At VeloConcepts, we are big believers in using “real” food as your nutrition source when on the bike. In the past, we have been proponents of caffeine enhanced chews due to caffeine’s ergogenic properties. However, we noticed that one of our favorite nutrition products, Skratch Labs did not offer caffeine-enhanced products.
One of the great things about the companies we work with is our relationships with them. Many of these companies are also run by thought-leaders in the cycling industry and Allen Lim, Ph. D. is one of them. So when we questioned the lack of caffeine-infused products in the Skratch line, Allen personally responded to our questions, and his responses were opinion changers.
Allen begins his response and acknowledges the performance enhancing effect of caffeine. “From a performance standpoint, caffeine (equivalent to 2-3 cups at 100 mg per 8 oz cup) has been shown to be ergogenic (performance enhancing) by helping to increase the mobilization of fatty acids as a fuel source and helping to spare muscle glycogen.”
But Allen continues with this caveat, “caffeine does not work when a person is already sensitized to caffeine and consumes it as part of their daily or regular diet in coffee or tea.”
So it seems, there is little to no benefit in consuming caffeine-chews while on the bike, at least if you’re a daily coffee drinker. As Allen say’s “most athletes who look to caffeine as an ergogenic aid, avoid caffeine for a period of 3 to 6 weeks before an event in order to get a performance boost from it.” So, unless you plan on giving up your daily coffee habit, don’t expect to get any benefit from caffeine based chews.
This opinion was truly eye opening, we had always advocated caffeine for those last few miles of long rides, but I guess the results were more placebo, or more likely the result of replenishment of glycogen stores
Here is Allen’s response in its entirety.
Like most things, caffeine is a highly individual thing.
From a performance standpoint, caffeine (equivalent to 2-3 cups at 100 mg per 8 oz cup) has been shown to be ergogenic (performance enhancing) by helping to increase the mobilization of fatty acids as a fuel source and helping to spare muscle glycogen. Caffeine has also been shown, in very high doses (500 mg to 1 gram), to improve glycogen resynthesis when paired with a high carbohydrate meal post exercise. That said, caffeine does not work when a person is already sensitized to caffeine and consumes it as part of their daily or regular diet in coffee or tea. Because of that, most athletes who look to caffeine as an ergogenic aid, avoid caffeine for a period of 3 to 6 weeks before an event in order to get a performance boost from it.
From a cultural standpoint, caffeine in coffee, tea, soda, and many energy drink products is ubiquitous. They are hard to avoid and once in the routine of daily caffeine consumption, most people become dependent on that daily dose, whatever it may be. The problem is that if you already drink coffee or tea or consume a certain amount of caffeine already consuming more is not likely to help much and may likely just ramp up your baseline need.
For Skratch, our goal is to optimize hydration and help people find better real food solutions to enhance their well being and performance. Because caffeine is so ubiquitous in our culture and in many sports nutrition products, I don’t personally find a need to include it in any of our products or to recommend it as an ergogenic aid. All things considered, most people don’t do any better with more, there are risks with consuming too much, and it’s presence in our sport and society probably has more to do with being a sleep deprived stimulant dependent nation than with anything health or performance related.
Ultimately, if you enjoy a cup or two of coffee or tea a day, keep on enjoying it. If you’re looking, however, for an endorsement of caffeine as the end all be all ergogenic aid, I personally don’t subscribe to it.
Thanks for your question. Hope this helps.
– Allen Lim, Ph.D.