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Does caffeine’s brain benefits outweigh the damage it can do to the body? Research has revealed a number of interesting facts related to caffeine.
Coffee entered mass consumption in Europe in the XNUMXth century, but we still don’t know much about this drink. And also about the substance to which we owe our addiction to coffee – and this despite the fact that we have long been taking caffeine not only in coffee, but also in a dozen other popular drinks – in tea, cocoa, Coca-Cola, mate.
Adherents of these drinks praise them for their tonic effect, which causes high spirits and increased efficiency. But doctors treat caffeine with suspicion. And there is a reason: in addition to the fact that caffeine speeds up the heart rate and raises blood pressure, it belongs to the class of alkaloids (just like, for example, nicotine) – biologically active substances, the effect of most of which on the body has not yet been studied enough.
1. The Stimulant Effect of Caffeine Is an Illusion
When asked why they drink coffee, many of the coffee fans will answer: it gives us vigor! If you have tried this drink for the first time or drink it for no more than two months, the notorious cheerfulness is really due to the biochemical properties of caffeine. But if you’re a long-time coffee drinker, the addiction that your body has developed no longer triggers the mechanism for increased production of dopamine, which causes a more active brain.
Most take caffeinated drinks simply out of habit and cultural tradition.
The lift you experience after drinking another cup is nothing more than a psychological illusion, according to scientists at the University of Bristol who conducted a study involving 379 volunteers. Each of the participants before the start of the study “fasted” – for 16 hours abstained from their favorite drink. The volunteers then received a cup of coffee from the organizers of the experiment – half of the participants were actually given coffee, but the other half enjoyed a drink that did not differ in taste, but contained a caffeine substitute.
Both groups of participants equally readily reported a surge of strength. As it turned out, there really was no difference between them – only now there was no surge of strength. After passing several tests before and after drinking the drink, which measured performance, as well as the level of memory and attentiveness, the participants in the experiment showed that these indicators did not improve at all.
The authors of the study consider this fact to be evidence that most modern people take caffeinated drinks not at all because they really give a burst of energy, but simply because of habit and cultural tradition.
2. Caffeine cures pain and sharpens the mind
If the previous fact probably disappointed ardent fans of caffeinated drinks, then these two can inspire them. Coffee can help relieve pain. It is known that those who sit at the computer for 6-7 hours a day experience discomfort in the cervical vertebrae, shoulders and wrists. The researchers compared the severity of discomfort in employees who treat themselves to a cup or two in the middle of the office day, and those who abstain from coffee.
Scientists were surprised to find that the latter experience more suffering than the former. And if the body is not used to caffeine, you can use coffee or cola to cope with even a severe headache. So, coffee relieves pain, but its usefulness for office workers is not limited to this. It turns out that in addition to caffeine, it contains trigonelline, another alkaloid that promotes the regeneration of dendrites and axons, the processes that connect the nerve cells of the brain. This means that regular coffee consumption, paradoxically, keeps the working capacity of the brain in better shape.
3. Even drinking coffee during the day interferes with sleep at night.
Coffee lovers know that it is better to abstain from a cup before going to bed – otherwise you will not be able to fall asleep. However, a new study has shown that you should stop drinking coffee at least 7-8 hours before going to bed. Even if you decide to take your last serving exactly six hours before bedtime, it will still interfere with sleep. The undesirable “energy effect” will interfere only slightly weaker than if you drank this cup an hour before going to bed.
Interestingly, addiction does not play a significant role. You won’t be able to get a real boost of energy by drinking coffee regularly, but getting used to caffeine so that it doesn’t disturb normal sleep, alas, will not work.
4. Coffee kills the young
Four cups of coffee a day will make you the hero of a sad statistic: the death rate among those who do not know moderation in addiction to this drink is higher than among those who are indifferent to it or consume it in small quantities. The study, which analyzed data on more than 40 people, showed that the mortality rate for the former is 21% higher than for the latter.
Moreover, coffee is especially terrible not for the elderly, but for young and mature people – in people under 55 years of age, the risk of death from ailments associated with high coffee consumption (most often these are cardiovascular diseases) is almost 50% higher. But there is no difference between the sexes – the mortality rate among men and women turned out to be approximately equal.
People who are genetically prone to caffeine intake tend to have higher blood sugar and cholesterol levels
Meanwhile, about 60% of the inhabitants of the United States and European countries drink coffee every day, and the proportion of “coffee addicts” who do not know any moderation among them remains high. However, we should not forget that the number of medical effects caused by caffeine is limited. And people quite often discredit the glorious name of this alkaloid, associating with it either headaches, or fatigue and nausea.
5 Caffeine Addiction Is Genetic
But should you blame yourself for being addicted to this substance? Love for him has a genetic basis. Harvard physicians compared the genomes of 120 thousand people and found at least six previously unknown gene variants that may be responsible for the love of caffeinated drinks.
These genes influence the metabolism of carriers, causing them to experience greater positive sensations from taking caffeine and more quickly develop dependence on it. In addition, people with at least some of these genes in their genome stop feeling the uplifting effects of coffee, tea, or cola more quickly and, as a result, start consuming more and more of them over time.
The gene variants discovered by scientists affect the metabolism of glucose and fats, as well as the mechanisms for controlling blood pressure. Therefore, people who are genetically inclined to consume caffeine tend to have higher blood sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as lower blood pressure.