Caffeine is the kind of thing that flicks you off energy saving mode and can upgrades a great many areas of your life. Most famously, this AM elixir inhabits your coffee cup to clear the sleep from your eyes and dust off the morning brain fog. After all, coffee doesn’t ask stupid questions. Coffee understands. And with this wonderful energy surge, this makes it a perfect accompaniment to your workouts. Can it offer more than just a little fleeting oomph? Yes, says the research because even if you’re not getting it from your coffee, it still offers substantial health benefits. This is what you can expect to receive when you’re getting your caffeine from things such as functional foods.
Your brain gets a temporary upgrade
Caffeine and your thinking bits are great friends. Research in the journal Psychopharmacology found it can improve reaction time, memory and spatial reasoning. If you want to have more light bulb moments, then caffeine is your brains on switch.
You’ll shrug off your cowboy swagger
Going to into attack mode on leg day can leave your squat ravaged legs wobbling like a new-born giraffe. A viable solution is caffeine because a study found it helped make exercisers muscles feel less painful after a heavy workout. This makes for a good argument for having it before and after your training sessions.
Caffeine can help manage diabetes
Having caffeine in the form of a Venti mocha Frappuccino with four sugars isn’t going to give your blood sugar any assists. However, caffeine does impact how your body responds to insulin, the hormone that opens the door to sugar and welcomes it into your cells. This means it can lower your insulin sensitivity, so you don’t absorb as much sugar, but everyone does react differently. Test how your body gets along with it.
You could get a health boost
We all love extra energy, but caffeine may work its magic without your awareness. It’s been linked with protecting you against some skin cancers, cataracts and may even guard against kidney stones. None of these benefits are set in stone, but it never hurts to shore up your defenses.
You’ll get a little leaner
Even if you’re not using it to train harder, caffeine could be a weight loss aid. It works to suppress appetite and could help increase the amount of heat your body generates so you burn more calories. A meta-analysis in Obesity Reviews found it can help you sizzle roughly an extra 100 calories each day. Not a huge amount, but every little bit counts.
Caffeine doesn’t have to be found in your coffee. You can get in plenty of different ways that’ll always add to your life. More is not always better. Find an amount that works for your tolerance levels and stick to it. It’ll thank you by working behind the scenes to make you just a little bit better each day.
