GUEST BLOG / By the American Chemical Society--Millions of Americans use caffeinated beverages every day as a pick me up. It is after all the world’s most popular drug and
with new caffeine-infused products like energy drinks, gum, and beef jerky
hitting the shelves our love affair with caffeine shows absolutely no signs of
slowing down.
Caffeine is an interesting
drug because when it enters the body it breaks up into three different yet
similar molecules. When metabolized in the liver, enzymes chisel off one of
three methyl groups to form these three metabolites to create three different
effects in your body; theobromine, paraxanthine, and theophylline.
While in the brain this
caffeine party crashes adenosine receptors blocking the normal guest,
adenosine, form doing its job. Adenosine is responsible for slowing down nerve
activity in your brain giving us the cue to calm down and take a nap. Also,
adenosine is responsible for regulating neurotransmitters in the brain such as
dopamine. As you can see adenosine is quite similar in structure to caffeine, which
is why caffeine binds so easily to the adenosine protein receptors. Once connected,
caffeine increases the activity of neurotransmitters like dopamine ultimately
leading to heightened brain activity.
Then the three metabolites
perform their own specific functions. Theobromine increases oxygen and nutrient
flow to the brain. Paraxanthine enhances the body’s athletic performance by
increasing the rate of fat break down to fuel muscle activity. Theophylline
increases your heart rate and your ability to concentrate. And although these
effects come together to produce a state of wakefulness too much caffeine can
turn sour pretty quick.
At higher doses, caffeine is
known to cause jitters anxiety and general all-around discomfort. For this
reason, scientists have found that 400 mg /day is the safest average dose of
caffeine for adults. That would be around 3 eight-ounce cups of coffee or 8
cups of black tea.
In case you’re wondering how
much coffee is too much take note: caffeine has a proverbial shelf-life of six
hours, which means that half of the caffeine is absorbed within that time. So
in order to consume a lethal dose of caffeine, you would have to drink 75 cups
within a six-hour time span.
We would recommend that you
go easy and just enjoy a few cups at a time.
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