When I read this study I couldn't help but smile. If you've read The Good Mood Diet you know that one of my maxims is "put your food to work for you." One great way to do this, if you are a coffee or tea drinker, is to have your caffeine before exercise. It can decrease your rate of perceived exertion. In other words, you don't notice how hard you are working, and you can workout harder, longer.
Now we have more great news: when caffeine and exercise were combined in mice, they had a significantly decreased risk of developing skin cancer. Four groups of mice were tested. One group had only exercise, one group only caffeine, the third group had exercise plus caffeine and the fourth group was a control group. All groups were exposed to skin cell damaging ultraviolet-B rays.
Cells with damaged DNA are programmed to self-destruct, a process called apoptosis, but not all do that, and damaged cells can become cancerous. Compared with the control animals, those drinking caffeine had a 95% increase in apoptosis in damaged cells. The exercisers showed a 120% increase, and the mice that were both drinking and running showed a nearly 400% increase.
The researchers really don't have an explanation for this occurrence, and they will continue to do research to see whether these results might be the same in humans.
In the meantime, keep using sunscreen, and don't be afraid to put your single serving of a caffeinated beverage to work for you before exercise.
Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner