ed generally positive results.
It is common sense that how much
caffeine you consume, when, and
how, will affect you differently. If you
are taking a cup of coffee before you
go to bed, chances are you are more
likely to experience difficulty going
to sleep. Your sensitivity to caffeine
might be different to someone else’s.
Some people are heavily affected and
notice visible physiological changes
after consumption, while others are
more reliant on the associate routine
that comes with it, which comes from
a place of comfort.
According to Johnstone, from a sport
dietician’s perspective what we see
through the research is that caffeine
can be used as a helpful supplement
and is able to assist in athletic endeavours,
particularly reduced perceived
rate of exertion, which is really helpful
in maximising performance during
endurance events.
But one size does not fit all. The
amounts needed to achieve this vary
depending on an individual’s caffeine
sensitivity, and effects can be seen
from 1mg per kg body weight through
to 3mg per kg body weight. In short,
do your research and get to know how
bodies react before drawing a conclusion
on how much caffeine helps your
customers perform at their optimum.
Chris Buhmann is founder of
PECS Coffee, New Zealand’s only
protein-enriched coffee. www.
pecscoffe.com
CAFFEINE
CONNUNDRUM
It seems everyday there is a new article saying something
about the consumption of coffee, be it good or bad. We have an
obsession with this simple beverage and it wouldn’t be far fetched
to say this obsession stems from an addiction, says PECS coffee
founder Chris Buhmann.
And with anything that is so routinely
entrenched in our daily lives, there are
people who want to know everything
about it and how it affects us, and
that is not a bad thing. But as someone
who is involved in this industry, it
astounds me how information can be
so easily disseminated and widely so,
without it being substantiated, proven,
peer-reviewed and verified.
It’s well known that the relationship
between coffee and the Western
culture can be described as an ongoing
love affair. Bolstering this is a recent
study by researchers at Johns Hopkins
University which has concluded that
caffeine has incredible memory-enhancing
capabilities.
While coffee’s impact as a cognitive
enhancement is well known, it’s the
first time in history caffeine’s effect on
memory in humans has been scrutinised
in detail. Researchers found
that people who took a 200mg caffeine
tablet the day before performed much
better in a memory test. This powerful
stimulant’s long list of benefits
have been widely studied and include
the ability to prevent several chronic
diseases, including Type 2 diabetes
millitus, Parkinson’s disease and liver
diseases.
However, fad and crash diets and and
too-often unsubstantiated claims by
unqualified health ‘experts’ and popular
health and fitness personalities
or blogs have perpetuated the myth
that to lead a healthy lifestyle, one
should eliminate coffee from their diet
altogether.
While it has been associated with increased
risk of cardiovascular disease,
according to research by Oregon State
University, there is evidence that
consuming even up to three to four
cups of coffee in adults produces
health risks… there’s even some evidence
of health benefits.
We are regularly in conversation with
researchers, dieticians and food technologists
to understand the process
behind the product and produce something
that will do what it says it will do,
without creating health risks. We need
to do this to keep our customers not
only safe, but satisfied.
Consultant Hamish Johnstone from
Hamish Johnstone Nutrition - who
caters to a wide spectrum of clients
varying between the average person
wanting to enjoy life with improved
nutrition, and elite athletes who need
to perform at the highest levels of
endurance sports - advises that from
a general health perspective, the
recommended amount of caffeine
consumption should be no more than
300-400mg a day which is about three
to four cups, and as intuition would
dictate, not advisable for children or
breastfeeding women.
According to Johnstone, it is important
to note caffeine’s many positive
associations within recent research on
its linked health outcomes - ranging
from reduced rates of certain types of
cancer to cardio vascular disease - and
says while more research would be
even more conclusive in the benefits,
the overall study of caffeine has yield-
it is important
to note
caffeine’s
many positive
associations
within recent
research on
its linked
health
outcomes
- ranging
from reduced
rates of
certain types
of cancer
to cardio
vascular
disease - and
says while
more research
would be
even more
conclusive in
the benefits,
the overall
study of
caffeine
has yielded
generally
positive
results.
THE LAST WORD
46 NOVEMBER 2018
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