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What is the deal with Caffeine? | Body Solutions
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07 Dec What is the deal with Caffeine?

Posted at 13:29h in Articles by bodyadmin

What is the deal with Caffeine?  What is the deal with Caffeine?

“So what is the deal with caffeine?  I hear many different uses and terms but not sure what any of them mean. ”
Well lets look at what it is, does and what its used for.  Now keep in mind this is a 30,000 foot view of what the most widely abused drug in the world does and what its used for!
Caffeine both a Vaosconstrictor AND a Vasodilator…
So a little education.  Caffeine is both a Vasoconstrictor and a Vasodilator.  Great but what does that mean?  Well it acts as a Vasoconstrictor (constricts blood vessels) to the muscles in the head and neck only, which is why it is so helpful for headaches.  When you get a headache is typically a rush of blood to brain blood vessels causing them to swell and that pressure against your skull is the “ache”, caffeine can help control this by shrinking the vessels back down.  And as a migraine suffer it does work!  The strange paradox is too much caffeine can actually caused “rebound” headaches but as long as you keep your dosage normal you should be fine.

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Now it is also a Vasodialator (expands blood vessels) but this is to the rest of the body.  Caffeine has three metabolites (by-products) one of which is Theobromine which when broken down by the liver causes a dilation or opening effect of blood vessels to a majority of the body.  This is where it would come into play pre-workout as it can help with the “pump” or delivery of blood flow to the muscles.  This is also why you see it in so many NO (nitrous oxide) pre workout supplements, but more on those later.
Caffeine as a fat burner?
Well it is the most common ingredient in all fat burners.  The reason for this besides increasing your body temperature, is it also curbs your appetite.  Yes caffeine is an appetite suppressant and a powerful one at that.  But the main reasons to take this prior to your workouts:  increases endurance, delays fatigue, helps with nutrient delivery via vasodilation and can increase your metabolic rate (metabolism).
Is too much Caffeine bad for me?
Well like most things, yes.  Too much caffeine has actually been shown to cause headaches and  it will burn out your Adrenal Glands which will cause a disruption in your other hormonal functions mainly Cortisol which increases belly fat (in very brief nutshell!)  So yes sorry, all those energy drinks you pound to keep you jazzed up contribute to that fat in front.
  So when should I take it, and how much?
Well ideally (and we know this isnt always possible) take it really only before your workout.  One of the reasons people need so much caffeine is like most stimulants, the more you take it the more you need.  And the reason you need more is your Adrenal Glands (helps to regulate your body’s energy levels) becomes immune to certain dosages and the caffeine begins to lose its affect.  And again the other problem with this is your Adrenal Glands basically become over-used and tired and stop really helping your body regulate energy levels which is why chronic caffeine users feel like they cannot function until they have had their coffee!  So keep it to one to two cups a day max.  Also if you do need a boost throw in some green tea instead, too many benefits to list here today but  it is a natural fat burner and has much less caffeine.
 Should I stop drinking Coffee?  Please No!
No we are not saying that.  One to two cups a day will not kill you or damage your Adrenals that badly.  The stress you face daily is a much larger culprit to thank for Adrenal problems.  Coffee actually helps your liver force to detox and since the average American will face over 500 chemicals a day it needs to detox as much as possible,  so do not cut out coffee.  BUT make sure it is organic coffee.  Coffee beans are one of the most touched by man and heavily sprayed with chemical products on the market,  YOU WANT YOUR COFFEE TO BE ORGANIC!!
Caffeine summary
Again the very brief goal here is to understand Caffeine a little more before we start moving on to other subjects.  This is essential as we have alot of questions to get to and many of them revolve around pre-workout products, fat burners, etc and to understand what we will be talking about in the future you need to grasp this concept first.
As always questions for Body Solutions  contact us today!