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→Ethics of Caffeine
# It has the potential to harm the health of the athlete
# It violates the "spirit of sport"
Clearly caffeine meets criteria \#1, but not \#2 (if anything, caffeine may be beneficial to health). So does the use of caffeine violate the spirit of the sport? Let's compare the use of caffeine with the use of carbohydrate:
* Both caffeine and carbohydrate have been shown to improve performance
* Neither caffeine nor carbohydrate are essential for life
* Any athlete that does not effectively use either caffeine or carbohydrate is at a distinct disadvantage
This comparison indicates to me that caffeine is not against the spirit of the sport, or unethical.
=Newborn babies and Caffeine =
Newborn babies may be subject to higher levels of caffeine from breast milk than one would expect. If we assume: