Does coffee/caffeine affect bottom time?

[MozSpearer]

Hi!

I've been wondering about wheter drinking coffee before spearfishing will negatively affect your bottom time? I love my cup of coffee and usually have one and a rusk before I dive for a bit of energy early in the morning. Perhaps someone can clarify this for me?

Thanks. Mozzie

 

[slingshaft]

I do drink coffee when I get up, I have a new French Press! It improves the taste of Java ten fold!
I think that it affects my first couple of dives, but I settle down and every thing is fine.
Bye the way, is the Sardine run good this year? Do you spearfish during the cold months?
Cheers, Kerry.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I don't have any science to back me up, but my gut answer is "it depends."

If you seldom drink coffee and then have two strong cups right before jumping into the water, it might matter.

But then there is me. I usually drink about 3 or 4 cups per day. On dive days I get up two hours before meeting my dive buddies at the launch ramp and I drink coffee because nothing hurts my bottom time as much as having full bowels. Then its usually at least an hour from launch to arrival at dive site, and possibly up to 3 hours. The effect of the caffeine is probably long gone by the time I get in the water. And then if the coffee didn't work in the morning, my dive time is time is significantly reduced if I have to swim back to the boat, remove my wetsuit, and empty my bowels. The other guys always shoot fish while I'm doing that.

Sorry for the emphasis on bowels, but then that is the prime subject for discussion among us old folks.

 

[lawstraljan16]

Drinking coffee/tea certainly affects my bottom time. Ive stopped drinking tea/coffee before dives and feel a bit more comfortable in the water now.

Either a coincidence or caffeine affects you. Though I have read a few articles that caffeine isnt good pre-dive

 

[Apneaddict]

Logic tells me it's bad... But a guy here did his PB static after accidentally having an XL coffee that AM before he remembered he had a static comp that aft!

If you're addicted to caffeine, going into withdrawal will likely negatively affect your diving.

Best to avoid it or stick to low caffeine levels (green tea), etc.

 

[MozSpearer]

I do drink coffee when I get up, I have a new French Press! It improves the taste of Java ten fold!
I think that it affects my first couple of dives, but I settle down and every thing is fine.
Bye the way, is the Sardine run good this year? Do you spearfish during the cold months?
Cheers, Kerry.

Thanks for expereince! I haven't got a clue how the sard run is this year... I do spearfish when I can, including winter months but you can't stay very long 2 hours tops!

 

[MozSpearer]

I don't have any science to back me up, but my gut answer is "it depends."

If you seldom drink coffee and then have two strong cups right before jumping into the water, it might matter.

But then there is me. I usually drink about 3 or 4 cups per day. On dive days I get up two hours before meeting my dive buddies at the launch ramp and I drink coffee because nothing hurts my bottom time as much as having full bowels. Then its usually at least an hour from launch to arrival at dive site, and possibly up to 3 hours. The effect of the caffeine is probably long gone by the time I get in the water. And then if the coffee didn't work in the morning, my dive time is time is significantly reduced if I have to swim back to the boat, remove my wetsuit, and empty my bowels. The other guys always shoot fish while I'm doing that.

Sorry for the emphasis on bowels, but then that is the prime subject for discussion among us old folks.

I'm about the same. I drink at least 3 cups a day. One about 6-7am, another midmorning and one more late afternoon. I agree about not diving after eating( limited lung expansion and heartburn) as it could decrease comfort. I'll do some experimenting start without coffee, just a apple or something small, then after try coffee before diving see what happens.. I'll report back for others benefit.

Thanks for your reply Bill, your advice is very valued as an experienced spearo and mentor!

 

[MozSpearer]

Drinking coffee/tea certainly affects my bottom time. Ive stopped drinking tea/coffee before dives and feel a bit more comfortable in the water now.

Either a coincidence or caffeine affects you. Though I have read a few articles that caffeine isnt good pre-dive

Thanks for your expereince too... I wanted to hear as many opinions as much! Thanks! I'll let you know after experimenting.

 

[MozSpearer]

Logic tells me it's bad... But a guy here did his PB static after accidentally having an XL coffee that AM before he remembered he had a static comp that aft!

If you're addicted to caffeine, going into withdrawal will likely negatively affect your diving.

Best to avoid it or stick to low caffeine levels (green tea), etc.

Thanks apnea. I wouldn't consider myself an addict. I sometimes go days between coffees! But i agree about wihdrawal for serious coffee drinkers.

A big thank you to all who took the time to reply. I'll let you know how my trip went! Just 4 days before I go!

 

[PocketPoolshorts]

I feel like i may get negative remarks, but im just sharing my experience. Yesterday before a nice slack tide dive at the Manasquan inlet, i took 2 shots of moonshine.(First time having any drinks before diving) Not enough that i was impared, but enough to feel slightly relaxed. I was much more calm than i ever am. My first 45 mins of diving i feel i was down much longer than usual. Anyone else have any experiences with things that effect dive time?

 

[HydroApprentice]

Interesting! Apart from the relaxation, I'd have assumed that the breakdown of alcohol will consume additional O2, giving you a hard time to stay under water [emoji2]

Maybe the breakdown of alcohol into acetaldehyde/acetate could lead to a slight acidification of the blood. This would lead to lower blood CO2 levels, thus delaying the urge to breathe? Anybody else thinks that this makes sense?

Maybe it's not that complex, probably you just had a good time [emoji16]

 

[PocketPoolshorts]

its likely! been having abnormally good visibility lately!

 

[cdavis]

I'm with Bill, it depends. I'm caffeine addicted. Not drinking coffee greatly affects my bottom time, for the worst.

I suspect we don't really understand caffeine or its effects. I've done 2 pbs after strong cups of coffee. I know several other people with the same experience, too many for chance. Seems like that's not logical, unless we don't understand whats going on.

 

[graycon]

Coffee, and more specifically Caffeine makes you feel good. It increases your levels of dopamine which is the actual feel good chemical. So for a regular drinker it would make sense that the cup of coffee relaxes you a bit, and makes you happy.

From what I gather about free-diving low stress and happiness = longer breath hold times.

This was an interesting read about how caffeine affects you.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/caffeine5.htm

 

[graycon]

I feel like i may get negative remarks, but im just sharing my experience. Yesterday before a nice slack tide dive at the Manasquan inlet, i took 2 shots of moonshine.(First time having any drinks before diving) Not enough that i was impared, but enough to feel slightly relaxed. I was much more calm than i ever am. My first 45 mins of diving i feel i was down much longer than usual. Anyone else have any experiences with things that effect dive time?

Not to derail the thread but everything there is about 'feelings'. Pretty much anything you do with alohol involved 'feels' like you are doing it better, including socializing and driving, but that DOES NOT mean you are actually doing it better.

I would love to see numbers regarding those dive time!

 

[mariusshobo]

I drink coffee every day, even when diving.
Still, when diving I drink only one coffee at least 2 - 2,5 hours before. It helps me concentrate and maintain my focus. This is how my organism works best, but it is not a general rule. Everybody is (a little bit) different.
As general rule, I would say that a big caffeine input right before diving is not good, because it will increase your heart rate, and this is not good for apnea.

Marius

 

[mariusshobo]

Extra to my last post.
In the fourth day of my fishing trip to Greece I was feeling without energy (maybe little tired, definitely not "in the zone"). Got out of the water, had an ice coffee, some biscuits and relaxing for about one hour. After that back into the water and feeling beter.
In this particulary case the coffee helped to save the day.