FitSugar

Coffee vs. Espresso

FitSugar — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:00:00 -0700

I am an unabashed fan of coffee and I split my love evenly between regular ol' joe and espresso drinks. But how do they stack up in terms of caffeine amounts? Or more explicitly, where am I going to get more bang for my buck?

Ounce for ounce, sip for sip, espresso contains more caffeine. Using the ubiquitous Starbucks as our model: one fluid ounce of espresso contains 75 milligrams of caffeine, where a fluid ounce of coffee only contains about 20 mg.

The confusion comes when you begin to compare lattes with coffee. A 16-ounce grande coffee provides 330 mg of ~~rocket fuel~~ caffeine, where a grande latte, containing only two shots (each shot is a fluid ounce) of espresso, provides 150 mg of caffeine. Even though these coffee drinks come in the same sized cup, the caffeine amounts are substantially different. If you order a cup of coffee, instead of a latte, to save time or money, you might end up a little speedier than usual.

Caffeine: Fact or Myth

FitSugar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Does the beginning of your workout week translate to an extra dose of caffeine? Before you go for that second cup (or third, or fourth . . . ), take this little quiz to test what you know about caffeine.

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Sore Muscles? Caffeine Could Help

FitSugar — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:00:00 -0700

Recent news has left me asking if there's anything caffeine can't do, and I'm feeling less and less like my caffeine habit is a vice. We learned that caffeine improves performance for most forms of exercise, making us faster and increasing endurance and strength, and more than 50 percent of you admit to drinking caffeine before some or all workouts. Newest research has found the effects of caffeine aren't limited to providing a pre-exercise boost that powers us through workouts.

Researchers at the University of Illinois rounded up a group of 25-year old men for an experiment. The men participated in two studies held one week apart, and had to perform intense exercise for 30 minutes during each session. They were given a placebo pill before the first session and a caffeine pill before the second session. The researchers found significant evidence that exercise after caffeine was less painful for the volunteers, no matter if they were regular caffeine drinkers or not.

One of the researchers suggested that the findings could help some people who shy from the gym because of too-painful workouts and said, "If we could give people a little caffeine and reduce the amount of pain they’re experiencing, maybe that would help them stick with that exercise." Do you think caffeine could help motivate people to revisit their gym?

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Caffeine Makes You Speedy, Literally

FitSugar — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:30:00 -0700

I couldn't live without my post-run morning cup of joe, but as it turns out I might want to have some of that joe before hitting the pavement. After being tested for over 30 years by sports physiologist, it is now unequivocally known that caffeine can make you faster. It improves performance in almost every type of exercise from running to rowing, from swimming to cycling. Caffeine helps not only in short speedy sprints, but also helps increase endurance and strength.

Researchers believe caffeine's effect is three-fold. First, it has been shown that caffeine helps the body burn fat as fuel, instead of just glycogen. Muscles have glycogen fuel stores that usually last for about 30 minutes or 300 calories worth of exercise, so in using some fat as fuel the muscles gain increases in endurance. Caffeine also releases calcium stored in the muscles helping athletes go farther and faster. The third reason involves caffeine's effect on the mind and how it perceives exhaustion.

To learn how to find the appropriate caffeine dose, just read more.

Between one to five milligrams of caffeine per kilo of body weight can help to improve your performance by up to five percent. However, nine mg per kilo of caffeine can actually decrease your performance, so don't go overboard. The good news for all us coffee addicts, caffeine can still make you speedy even if you're a regular coffee drinker. I ask you, do you drink caffeine before your workout?

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You Asked: How Much Coffee a Day Is Too Much?

FitSugar — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:30:00 -0800

Dear Fit,
I just got a fancy coffee maker for Christmas, and now I'm finding myself enjoying at least three or four cups a day. My husband says that's too much. Is he right? Is there a danger in having too much caffeine?
-Caffeinated Carol

Ooh, this is a tough question for me because I'm with you - I love coffee, but it's the caffeine we need to worry about. For the average person, up to 300 milligrams of caffeine a day is considered a safe amount to consume. Since caffeine is a stimulant, if you have too much each day, it could affect your sleep patterns, heart rate, blood pressure, headaches, or digestion. Overdoing it with caffeine may also be associated with miscarriages or cause a woman to give birth to a smaller baby.

It may surprise you to find out how much caffeine is in your favorite hot beverages so read more.

Drink	Amount of Caffeine
8 oz. Short cup of Starbucks Coffee	180 mg
12 oz. Tall cup of Starbucks Coffee	260 mg
16 oz. Grande cup of Starbucks Coffee	330 mg
20 oz. Venti cup of Starbucks Coffee	415 mg
1 oz. Starbucks Espresso	75mg
8 oz. Organic Black Tea	65mg
8 oz. Organic Green Tea	50 mg
16 oz. Starbucks Hot Chocolate	25mg

I won't beat around the coffee beans here. There are definite health benefits to drinking a cup of joe, such as antioxidants for overall health and improved memory. Java may also help ease muscle pain, and coupled with working out, drinking coffee may help prevent skin cancer. A recent study also suggests that drinking a few cups a day may help you live longer.

So while coffee is good for you, too much caffeine is not. Even if you enjoy two eight-ounce cups, that's 360 mg of caffeine - 60 mg over the recommended limit. One ounce of coffee contains about 21 mg of caffeine, so stick to no more than a total of 14 ounces of joe a day. If you want to enjoy this hot beverage throughout your day, sip on four- to five-ounce cups, three times a day.

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Do You Drink Caffeine Before You Exercise?

FitSugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:30:00 -0800

There's no denying my love for my daily, delicious, hot cup of coffee. While it's my habit to drink coffee in the morning and have green tea later in the day for a pick-me-up, others tend to get their caffeine fix right before a workout since caffeine can improve performance and increase endurance. Do you use caffeine to boost your energy before exercising?

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How Do You Get Your Morning Caffeine Fix?

FitSugar — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:30:00 -0800

I have a serious coffee habit. After not drinking if for years (read two pregnancies in two years), I came back to the habit easily. The seriousness of my habit is not related to quantity, but rather constancy. I begin every day with a homemade latte. I wax and wane on having a second cup, but new research indicates that regular coffee drinkers, who drink two or more cups a day, have a lower all-cause mortality rate than non-coffee drinkers. This is probably due to the abundance of disease-fighting antioxidants in this rich brew. This news makes it so easy to rationalize a second cup.

Unfortunately, the brewing process can change how your java affects your health. Coffee that is not filtered, for example, can can raise blood fats, which means paper filters are better for your health than using a French press.

Bearing all this in mind, I am curious . . .

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Do You Drink More or Less Caffeine on the Weekend?

FitSugar — Sat, 31 May 2008 03:30:00 -0700

I have friends that only drink coffee on the weekends, which to me is unimaginable. I also have friends that save their caffeine fix for the workweek, which I find equally unimaginable.

I keep my coffee and tea consumption fairly steady seven days a week, but what about you?

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Are Energy Drinks Safe?

FitSugar — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:00:00 -0700

If you're like most people, you reach for a cup of coffee every morning, since the caffeine can give your brain that get-up-and-go you need to wake up from a night of sleep. Recently though, energy drinks like Red Bull and Rockstar are becoming more popular, since they also give people the buzz they're after.

There are so many different kinds now and they all contain caffeine, but do they contain more than a person should consume in a day? To find out read more

Check out this chart to see how these caffeinated beverages compare.

Drink	Amount of Caffeine
8.3 oz Red Bull	80mg
16 oz Monster	150mg
16 oz. Rockstar	160mg
16 oz. Rockstar Punched	240mg
16 oz. Full Throttle	142mg
16 oz. Burn	199mg
12 oz. Coca-Cola	29mg
12 oz Diet Coke	38mg
16oz. Grande cup of Starbucks Coffee	330mg
1 oz. Starbucks Espresso	75mg
8 oz. Organic Black Tea	65mg
16 oz. Starbucks Hot Chocolate	25mg

For the average person, up to 300mg of caffeine a day is considered a safe amount to consume. If you have too much each day, it could affect your sleep patterns, heart rate, blood pressure, cause headaches, or cause a woman to give birth to a smaller baby. As you can see from the chart, energy drinks contain far less caffeine than a Grande cup of Starbucks coffee, which exceeds the recommended daily amount. Most people don't realize how much caffeine they're getting, whether through coffee, soda, or energy drinks, because the amount of caffeine is often not on the container. So if you love caffeine, it's best to limit yourself to one energy drink, or go for a smaller cup of coffee.

Fit's Tips: If you find that you're often tired all day and need a boost, drinking a caffeinated drink is only a temporary fix. In order to have energy all day, make sure you're getting enough sleep each night, getting enough protein, and exercising regularly.

Caffeine Protects the Brain From Dementia

FitSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:45:00 -0700

As if we needed another reason to load up on the coffee in the morning, new research is suggesting that coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body. This is because the "blood brain barrier" - a filter between the brain and the main blood supply, which protects the central nervous system from potentially harmful chemicals, including cholesterol - could be protected by caffeine. But don't go spending your life savings on Starbucks just yet, one cup of coffee a day is all researchers think is needed to help protect the brain against cholesterol and chances are you're already getting that much caffeine any given day anyway.

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