Drinking coffee helps relieve physical pain caused by excessive exercise

Studies have shown that drinking coffee can help relieve body pain caused by excessive exercise, the Daily Mail reported. The team, led by Professor O'Connor of the University of Georgia, studied female college students who did not regularly consume caffeine and did not exercise regularly. They found that caffeine consumption reduced muscle pain by 48% after the highest intensity of exercise.

The team's initial study found that male college students who did not regularly consume caffeine consumed large doses of caffeine an hour before exercise, followed by a 30-minute moderate intensity cycling exercise that significantly reduced the rate of thigh muscle pain. Then they were given different doses of caffeine and found that the effect of relieving muscle pain was related to the dose of caffeine.

The mechanism by which caffeine relieves muscle pain is unclear, and the possible explanation is that caffeine blocks the body's adenosine receptor, a pain-causing chemical.

However, the above findings are based on subjects who do not consume caffeine regularly, and the small number of subjects may not be applicable to people who regularly consume caffeine because they are less sensitive to the analgesic effects of caffeine.

Although this effect remains to be further studied, caffeine is better at relieving muscle pain after exercise than some commonly used painkillers such as aspirin, naproxen and ibuprofen, at least for those who do not consume caffeine regularly. Even so, for some people, caffeine needs to be taken with caution before exercise. Too much caffeine can have some side effects, such as neurasthenia, palpitations and sleep disorders.