3 ms·

Caffeine == Caffeine But if a Coke is ~3mg caffeine 100ml and coffee is ~40mg per 100ml, drinking 13.3 "units" of cokes will not be equivalent to 1 "unit" of c

by yomly 8y ago

Caffeine == Caffeine But if a Coke is ~3mg caffeine 100ml and coffee is ~40mg per 100ml, drinking 13.3 "units" of cokes will not be equivalent to 1 "unit" of coffee. 1. Timing of the intake will affect the efficacy (x mg of caffeine over 2 hours vs. 20 minutes is very different to the body) 2. Controlling for time-dependent intake (the spherical human consumed both quantities instantly), concentration of the substance affects the rate / efficiency of absorption by the body (I cannot predict for which way it will go, this stuff is complex) so the net absorbed caffeine will be different between the two substances 3. Delivery mechanisms are different: Coke is very sugary, black coffee is not and is a colloidal suspension. The local chemical environment for the caffeine within these two substances will be different. Sugar is known to affect osmosis, meanwhile who knows wtf the gunk in coffee is doing at the chemical level. So to sum up "caffeine = caffeine = caffeine" is probably a useful rule of thumb and will get pretty far, but at the physiological/biochemical level, that is as useful as armchair pseudoscience is. To use a possibly relatable issue: most people find consuming shots of vodka more efficacious than consuming the equivalent amount of beer by alcohol. 3 shots will probably get you more wasted than necking 3 beers

dtech 8y ago
> To use a possibly relatable issue: most people find consuming shots of vodka more efficacious than consuming the equivalent amount of beer by alcohol. 3 shots will probably get you more wasted than necking 3 beers But it won't, after drinking 3 beers after each other your BAC will go to the same level, just takes a little more time to get there. Subjectively, you start feeling drunk much more quickly because the change is faster with Vodka, but your capabilities are as much impaired.
- SerLava 8y ago
  I think he's saying that the beers take that much longer, and you're metabolizing the alcohol along the way.
- kryogen1c 8y ago
  This is not true and is the nature of the discussion. Alcohol and caffeine are processed differently depending on what they are consumed with, like how the digestive cofactors in apples make it have a lower glycemic index than it's fructose content should produce. To stay with alcohol, this is easily testable. Drink five shots of vodka and see how drunk it gets you. Separately, drink five shots of vodka with honey added and you will get significantly drunker. Your liver prioritizes sugars first, so the alcohol is rapidly absorbed and takes effect instead of being processed out. You do not reach the same BAC in each case, just like drinking 5 shots in five days won't either.
TheTrotters 8y ago
Thanks for that explanation. That matches my experience very well. I regularly feel wired and a little anxious after coffee but almost never after Coke (keeping the caffeine consumed constant). Though my intuition tells me that chugging three beers would get me more drunk than drinking three shots. Sigh. The things I do for science.
- Bartweiss 8y ago
  > chugging three beers would get me more drunk than drinking three shots The obvious question is what you're drinking - with the rise of craft beer scene, 3 beers could easily be substantially more alcohol than 3 shots. But assuming you match alcohol volume and consumption speed, absorption rates can still vary substantially. From what I can find, it looks like beer actually would get you (and everyone) more drunk: diluting alcohol substantially speeds up absorption, and carbonating dilute alcohol probably does also. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17720590 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17720590
fao_ 8y ago
> But if a Coke is ~3mg caffeine 100ml and coffee is ~40mg per 100ml, drinking 13.3 "units" of cokes will not be equivalent to 1 "unit" of coffee. I know it was just an example, but after looking into this earlier this year, coke and pepsi have a much higher caffeine content at 10mg/100ml and 13mg/100ml (for coke and pepsi respectively)

by yomly 8y ago

dtech 8y ago

> To use a possibly relatable issue: most people find consuming shots of vodka more efficacious than consuming the equivalent amount of beer by alcohol. 3 shots will probably get you more wasted than necking 3 beers But it won't, after drinking 3 beers after each other your BAC will go to the same level, just takes a little more time to get there. Subjectively, you start feeling drunk much more quickly because the change is faster with Vodka, but your capabilities are as much impaired.

SerLava 8y ago
I think he's saying that the beers take that much longer, and you're metabolizing the alcohol along the way.
kryogen1c 8y ago
This is not true and is the nature of the discussion. Alcohol and caffeine are processed differently depending on what they are consumed with, like how the digestive cofactors in apples make it have a lower glycemic index than it's fructose content should produce. To stay with alcohol, this is easily testable. Drink five shots of vodka and see how drunk it gets you. Separately, drink five shots of vodka with honey added and you will get significantly drunker. Your liver prioritizes sugars first, so the alcohol is rapidly absorbed and takes effect instead of being processed out. You do not reach the same BAC in each case, just like drinking 5 shots in five days won't either.

TheTrotters 8y ago

Thanks for that explanation. That matches my experience very well. I regularly feel wired and a little anxious after coffee but almost never after Coke (keeping the caffeine consumed constant). Though my intuition tells me that chugging three beers would get me more drunk than drinking three shots. Sigh. The things I do for science.

Bartweiss 8y ago
> chugging three beers would get me more drunk than drinking three shots The obvious question is what you're drinking - with the rise of craft beer scene, 3 beers could easily be substantially more alcohol than 3 shots. But assuming you match alcohol volume and consumption speed, absorption rates can still vary substantially. From what I can find, it looks like beer actually would get you (and everyone) more drunk: diluting alcohol substantially speeds up absorption, and carbonating dilute alcohol probably does also. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17720590 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17720590

fao_ 8y ago

> But if a Coke is ~3mg caffeine 100ml and coffee is ~40mg per 100ml, drinking 13.3 "units" of cokes will not be equivalent to 1 "unit" of coffee. I know it was just an example, but after looking into this earlier this year, coke and pepsi have a much higher caffeine content at 10mg/100ml and 13mg/100ml (for coke and pepsi respectively)