Caffeine

We all think we know a little about caffeine, but much of what we know comes from myth or urban legend.
For every arguement for there will be one against, so I have added links where required so you can do your own reading and research.

The idea here is to gain some knowledge. As Martial Artists and people who engage in physical activity, caffeine can be of use to us. For others who have trouble with anxiety and sleep problems maybe caffeine should only be taken in moderation.

So please add to this thread with your knowledge, not what your mate said down the pub.

What is caffeine?

Chemically speaking, pure caffeine is a plant-based alkaloid which stimulates the central nervous system of any creature that ingests it. In nature, caffeine serves as a form of pest control for certain plants such as cacao trees, coffee shrubs, yuba mate and tea trees. The caffeine causes insects and other pests to collapse from the effects of over-stimulation.
Caffeine, also known as guaranine, mateine or theine depending on the source plant, is considered a psychoactive drug. However, it has not been designated a controlled substance, so its use in teas, coffees and sodas is not illegal. Coffee beans contain a significant amount of caffeine, while tea leaves and yuba mate plants contain less. Cocoa beans also contain caffeine, but they contain much higher levels of another alkaloid called theobromine.
When caffeine is removed from the source plant and reduced to its most natural state, it forms a white powder. This powdered form of caffeine is actually very bitter, which is why many beverages containing caffeine also contain copious amounts of sugar or other sweeteners.
Origins
The Coffee Science Information Centre reports the coffee tree probably originated in the province of Kaffa, in the area known today as Ethiopia. There is no real evidence to show when or how it was first discovered that a brew could be made from the bean (or seed) within the fruit of the coffee bush, but it is thought that before coffee was ever enjoyed as a drink; native people may have chewed the ripe berries and beans as a food. There is evidence that coffee trees were first cultivated on monastery gardens over 1,000 years ago in order to keep monks awake during long periods of prayer, with commercial cultivation following after that.

Caffeine the stimulant

Caffeine acts as a mild stimulant of the central nervous system, and as such can have an effect on sleep, mental performance, alertness and anxiety.
Sleep. If you have any trouble sleeping caffeine consumption should cease after lunch. This is because caffeine has a half life of around six hours, meaning that six hours after you last coffee (tea, cocoa etc) half the amount of caffeine will still be in your bloodstream. If you have a cup of coffee in the evening when the body start producing melatonin (the sleep hormone) the stimulant effect will trigger the release of cortisol (the wake up hormone). This will release glycogen (sugars) into your bloodstream in readiness for daytime activity; in effect your body will think it is daytime, time to get up and start work activities.

Physical performance.

Vanderbilt Education and Psychology reports that caffeine can help burn more fat and less carbohydrates for energy. Glycogen is the main fuel for muscles, but fat is the most abundant resource that the body uses for energy. Caffeine enters the body and forces the working muscles to utilize as much fat as possible. This delays the immediate depletion of glycogen.
This means that in the first 15 minutes of exercise caffeine has the potential to reduce the loss of glycogen by 50%. When this happens, the saved glycogen can be used for the remainder of the workout where normally it would be entirely depleted.
Vanderbilt also suggests that caffeine may have the ability to strengthen muscle contractions. By transferring calcium, sodium and potassium in the cells, membrane permeability increases. This in turn results in more powerful muscle contractions.
In the 2000 Olympics a urinary test above 12mg/litre (8 cups of coffee) was perceived by the IOC as a deliberate attempt to gain an advantage over the competition. Therefore caffeine is seen by the IOC as any other illegal drug.

Cancer and Health

There have been many myths surrounding the link between caffeine and cancer – including urological, pancreatic and breast cancer. In addition caffeine has been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. There is currently so proven link to any of these problems. Indeed the British Coffee Association reports that caffeine may even protect against liver cancer.
Caffeine although not proven to be a link to any of the above health problems can cause (apart from sleep deprivation) nausea, cramping, anxiety, fatigue and headaches. Factors such as metabolism, consumption and frequency of use have to be taken into account, so how much is enough?
Both the Coffee Science Information Centre and British Coffee Association (BCA)
suggest that 4-5 cups of coffee per day is perfectly safe for the general population and may even have some health benefits.

Pregnancy

The BCA website states that the Food Standards Agency, The Centre for Pregnancy Nutrition and The Royal College of Midwives are agreed that 2-3 cups of coffee is safe during pregnancy and breast-feeding and that there is no research to suggest otherwise.
Their factsheet can be found here and contains information regarding levels of caffeine in instant coffee, filtered coffee, chocolate, energy drinks etc. This is important reading beause above a certain level there is a greater risk of miscarriage.

Coffee facts.

To make a roated pound of coffee it takes around 2000 Arabica coffee cherries. With two beans per cherry- this means it takes 4000 beans per pound of coffee.

It takes 42 beans to make an espresso.

Sir Francis Bacon once said "The drink that comforteth the brain and heart and help digestion".

Sir James Mackintosh said "The powers of a man's mind are directly proportionate to the quantity of coffee he drinks".

The difficulty with this post was what to leave out, so please add as you se fit.

 

The Coffee Information Centre say this: -

Confusion surrounding caffeine’s effect on blood pressure is long-standing. It was originally thought to lower blood pressure but subsequently believed to raise it. In 1988 Myers reviewed seventeen intervention trials and cross-sectional studies. He concluded that “…caffeine does not produce a persistent increase in blood pressure. Individuals who do not regularly consume caffeine may experience a slight increase in blood pressure when they are exposed to caffeine, but tolerance develops rapidly and blood pressure returns to baseline”.

The results of studies on subjects with normal blood pressure published since this review confirm its conclusions. An intervention trial in moderate coffee drinkers showed that moderate daily consumption of coffee does not elevate blood pressure measured in an outpatient clinic. A second intervention trial in habitual coffee drinkers showed that caffeine supplements produced a small increase in ambulatory blood pressure which returned to normal after three days. A third intervention trial in habitual coffee drinkers showed that abstaining from caffeine for 9 weeks had no effect on blood pressure.

Similar effects of caffeine have been observed in hypertensive subjects. In an intervention trial, caffeine administration to hypertensive subjects raised systolic blood pressure but this effect was no longer observed after the first 24 hours. In a second intervention trial there were no effects on blood pressure of drinking caffeinated coffee or abstaining in patients with borderline or mild hypertension. In a cohort study of hypertensive subjects, there were no associations between caffeine consumption and all-cause or cardiovascular disease mortality. Hence there is no evidence in hypertensive subjects of a sustained effect of caffeine consumption on blood pressure nor increased death rates from cardiovascular disease.

However, some studies have demonstrated potential negative effects of caffeine on blood pressure. It has been shown that intake of caffeine during behavioural stress in subjects with borderline hypertension elevates blood pressure. Subjects with hypertension and subjects with normal blood pressure may respond differently to caffeine. Thus diastolic blood pressure returned to normal more quickly in subjects with normal blood pressure than in subjects with hypertension after caffeine ingestion. It has also been claimed that 24 hour monitoring of blood pressure is necessary to reveal all the effects of caffeine on blood pressure.

Prospective epidemiological studies have given contradictory results. Results from the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) on 11,000 men for 6 years indicated a statistically significant inverse association between caffeine consumption and systolic or diastolic blood pressure. By contrast, a study of 1017 men for 33 years demonstrated an increased risk of hypertension associated with drinking 5 or more cups of coffee per day. However, this association was not significant.

In the light of the results of subsequent studies, the conclusions of Myers in his 1988 review are still valid. A more recent critical review of over 100 published studies concluded that coffee or caffeine may only be harmful to hypertension prone subjects and then only in large doses although the authors did not specify these doses.

Research into the effects of coffee drinking on blood pressure has continued and it can be concluded that coffee drinking is generally not considered to be an important risk factor for hypertension. The effect of caffeine from all drinks, including coffee, on blood pressure was found to be in the range of 2.0 - 2.4 mm Hg for systolic blood pressure and 0.73 - 0.80 for diastolic blood pressure. Blood pressure levels return to baseline/control levels within a few hours following ingestion, with a fading of the mild hypertensive effect of caffeine taking place over a few days or weeks. A recently published meta-analysis of 16 studies reported that blood pressure elevations are larger with caffeine (systolic 4.16 mm Hg, diastolic 2.41 mm Hg) than with coffee (systolic 1.22 mm Hg, diastolic 0.49 mm Hg). This reflects that when ingested from coffee, caffeine has a small effect on blood pressure. Further, Geliejnse et al in 2004 reported that hypertension, the prevalence of which is increasing in Western societies, is mainly caused by being overweight, physical inactivity, high sodium intake, and low potassium intake with the impact of coffee being quite small by comparison. It is also relevant to point out that the slight increase in blood pressure levels attributable to coffee is not larger than that experienced during common activities such as taking part in a conversation. A recent study examined the association between caffeine intake and incident hypertension in a cohort of 155,594 women in the United States. Caffeine intake and possible confounders were ascertained from regularly administered questionnaires. In this large cohort habitual coffee consumption WAS NOT associated with an increased risk of hypertension, but consumption of sugared or diet cola was associated with it. On their website, the UK based Blood Pressure Association, in answer to a question 'Does drinking too much coffee raise your blood pressure?' state that 'Drinking coffee only has a small effect on blood pressure and therefore cutting down or stopping will not lower it. Other parts of your diet, such as the amount of salt or fruit and vegetables you eat are much more likely to have an effect on your blood pressure, so concentrate on getting these right'. Further, in 2008, and extensive review of both cross-sectional and prospective studies concluded that 'Although the precise nature of the relation between coffee and blood pressure is still unclear, most evidence suggests that regular inrtake of caffeinated coffee does not increase the risk of hypertension'.

 

Excellent Post CosmicFish and a great surprise as to how long caffeine can actually stay in the body.

Exactly what I was looking for. Construction rather than destruction.

Edit. I posted this on my blog earlier and have updated it with CosmicFish's reply. In return I have added a link to MAP.

 

I think the thread shows it is nowhere near as bad as many would have you believe, in fact use wisely it can be a training aid, or a pick up for the driver or maybe student who need to be alert during study.

The only thing I would say is a doctors advise would be suggested for those on medication (only because I am not a doctor).

 

Seems to be some evidence supporting this from Life Dynamix website.

http://www.lifedynamix.com/articles/Cleansing-Detoxification/467.html

 

Confussion everywhere we look. I think that you either have to find a doctor who is up to speed with modern medicine, find someone like a holistic lifestyle coach/Chek practitioner/dietician, or just do plenty of research and make up your own mind based on how you feel consuming the food and drink you ingest.

 

This is how I read it as a component in the cause of CFS.

When I ressearched my original post I found no mention of CFS being affected by caffeine.