The chances are you are drinking coffee as you are reading this article. Many of us cannot imagine a morning without this hot beverage, as we crave for that daily dose of caffeine. However, there are at least 25 things you didn’t know about caffeine, including the fact that coffee is not the only drink with high caffeine content.
It takes up to half an hour for caffeine to take effect
Although we feel energized right after the first sip of coffee, it takes at least 20 minutes for caffeine to take effect. While we wait for the caffeine to take effect, we can take a power nap to lower adenosine count and provide caffeine with more receptors to hook up to. It is worth noting that caffeine’s half-life is 4 to 6 hours, so it should be out of your system after half a day.
First there was chocolate
Although it seems coffee was around for ages, chocolate actually preceded coffee and tea in popularity by half a century in the Americas. The birthplace of coffee was in the 15th century in the mountains of Yemen and it spread from the port of Mocha onwards. By 1715, coffee beans were first cultivated in the Caribbean, where it’s still popular, as Brazil and Colombia are among the leading exporters of coffee beans.
Roasted coffee means less caffeine
Some like their coffee black as night, while others drink it with milk, i.e. light. These preferences aren’t just aesthetic, as darker roasts actually contain less caffeine. Lower caffeine levels are the result of intensive heat that dissolves caffeine molecules. If you’re after a caffeine rush, then lighter blends are the right way to go.
The secret is in the leaves
You are probably familiar with the iconic shape of a coffee bean but it actually contains less caffeine than aesthetically less appealing tea leaves. Because of different styles of brewing, a cup of tea, depending on the blend, can actually contain more caffeine than a cup of coffee, especially if it’s roasted. In addition, tea is full of tannins, molecular compounds that slow down the body’s ability to absorb the caffeine.
Caffeine is everywhere
Coffee and tea are two beverages that most people are sure to contain caffeine but are they the only ones? If your answer is “no,” then you are correct. Apart from coffee beans and tea leaves, caffeine can be found in guarana fruit, cocoa beans, and cola nuts. Therefore, the 3 most popular drinks worldwide that contain caffeine are tea, coffee, and cola.
The bitter taste of caffeine
So far, we have been discussing drinks and fruit that contain caffeine but what about drugs? Well, if you crush an Aspirin, you will get a taste of caffeine, quite literally. Aspirin is usually cut with caffeine to increase its effectiveness and to make the compound less bitter.
Stick to cigarettes
If you ask a passionate smoker whether caffeine can be smoked, they will say yes. Although you can smoke pretty much everything, caffeine shouldn’t be taken in this way. After you take the first couple of smokes, you’ll feel as if your heart is about to explode.
The magic of decaffeinated coffee
Decaffeinating coffee is a complex process; it’s not about just getting rid of caffeine. In fact, decaf is more like a glass of water than a cup of coffee. Mind you, the people who drink decaffeinated coffee (there is a huge global market for it) like to take energy drinks.
Life long and prospect
Regularly drinking coffee is associated with longevity. Whether decaf or regular, coffee lowers the risk of various heart diseases, thus prolonging your life. In addition to preventing heart disease, a cup of coffee a day prevents stroke, respiratory disease, diabetes, inflammations, and infections.
Check the label before you buy coffee
Whether you like to prepare your own coffee or buy it to-go, you must know caffeine content varies heavily across different brands. A latte in Starbucks can contain twice as much caffeine as a mocha in McDonald’s, for example. The next time you shop for coffee, give the packaging a thorough look to determine how much caffeine it contains.
Smokers synthesize caffeine faster
Speaking of smokers, you probably didn’t know that the same enzyme that breaks down nicotine is responsible for breaking down caffeine as well. The excess of this enzyme aids smokers metabolize caffeine faster. In fact, a non-smoker synthesizes caffeine twice as slow as a smoker. There is, after all, a connection between the first cigarette and coffee in the morning going together.
The best time for coffee
We’ve mentioned earlier that the first coffee in the morning is almost a ritual. However, doctors don’t advise people to drink coffee on an empty stomach. You should eat breakfast first and then drink the first coffee in the morning. In fact, the ideal time during the day to drink coffee is between 3PM and 5PM because that’s when our energy levels are the lowest.
Coffee at the office
Since the morning is not the best time for coffee drinking, you can drink coffee in the afternoon at work. More and more employers are getting office coffee machines to enable their employees to prepare coffee at work. Furthermore, you take your morning coffee alone, while the coffee at work is always shared with your colleagues and friends.
Fighting cancer and type 2 diabetes
Drinking coffee regularly will make you friends at work but you won’t have to meet doctors. Several studies show that caffeine protects against several types of cancer such as endometrial cancer, colon cancer, prostate, and liver cancer.
Also, caffeine reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. High consumption of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee lowers the risk of getting type 2 diabetes. However, keep in mind that excessive coffee drinking can raise blood glucose levels. That’s why people with diabetes drink decaf because it has a lesser impact on blood sugar levels.
You can actually be allergic to caffeine
Did you know that there are people out there allergic to caffeine? People who have caffeine intolerance get jitters from drinking coffee, they are unable to sleep, and sometimes the allergic reaction involves hyperventilation.
Luckily, the percentage of these people is fairly low (at most 10% of the world’s population) so you should only worry about overdosing. You would have to drink 70 cups of coffee at one to overdose from caffeine which verges impossible.
Drip coffee versus an espresso
One of the biggest dilemmas people have is whether drip coffee or an espresso contains more caffeine. When talking about coffee per milliliter, the espresso definitely has more caffeine but when we take into account serving sizes, then drip coffee contains more caffeine because a shot of the espresso is fairly small when compared to bowl-like cups.
Improved long-term memory
If you have ever felt what a caffeine rush feels like, then it won’t come as a surprise to read that scientists have discovered that caffeine has a positive effect on long-term memory. In general, a person who had a cup of coffee is better at pattern recognition than an individual who hasn’t had his/her dose of caffeine.
Avoid drinking coffee if you have heartburn
If you have had too much to drink last night or are prone to heartburn in general, then stay clear from coffee at least for a while. Namely, coffee is acidic, which is not good news for the gastrointestinal tract. Some coffee lovers try to circumnavigate the problem by switching to decaf but studies suggest that this kind of coffee will only worsen the problem. The only solution is to stop drinking coffee during the periods you experience heartburn.
Suicide hotline
A person with suicidal thoughts should see a physiatrist and take antidepressants. However, it would be ideal if they never developed the symptoms and this is where coffee comes in. Studies show that people who are regular coffee drinkers (we are talking about 2 to 3 cups a day) are nearly as twice as unlikely to commit suicide than non-coffee drinkers.
The logic behind these numbers is quite simple: by uplifting your mood, coffee acts as a stimulant that helps you fight somber thoughts. If you ever consider taking your own life, you might want to prepare a hot cup of coffee before you do anything.
Improved mental health
Apart from reducing the risk of suicide, coffee drinking can help with mental illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. The ideal time to take up coffee drinking or prolong the habit is in your 40s and 50s when the risk of the aforementioned mental illnesses is the highest. In fact, drinking coffee reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s by a whopping 70%. Additionally, caffeine consumption can slow the rate of cognitive decline in seniors.
Doing drugs
Let us be frank, caffeine is a drug much like cocaine or marijuana. In fact, „caffeinated energy drinks“ which is the category coffee belongs to is the fourth most globally used drug, right after marijuana. Alcohol and tobacco lead the charts, while more potent illegal drugs are luckily not that widespread.
More than two centuries of coffee
Coffee has been around for centuries but it was in 1819 that the German chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge identified the chemical and scientifically described it. According to some sources, he studied coffee beans he got from the famous writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. At that time, it was hard to get your hands on coffee beans in Europe. Today, we know everything there is to know about coffee, including its chemical formula: C8 H10 N4 O2.
The coffee myth(s)
Moving on from hard science facts, you probably don’t know the legends surrounding the origins of the coffee plant. One version of the coffee myth glorifies a man called Kaldi, who was a herder. He one day noticed that his goats started to dance after eating coffee berries.
He was so intrigued by the effect this unusual plant had that he took coffee beans to an Islamic monk who saw them as blasphemy and angrily threw them into a fire. After the beans got roasted in the heat, the world had its first coffee blend.
The second myth includes the story of a Yemeni dervish called Omar. He had been exiled from the city of Mocha, which was a port city in Yemen and the name of a coffee blend today. He stumbled upon a coffee bush in the desert.
Since he was starving he decided to roast the beans in water and drank the concoction. It soon brought him back from the verge of death and be began preaching about the miraculous effect of this newly discovered plant.
Drinking coffee is dehydrating?
One of the biggest misconceptions about coffee involves its relationship with the body in our organism. Some claim that coffee dehydrates the human body but there is no conclusive evidence to support such a claim. Of course, we shouldn’t forget that coffee has a diuretic effect, so you are likely to visit the bathroom if you drink too many cups of coffee. The only water loss, therefore, is due to urinating and not dehydration.
The daily dose of caffeine
The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recorded that people on average consume 300 milligrams of caffeine per day. Strangely enough, this number is close to the figure of 400 mg of caffeine daily without adverse effects.
To put things into a better perspective, 300 to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day is two and a half energy drinks (half a litter) or five cups of coffee. In terms of caffeine content, you can drink 11 cans of Coca-Cola or a grand cup of coffee from Starbucks. Again, these are all maximum daily amounts and not the recommended daily amount of caffeine you should intake.
When it comes to caffeine, things are definitely not black and white, pun intended. Now that you know the 25 things listed above, you will never look at coffee, energy drinks, and tea the same. From its history to daily intake limits, caffeine is truly an intriguing stimulant.