Science
Caffeinated Thoughts
History and Effects of Coffee
Most of us know that the transition from teenage years to adulthood is a tiring one. It is accompanied by countless sleepless nights, deadlines, and prolonged meetings. At this stage, all of us, at one point or another, have sought the help of the what-seems-to-be a miraculous drink- Coffee.
Coffee is a college student’s best friend, especially if you’re a procrastinator, like me.
Why worry when you have coffee? Need to stay awake to finish a last-minute assignment? You’ve got coffee. Falling asleep while studying for your college tests? Coffee’s here to help. Cannot stand the professor droning on about who knows what? We can always turn to coffee for help!
Have you ever stopped to wonder how we get all that adrenaline rush to pull all-nighters before an exam? If you haven’t, fret not, as I am going to take three minutes of your precious time to do so.
Let’s start from the beginning. Coffee has its roots set in the Arabian Peninsula. Legend has it that Kaldi, a goat herder from Ethiopia, sampled the leaves of an evergreen bush his goats were feeding on and experienced a sense of exhilaration. Coffee slowly became a drink of controversy, much like alcohol, among many religions across Europe and Arabia due to its stimulating effect.
Did you know the first coffee houses in the Arabian Peninsula were called “Qahveh Khaneh” and not “Starbucks”? Surprising, am I right? People frequented these places not only to drink coffee, but also to engage in activities such as playing chess, gossiping, listening to music, and watching performers. It is a close relation to what we use Starbucks for (where we can do all these things on our laptops). As people from around the world came to Mecca for the pilgrimage, knowledge of coffee began to spread to other parts of the world.
European travelers to the Near East brought back stories of an unusual black liquid found in Arabia. There was so much paranoia surrounding this drink that people suspected it to be “the drink of Satan”. It even reached a point where Pope Clement VIII had to intervene and give it a taste. He found the drink so satisfying that it gained papal approval. And well, the rest is history.
By now, you must be wondering what must be the secret behind this “satisfying” effect we get from it. To answer this, let’s look at the molecular composition of coffee. Coffee contains 2–3% of a chemical called caffeine and acids such as formic acid, acetic acid, lactic, tartaric, pyruvic, and citric acids. As you know, our body is operated by chemical messengers called hormones. One such hormone, adenosine, is responsible for regulating the sleep/wake cycle.
Here’s how it works. Adenosine levels in your brain fluctuate. Its levels are fairly low after you wake up in the morning and build up throughout the day. After several hours of being awake, adenosine levels increase to the point where it starts the process of making you sleepy again. When adenosine binds to the adenosine receptors in the brain, it triggers pathways that slow neural activity and start making you feel sleepy.
Caffeine is like an imposter in this process as it has a molecular structure similar to that of the molecules that bind to this sleep-promoting receptor. But when caffeine binds to these receptors, it doesn’t activate them like adenosine. Instead, it blocks the activity of adenosine, thus preventing the activation of the sleeping effects in your body, keeping you awake and alert in the meantime.
Do you know why you shouldn’t drink coffee at least six hours before bedtime? The half-life of caffeine is between four to six hours. This means after 3 hours of consuming caffeine, half of the caffeine you consumed is still there in your body, blocking receptors and keeping you awake.
Some of you might prefer energy drinks such as Redbull and Monster for pulling all-nighters. These drinks are in fact more effective than a regular cup of coffee as their caffeine content is twice the amount of the latter. Remember, too much caffeine is not good for health.
Coffee helps us get through the day (and night). Unfortunately, there is an adverse side to this miraculous drink. Higher doses of caffeine (50–300 mg) may lead to insomnia, restlessness, anxiety, and increased heart rate.
However, the good news is that it has more health benefits than threats. Did you know that coffee is known for preventing some types of cancer, depression, neurodegenerative diseases, gallstones, type 2 diabetes, extended mortality, and even has good effects on your heart?
Well, according to an article by students from Harvard, coffee can stimulate the production of bile acids and speed digestion through the colon, which can lower the amount of carcinogen to which colon tissue is exposed, thus aiding in cancer prevention. The polyphenols and minerals such as magnesium in coffee can improve the effectiveness of insulin and glucose digestion in our body, thereby preventing type 2 diabetes. According to a study conducted by Nurses’ Health Study, 83,076 women drinking four or more cups of coffee each day were associated with a 20% lower risk of stroke compared with non-drinkers.
Coffee has truly been a boon in this age of technological advancement. In today’s world, where we do not have the time to take a break, and pulling all-nighters has become the norm, it has helped us gain the extra energy boost (and probably better grades) required for our hectic schedules. In conclusion, coffee is a blessing from above, and this article along with many others, might’ve not come into existence without it.
