Coffee, Muscle, and Aging: Good News
Caffeine is obviously a major component of coffee, but it’s not the only one by long shot that has a biological effect. If we focus on just the caffeine part of coffee as a central nervous system stimulant, there are some interesting benefits that come to mind, like increased muscle power.
90% of adults in the US have caffeine daily in one form or another. This is the number 1 performance enhancing drug and nootropic in the world, and has been for a couple hundred years. It’s likely the Enlightenment wouldn’t even have happened without coffee houses.
A new finding from the Society for Experimental Biology is that caffeine boosts power in older muscles. The study suggests that caffeine can help older people maintain strength which would mean less falls and injuries. We know that age-related changes in muscle and older people make muscles weaker. The new study which was done on mice, shows that caffeine works even in older mice on two very important muscles. First, the diaphragm, which helps us breathe, and second, the primary movement muscle in the leg.
For you, dear Bulletproof reader, this means that whether or not you’re an athlete or whether or not you are in your prime years, caffeine may help your muscles produce more force. The study author is quoted as saying:
“with the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle to preserve health and functional capacity, the performance-enhancing benefit of caffeine could prove beneficial in the aging population.”
The sad news is that we are all aging, some more quickly than others. I believe properly processed (low amine, low mycotoxin) coffee like mine is an adaptogenic herb, and the first thing most people will benefit from long before they move to more exotic brain enhancing substances. More power in your muscles is just one more reason.
