct influence on the central nervous system, or the system which controls our fight or flight response. This system increases the productions of epinephrine, which stimulates the process of lipolysis. This happens when it binds to receptor cells called β-andregenic cells.
Caffeine can also help increase energy expenditure, therefore burning fat and carbohydrates. In fact, here is the research to prove it!
Research by Bracco et al shows just how effective ingesting caffeine is for weight loss. Their research shows a dramatic response in both lean individuals, and obese individuals. They showed by ingesting caffeine, there was a prolonged thermogeneic response during the night. They showed caffeine ingestion resulted in more oxidized fatty acids and carbohydrates. They concluded there was a significant increase in lipid oxidation, as much as 29% in lean subjects and 10% in obese subjects. This might have been due to the release of epinephrine, resulting in increased fat oxidation. There’s more!
Research done by Koot et al, demonstrated similar finding as Bracco. They did note one difference: metabolic rate increased almost immediately following consumption of caffeine. They determined metabolic rate stayed elevated for 3 hours after ingestion, therefore increasing metabolic rates by 7%. This means more calories burned, and more fat liberated and burned off!
Now let’s take a look at a study over a 12 hour period!
Researchers Dulloo et al, subjected individuals to 2 hour caffeine ingestion for 12 hours! Their results will astound you! Immediate caffeine ingestion resulted in an increase of metabolic rate by 3-4% over the course of 3 hours. Over the course of 12 hours, they noticed increase energy expenditure of 8-11% in both groups. So what does it mean? Lean subjects burned 150 more calories, while obese subjects increase energy expenditure by 79 calories. Just by adding caffeine to the mix!
Great! Most of these studies focused on lean and obese subjects, but I also mentioned older adults. Arciero et al showed caffeine increased energy expenditure in older adults. Not as significantly as the younger population, but it did increase. They showed a 15.4% increase in energy expenditure in young adults, compared to 7.8% increase in older subjects. In a following study older adults and younger adults have a similar thermogenic response to caffeine ingestion. The only difference: smaller increase in fatty acids availability after consuming caffeine in older adults.
So what about increasing performance? I am glad you asked!
Every athlete struggles to find the competitive edge. Athletes today are stronger, faster and more efficient! Caffeine can be the edge athletes are looking for.
Paluska et al, proved caffeine provides an ergogenic effect on performance. They showed caffeine improves performance and endurance during prolonged exhaustive exercise events. They also showed caffeine has some benefits on short-term, high-intensity exercise. A review paper by Graham, he concurred the statements. He showed caffeine, in moderate amounts acts an ergogenic aid in activities lasting more than 1 minute. He also mentioned caffeine can increase speed and endurance.