A 2017 study found that coffee was associated with a probable decreased risk of several forms of cancer. Photograph: Emily Suzanne McDonald/Getty Images/Tetra Images
Every day, around the world, 2bn cups are consumed. But what actually happens after you swallow that first mouthful? Here is everything you need to know.
Coffee. Go juice. Liquid gold. The one with all the psychoactive properties. Once used by Sufi mystics as an aid to concentration during religious rituals, it’s now one of the most ubiquitous drinks on the planet: we get through about 2bn cups a day.
It’s also one of the most valued and pored-over drinks. One particularly sought-after blend, Black Ivory, which is produced by encouraging elephants to digest arabica berries, retails at more than £2,000 a kilogram, while coffee-making championships attract thousands of spectators.
But what does it actually do to you? You might have a vague idea that caffeine wakes you up, wrecks your sleep and can aid sporting performance, but do you know how much you can drink safely? Considering that a typical americano contains more than 100 biologically active ingredients other than caffeine, what do you know about the drug you are glugging two or three times a day? What is happening inside your body when you have a double espresso in the morning?
How quickly does it act?
The effects may start before you even take a sip. Just inhaling the scent of coffee can improve memory and stimulate alertness, according to a 2019 study of 80 18- to 22-year-olds. Another study, from 2018, found that subjects did better in tests of analytical reasoning after a whiff of the good stuff. That said, the researchers in the 2018 study suggested that the effect probably had a placebo element, with the expectation of improved performance proving at least partly responsible.
A lot of people have three coffees back to back in the morning. They’re at 1,000-1,500mg before lunchtime….Nick Littlehales
What about when you actually drink it? “There’s a chance that the use of any supplement will carry a placebo effect,” says Dr Mike T Nelson, a researcher and performance specialist who recently co-wrote the International Society of Sports Nutrition’s position on coffee. “Many researchers use randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials to try to ferret that out. And if you look at some of the higher-dose caffeine studies and when they have been compared with a placebo, we still see a performance-enhancing effect of caffeine.”
This is why the effects really kick in some time after you start drinking. While a 2008 study found that the effects of a cup of coffee can occur just 10 minutes after ingestion, it said peak caffeine concentration in the blood occurred after 45 minutes.
How does coffee wake you up?
Caffeine acts as a central nervous system stimulant – making you more alert and focused, but potentially also more irritable and anxious. It’s all to do with your body’s adenosine receptors, which help to regulate your heart rate, blood flow and sleep-wake cycles. When adenosine – an organic compound that occurs naturally in your body – binds to these receptors, it triggers physiological responses that lead to a decrease in cellular activity, often promoting drowsiness and sleep.
Caffeine can fool your nerve cells and bind to these instead, preventing adenosine from doing its thing. This promotes increased alertness, while also allowing the brain’s stimulating neurotransmitters (such as dopamine) to run wild. This makes it a mood-booster for many people, but can also lead to anxiety after high doses. While your body adapts to caffeine’s effects after a while, different people can have very different responses to the same amount of it.
Can it really boost athletic performance?
It certainly can. A 2020 study of amateur cyclists found that coffee improved performance by an average of 1.7%. This may not sound like much, but it’s a big deal for even moderately competitive athletes. An older British study reported a dose-related improvement in tests of reaction times, memory and visual-spatial reasoning among coffee drinkers….Continue reading…
By: Joel Snape
Source: The truth about caffeine: how coffee really affects our bodies | Coffee | The Guardian
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