I sent the link to my dad. He doesn't follow running, but the other day he was telling me that caffeine caused an increase in his blood pressure. He naturally has high BP though. I do not mostly because I run (mine is very low, but I forgot the actual number), but it does run in the family (my sister's is high even though she runs too). I like caffeine (coffee mostly), and feel that I run better if I have a cup about an hour before I run. But my dad still thinks it is unhealthy. Here is what he had to say about the article:
"Thanks for thinking of me, Steph.
I won't even get into the ethical issues raised in your article about
caffeine and sports competition. If drugs like cocaine or methanphetamine
were legal, I'm sure that there would be at least some athletes who would be
using it to give themselves an edge.
However, I do have something to say about the health aspects of caffeine.
First of all, caffeine is a drug. As Mr. Johnson admitted, "My body was
shaking." Caffeine is an alkaloid, which the coffee bean plant produces as
its own insecticide. Because caffeine is socially acceptable and came into
widespread use before there was such a thing as the FDA, does not make it
harmless. Tobacco and alcohol have been legal too, but they are not
harmless. Because of social conditioning akin to that which has surrounded
tobacco since the day that it was first smoked by Native Americans, it can
take a long time before the truth finally comes out. For years, the tobacco
industry lobbied politicians and suppressed scientific evidence about the
harm caused by tobacco. After hundreds of years and a lot of denial, most
people finally have now come around to seeing tobacco for what it is.
I've had a lot of caffeine in one form or another throughout my life. I've
had a little more experience with it than you have. Caffeine has some
positive aspects (otherwise, it would not have been so hard for me to quit
the stuff), but in my own experience they are far outweighed by the negative
aspects (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Overuse
; also note what it
says about caffeine's inhibition of calcium uptake).
My advise would be to NOT use caffeine at all, but certainly I wouln't
recommend using it to excess; i.e., more than 2 cups of regular coffee or tea
a day or Red Bull or similar products.
Dad
p.s. - You said "After I am drinking coffee regularly I don't notice having
much more energy. I think I get used to it." That's because caffeine
unnaturally forces your body to release the glycogen reserves that it
normally stores for energy for use in emergencies (e.g., running from a
man-eating lion or rapist, thinking fast on-your-feet in a job interview,
etc.). That glycogen boost can't be sustained for long if you use coffee
regularly. Regular intake of caffeine, especially at higher levels, uses up
the glycogen reserve faster than your body can store it up for emergencies.
Heavy coffee drinkers will often complain that they seem to have no extra
energy. This is also consistent with what was written in the beginning of
the article you sent me: "Mr. Johnson, a founder of LetsRun.com, would avoid
caffeine, even in soft drinks, for a few weeks before he competed in a race,
wanting to have the full stimulant effect." He wanted to give his body a
chance to build up its full level of glycogen reserves until he needed them
for the day of the race. The only problem there is that this would cause a
greater shock to the system. Not good if you have high blood pressure or
heart problems."