Naomi Cook

English Comp II
Brett Sipes
March 17, 2019

Casebook

Reynolds, Gretchen. “Can Coffee Rev Up Your Workout? It May Depend on Your Genes.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/well/move/can-coffee-rev-up-your-workout-it-may-depend-on-
your-
genes.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FCaffeine&action=click&contentCollection=timest
opics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=coll
ection.

In this article, the discussion is on how caffeine may affect some people, but not others in
workouts, depending on their genes. It can be beneficial to some in the exercise area, and have a
negative effect on the others in that category. In the article, a test run by Dr El-Sohemy is
discussed. Sohemy performed tests with some “fast” metabolizers, and some “slow”
metabolizers. He had them all ride a bike for a certain distance multiple times, each time with a
different amount of caffeine. In these tests the average person performed better with caffeine,
especially in high amounts. In those affected negatively he suspected the caffeine to be
narrowing blood vessels, in turn reducing blood flow and oxygen to muscles. This article makes
it clear that there is not a definite answer yet, but this helps with a general outline.

I think the purpose of this article is to give runners, or those who exercise regularly, a
general idea of how and why caffeine affects the body during workouts and why it can affect
people differently. The audience is clearly those looking into the effects of caffeine on
exercising.

It was written in 2018, and the author regularly writes about fitness. Those two things do
have an effect on the source, as it encourages the readers the information is up to date and
written by someone who is experienced. The New York Times has been a reliable news source
for a long time due to the amount of time it has been in existence, and has readers all over the
world.

I will use this information in my research paper to go over why the effect of caffeine can
differ from person to person, and the causes of that.

“Caffeine.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 22 Feb. 2019,

This website gives a plethora of information. It gives the definition of caffeine from a
medicinal standpoint, and explains how much caffeine is in common drinks. It goes through the
effects it has on the body, such as stimulating your central nervous system, is diuretic, and
increases the acid release in your stomach. This article also explains the side effects of too much
caffeine, insomnia, dizziness, headaches. It talks about how and why energy drinks are
dangerous with the high levels of caffeine they contain, and the loads of sugar that could increase
weight gain or worsen diabetes. The last information it includes is a list of those who should try
and avoid caffeine, what withdrawal is, and the symptoms of it.

The audience for this information I believe are those who go out looking for it, maybe to
understand why it’s affecting them the way it is, or to figure out if they should be careful with
the amounts they are consuming.

This website is provided by the United States National Library of Medicine, it can
therefore be listed as a reliable source because it is provided by one.

There is a lot of information I can use off of this source for my paper. I can use the
definition of caffeine, I can use the list of how much caffeine is in a certain size of coffee, I can
use it to list the normal negative and positive effects it has on the body, and much more.

Mawer, Rudy. “How Caffeine Improves Exercise Performance.” Healthline, Healthline Media,
18 Mar. 2016, www.healthline.com/nutrition/caffeine-and-exercise#section2.

This article goes in depth about explaining the benefits caffeine has for performance in
exercise. It explains that caffeine is a powerful substance that does have the possibility to
improve performance in the mental and physical areas., as well as focus and fat burning. It shows
that 90% of the US consume it on a regular basis, meaning it is one of the most common
substances used to improve focus and alertness. It discusses how caffeine works, the effects it
has in high-intensity, strengthening workouts and fat loss. It helps people know how to
supplement caffeine into their daily lives to improve their overall performance, and the possible
side effects of it.

The author wrote this piece to educate the public on how to effectively use caffeine to enhance
their performance, whether on the daily or for workouts. This article is for people looking how
to do just that. This article wasn’t written too long ago, and the author is a known
nutritionist/researcher in these areas.

I think the information in this article could be very valuable to my final paper on my
research topic. I’m going to use the information it provides on how caffeine works, and the
effects it has on the different types of workouts to help pull my research paper together.

“University Health Service.” Caffeine | University Health Service, University of Michigan,

This article goes into detail, similar to some of the other articles. It explains what caffeine
is, moreso what common drinks contain it. It explains the side effects of caffeine, what caffeine
does during pregnancy, and the effects of quitting using caffeine such as nausea, irritability, and
nervousness. The contents of caffeine are also gone over in this article.
 The purpose of this article is to help people understand that they consume caffeine in
many drinks today, how it affects the body, and what it can do. It was appropriately written on an
Universities website, and I feel that that audience would benefit from seeing this information.
This article is published by a trusted source, University of Michigan, so the reliability is good.

The information on caffeine’s contents, and the effects of quitting will be useful in my
research paper, as it would help explain what people are consuming and could add on to how it
could be dangerous as well as beneficial.

“Caffeine: How Much Is Too Much?” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education
and Research, 8 Mar. 2017, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-
eating/in-depth/caffeine/art-20045678.

My research paper is focused on how caffeine could benefit exercise, so this website will
help me look at the other side of the issue. It explains how much coffee is a good and healthy
daily amount, how to monitor your caffeine intake, symptoms to watch for, and when to start
cutting back on you consumption.

The author wrote this in a way that was less in article form, and more straight to the point. I feel
the audience is those who want the facts and not the extra filler information. This source is
reliable, as it is published by a well-known medical center based in Minnesota.

I will use the information about how to limit your intake, the healthy amount to consume daily,
and the steps to take to watch your intake as well in my paper. These are all things I had not
considered before, and it will be good to contain both the positive and negative sides of caffeine
in my paper.

Patel, Kamal. “Caffeine and Exercise: The Right (and Wrong!) Way to Use It.” Life by Daily
Burn, 16 June 2017, dailyburn.com/life/health/caffeine-workout-performance/.

This article focuses mainly on how caffeine can directly affect exercise. It lists 4 ways it
can benefit physical performance, like better fat burn, increased and enhanced aerobics
performance, and faster recovery. It explains what being dependent on caffeine looks like, and
when to start cutting back on it so that it stays beneficial to you.

The author definitely wrote this for athletes or people who workout and are really looking
into how caffeine can help or affect them while they are doing that physical activity. This source
is reliable, a company who focuses on health and fitness, and provides workout plans to their
clients called Daily Burn published it.

I will use a majority of this information from this article that goes over how is this right
way to use caffeine to benefit you in a workout scenario, and the information it shares on how to
avoid depending on caffeine.
Loria, Kevin, and Erin Brodwin. “What Caffeine Does to Your Body And Brain.” ScienceAlert,
21 July 2017, www.sciencealert.com/what-caffeine-does-to-your-body-and-brain.

This article is very realistic and foundational for many things I will be discussing in my
paper. It educates the reader on how many of us only focus on coffees positive effects, while it
also has negative ones that can affect our vision, metabolism, and digestion. It is the world’s
most commonly used drug, and people are blind to the fact that it has a large majority of today’s
world hooked. This website lists many pros and cons of the effects caffeine has on our bodies,
and h=the things it does and does not help with and the ways it is used by people.

This article was written in a way that showed both sides of caffeine’s effects, and it was a
very beneficial read. I think it was written to the general public in order to educate them more
about what caffeine is and what it actually can do.

The information in this article is similar to those of others I’ve read, but the fact that this
one quotes many researchers, sceintists, and people who know what they’re talking about when it
comes to this area, makes it one that I believe is reliable. I will be using the information included
along with the quotes from the different people in this article to help prove and explain that
caffeine isn’t all good or bad, and why and how it is used.