poledriver
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The ugly truth behind that cup of coffee
EVERY morning, millions of people perform an essential daily ritual - having their first cup of tea or coffee. It concentrates the mind and acts as a pick-me-up.
Or does it? The latest research suggests that familiar buzz doesn't so much as give us a lift, but fights the caffeine withdrawal symptoms - fatigue, mental fogginess and a dull headache - that have kicked in since our last cup.
Indeed, experts suggest that this morning ritual is actually a sign of mass drug dependency.
"People who consume caffeine regularly will become dependent on it - if you take caffeine away from them, they will function below par,"
says Peter Rogers, professor of biological psychology at Bristol University and a leading expert on caffeine.
"They just don't function normally without the drug on board. If it's your first tea or coffee of the day, it gets you back to normal, but beyond that you don't get much more of a kick."
Professor Rogers has studied coffee and its effects for more than 20 years and, as a result, he and other members of his team have given up caffeine.
"On balance, caffeine is not particularly helpful. It triggers withdrawal and increases your blood pressure, which is not a good thing," he says.
"I sometimes think one of the biggest effects of my research work has been on my department. Four or five colleagues have given up caffeine, and we're all on decaf."
WHY COFFEE DOESN'T GIVE YOU A BOOST
THE idea that caffeine doesn't perk up your brain might sound absurd, but that's what Professor Roger's research shows.
In one key study, around 300 volunteers - half had a moderate to high caffeine intake, the others had a low intake - were asked to stop drinking coffee for 16 hours before undergoing tests.
The volunteers were randomly split into two groups and given a placebo or coffee. The results, in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, were intriguing.
Though the regular coffee drinkers did have an increase in alertness following the coffee, this only made them as alert as non-coffee drinkers who had the placebo.
In other words, drinking coffee doesn't make us any more alert than non-coffee drinkers.
Although if barista Kazuki Yamamoto, who took this photo, served you up this coffee you wouldn't complain.
... BUT WHY DO YOU THINK IT DOES
Caffiene stops a brain chemical known as adenosine having an effect. Normally, adenosine helps slow down reactions in the body.
As caffeine effectively stops adenosine latching onto cells, it means that when we drink it our body is constantly on the accelerator, not the brake.
Then within a few hours of stopping drinking coffee, the withdrawal effects start to kick in. In some cases, they can even cause flu-like symptoms.
Our body experiences a flood of adenosine, leading to fatigue. Many will also experience a dull headache.
This is because caffeine narrows blood vessels in the brain, says Professor Rogers, so when we stop drinking it, there is an increase in blood flow, which triggers a headache.
"On the rare occasions I have drunk coffee for a few days, when I stop I start to feel under the weather and think I am coming down with a cold," says Professor Rogers.
"But then I remember - this is what caffeine withdrawal feels like."
IT WON'T IMPROVE CONCENTRATION
Anothner recent study by Professor Rogers involving 300 volunteers found coffee doesn't increase alertness, concentration or reaction time, but it will keep you awake.
"I have coffee when I'm driving across Europe, as I know it will keep me awake. But it wouldn't be helpful if I was trying to write a scientific paper late at night as it doesn't help focus or thinking."
IS CAFFEINE GOOD OR BAD FOR THE HEART?
ASIDE from triggering a physical dependency, what other effects does caffeine have on our health? One week we read a report showing caffeine is good for us; the next that it is bad. The experts are fiercely divided.
"It is a well-established and reliable fact that caffeine increases blood pressure," says caffeine researcher Jack James, professor of psychology at Reykjavik University.
"The increase is modest, but likely to be clinically significant over the course of a lifetime of consuming caffeine.
"I'm confident that in time caffeine consumption will be regarded as a risk to cardiovascular health."
Cont -
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/he...ee/story-fneuzkvr-1226666607297#ixzz2Wi4NKcad
EVERY morning, millions of people perform an essential daily ritual - having their first cup of tea or coffee. It concentrates the mind and acts as a pick-me-up.
Or does it? The latest research suggests that familiar buzz doesn't so much as give us a lift, but fights the caffeine withdrawal symptoms - fatigue, mental fogginess and a dull headache - that have kicked in since our last cup.
Indeed, experts suggest that this morning ritual is actually a sign of mass drug dependency.
"People who consume caffeine regularly will become dependent on it - if you take caffeine away from them, they will function below par,"
says Peter Rogers, professor of biological psychology at Bristol University and a leading expert on caffeine.
"They just don't function normally without the drug on board. If it's your first tea or coffee of the day, it gets you back to normal, but beyond that you don't get much more of a kick."
Professor Rogers has studied coffee and its effects for more than 20 years and, as a result, he and other members of his team have given up caffeine.
"On balance, caffeine is not particularly helpful. It triggers withdrawal and increases your blood pressure, which is not a good thing," he says.
"I sometimes think one of the biggest effects of my research work has been on my department. Four or five colleagues have given up caffeine, and we're all on decaf."
WHY COFFEE DOESN'T GIVE YOU A BOOST
THE idea that caffeine doesn't perk up your brain might sound absurd, but that's what Professor Roger's research shows.
In one key study, around 300 volunteers - half had a moderate to high caffeine intake, the others had a low intake - were asked to stop drinking coffee for 16 hours before undergoing tests.
The volunteers were randomly split into two groups and given a placebo or coffee. The results, in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, were intriguing.
Though the regular coffee drinkers did have an increase in alertness following the coffee, this only made them as alert as non-coffee drinkers who had the placebo.
In other words, drinking coffee doesn't make us any more alert than non-coffee drinkers.
Although if barista Kazuki Yamamoto, who took this photo, served you up this coffee you wouldn't complain.
... BUT WHY DO YOU THINK IT DOES
Caffiene stops a brain chemical known as adenosine having an effect. Normally, adenosine helps slow down reactions in the body.
As caffeine effectively stops adenosine latching onto cells, it means that when we drink it our body is constantly on the accelerator, not the brake.
Then within a few hours of stopping drinking coffee, the withdrawal effects start to kick in. In some cases, they can even cause flu-like symptoms.
Our body experiences a flood of adenosine, leading to fatigue. Many will also experience a dull headache.
This is because caffeine narrows blood vessels in the brain, says Professor Rogers, so when we stop drinking it, there is an increase in blood flow, which triggers a headache.
"On the rare occasions I have drunk coffee for a few days, when I stop I start to feel under the weather and think I am coming down with a cold," says Professor Rogers.
"But then I remember - this is what caffeine withdrawal feels like."
IT WON'T IMPROVE CONCENTRATION
Anothner recent study by Professor Rogers involving 300 volunteers found coffee doesn't increase alertness, concentration or reaction time, but it will keep you awake.
"I have coffee when I'm driving across Europe, as I know it will keep me awake. But it wouldn't be helpful if I was trying to write a scientific paper late at night as it doesn't help focus or thinking."
IS CAFFEINE GOOD OR BAD FOR THE HEART?
ASIDE from triggering a physical dependency, what other effects does caffeine have on our health? One week we read a report showing caffeine is good for us; the next that it is bad. The experts are fiercely divided.
"It is a well-established and reliable fact that caffeine increases blood pressure," says caffeine researcher Jack James, professor of psychology at Reykjavik University.
"The increase is modest, but likely to be clinically significant over the course of a lifetime of consuming caffeine.
"I'm confident that in time caffeine consumption will be regarded as a risk to cardiovascular health."
Cont -
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/he...ee/story-fneuzkvr-1226666607297#ixzz2Wi4NKcad
