Study: Drinking Coffee Could Improve Athletic Performance

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Looking to jump start an athletic performance? Drink a cup of coffee according to a new study.

University of Georgia doctoral student Simon Higgins found that drinking between three-and-seven milligrams per kilogram of body weight could increase athletic performance by about 24-percent.

Higgins examined the difference between caffeine from coffee, and caffeine from a pill in his study and says more research is necessary to determine if caffeine from a pill is effective.

Richard D. Lewis, professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, was Higgins' mentor and helped assist in the study.

Lewis told University of Georgia publication the Red and Black that there are some instances in which coffee can be detrimental to athletic performance.

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"One of the things about drinking coffee and nutrition is it is a diuretic," Lewis said. "It increases your urine production, you have to go to the bathroom and you lose water."

Therefore if you're competing in hot weather you don't want to drink a lot of coffee.