Is Coffee Bad For You? Here’s a Simple Way To Find Out
You are holding a delicious cup of steaming freshly brewed coffee in your hand.
Did I mention it’s late afternoon?
It’s as if your nostrils had taste buds.
But wait, “I’ve already taken 3 caffeine-ridden cups today,” you think. You’re unease. You’ve heard some claims about the health benefits of coffee but the question still lingers in your mind:
“Can I consume this fourth cup guilt-free?”
It depends. After all, what is drawing you toward the coffee machine, the flavor or the added energy jolt?
Take a mental note of your answer. Once you understand the science of caffeine you’ll be able to recognize if your coffee drinking habits are becoming harmful or not. After gaining this knowledge, you’ll be learning a simple strategy to determine how to adjust your dosage.
The Fascinating Science Behind Caffeine
Even though many enjoy coffee for its taste, numerous people consume it for the energy punch.
But, have you ever wondered where does all this extra energy come from?
To answer this question imagine the following situation: Robert just got out of his work at a construction site. The poor man is so tired his brain keeps playing the same sequence of images in the wrong order: “sleep, eat, shower.”
How did this happen?
As Robert’s cells kept working, they continued to release a chemical named adenosine. The harder they worked the higher the number of adenosine molecules that end up flooding Robert’s bloodstream.
What is the purpose of adenosine?
Adenosine is a hormone. This means it’s a molecule our body uses to send messages between cells. And this specific hormone is targeting Robert’s neurons.
Within Ricardo’s brain, there are the so-called adenosine receptors. And, as his blood fills with adenosine, these receptors become activated.
It’s a simple communication system. Tired cells require a way to inform the brain of their need to rest. Adenosine allows them to do just that.
But…
What if we could prevent adenosine from getting to the receptors?
At least two things would happen:
- Robert would never get tired;
- Supposing he loves his work too much, he would use up all his energy and faint from exhaustion.
With this grim picture in mind, we can compare the function of adenosine with that of an instrument panel.
This panel gives the driver vital information about his car.
For example, there’s a low fuel warning light, also called the reserve light. That’s how the car tells us it needs more gas.
But what would happen if we covered it up with a sticker?
We would never have to worry about low fuel levels again.
That’s how coffee performs its wonders.
Coffee has a chemical called caffeine. When caffeine reaches the brain it fits into the adenosine receptors, clogging them.
The result?
Cells get tired, they broadcast their warning signs in the form of adenosine, but no receptor is listening for these chemical messages.
Caffeine is like the sticker covering up the car’s instrument panel and preventing the driver from seeing the low fuel warnings.
As such, caffeine must very dangerous, right?
Well, not so fast.
First of all, unlike some heavy drugs, caffeine only exerts its powers over the course of a few hours — 4 to 6 to be more exact. Then, the sticker falls off.
Secondly, our brain reacts to the assault against its adenosine receptors by growing more of them. It’s as if when the dashboard light had noticed you kept covering it up, and it reacted by getting brighter until it could pierce its light through the sticker.
Still, too much caffeine can mess up your brain.
Besides preventing you from feeling your true tiredness levels, caffeine also promotes the production of adrenaline and dopamine.
Adrenaline stimulates you, while dopamine makes you feel good. But it’s all fake.
Take Robert, for example. He was so tired yesterday, he decided to give coffee a chance today. He drunk his first cup upon waking up. Then, he took one extra cup every 4 hours.
The result?
He’s a new man. “If only I had known about caffeine before! I worked nonstop the whole day and I’m still jam-packed with energy!” he announces to his wife. He feels great.
Tomorrow, though, he’ll be waking up exhausted.
Why? Notice what happened today:
Robert’s cells kept sending adenosine to make him aware of how tired they were, hoping he would stop and rest. But caffeine didn’t let him feel a thing.
Robert had taken an energy loan. Then, instead of paying his energy debt with rest, he chose to use his credit card several more times.
Eventually, he got out of work and stopped purchasing energy with his newfound credit card, but now he owes a lot of money — energy.
Tomorrow, without caffeine, all that tiredness will be coming up at the same time.
It’s as if the driver of the car had just removed the sticker from the dashboard after a long trip, only to find out he’s almost out of gas.
At this point, if Robert decides to repeat his coffee experiment, he’ll be ignoring his need to rest, forcing his body to keep working beyond its resources and putting himself at the risk of burnout.
What would you do if you were if Robert’s shoes?
Many people I know would interpret their tiredness as a sign that they needed more coffee.
Now we know better.
You don’t get tired because you need more coffee. Rest assured you have been tired for a long time, caffeine just prevented you from feeling that right away.
How can you make sure you’re not using coffee to mask your real degree of tiredness?
Here’s a simple strategy you can try:
- How long as it been since your last cup of coffee? Make sure it’s been at least 6 hours. If not, wait a little more. That’s how long it takes for it’s effect to wear off.
- Check how you feel. Are you unusually tired? If you are, it means that the last coffee you drank was one too much.
Unfortunately, when they walk towards the coffee machine, most people are on autopilot. But, as we’ve seen, to enjoy a guilt-free cup of coffee you need to be mindful. Ask yourself:
“What is drawing me to the coffee machine?”
If your answer is, “I need the energy jolt,” you are risking entering a vicious cycle of energy debt.
The lesson? Be aware of your coffee drinking habits. As long as you don’t keep using coffee to cover up your need to rest, it can be a useful beverage.
For example, an extra dose of coffee is a reliable way to deal with that odd day when you have to drive even though you’re exhausted. But be sure to remind yourself you’ll be loaning that extra energy, there are strings attached.
True, there are studies demonstrating a probable benefit of caffeine in preventing various chronic diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, but even if you are taking coffee with the goal of preventing these dreadful diseases, make sure you are conscious of how coffee disrupts your body. Perhaps you could look for better alternatives, such as eating a diet rich in vegetables.
In a nutshell, if you have a daily routine that requires caffeine just you can get get through it, you are just like a person living beyond his means. One day the credit card will stop working. You’ll be in debt and you’ll pay it with burnout.
Summarizing
Coffee doesn’t give you energy. Instead:
- It prevents you from feeling tired by blocking your adenosine receptors.
- It forces you to use up your emergency energy reserves by stimulating the production of adrenaline.
- And it makes you feel good about it by promoting the release of dopamine.
But Coffee isn’t evil either. It’s a tool. Just like a credit card.
You can use this tool as a safe way to postpone tiredness whenever necessary. Just keep in mind you are loaning energy, not producing out of thin air. If you don’t pay it promptly debt will add up fast.
At this point, continuing to use coffee to cover up the energy deficit will be like taking a loan to pay for your previous debt.
But what if you are already addicted to coffee?
How can you overcome the pangs of abstention and increase your energy levels safely?
In a future article, we’ll talk about that.
Thanks for reading :)
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