Last Updated on March 1, 2022 by Jimson Lee
DISCLOSURE: This article is for informational purposes only. If you choose to consume the product below, it is advisable you see your physician if you have any health related or heart conditions that can be affected with high doses of caffeine. SpeedEndurance.com is not responsible for your ectopic focus.
In my highly controversial article on drugs and cheating, I talked briefly on supplements, especially caffeine where a Venti coffee at Starbucks (i.e. 20oz or 600ml) has 415 mg of caffeine.
But is Starbucks the highest source of caffeine?
Nope.
Death Wish Coffee is an insanely strong coffee that is dark, highly caffeinated, and very flavorful. It is also fair trade and organic!
At 54.2 milligrams of caffeine per fluid ounce, you only need 10oz to exceed the NCAA limit for caffeine (see below).
Just remember, 12 grams, or 12,000 mg of caffeine can actually kill you. That’s a lot of coffee.
2022 UPDATE: From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60570470:
A post-mortem examination showed Mr Mansfield had caffeine levels of 392mg per litre of blood. Caffeine levels would typically be two to four milligrams per litre if someone had drunk a cup of filter coffee.
You can buy it in the USA and it will be coming to the UK very soon!
NCAA Limit for Caffeine
The NCAA maximum acceptable level is 15 mcg/mL (micrograms per millilitre) in the urine.
It takes around 30-45 minutes for caffeine to be absorbed into the bloodstream
Like alcohol, caffeine is metabolized in the liver. The half-life time, or the amount to break down to 50% levels, depends on age, liver function, and other medications such as female oral contraceptives (which slows it down by almost 50%).
The estimated half-life in adults is anywhere between 5 hours in a healthy male to 10 hours for a female taking oral contraceptives.
So your window of testing positive is pretty high if you consume too much too soon.
If you consume too much caffeine close to the test, you may want to take the test right away before all the caffeine gets absorbed. Moreover, if your caffeine was ingested a while ago, then delaying the test as long a possible is the key.
In an alcohol breathalyzer, you have 2 hours to contact your lawyer to be present before you are forced to take it. Refusing to take it is equivalent to a positive test.
Good luck sleeping after the track meet! I guess that’s where a few beers come in 
Why Coffee is Good Post-Workout
From cbc.ca: (the bold highlights are my notes)
Drinking lots of coffee after a strenuous workout while consuming fuel-replenishing carbohydrates can help accelerate muscular recovery, according to a new study.
New research showed that athletes who consumed carbs and drank caffeine had 66 per cent more glycogen in their muscles four hours after working out, versus athletes who consumed carbs alone.
Glycogen, or stored glucose, helps power muscles.
<snip>
The caffeinated drink had caffeine levels equal to five or six cups of coffee
You are probably wired after the workout or race, and now they are suggesting you drink more coffee?
17 Reasons to love Coffee, Espresso and Caffeine
Finally, here are 17 reasons to love Coffee, Espresso and Caffeine. This list is from The Nutrition Journal.
Their Conclusion:
The consumption of moderate amounts of caffeine:
- increases energy availability
- increases daily energy expenditure
- decreases fatigue
- decreases the sense of effort associated with physical activity
- enhances physical performance
- enhances motor performance
- enhances cognitive performance
- increases alertness, wakefulness, and feelings of “energy,”
- decreases mental fatigue
- quickens reactions
- increases the accuracy of reactions
- increases the ability to concentrate and focus attention
- enhances short-term memory
- increases the ability to solve problems requiring reasoning
- increases the ability to make correct decisions
- enhances cognitive functioning capabilities and neuromuscular coordination, and
- in otherwise healthy non-pregnant adults is safe.
However, no good things comes with some bad. Some side effects are:
- insomnia
- upset stomach and/or diarrhea
- tremors
- anxiety
Note points number 10 and 11. This may be of interest to sprinters with respect to reaction times. For more information on reaction time and how to train for it, read the previous article titled Reaction Time, Usain Bolt and the Pareto 80-20 Rule from November 2008.
No wonder coffee (and caffeine) is an addiction. And I am guilty of it.
Testing Positive: by Stimulants, Drugs (EPO/Masking process), and now Caffeine.
Before people out there start to pass judgement on Athletes out there? as Amateurs, we get way with a lot of things, therefore until we experience what dedication and sacrifice these specimens have to go through each day, we shall never know what minute detail is required to stay clean. Such a fine line.
From experience; if i had a drugs test now i am certain i would have failed the test. This is due to the current injections given to me by my Consultant for my Knee pain and recently discovered mild Arthritis. This is to help reduce the excruciating pain i constantly have, yet, it could be deemed (unfairly) a process of taking drugs to enhanve my performance.
I will happily roll into town or the track in health and with slow times instead of knee & joint aches …, but hey! I have no choice there. When YOUTH was mine, i had no worries, now AGE has taken over now. Rock & Roll! Yay!
Caffeine? I guess no problems there. But caution to the wind people: the side effects as stated by ‘Jimson’ can be fatal. Stay ‘Alive and Kicking… and within the boundary.
Where is COSTA when you need one.