History of Coffee in Peru

History of Coffee in Peru

Peru is located in Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador with a total area of 1,285,220 sq km. Peru's climate is highly diverse, ranging from tropical in the east to dry desert in the west, from temperate to frigid in the Andes Mountains. The different climates closely match Peru's primary geographic regions including a western coastal plain (costa), the high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), and eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva) ¹.

Coffee

Coffee production came to Peru in the 1700s. After two centuries, the heirloom typica variety still comprises 60 percent of the country's exports. There are more than 110,000 coffee growers in Peru, most of whom are indigenous to these landscapes and speak Spanish as a second language. The average land-holding farmer lives on two or three hectares, hours away from the comforts of electricity and running water. Peru’s coffee exports account for two percent of both the national economy and the global coffee supply², Peru is quickly building a global reputation for producing traditionally cultivated, shade grown, high quality Arabica beans.

Peruvian coffee farmers' landholdings are small, and the country's typical micro-wet-milling operation is even smaller. From May to September, farmers pick ripe cherries and carry them to hand pulpers and wooden fermentation tanks. This tradition of micro-wet-milling has protected Peru's water resources from the devastating effects of river-polluting pulping factories. After processing their coffee, most farmers hike their beans by foot or mule into the nearest town—a trip that can take anywhere from thirty minutes to eight hours. On Saturdays, the plaza of the closest town becomes a buying and selling station for the surrounding remote coffee growers. Farmers sell their coffee and buy goods for their homes before heading back up the mountainous foot trails.

An unfortunate--but all too common--experience at these buying and selling plazas is the arrival of only one buyer. This dramatically decreases the price paid to farmers for their coffee. With no personal warehouse space and only unreliable, expensive collective storage in town, farmers generally have no option but to accept lower prices. Buyers in the main city of the region then repeat this process during the week. The more remote the farms, the more times the coffees are mixed and traded before they arrive at the coast. Once there, the coffee is dry-milled and prepared for export. This unorganized trading system and isolation has caused farmers to become estranged from the end beverage that comes from their farms. For many years, growers have worked on a weight/dollar exchange for their coffee in the parchment, completely disconnecting the idea that they produce a beverage that will be enjoyed—or thrown away—based on its quality. Intermediary traders have even been known to increase the weight by throwing sand and water into each bag³.

Fair Trade cooperatives: cultivating alternatives with Peruvian coffee's futures

During the last decade, Peru’s smallholder cooperatives consolidated their movements and provided a more organized and rewarding opportunity for tens of thousands of smallholders who were once subjected to the exploitive trading practices explained above. An estimated 15 – 25 percent of Peru's 100,000+ smallholders now belong to cooperative organizations². These cooperatives have linked with international Fair Trade and organic networks to stimulate their growth. Working together with partners like Equal Exchange, Peruvian smallholder cooperatives quickly became the second largest suppliers of Fair Trade certified coffee after Mexico and one of the world's top organic producers. The higher prices offered through these certified and specialty markets have strengthened cooperatives and offered at least some price premiums to farmers. The more direct market access has also helped four Fair Trade Certified co-ops establish themselves among Peru's largest 21 coffee exporters².

Cooperatives have invested these price premiums and many donations from international development agencies into building infrastructure for improving coffee quality, processing and exporting, training farmers in their transition to certified organic production and social development projects.

The significant differences that farmers experience go well beyond better prices received at the farmgate. The differences are about being organized and developing a collective sense of identity through participation in their cooperatives, about the ability to own and control their means of production, and about the shared learning process through trainings and farmer exchanges. One farmer shares her reflections, "Before there were no trainings. But now they tell us about the roles of men and women. You learn to value yourself. You learn about participation

How Much Caffeine In A Cup Of Coffee, Tea, Cola or Chocolate Bar?

How Much Caffeine In A Cup Of Coffee, Tea, Cola or Chocolate Bar?

On humans, caffeine acts particularly on the brain and skeletal muscles while theophylline targets heart, bronchia, and kidneys.
Other data on caffeine:

Cup of coffee         90-150 mg
Instant coffee                60-80 mg
Tea                              30-70 mg
Mate                            25-150 mg
Cola                             30-45 mg
Chocolate bar                30 mg
Stay-awake pill              100 mg
Vivarin                          200 mg
Cold relief tablet             30 mg

Chocolate — – – – — mg caffeine

baking choc, unsweetened, Bakers-- 1 oz(28 g)                 25
german sweet, Bakers -- 1 oz (28 g)                                       8
semi-sweet, Bakers -- 1 oz (28 g)                       13

Choc chips

Bakers -- 1/4 cup (43 g)                                13
german sweet, Bakers -- 1/4 cup (43 g)                  15
Chocolate bar, Cadbury -- 1 oz (28 g)                   15
1.4 oz bar of milk choc.                                3-10
1.4 oz bar of white choc                                2-4
1.4 oz. bar of dark choc                                28
Chocolate milk  8oz                                     8
Chocolate milk 8 oz. glass                              2-7

Desserts:

Jello Pudding Pops, Choc (47 g)                         2
Choc mousse from Jell-O mix (95 g)                      6
Jello choc fudge mousse (86 g)                          12
Chocolate covered espresso bean                         3-5

Beverages

3 heaping teaspoons of choc powder mix                  8
2 tablespoons choc syrup                                5
1 envelope hot cocoa mix                                5

Dietary formulas

Ensure, Plus, Choc, Ross Labs -- 8 oz (259 g)           10

COFFEE VARIETALS/STRAIGHTS

Brazil Bourbons                              1.20 %
Celebes Kalossi                              1.22
Colombia Excelso                             1.37
Colombia Supremo                             1.37
Ethiopian Harrar-Moka                        1.13
Guatemala Antigua                            1.32
Indian Mysore                                1.37
Jamaican Blue Mtn/Wallensford Estate         1.24
Java Estate Kuyumas                          1.20
Kenya AA                                     1.36
Kona Extra Prime                             1.32
Mexico Pluma Altura                          1.17
Mocha Mattari (Yemen)                        1.01
New Guinea                                   1.30
Panama Organic                               1.34
Sumatra Mandheling-Lintong                   1.30
Tanzania Peaberry                            1.42
Zimbabwe                                     1.10

BLENDS & DARK ROASTS

Colombia Supremo Dark                        1.37 %
Espresso Roast                               1.32
French Roast                                 1.22
Vienna Roast                                 1.27
Mocha-Java                                   1.17

Supporting Women Coffee Farmers in Mexico

History of Coffee in Guatemala

History of Coffee in Guatemala

While the world coffee crisis of the past few years has increased problems faced by the Mayan people in Guatemala, they have been facing a permanent crisis for centuries, ever since the Spaniards arrived and began to disrupt indigenous ways of life. This began when the Spanish crown awarded large swaths of land to settlers, and what had been traditional Mayan lands became large estates upon which the indigenous people were forced to work. Throughout the colonial period and after Central American independence in 1823, various laws around land tenure either drove indigenous people off their land or converted them into “residents” of the new plantations.

With the invention of chemical dyes in Europe in the 1800s, the export market for Guatemala’s indigo and cochineal collapsed. Coffee was developed as an export crop to take their place, supported by the government through preferential trade and tax treatment. By 1859, over a half million coffee trees had been planted around Antigua, Coban, Fraijanes and San Marcos and close to 400 quintales (100 lb. bags) were exported to Europe. The next year, production tripled to over 1100 quintales¹.

Guatemalan dictator Justo Rufino Barrios made the export of coffee the backbone of his government’s program in the 1870s. Barrios expropriated land belonging to the Catholic hierarchy, as well as communal lands held by Mayans, and by 1877, Barrios had virtually eliminated communal ownership of land in Guatemala. By 1880, coffee accounted for 90% of Guatemala's exports². While exports of sugar, bananas and other fruits and vegetables, as well as beef and clothing, have also grown, coffee remains Guatemala’s largest export³.

The social unrest resulting from the world-wide economic depression of 1929 led to the Matanza (massacre) of 1932 in neighboring El Salvador; to Guatemala it brought the presidency of Jorge Ubico in 1931. Ubico’s dictatorship inaugurated a 13 year repressive campaign against trade unions and other forms of popular organization. The tide began to turn in 1950, when populist Jacobo Arbenz was elected president and slowly began implementing a land reform, incurring the wrath of the large coffee plantation owners as well as the United Fruit Company and the US government. The Arbenz government was overthrown by a CIA-organized coup in 1954. The land reform was reversed, the unions and popular organizations disbanded, and thousands of people were murdered, including organizers and members of agricultural cooperatives.

The terror unleashed by the US overthrow of Arbenz continued through a succession of governments, leading to the outbreak of civil war in 1962, which lasted through 1996 when Peace Accords were finally negotiated. The war functioned as a laboratory for methods of terror as a means to control the population. Entire villages were wiped out as the military, right-wing paramilitary, and government-organized “village patrols” murdered mostly rural, mostly poor, mostly indigenous people with impunity. The Guatemalan civil war resulted in an estimated 200,000 deaths and a society in which violence, distrust of government and law, and a culture of fear continue to this day.

The accomplishment of the peace agreements was that they brought an end to the longest war in the Americas. However, the causes of the conflict -- poverty, hunger, unequal land distribution, and racism faced by the indigenous population -- continue today and continue to define Guatemala’s coffee economy.

Labor relations in the coffee sector have not changed much in the last century. Plantation residents continue to complain of indentured servitude as some farms promote indebtedness through rents, credit policies at the company store, and loans for emergency health care. Many say they were evicted from their ancestral homes without being paid legally-mandated severance benefits. Others, however, have been able to negotiate land titles in exchange for leaving their places of origin. Tensions around land have resulted in some large growers establishing private security forces, increasing the levels of fear, violence, and inequality in rural areas⁴.

The coffee harvest depends on a massive, seasonal influx of migrant workers who travel to supplement the meager income generated by their small plots of land in the highlands. Seasonal and sometimes daily contract laborers, instead of permanent employees, represent significant savings for growers by not demanding year round wages and benefits. This arrangement also tends to lower wages in general, and makes access to food (and the land to grow it on), housing, medical care and schooling more difficult. In general, a season’s worth of work will only generate 1/3 of a family’s corn and bean calorie requirements for a family⁵.

Guatemalan coffee production peaked at the turn of the 21st century when it reached around 5 million quintales; however, production fell by 1/3 in just a few years (to 345,000 quintales in 2004) as coffee prices dropped drastically⁶. The decline in coffee’s price and production increased the already difficult conditions for Guatemala’s peasant farmers.

About the same size as the state of Ohio, Guatemala ranks second in the world (after Colombia) in the amount of high grade coffee it produces, and it has the highest percentage of its crop classified as high quality. Over half its coffee is exported to the US, representing 1/8 of the country’s GNP and generating about 1/3 of Guatemala’s foreign exchange. But when these hundreds of millions of dollars trickle down, this intense labor generates little for the coffee workers. Refugees International’s Larry Thompson believes that in the recent crisis, “those fortunate enough to have found work in the coffee harvest saw their wages fall from a previous average of about $3.00 per day to about $2.00 per day.”⁷ These starvation wages occur despite the existence of a legal daily rural minimum wage of $2.48⁸.

Although statistics vary significantly, even the more conservative sources like USAID estimate that 56% of the population lives in poverty, and 20% in extreme poverty. Infant mortality is among the worst in the region (39 per 1,000 live births), maternal mortality is extremely high (153 per 100,000 births) and chronic malnutrition remains a serious problem (49%)⁹. Others believe that as many as 85% of children under 5 are malnourished, and that stunted growth affects up to 95% of non-Spanish speaking children in some regions¹⁰. A survey of a region in eastern Guatemala in October 2001 found 2.1% of children under five suffered from acute malnutrition; a March 2002 re-survey of the same region found that acute malnutrition had increased to 4.3%¹¹.

Increased access to land and income in rural areas continues to be key to resolving these stark issues of malnutrition, disease and mortality. Unfortunately, solutions remain among the failed promises of the Peace Accords as real land reform and an end to discrimination against the Mayan peoples seem to be absent from the government’s agenda. While only a small step toward rectifying centuries of injustice, fair trade coffee is helping to improve the situation for Guatemala’s small coffee farmers.

One of Equal Exchange’s partners in Guatemala is Manos Campesinas (Farmers Hands). Founded in 1997 by 620 farmers organized in 6 cooperatives, it now has 1,073 members organized in 7 cooperatives located in the Departments of San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Retalhuleu and Solola¹². The majority of these farmers each own less than 2 ¼ acres of coffee. In their first season (1997-1998), Manos Campesinas exported one container of coffee. The following harvest, they exported four containers. Over the next three years, their exports increased to six, nine and thirteen containers respectively. In 2003, they exported 16 containers, 40% of their total production. Considering that the fair trade price for coffee that year was $1.26, while the market (unfair) price was 60 to 70 cents¹³, the improvement in coffee farmers’ lives, health and nutrition becomes obvious.

According to Jerónimo Bollen, former General Manager of Manos Campesinas, “Fair Trade keeps farmers on their land. While low coffee prices have forced thousands of farmers to emigrate to Mexico and the U.S., none of our members have had to give up their land.”¹⁴

Carlos Reynoso, current General Manager of Manos Campesinas, agrees: “About four or five years ago, coffee prices began to fall. That made our existence and our lives that much more difficult. We received less income for our production, but that also meant less money for food, health care, and education. The premiums we receive from fair trade help us send our children to school, and provide food and medicines for our families.”¹⁵

The incentive to organize into cooperatives promoted by Equal Exchange and other fair trade partners is perhaps just as important for survival as is the extra income. When Hurricane Stan devastated Guatemala in October 2005, Manos Campesinas was able to mobilize to help its members and their neighbors. Jerónimo Bollen noted: “In an attempt to alleviate the problems caused by Hurricane Stan, Manos Campesinas first worked to provide emergency assistance such as food and supplies as well as medicines and medical assistance. Once the majority of these needs were met, Manos Campesinas was able to shift its focus onto the reconstruction of houses and infrastructure, economic reactivation, coffee production and the demarcation of landslides to ensure safety.”¹⁶

In a world in which inequality and hunger are increasing as a result of corporate-led globalization, Fair Trade is a good example of how globalization-from-below helps to improve people’s lives and strengthen their communities.

A good, readable book about the role of coffee in Guatemalan history from Arbenz through the peace accords is Daniel Wilkinson, Silence on the Mountain: Stories of Terror, Betrayal, and Forgetting in Guatemala (Houghton Mifflin, 2002).

Coffee tour in Guatemala

Antigua Guatemala

griding Guatemala

Coffee -- Healthy Tonic for the Liver?

Coffee -- Healthy Tonic for the Liver?

People who drink more than a cup of coffee a day are less likely to develop liver cancer than those who do not, Japanese researchers say.

A team at Tohoku University, a state-run university in Sendai, in north-east Japan, compiled the data based on a study of about 61,000 adults.  Professor Ichiro Tsuji, who led the study, said the team has yet to pinpoint the substance in coffee which appeared to curb liver cancer.  But he said coffee helped lower the risk of cirrhosis, and that chlorogenic acid, present in coffee beans, had proven in an animal study to reduce the risk of liver cancer.

The team studied 61,000 people aged 40 years or over for seven to nine years between 1984 and 1997.  It found 117 people developed liver cancer during the survey period.  The team analyzed data based on the subjects' age, sex, and other factors, and concluded that the chances of developing liver cancer were 0.58 for those who drink more than a cup of coffee per day and 0.71 for those who drink less than a cup of coffee a day, compared with the base figure of one for non-coffee drinkers.

The tendency to develop liver cancer was particularly prevalent among those who had had some type of liver ailment other than cancer in the past, who were 60 or older, and who had smoked in the past.  "The tendency not to develop liver cancer among coffee drinkers was consistent even if we analyzed their age, sex, and drinking habits," Tsuji said.

Tsuji presented the findings to a meeting of the Japan Epidemiological Association in Otsu January 22.

coffee and Physical Fitness

Physical Fitness

Fluid-electrolyte and renal indices of hydration during eleven days of controlled caffeine consumption. Armstrong, LE, Pumerantz, AC, Roti, MW, et al. July 2004. In review.

Departments of Kinesiology, Nutritional Sciences, Physiology & Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.

This investigation determined if 3 levels of controlled caffeine consumption affected fluid-electrolyte balance and renal function differently. Fifty-nine active males (mean + SD; age, 21.6 + 3.3 y) consumed 3 mg caffeine·kg^-1·d^-1 on days 1-6 (equilibration phase). On days 7-11 (treatment phase), subjects consumed either 0 mg (G0; placebo; n=20), 3 mg (G3; n=20), or 6 mg (G6; n=19) caffeine·kg^-1·d^-1 in capsules; no other dietary caffeine intake was allowed. Subjects maintained detailed records of food and fluid intake. These variables were measured on days 1, 3, 6, 9 and 11: body mass, urine osmolality, urine specific gravity, urine color, 24-hour urine volume, 24-hour Na⁺ and K⁺ excretion, 24-hour creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, serum Na⁺ and K⁺, serum osmolality, hematocrit, and total plasma protein. No significant differences were detected between groups G0, G3 and G6 (P>0.05) for any of the hydration-relevant variables, including urine volume. Although a few significant differences occurred between days (P<.05), indicating acute within-group perturbations, all hydration indices were within the normal clinical range. In conclusion, no evidence of hypohydration was observed in G3 or G6 during 11 d of controlled caffeine consumption. These findings question the widely accepted notion that caffeine acts chronically as a diuretic.

Nutritional strategies to influence adaptations to training. Spriet LL, Gibala MJ. J Sports Sci. 2004 Jan;22(1):127-41.

Department of Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

This article highlights new nutritional concerns or practices that may influence the adaptation to training. The discussion is based on the assumption that the adaptation to repeated bouts of training occurs during recovery periods and that if one can train harder, the adaptation will be greater. The goal is to maximize with nutrition the recovery/adaptation that occurs in all rest periods, such that recovery before the next training session is complete. Four issues have been identified where recent scientific information will force sports nutritionists to embrace new issues and reassess old issues and, ultimately, alter the nutritional recommendations they give to athletes. These are: (1) caffeine ingestion; (2) creatine ingestion; (3) the use of intramuscular triacylglycerol (IMTG) as a fuel during exercise and the nutritional effects on IMTG repletion following exercise; and (4) the role nutrition may play in regulating the expression of genes during and after exercise training sessions. Recent findings suggest that low doses of caffeine exert significant ergogenic effects by directly affecting the central nervous system during exercise. Caffeine can cross the blood-brain barrier and antagonize the effects of adenosine, resulting in higher concentrations of stimulatory neurotransmitters. These new data strengthen the case for using low doses of caffeine during training. On the other hand, the data on the role that supplemental creatine ingestion plays in augmenting the increase in skeletal muscle mass and strength during resistance training remain equivocal. Some studies are able to demonstrate increases in muscle fibre size with creatine ingestion and some are not. The final two nutritional topics are new and have not progressed to the point that we can specifically identify strategies to enhance the adaptation to training. However, it is likely that nutritional strategies will be needed to replenish the IMTG that is used during endurance exercise. It is not presently clear whether the IMTG store is chronically reduced when engaging in daily sessions of endurance training or if this impacts negatively on the ability to train. It is also likely that the increased interest in gene and protein expression measurements will lead to nutritional strategies to optimize the adaptations that occur in skeletal muscle during and after exercise training sessions. Research in these areas in the coming years will lead to strategies designed to improve the adaptive response to training.

Fluid and fuel intake during exercise. Coyle EF. J Sports Sci. 2004 Jan;22(1):39-55.

Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

The amounts of water, carbohydrate and salt that athletes are advised to ingest during exercise are based upon their effectiveness in attenuating both fatigue as well as illness due to hyperthermia, dehydration or hyperhydration. When possible, fluid should be ingested at rates that most closely match sweating rate. When that is not possible or practical or sufficiently ergogenic, some athletes might tolerate body water losses amounting to 2% of body weight without significant risk to physical well-being or performance when the environment is cold (e.g. 5-10 degrees C) or temperate (e.g. 21-22 degrees C). However, when exercising in a hot environment ( > 30 degrees C), dehydration by 2% of body weight impairs absolute power production and predisposes individuals to heat injury. Fluid should not be ingested at rates in excess of sweating rate, thus body water and weight should not increase during exercise. Fatigue can be reduced by adding carbohydrate to the fluids consumed so that 30-60 g of rapidly absorbed carbohydrate are ingested throughout each hour of an athletic event. Furthermore, sodium should be included in fluids consumed during exercise lasting longer than 2 h or by individuals during any event that stimulates heavy sodium loss (more than 3-4 g of sodium). Athletes do not benefit by ingesting glycerol, amino acids or alleged precursors of neurotransmitter. Ingestion of other substances during exercise, with the possible exception of caffeine, is discouraged. Athletes will benefit the most by tailoring their individual needs for water, carbohydrate and salt to the specific challenges of their sport, especially considering the environment's impact on sweating and heat stress.

 

Central nervous system effects of caffeine and adenosine on fatigue.

Davis JM, Zhao Z, Stock HS, Mehl KA, Buggy J, Hand GA. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2003 Feb;284(2):R399-404.

Department of Exercise Science, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.

Caffeine ingestion can delay fatigue during exercise, but the mechanisms remain elusive. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that blockade of central nervous system (CNS) adenosine receptors may explain the beneficial effect of caffeine on fatigue. Initial experiments were done to confirm an effect of CNS caffeine and/or the adenosine A(1)/A(2) receptor agonist 5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA) on spontaneous locomotor activity. Thirty minutes before measurement of spontaneous activity or treadmill running, male rats received caffeine, NECA, caffeine plus NECA, or vehicle during four sessions separated by approximately 1 wk. CNS caffeine and NECA (intracerebroventricular) were associated with increased and decreased spontaneous activity, respectively, but caffeine plus NECA did not block the reduction induced by NECA. CNS caffeine also increased run time to fatigue by 60% and NECA reduced it by 68% vs. vehicle. However, unlike the effects on spontaneous activity, pretreatment with caffeine was effective in blocking the decrease in run time by NECA. No differences were found after peripheral (intraperitoneal) drug administration. Results suggest that caffeine can delay fatigue through CNS mechanisms, at least in part by blocking adenosine receptors.

Caffeine, body fluid-electrolyte balance, and exercise performance.

Armstrong, LE. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2002, 12:189-206.

Departments of Kinesiology, Nutritional Sciences, Physiology & Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.

Recreational enthusiasts and athletes often are advised to abstain from consuming caffeinated beverages (CB).  The dual purposes of this review are to (a) critique controlled investigations regarding the effects of caffeine on dehydration and exercise performance, and (b) ascertain whether abstaining from CB is scientifically and physiologically justifiable.  The literature indicates that caffeine consumption stimulates a mild diuresis similar to water, but there is no evidence of a fluid-electrolyte imbalance that is detrimental to exercise performance or health.  Investigations comparing caffeine (100 – 680 mg) to water or placebo seldom found a statistical difference in urine volume.  In the ten studies reviewed, consumption of a CB resulted in 0 - 84 % retention, whereas consumption of water resulted in 0 - 81 % retention, of the initial volume ingested.  Further, tolerance to caffeine reduces the likelihood that a detrimental fluid-electrolyte imbalance will occur.  The scientific literature suggests that athletes and recreational enthusiasts will not incur detrimental fluid-electrolyte imbalances if they consume CB in moderation and eat a typical U.S. diet.  Sedentary members of the general public should be at less risk than athletes because their fluid losses via sweating are smaller.

Ergogenic aids in aerobic activity. Juhn MS. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2002 Aug;1(4):233-8.

Hall Health Sports Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

There are many products that are potentially ergogenic for aerobic exercise, although evidence-based support varies. The most popular supplements or ergogenic aids for the endurance athlete are caffeine, antioxidants, erythropoietin, and the dietary practice of carbohydrate loading. Caffeine and carbohydrate loading have the most evidence-based support of being both ergogenic and safe. Erythropoietin is ergogenic but unsafe, and is banned by all major sport-sanctioning bodies, and antioxidants have potential but warrant further study.

Caffeine and exercise: metabolism, endurance and performance. Graham TE. Sports Med.  2001;31(11):785-807.

Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Caffeine is a common substance in the diets of most athletes and it is now appearing in many new products, including energy drinks, sport gels, alcoholic beverages and diet aids. It can be a powerful ergogenic aid at levels that are considerably lower than the acceptable limit of the International Olympic Committee and could be beneficial in training and in competition. Caffeine does not improve maximal oxygen capacity directly, but could permit the athlete to train at a greater power output and/or to train longer. It has also been shown to increase speed and/or power output in simulated race conditions. These effects have been found in activities that last as little as 60 seconds or as long as 2 hours. There is less information about the effects of caffeine on strength; however, recent work suggests no effect on maximal ability, but enhanced endurance or resistance to fatigue. There is no evidence that caffeine ingestion before exercise leads to dehydration, ion imbalance, or any other adverse effects. The ingestion of caffeine as coffee appears to be ineffective compared to doping with pure caffeine. Related compounds such as theophylline are also potent ergogenic aids. Caffeine may act synergistically with other drugs including ephedrine and anti-inflammatory agents. It appears that male and female athletes have similar caffeine pharmacokinetics, i.e., for a given dose of caffeine, the time course and absolute plasma concentrations of caffeine and its metabolites are the same. In addition, exercise or dehydration does not affect caffeine pharmacokinetics. The limited information available suggests that caffeine non-users and users respond similarly and that withdrawal from caffeine may not be important. The mechanism(s) by which caffeine elicits its ergogenic effects are unknown, but the popular theory that it enhances fat oxidation and spares muscle glycogen has very little support and is an incomplete explanation at best. Caffeine may work, in part, by creating a more favourable intracellular ionic environment in active muscle. This could facilitate force production by each motor unit.

Dose-dependent effect of caffeine on reducing leg muscle pain during cycling exercise is unrelated to systolic blood pressure. O'Connor PJ, Motl RW, Broglio SP, Ely MR. Pain. 2004 Jun;109(3):291-8.   

Department of Exercise Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

This double-blind, within-subjects experiment examined the effects of ingesting two doses of caffeine on perceptions of leg muscle pain and blood pressure during moderate intensity cycling exercise. Low caffeine consuming college-aged males ingested one of two doses of caffeine (5 or 10mg.kg(-1) body weight) or placebo and 1h later completed 30 min of moderate intensity cycling exercise (60%). The order of drug administration was counter-balanced. Resting blood pressure and heart rate were recorded immediately before and 1h after drug administration. Perceptions of leg muscle pain as well as work rate, blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen uptake were recorded during exercise. Caffeine increased resting systolic pressure in a dose-dependent fashion but these blood pressure effects were not maintained during exercise. Caffeine had a significant linear effect on leg muscle pain ratings. The mean (+/-SD) pain intensity scores during exercise after ingesting 10mg.kg(-1) body weight caffeine, 5mg.kg(-1) body weight caffeine, and placebo were 2.1+/-1.4, 2.6+/-1.5, and 3.5+/-1.7, respectively. The results support the conclusion that caffeine ingestion has a dose-response effect on reducing leg muscle pain during exercise and that these effects do not depend on caffeine-induced increases in systolic blood pressure during exercise.

Dry mouth:

Cappuccino coffee treatment of xerostomia in patients taking tricyclic antidepressants: preliminary report (In Polish) Chodorowski Z. Przegl Lek.  2002;59(4-5):392-3.

I Klinika Chorob Wewnetrznych Akademii Medycznej w Gdansku, Poland.

Ten patients underwent a trial treatment with cappuccino coffee. All of them (8 university lecturers and 2 clerks) aged from 60 to 69 (average 63) years old, used tricyclic antidepressants because of insomnia as a monosymptomatic type of depression or insomnia as a dominant symptom in the course of depression. One evening dose of doxepin was from 150 to 250 mg (average 225), causing xerostomia the following day, usually between 9-15 o'clock. The five-minute chewing [drinking?] of 15.0 g of cappuccino coffee increased the amount of saliva, decreased xerostomia, and improved the ability of speech. The beneficial effect of coffee lasted from 0.5 to 4 (average about 2) hours. To the best of our knowledge there are no publications dealing with the positive effect of coffee in xerostomia.