Impact of caffeine consumption on fat oxidation: general topics and future research

In a recent study published in the journal Nutrients, researchers visually assessed the association between caffeine consumption and fat oxidation to identify the most common themes and guidelines. Future research, highlights the importance of balancing caffeine intake with fat oxidation.

Learn: Research trends on the effects of caffeine intake on fat oxidation: A bibliometric and visual analysis. Image credit: Volgastudio/Shutterstock.com

Background

Caffeine use is becoming popular due to its possible health benefits, especially in improving athletic performance. Several studies have investigated the effects of caffeine consumption on fat oxidation during rest and exercise.

This action stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, increasing fatty acid release and improving lipolysis. While this action may be helpful for weight loss and fat mass reduction, it is important to consider the effects of caffeine on blood pressure and insomnia.

Bibliometric analysis can assist in determining the extent of scientific interest in caffeine consumption as an approach to increase fat oxidation.

About research

In the present bibliographic review, the researchers investigated published studies evaluating the association between oral caffeine consumption and the rate of fat oxidation.

The Web of Science (WoS) database was searched to retrieve relevant records published from the time of database creation (1992) to December 31, 2022.

The number of publications and their citations, citing journals, H-index, co-citations, keyword occurrence and co-authorship were all collected as qualitative and quantitative data. Data were extracted, including title, publication year, keywords, abstract, author affiliation, and document type.

The “topic” selection filter was used with keywords such as “fat oxidation” and “caffeine” to search the data. The audit included data on caffeine administration, from “pure” forms of caffeine in tablets and capsules to meals and caffeinated beverages such as tea, coffee and energy drinks.

On May 6, 2023, two researchers conducted a language-free search of the data, and a third researcher resolved the disagreements between the two.

Book chapters, abstracts from conferences, and early access publications are not included. The Law of Price is used to evaluate the exponential growth in related publications. Lotka’s analysis identified the writers with the most publications on the topic.

The H-index value is used to determine the writers who have contributed the most to the research field. Furthermore, Zipf’s law was applied to identify the most frequently used keywords in the selected articles (372 keywords).

Discussions

The objective of this study was to evaluate the body of work regarding oral caffeine consumption and its impact on fat oxidation over the past several decades. This was achieved by conducting a comprehensive bibliographic and visual analysis using the keywords “caffeine” and “fat oxidation”. The primary purpose of this review is to track the development of research related to the effects of oral caffeine intake on fat oxidation from 1992 to 2022, identifying research themes periodically and guide future research.

The analysis detected a total of 182 relevant documents, with a notable increase of 20.1% in the number of publications between 1997-2009 (73 documents) and 2009-2022 (109 documents). The main journals published include “Nutrients” (12 documents) and “British Journal of Nutrition” (10 documents), mainly in the nutrition and dietetics category on the Web of Science (WoS). While the collaborative network often includes authors from Japan, the countries with the largest number of documents and citations are the United States and the Netherlands.

Interestingly, the analysis revealed a shift in keyword selection, towards an association with caffeine use in exercise performance rather than its role in obesity. This shift is more evident in recent publications, suggesting a changing research focus.

Of the 182 documents identified, there were 157 original articles and 25 review articles, demonstrating a significant proportion of studies with new data. Research is mainly classified into two areas on the WoS platform: “nutrition and dietetics” (108 documents) and “sports science” (48 documents). These two categories accounted for the majority (85.71%) of the documents in the study, emphasizing the need for research documents that cater to readers with a general knowledge of both nutrition and sports science. .

Although the number of journals in WoS has increased over the years, the data show no exponential growth, suggesting a relatively consistent level of scientific interest in the effects of caffeine on with fat oxidation. The peak year for publishing was 2014, with the number of articles decreasing thereafter, suggesting that attention to the topic has decreased in recent years.

Furthermore, H Index analysis shows that some authors have garnered significant citations, with studies by Dulloo et al. and Graham are the most cited documents even though they are more than 20 years old. The analysis also highlights key researchers and organizations in the field who may provide direction for future research.

Examining the keywords used in the literature, it was found that the terms “caffeine”, “fat oxidation”, “green tea”, “energy expenditure” and “obesity” were used. most often. However, there has been a shift in trends towards more recent keywords such as “performance”, “carbohydrates” and “biotic support”, indicating a growing interest in using caffeine to affects fat oxidation during exercise in athletes and physically active people. , with decreasing emphasis on its role in the treatment of obesity. This change may indicate a changing scientific research landscape in this field.

Conclude

The findings of this bibliometric analysis, focusing on the relationship between caffeine intake and its impact on fat oxidation during both rest and exercise, revealed a total totaling 182 documents, including 157 scientific articles and 25 review articles. These documents span the period from 1992 to 2022. It is worth noting that the number of publications in this field appears to have leveled off, with the highest number of documents recorded in 2014, and then there is a decline in the number of publications each year. This trend suggests that this topic may have reached saturation.

However, it is clear that this topic remains a point of considerable interest in the scientific community of nutrition and exercise physiology. Papers in this area, on average, receive 130 citations, indicating sustained scholarly interest. Notably, 52 authors have accumulated a minimum of 52 citations, emphasizing the influence of their contributions.

These documents mainly find their place in the nutrition and dietetics and sports science categories on the Web of Science platform. The collaborative network between the authors is notably observed, especially with the participation of researchers from Japan.

Furthermore, a notable shift in research focus has been observed, with increasing interest in the use of caffeine to enhance fat oxidation in the context of athletic performance, reported reflected in the increased use of keywords such as “biological support” and “performance”.

Future research efforts in this area may consider investigating the influence of variables such as gender and caffeine tolerance, thereby expanding the assessment of the effectiveness of oral caffeine administration. intake as a nutritional strategy to enhance fat utilization, as the inclusion of these aspects in research has been limited. documents.