Caffeine Anhydrous Versus Caffeine in Coffee

Anhydrous caffeine vs. coffee

is preworkout better than coffee

Caffeine is the most popular drug in the world.

That’s right, it’s a drug, and we’re (almost) all dope-heads. In fact, I’m doping right now, and I’m willing to bet my left foot that some of you are as well.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, drugs (medicine) are what has permitted the human race to climb to the top of the food chain. For better or for worse. But does the form in which you consume caffeine matter?

Caffeine Anhydrous vs. Coffee Caffeine

Coffee before running

The simple, TL;DR answer to the headline question is NO. The caffeine found in coffee and supplemental caffeine (caffeine anhydrous) are not different.

What is caffeine anhydrous?

Caffeine anhydrous might be a scary word, but it literally translates to without (an-) water (-hydrous), which is all it is – dehydrated caffeine!

In most cases, caffeine anhydrous is simply isolated and dried out from plant sources. Just not coffee beans – those are too precious!

If you strictly want to know about caffeine and only caffeine, there isn’t really a long answer. Caffeine = caffeine.

However, coffee does have other bioactive ingredients. Therefore, if you were to drink a cup of coffee, you would have more helpful little compounds diffusing into your system than if you had caffeine anhydrous. One of the most obvious being water!

But there aren’t very many ways you could consume caffeine anhydrous in isolation other than taking a caffeine pill without fluid to wash it down.

If you’re consuming caffeine for enhancing your performance, that is where the crux of this argument lies: coffee (and its other ingredients) vs. caffeine (and other ingredients).

Most often, caffeine anhydrous is found in energy drinks and pre-workouts that contain some amount of water and, usually, other ingredients.

How caffeine anhydrous works

Caffeine anhydrous works by competing with a molecule called adenosine for the adenosine receptor. When adenosine binds to the receptor, you feel tired or out of energy.

When caffeine binds to the receptor you feel energetic, awake, and feel less pain.

Benefits

When dosed properly the benefits are:

Increased energy
Improved mental focus
Less pain
Make exercise feel easier

How to take caffeine anhydrous

The best way to take anhydrous caffeine is 3-6 milligram per kilogram bodyweight 30-60 minutes before exercise.

How much caffeine anhydrous is safe?

Generally speaking, yes! According to organizations like the NAS, Health Canada, and the European Association of Food Safety, the upper safe limit is 400 milligrams a day for a healthy adult.

Side effects

Individuals who are sensitive to caffeine and those who consume too much caffeine can experience:

Anxiousness
Jitteriness
Nervousness
Sweating
Palpitations
Racing heart rate

Coffee vs. Supplements Containing Caffeine Anhydrous (and Friends)

Coffee also contains proven good-guys chlorogenic and caffeic acid, theobromine (a polyphenol), and the diterpenes, kahweol and cafestol.

Each of those ingredients would require a full blog article to discuss at the length they deserve, so we’ll suffice to say that these bioactive ingredients of coffee have antioxidant, antihypertensive, anticarcinogenic, and antihyperlipidemic properties.

In other words, coffee is anti-bad stuff, and coffee drinkers have been found to live longer than nondrinkers. However, there aren’t really any performance-enhancing ingredients in coffee other than caffeine.

Energy drinks contain caffeine and some other ingredients, but typically they are not dosed in a quantity that will have any meaningful effects. Therefore if you’re looking to improve your speed, endurance, power output, strength, or any other athletic component, chances are you’re going to find that supplements will help more than coffee.

That's where our Dawn to Dusk comes in. With the same amount of caffeine as a single cup of coffee, we can extend the half life so you get a longer lasting, smoother effect that gives you energy and focus with no crash (and no sugar!) for up to 10 hours.

Caffeine = Caffeine

coffee and endurance performance

There you have it.

Caffeine, no matter the source, is caffeine, and supplemental caffeine is exactly the same as caffeine from coffee.

If you’re an athlete that wants to perform your best, caffeine will certainly help, but so can other supplements.

Coffee is delicious, though, and I for one will continue to drink it on my off days and while writing blog articles after my morning training sessions.