Caffeine is a drug that is naturally produced in the leaves and seeds of many plants. Caffeine itself is a “stimulant drug” (ADF 2018), however, it is legal and easy to obtain. The everyday use of caffeine is targeted to “arouse the central nervous system for cognitive or physical endeavours” (NCSF 2018) therefore, resulting to a great effect on individuals in accordance to the consumption which is the main focus of the experiment; to explore the aerobic conditions, pre-caffeine consumption with post consumption.
Caffeine is absorbed into the blood and tissues within approximately 45 minutes of being consumed. However, countless disputes sparked as it takes much longer than that for the body to break it down and clear it from one’s system. Currently adolescents understand that a high caffeine consumption results to mental alertness, concentration and so on leading to a steady increase in consumption. Ludden and Wolfson studies in 2010 investigates the positive and negative aspects of caffeine consumption examined in adolescent consumption of caffeine, usage reasons, and expectations of caffeine, and sleep patterns. Overall, adolescents were unaware of caffeine’s effects, though a few “mixed users” that consumed both coffee and soda stated effects of “sleep disturbances and energy enhancement”. In regard to consumption patterns, males were found to consume more soda and energy drinks than females with the most common reason to use caffeine was “to have the energy to make it through the day” (Ludden & Wolfson, 2010).
Aerobic performance is measured upon the components of oxygen delivery and the oxidative mechanisms of the exercising muscle through VO2max. During aerobic performances the body needs more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as “muscles use glucose and ATP for contraction and movement.” (Dr. Mercola, 2013) consequently “increases the demand for oxygen to be delivered to muscles” (Duncker & Bache, 2008) resulting to greater heart beats. Thus, recording the BPM (beats per minute) pre and post workout with the use of a step test “which is used in clinical settings and has the advantage of being low-cost and requiring minimal equipment” (Cooney et al. 2013) allows a smooth measure of aerobic performance. The hypothesis of the current experiment is that acute caffeine consumption will affect individual’s aerobic performance positively, but the impact will be as significant as the amount of caffeine taken in.
Method
Refer to the School of Life and Environmental Sciences (2018)
Results
The participants who consumed the caffeinated beverage and decaffeinated beverage were examined through their BMP pre-treatment, post treatment and post exercise. The sample size (n) was 103 volunteers (n=103), caffeinated treated volunteers was 48 and decaffeinated treated volunteers was 55. Pre-treatment results conveyed the BPM of individuals were higher decaffeinated compared to caffeinated showing an average difference of 1.3 BPM. This pattern became recurring throughout the experiment until the post exercise analysis as caffeinated individuals had better resting heart rates. Regarding the post exercise, the BPM was higher in the caffeinated coffee with a 0.6 which was unlike the hypothesis, the post exercise showed the average resting heart rate of most individuals was beating higher even by an acute amount.
“There was no significant difference in the mean pulse rate between subjects who consumed caffeinated coffee and those who consumed decaffeinated coffee (ANOVA: F(1, 282) = 0.05, , p > 0.05). Furthermore, the mean pulse rate at pre-treatment was notably different to that at post-exercise throughout the coffee treatment groups, (ANOVA: F(2, 282) = 24.61, p < 0.0001; Tukey’s multiple comparisons: p < 0.0001). Also, the mean pulse rate at post-treatment was significantly different to that at post-exercise (ANOVA: F(2, 24.61) = 24.61, p < 0.0001; Tukey’s multiple comparisons: p < 0.0001).” (USYD 2018)
Figure 1. Mean difference pulse rates of decaffeinated and caffeinated treated individuals.
Discussion
The results supported my hypothesis to an extent, as it depicts the effects of acute caffeine consumption. Analysis of BPM enabled this as portrayed lower BPM rate for most of the analysis except for the post exercise. Post exercise mean was lower in the decaffeinated groups compared to caffeinated individuals which shows a reversed outcome to the hypothesis.
Acute caffeine consumption conveys a pattern of a slight deviation which is common as it was an acute dosage of a stimulant drug. Pre and post treatment of decaffeinated and caffeinated beverages with a high heart rate was higher in the decaffeinated individuals compared to caffeinated which is what my hypothesis state. However, the trend which was unpredicted was the post exercise analysis, as caffeinated individuals had a higher heart rate than those who didn’t have caffeine. This results to show that caffeine to an extent does back up the research that caffeine increases aerobic performance as it shows a lower BPM with the exception of post exercise.
This information is vital as it shows that caffeine does affect people. Stimulant drugs are known to increase performance mentally and physically, therefore the results show biological significance as it shows the effects of consuming a certain type of product which was supposed to enhance individuals. The results were not statistically significant, yet it did show promising differences between the two test groups.
Additionally, there are countless relevant studies with similar findings to the current experiment. One relevant study is by Rajab A. S. et al. It conveys that a session of physical exercise increases functional connectivity in certain brain networks. This result enforces the importance of the specific parts that is “on duty” post physical activity. This experiment obtains great similarity as it links the current experiment through the effects of physical activity which is relevant as it also portrays the effect of oxygen intake to the muscles.
Further studies must be conducted such as examining similar experiments placing them into categories based on their time and compare it to the results of the current. This will lead to a good strong understanding of the differences and what should be addressed next for the future.
In conclusion, the experimental methodology comes with various limitations and inconsistencies paving a path to an alternate hypothesis. To increase the number of participants taking different amounts of caffeine to show different variations in heart rate to determine how much of an affect it is will create greater, accurate findings. Even though there was a difference in heart rate (bpm) it wasn’t significant enough to conclude that caffeine consumption is relative to enhanced aerobic performance in humans, until larger dosages can be conducted with more of a variety of individuals the experiments will have to continue to be able to have a deeper understanding to be able to gain more knowledge on the human biology.