7 ms·

This is Your Brain On Caffeine

35 points by gibsonf1 18y ago

3pt14159 18y ago
I've read a contradictory article in the past. Wish I could find it, but it mapped out chronic usage of tobacco & caffeine on chess players. The findings were pretty clear for both coffee & cigarettes: '+' to the mind '-' to the body.
ScottWhigham 18y ago
"What this means is that consuming caffeine regularly does not appear to produce any net beneficial effects, based on the measures we examined." Depends on your definition of "beneficial effects", I suppose.
- Flankk 18y ago
  I don't think so. As with any drug abuse, your body develops a tolerance to caffeine. Over time, you develop a drug dependance on caffeine; you require more caffeine to feel as awake as you did before your drug dependance developed. Thus, there is no net beneficial effect.
  - cubix 18y ago
    The pleasure experienced while consuming products that happen to contain caffeine is a beneficial effect, no matter what the study says.
    - joechung 18y ago
      The pleasure experienced while consuming products that happen to contain methamphetamine is a beneficial effect, no matter what the study says. I don't think so.
    - tungstenfurnace 18y ago
      It certainly is. However, don't discount the corresponding hangover period. Since there is no time-averaged gain in pleasure, presumably the benefit lies in being able to time the pleasure, say to compensate for mood changes due to other factors.
  - again 18y ago
    Net zero? No. This proof you have constructed is ridiculous. Steroids are the same in these regards. Your body builds up a tolerance. When you let your blood levels of the drug drop, your testosterone production is lower than pre-drug. So these must cancel out right? Heavy steroid users must be the same size as weight lifters who worked as hard without the drugs?
  - tungstenfurnace 18y ago
    Yeah. Caffeine wakes you up when you start taking it, allows you to function during the period when you're taking it regularly, and makes you drowsy when you withdraw from it.
radu_floricica 18y ago
Lately I'm using black tea to regulate my schedule. I find I'm at my lowest around 4-5 in the afternoon, so cup or two help me get over it in an elegant matter. I guess a short nap would be the same, but it's not so easy for me to sleep in the afternoon. I used to drink rather large quantities of coke. Since I stopped (and yes, it took a week of headaches, though after I started drinking tea it got a lot easier) I find not only I'm in better shape overall but I sleep much better at night. I guess the trick is very small amounts and good timing.
- silentbicycle 18y ago
  The caffeine in tea seems to be absorbed more smoothly than coffee's. An amino acid called theanine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine) helps counteracts some of its negative side effects, especially the nervousness. You can get theanine on its own as a relatively cheap nutritional supplement. (It tastes distinctly like Japanese green tea, which is often shade grown in a manner that greatly boosts the theanine content.)
- michaelneale 18y ago
  I found its the sugar in coke/soft drinks that really makes it unpleasant. I am sure tea is lots better - the general health benefits and some caffeine, and not the toxic amounts of sugar (and if in the US, its high fructose corn syrup which is really much worse then just sugar).
jamroom 18y ago
I simply cannot live without coffee... the very first cup in the morning is one of the most enjoyable parts of my day ;)
- tungstenfurnace 18y ago
  Taking the article seriously, perhaps your statement could be rephrased "I cannot live with caffeine withdrawal." BTW, taking one or two caffeine pills (50mg) per day can see you through the withdrawal period with no headaches.
  - jimbob72 18y ago
    So I guess enjoyment of the taste and smell of coffee does not factor into it? Or am I speaking like a true addict? I have a particular appreciation for a well brewed cup of coffee, without it, the day simply isn't going to go right.
    - tungstenfurnace 18y ago
      Sure it factors. That's why pills help during the withdrawal, because they don't trigger the full pleasure ritual, which includes taste, smell and anticipation. But note that every ounce of pleasure you extract from drinking coffee is exactly balanced by the pain of withdrawing from it. (And, in between, successive cups do not generate additive quantities of pleasure.)
    - dkarl 18y ago
      It's a dilemma. I love the taste of coffee, and some things just don't taste right without it. On the other hand, drinking coffee means being addicted, and being addicted often means drinking really, really bad coffee if it's the only caffeine available.
zmimon 18y ago
I've been deploying an alternating days routine (a day with, then a day without) with caffeine to try and avoid dependence. Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm getting the best possible outcome (good effects of caffeine without dependence or developing tolerance) or the worst (dependent and tolerant but torturing myself every second day). This article would suggest maybe the former, but sometimes it feels like the latter :-)
dbul 18y ago
My personal experience: doing without coffee for a day or two has no effect. Also somewhat oddly, there is one particular place I go where I get a `mocha latte' and it wires the hell out of me. (It is a great time for coding.) Not sure why.

35 points by gibsonf1 18y ago

I've read a contradictory article in the past. Wish I could find it, but it mapped out chronic usage of tobacco & caffeine on chess players. The findings were pretty clear for both coffee & cigarettes: '+' to the mind '-' to the body.

ScottWhigham 18y ago

"What this means is that consuming caffeine regularly does not appear to produce any net beneficial effects, based on the measures we examined." Depends on your definition of "beneficial effects", I suppose.

Flankk 18y ago
I don't think so. As with any drug abuse, your body develops a tolerance to caffeine. Over time, you develop a drug dependance on caffeine; you require more caffeine to feel as awake as you did before your drug dependance developed. Thus, there is no net beneficial effect.
- cubix 18y ago
  The pleasure experienced while consuming products that happen to contain caffeine is a beneficial effect, no matter what the study says.
  - joechung 18y ago
    The pleasure experienced while consuming products that happen to contain methamphetamine is a beneficial effect, no matter what the study says. I don't think so.
  - tungstenfurnace 18y ago
    It certainly is. However, don't discount the corresponding hangover period. Since there is no time-averaged gain in pleasure, presumably the benefit lies in being able to time the pleasure, say to compensate for mood changes due to other factors.
- again 18y ago
  Net zero? No. This proof you have constructed is ridiculous. Steroids are the same in these regards. Your body builds up a tolerance. When you let your blood levels of the drug drop, your testosterone production is lower than pre-drug. So these must cancel out right? Heavy steroid users must be the same size as weight lifters who worked as hard without the drugs?
- tungstenfurnace 18y ago
  Yeah. Caffeine wakes you up when you start taking it, allows you to function during the period when you're taking it regularly, and makes you drowsy when you withdraw from it.

radu_floricica 18y ago

Lately I'm using black tea to regulate my schedule. I find I'm at my lowest around 4-5 in the afternoon, so cup or two help me get over it in an elegant matter. I guess a short nap would be the same, but it's not so easy for me to sleep in the afternoon. I used to drink rather large quantities of coke. Since I stopped (and yes, it took a week of headaches, though after I started drinking tea it got a lot easier) I find not only I'm in better shape overall but I sleep much better at night. I guess the trick is very small amounts and good timing.

silentbicycle 18y ago
The caffeine in tea seems to be absorbed more smoothly than coffee's. An amino acid called theanine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine) helps counteracts some of its negative side effects, especially the nervousness. You can get theanine on its own as a relatively cheap nutritional supplement. (It tastes distinctly like Japanese green tea, which is often shade grown in a manner that greatly boosts the theanine content.)
michaelneale 18y ago
I found its the sugar in coke/soft drinks that really makes it unpleasant. I am sure tea is lots better - the general health benefits and some caffeine, and not the toxic amounts of sugar (and if in the US, its high fructose corn syrup which is really much worse then just sugar).

jamroom 18y ago

I simply cannot live without coffee... the very first cup in the morning is one of the most enjoyable parts of my day ;)

tungstenfurnace 18y ago
Taking the article seriously, perhaps your statement could be rephrased "I cannot live with caffeine withdrawal." BTW, taking one or two caffeine pills (50mg) per day can see you through the withdrawal period with no headaches.
- jimbob72 18y ago
  So I guess enjoyment of the taste and smell of coffee does not factor into it? Or am I speaking like a true addict? I have a particular appreciation for a well brewed cup of coffee, without it, the day simply isn't going to go right.
  - tungstenfurnace 18y ago
    Sure it factors. That's why pills help during the withdrawal, because they don't trigger the full pleasure ritual, which includes taste, smell and anticipation. But note that every ounce of pleasure you extract from drinking coffee is exactly balanced by the pain of withdrawing from it. (And, in between, successive cups do not generate additive quantities of pleasure.)
  - dkarl 18y ago
    It's a dilemma. I love the taste of coffee, and some things just don't taste right without it. On the other hand, drinking coffee means being addicted, and being addicted often means drinking really, really bad coffee if it's the only caffeine available.

zmimon 18y ago

I've been deploying an alternating days routine (a day with, then a day without) with caffeine to try and avoid dependence. Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm getting the best possible outcome (good effects of caffeine without dependence or developing tolerance) or the worst (dependent and tolerant but torturing myself every second day). This article would suggest maybe the former, but sometimes it feels like the latter :-)

dbul 18y ago

My personal experience: doing without coffee for a day or two has no effect. Also somewhat oddly, there is one particular place I go where I get a `mocha latte' and it wires the hell out of me. (It is a great time for coding.) Not sure why.