no coffee for athletes?

[scm1001]

I was reading on a poster the list of banned drugs for rugby football players which included caffeine. Does this mean no coffee, tea, cola etc? Is this true for other athletes?

[CelraySoda]

Yup, same thing goes in the Olympics, too. Athletes used to drink like 7 cups of coffee before an event, not anymore.
-M

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

It says here:

Classes Stimulants e.g. amphetamine, bromantan, **caffeine (above 12mcg/ml), **

I would guess that by “doping”, they’re talking about taking caffeine in concentrated pill form, enough to produce a higher concentration, of more than 12 mcg/ml, in the urine sample. I don’t think the amount of caffeine in coffee, tea, and cola would be enough to show up on a drug screening.

Found this.
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/sma/sma_caffeine_sma.htm

The current list of drugs banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) contains more than 40 different stimulants, including caffeine over a certain limit. Coffee, tea, chocolate, and colas, as well as NO DOZ and some nonprescription painkillers contain caffeine. Because caffeine is a common ingredient in foods and drinks, the IOC allows an upper limit of 12 mcg/mL of urine tested.

Over a 2- to 3-hour period, a dose of 100 mg of caffeine results in a urine concentration of 1.5 mg/mL. So, for example, if in a 3-hour period you consumed 800 mg of caffeine (5 to 6 cups of strong coffee or a couple of espresso drinks), you could exceed the legal dose.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

Whoops, hit Submit too soon.

So you could theoretically exceed the dose just by drinking lots of coffee in a very short period of time, but frankly, if you’re drinking 6 cups of strong coffee in 3 hours, you’ve got more serious problems than we can help you with here.

[scm1001]

thanks, didn’t realise there was a limit as the poster didn’t say. Guess the expresso is safe if I ever get stupid enough to take up rugby (no pads -they must be real masochists)

[occ]

Also, geez, I don’t think I’d want to drink coffee before an olympic event. As if you wouldn’t be dehydrated enough.

[mangeorge]

*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose *
**Whoops, hit Submit too soon.

So you could theoretically exceed the dose just by drinking lots of coffee in a very short period of time, but frankly, if you’re drinking 6 cups of strong coffee in 3 hours, you’ve got more serious problems than we can help you with here. **

WHAT? :dubious:
Peace,
mangeorge