Running head: INQUIRY PROJECT

Inquiry Project
Molly Farris
University of North Carolina-Charlotte
UWRT-1102

Ms. Otis
November 6, 2014

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Inquiry Project

As a student athlete, I was always looking for a way to improve my performance

to be better than the girl next to me. I decided to try a popular supplement called C4,
which is known for improving the speed of high school athletes. It only took a few laps
around the track before the side effects of this supplement hit me like a train.
Hallucination, confusion, passing out, tremors, seizure and loss of bodily functions were
the aftermath of what seemed like a good idea. Although I no longer use this
supplement, it is still very popular among high school and college fitness fanatics.
Caffeine as a supplement for athletes is a hot topic for debate. On one hand it
can drastically improve performance times of athletes by seconds and even minutes.
On the other hand it can cause all sorts of health problems and eventually addiction.
Caffeine is easier to access than one would think. Just a few cups of coffee, or a Red
Bull can give a person a significant buzz. What people dont realize is that the
recommend dose of caffeine, be it from coffee or energy supplements, differs greatly
from person to person. Not only athletes but also the everyday person needs to take
into account multiple aspects, some of which include sex, timing, dose, and sensitivity.
Due to their lack of knowledge on caffeine, high school aged persons and athletes are
at a high risk of overdosing. If consumers arent careful about monitoring their intake of
caffeine they run the risk of heart problems, seizures and even death.
It is important, not only for novice athletes, but for the everyday person to
understand background information on the use of caffeine. The Mayo Clinic Staff
explains, up to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy
adults. That's roughly the amount of caffeine in four cups of brewed coffee, 10 cans of

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cola or two "energy shot" drinks (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2014, para. 1). Without the
knowledge of how caffeine works in each individual, it would be quite easy for athletes
and common people alike to overdose.
First we must understand how caffeine works in the body. Caffeine is a naturally
occurring substance in many things such as coffee beans, tealeaves, and cocoa beans.
When caffeine is absorbed into the blood stream, it is confused by nerve cells as
adenosine, which actually causes one to become sleepy. Caffeine binds to adenosine
receptors and prevent any adenosine to bind, preventing a person from getting drowsy.
After understanding how caffeine works in the body it is important to understand
that dose and timing in which caffeine is consumed is vital. The first component, timing,
was a major constraint that needed to be taken into account. A study was done on mice
and how their performance changed after ingesting caffeine. The mice were given a
certain amount of caffeine depending on their body weight. They then had to wait four
hours before being put on the treadmills to see how the caffeine changed their
performance (Imagawa, 2009). This is the same idea for athletes except the resting time
was shorter due to larger body mass. Athletes were required to rest one hour before
testing. The reason for the resting time is because caffeine is rapidly absorbed and
plasma concentrations approximate a maximum level in one hour (Graham, 2001).
Basically it takes one hour before the caffeine is absorbed into the muscles enough to
have an effect. As an athlete continues to work the level of caffeine drops and the
amount needed to sustain the energy level increases. Athletes must understand that it
is vital to know his or her own body timing. If an athlete consumes too much caffeine
this can result in an overdose and severe side effects.

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The second component, dose, is another vital aspect that must be taken into
account. Like previously stated, the mice were given a certain amount of caffeine per
their weight. This is more important than the timing aspect. If the mice were given all
given exactly the same amount then the results would have been skewed. For example,
lets say there is a five ounce mouse and a three ounce mouse and they are both given
100mmoles of caffeine. The three-ounce mouse would exert more energy at the
beginning of the test than the five-ounce mouse because its balance of caffeine to
bodyweight is incorrect. This would in turn result in the three ounce mouse getting
fatigued sooner and if all the caffeine is not used up then the mouse runs a risk of
seizure. This same idea is just as important in athletes as it is in mice, except it must be
taken one step further. The amount of caffeine given to an athlete is dependent on two
things: plasma caffeine concentrations and gender. Plasma caffeine concentration is
how much caffeine a persons plasma can absorb. Gender is important because
research has shown that the smaller bodyweight of the women generally resulted in
their average caffeine dose being approximately 20% higher than that of men. Although
women are typically smaller, both men and women absorb caffeine at almost the same
rate because there is no difference in the plasma type (Graham, 2001). Paying attention
to both gender and plasma caffeine concentration is vital if an athletes wants to improve
performance in the safest way possible.
So what does happen if a person consumes too much caffeine in a short amount
of time? Many people find it hard to overdose because of the amount one would have to
consume. Cody Lyon from CNN news reports, Yes, you can OD on caffeine. This is to
know your body, pay attention to what else youve ingested and do your homework on

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energy drinks (Lyons, 2014, para. 4). For the average person, overdosing on caffeine
means consuming more than 300 milligrams of caffeine in short spurts. Lyon quotes
Barbara Crouch saying, Unlike coffee drinkers, energy drink consumers (especially
young people) like to chug down not just one but two or tree of the peppy beverages to
get a good jolt on before a hardcore workout In 2009, more than half of all caffeine
overdoses were by teens under the age of 19. Why is it that teens and young adults
tend to overdose on caffeine? More than half of the nine billion dollar energy drink
industry is consumed by people ages 13-25 (Bankhead, 2011). Most energy drinks have
not been reviewed and are not regulated by the food market, but certain ingredients
have been studied. These ingredients include: taurine, L-carnitine, ginseng, and
yohimbine.
Taurine is another supplement that is similar to caffeine. Unlike caffeine, taurine
is actually good for the body. Katherine Zeratsky from the Mayo Clinic explains,
Taurine is an amino acid that supports neurological development and helps regulate
the level of water and mineral salts in the blood (Zeratsky, 2012, p. 1). Studies are
showing that taurine supplements in energy drinks may improve athletic performance.
The safe amount of caffeine, as listed before, is about 400mg per day. A person can
consume around 3,000mg of Taurine each day and still be considered safe. Going back
to the study on mice, their performance was compared using caffeine and taurine.
When the mice were originally tested without the use of caffeine or taurine, they ran an
average of 744.7 meters. When the mice given taurine were tested, they ran an average
of 840.7 meters. When the mice given caffeine were tested, they ran an average of
1354.3 meters. Caffeine improved the performance of the mice significantly more than

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taurine did (Imagawa, 2009).

Our bodies naturally need taurine to develop and grow, but caffeine is not a
necessity. Taurine is healthier for the human body and still improves the performance of
athletes. Caffeine significantly improves the performance of athletes more than taurine,
and because of this will be more popular. The best option for athletes is to combine the
supplements together. In the same study with the mice, when they were given both
caffeine and taurine, the average distance was 1589.7 meters (Imagawa, 2009). This
will allow an athlete to go farther and also prevent them from overdosing on one or the
other.
Similar to athletes, college students face multiple stressors in their daily lives,
which could lead them to use caffeine to help them stay focused. A study was done to
see how often and how many students used energy drinks to keep them going. Out of
136 participants, around half the students consumed at least one energy drink in the
past seven days (Pettit & Debarr, 2011). Nathalie Vera explains, Usually, the life of a
college student is largely characterized by microwave dinners, 10-page papers, allnighters, crazy parties, alcohol and, of course, coffee (Vera, 2012, para. 1). Coffee is
another major contributor for caffeine use among college students. The FDA explains
that roughly one third of caffeine consumption is from teenagers and young adults, or
college aged people (Somogyi, 2010). This puts this age group at higher risk for have
complications.
Earlier this year, a high school senior died from a caffeine overdose. Logan
Stiner died May 18, just a week before his graduation. The reporters explain, The high
school senior from LaGrange, Ohio, had 70 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of blood

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in his system, according to Loraine County coroner Stephen Evans. A typical coffee
drinker would have 3 to 5 micrograms (Mohney & Lupkin, 2014, para. 3). The death of
this teens shows that teens and young adults dont always understand caffeine and how
it affects their bodies.
Using caffeine to improve either academics or sports goals is okay if done
correctly. If a person consumes more than 400 milligrams, they run the risk of caffeine
overdose. The main symptoms to watch out for include: breathing troubles, confusion,
convulsions, hallucinations, irregular heartbeat, muscle twitches and vomiting (Heller,
2014).
So what is the significance to all this? Caffeine has had a significant impact on
the performance of athletes is all different sports. So much so, it was recently removed
from the list of banned drugs for the Olympic games. Of every age gap, teens and
young adults have to highest risk of experiencing an overdose from caffeine use. This is
due to the lack of education about proper use of caffeine in ones daily life. To properly
use caffeine, one much understand the timing and dosing that their body can handle.
Also females will normally need much less males due to their smaller size. Taurine is
another option for athletes to improve performance and is sometimes consider safer
since the body needs it to develop. So, caffeine has its pros and con. Whether you
decide to use it or not is up to you, but be warned that without the proper education and
understanding, you can quickly end up in deep water.

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References

Bankhead, C. (2011). Energy drinks may pose risk to young people. Retrieved from
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/24856
Graham, T. E. (2001). Caffeine and Exercise: Metabolism, Endurance and Performance.
Retrieved from Sports Med Website:
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=9c3887bd-1f7646fa-8093481866b00e82%40sessionmgr4001&vid=0&hid=4111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbG
l2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=s3h&AN=5114855
Heller, J. (2014). Caffeine overdose. Retrieved from
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002579.htm
Lyons, C. (2014). Caffeine overdose: Is it real? Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/03/health/upwave-caffeine-overdose/
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2014). Caffeine: How much is too much? Retrieved from
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/indepth/caffeine/art-20045678
Mohney, G., & Lupkin, S. (2014, July 2). Teen death highlights health hazards of caffeine
powder. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/teen-death-highlightshealth-hazards-caffeine-powder/story?id=24397704
Pettit, M., & Debarr, K. (2011). Percieved stress, energy drink consumption, and academic
performance among college students [Entire issue]. Journal of American College Health,
59(5). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2010.510163

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Somogyi, L. (2010). Caffeine intake by the U.S. population (70000073494). Washington, DC:
Government Printing Office.
Vera, N. (2012, November 28). Coffee and college students: A harmful relationship? The Bottom
Line. Retrieved from http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2012/11/coffee-and-collegestudents-a-harmful-relationship
Zeratsky, K. (2012). Taurine is listed as an ingredient in many energy drinks. What is taurine? Is
it safe? Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthyeating/expert-answers/taurine/faq-20058177