A coffee article again? Should we change the blog name to 'The Coffee Science'? Well, it's the last one. I promise (or maybe not).
So, going back to the headline, how many of us wake up on a Monday morning, looking for that cup of coffee, struggling to get through even an hour of survival before we get to the first cup of the brown beverage (black for all the espresso fans out there). Even keeping aside our weekdays, do our Sundays not start with a cup of coffee, sitting near the window, lowkey not wanting the weekend to end? How is this magical drink giving you instant energy out of the blue? Have you ever questioned where is all of it coming from and most importantly how is this instant energy kicking in you? Well, asked or not, today we shall be looking deeper into this subject.
I just came across this article the other day which said, "Nope, coffee won't give you extra energy. It'll just borrow a bit that you'll pay for later", which got me thinking more about it. One article mentioned numbers as big as two billion cups of coffee daily. Why do we feel alert after a cup of it? Is it energy, or 'Borrowed energy'? Let's find out.
The primary stimulant in coffee is caffeine, which interacts with adenosine in our brains. Let's indulge more in adenosine here. The component of our system that regulates the sleep and wake cycle is adenosine. Whenever we engage in any activity, our body releases adenosine as a by-product along with the utilization of energy. As our activities increase, more and more adenosine binds to its receptors making our bodies slow down, signalling that it's tired. When we sleep, adenosine changes its form back to its native form, which makes us fresher when we wake up.
So, how does coffee interrupt here? The caffeine in coffee gets absorbed into the gastrointestinal tract, the circulatory system, and the brain. Caffeine here goes and attaches itself to the adenosine receptor. Thus, even though we would have done enough work in the day, the body doesn't get the signal to slow down. However, caffeine cannot mimic adenosine 100% and thus this sleepy feeling goes off only for a while. What happens after a while is that the caffeine slowly breaks down, and detaches from the receptors, and all of the adenosine that's been building up shows its action all at once. Hence, one sometimes will feel an overdose of sleep even after a cup of coffee, when there'll already be enough adenosine built up in your body. "Indeed, research outcomes including increased alertness, concentration, productivity, mood balance, and even creativity (so cool!) are clearly and repeatedly borne out in the published science for caffeine thanks to its adenosine-dampening actions," as quoted by Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN, mbg's vice president of scientific affairs. The half-life of caffeine is believed to be about five hours. This is the amount of time it usually takes for caffeine to break down and make the adenosine receptors available for binding. This, however, is very subjective and differs from body to body.
Another interesting effect coffee has is on our cortisol levels. Caffeine affects cortisol and also adrenaline in our body, by increasing its circulation rate. Cortisol makes us feel more alert. This hormone is already on a high when we wake up in the morning. Thus, when we have a cup of coffee later in the day, it increases our cortisol levels, making us feel more awakened.
As if coffee did not have enough effects on one's hormones and rushes, we further go on to add a helpful of sugar in the coffee which will aggravate the peak and dip even further. (The things we do for our taste buds). Sugar however differs here in the fact, that it provides you with actual energy. The spike in the blood sugar will bring along with it a massive dip later on.
So, all references above talked about how instance-release caffeine works. There's also an extended-release caffeine that exists. This caffeine protects our body from deep crashes, and also steadily levels out the caffeine in the body, which gives it a much-extended awakening.
Moreover, caffeine is not just found in coffee. It also is easily found in other plants such as green tea, black tea, soft drinks, and cocoa. These drinks will also give one the same effects as the caffeine present in coffee.
To summarize, the only real way to repay the alertness gifted to us by coffee is to get ourselves a nap. Some easy ways to avoid the caffeine crash when our receptors again become available for binding would be to get the required hours of sleep, be on the move during the day, and get some fresh air upon waking up.
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