Unveiling the Secret of the Magic Drug 1: Caffeine

Interestingly,

Really immerse us in it

​Can't help myself

But it is the charming and lovely "side effect" of caffeine

I’m starting a new series to talk to everyone about the various “addictive” substances in life.

As a veteran alcoholic, I have long wanted to tell everyone about the various addictive substances in daily life, and I will update the content one after another.

Let’s start our first article with caffeine.

01

Benefits of Caffeine

Many urban office workers have the habit of drinking coffee every day.

I have a friend in the Science City of Huangpu District, Guangzhou. He arrives at the office at 9 o'clock every morning. He does not take a lunch break, so after lunch every day he will go to the coffee shop downstairs to order a cup of American coffee (black coffee) to refresh himself. The shop assistants are all familiar with him.

One time I went to see him, he asked me to wait for him in the coffee shop. When the clerk saw me going to the front desk to report his name to get the coffee I had ordered in advance, he was stunned and said: "I thought you were XX, how come XX has become bigger..."

"Refreshing" is one of the main functions of caffeine.

Caffeine is a compound that stimulates the body's central nervous system, and it does this by attaching itself to adenosine receptors in the brain.

Adenosine molecules can "slow down" our central nervous system before falling asleep. After they are attached to caffeine, they become unable to regulate the central nervous system. As a result, some side effects begin to appear. These " side effects" are:

1. Reduce fatigue and make us feel more energetic.

2. Increase attention and short-term memory.

3. Enhance alertness and shorten reaction time.

4. Sports performance: improve strength and endurance, promote weight loss, reduce fatigue and improve pain tolerance (will be discussed below)

These wonderful side effects are the biggest reason why we are addicted to caffeine.

Coffee has been around since the 9th century BC in Ethiopia, Africa.

According to local legend, a local shepherd boy named Kaldi accidentally discovered while herding his goats that his goats became unusually excited and lively after eating red fruits from the bushes by the roadside. Even the old goats in the herd jumped and ran like young goats.

Out of curiosity, Cardi also picked some fruits and ate them. As a result, he became extremely energetic and excited, and he couldn't help dancing.

Coffee Tree

The United States is currently the world's largest coffee consumer and importer, and 90% of Americans drink at least one caffeinated beverage every day.

Their daily choices include various coffees, energy drinks, teas, carbonated drinks and chocolates, all of which contain caffeine to varying degrees.

China's demand for coffee has increased fivefold in the past 12 years.

As we can see from the increasing number of coffee shops popping up around us, we are also becoming more and more enthusiastic about drinking coffee.

02

Caffeine helps with fitness

In addition to the advantages mentioned above such as refreshing, reducing fatigue, and sharpening reactions, caffeine is also of great help to us in sports, especially in the field of fitness.

Many scientific studies support that for people who love fitness, a spoonful of coffee with a caffeine content of about 300 mg, nitrogen pump (the biggest reason why nitrogen pump is an effective supplement is the high caffeine content) or functional sports drink before training can effectively improve exercise state and performance.

Caffeine helps with exercise and fitness as follows:

1. Increase strength.

Taking about 300 mg of caffeine at one time will cause our nervous system to activate more muscle fibers, which is why absolute strength is increased.

2. Improve endurance.

Caffeine increases a person’s dopamine and adrenaline levels by blocking various receptors. Dopamine makes us more excited, while adrenaline makes us more motivated and makes us feel like we have “endless energy.”

These feelings allow us to complete more sets, especially in the second half of the training, and caffeine can keep us going.

Caffeine can also increase the level of nitric oxide in the body, which can dilate blood vessels, thereby increasing blood flow. More blood flow means more nutrients and oxygen, and also means better muscle endurance.

3. Helps lose weight.

Studies have shown that when caffeine is present in the body during training, more fat will be consumed to provide energy for training.

At the same time, the proportion of muscle glycogen consumption will be reduced to a certain extent, which creates better conditions for weight loss.

4. Reduce muscle pain.

Related research suggests that caffeine’s pain-relieving ability even exceeds that of some painkillers (during training).

We all have this practical experience: when we do the last few reps of many training sessions, our muscles become extremely sore and painful.

With the help of caffeine, we were able to withstand these last few bouts of pain.

If we can complete the few times in each set of training that we couldn't do due to pain, the effect of the entire training will naturally improve.

But the more caffeine you consume does not necessarily mean a better performance. More and more scientific studies have shown that a maximum of 300 mg of caffeine is sufficient during exercise. If you consume more caffeine, your athletic performance will not improve further.

It is relatively safe to use caffeine in low to medium doses to improve athletic performance. WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) has removed caffeine from the banned drug list, but the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) still stipulates that the urine concentration of caffeine must not exceed 15 µg/mL. Some athletes use caffeine while also using addictive substances such as alcohol and nicotine, which further increases health and safety risks.

The above conclusions still need to take into account individual tolerance.

Friends who regularly consume more caffeine may need a little more, while friends who rarely use caffeine to help with training can reduce the dosage appropriately.

I usually recommend that people who are just starting to try Nitro Pump start with half a scoop and never exceed the dose.

The absorption rate of caffeine in the human body is very high, and its bioavailability is close to 100%. After consuming various caffeinated beverages, the peak usually occurs around 30-60 minutes.

Therefore, after 30 minutes, the "high" feeling will be the strongest, which is why fitness enthusiasts usually choose to drink nitrogen pump or coffee about 30 minutes before training.

Personally, I drink nitrogen pump or coffee as soon as I get to the gym, and after warming up (about half an hour), I feel "energized".

Then you can start the formal group training.

03

Disadvantages of caffeine excess

The reason why we repeatedly remind everyone not to overdo it is that excessive caffeine intake can lead to the following adverse reactions:

1. Insomnia.

Insomnia is the most common adverse reaction.

Late at night, I often see people posting on WeChat Moments saying: I shouldn’t have drunk that cup of coffee/tea.

Individual tolerance for caffeine varies greatly.

Many friends will stay awake until dawn even if they drink a cup of tea or light coffee with very little caffeine before going to bed.

The human body can metabolize about 50% of the caffeine intake after about 4-6 hours. If you don’t want to affect your sleep, it is recommended not to consume caffeinated foods 4 hours before going to bed.

To be conservative, 6 hours in advance is better.

2. Tachycardia.

Many people experience palpitations, tingling, agitation and restlessness after drinking coffee.

The same feeling may also occur after drinking other beverages containing large amounts of caffeine, such as nitrogen pump and strong tea.

Other common side effects include migraines, nervousness, and muscle tremors.

Due to the diuretic effect of caffeine, it is common to go to the bathroom frequently after drinking too much coffee.

Individual tolerance to caffeine varies greatly, and some people can even sleep soundly after drinking strong coffee before bed.

For others, even tiny amounts of caffeine can cause severe insomnia.

This is what we call " individual differences ", and the same situation is also common in drinking.

Some people can drink half a pound of liquor without changing their expression, while some people will turn red in the face after drinking a glass of beer.

Fortunately, even for people who tolerate caffeine very well, it is unlikely that they will exceed the safe daily dose (that is, the minimum intake that will cause harm to the body).

The current mainstream safe dosage is: daily caffeine intake is less than 400 mg (milligrams), which is about four cups of ordinary coffee.

The toxic dose of caffeine is 15 mg/kg (per kilogram of body weight).

An adult male weighing 80kg is at risk of poisoning if he drinks more than 1200mg of caffeine at one time, while a female weighing 50kg will be poisoned if she drinks 750mg of caffeine at one time.

The lethal dose of caffeine is much higher, about ten times the toxic dose.

Assuming an adult male intentionally drinks a lethal dose, he would need to consume 12,000 mg (milligrams) of caffeine, or 12 grams.

In other words, you'd need to... uh... drink 40 venti Americanos in a row (a venti Americano has about 300 mg of caffeine).

I think this is an impossible task.

The smallest caffeine intake value recorded in a death case due to caffeine poisoning is 6500mg (6.5mg).

The luckiest person survived after taking 24,000 mg (24 grams) of caffeine.

Individual differences made the fate of these two people very different.

Although it is unlikely that you will die from drinking coffee, the side effects of excessive caffeine intake should never be ignored.

The following groups are more strict and are advised not to touch coffee:

1. Pregnant women.

Caffeine will put additional burden on the fetus's metabolic system and may also cause a decrease in placental blood flow, thereby harming the health of the fetus.

2. Children.

Children are immature in every aspect, and for safety reasons, we always recommend that it is better to wait until they are adults before drinking coffee.

04

Do I need to give up caffeine completely?

Although it is not a particularly "heavy" addictive substance, caffeine is still addictive to a certain extent.

Many addictive things will have " withdrawal symptoms ".

For example, many people experience various discomforts and unpleasant feelings after quitting smoking or drinking.

The easiest thing to understand about withdrawal symptoms is the overwhelming desire to start using the addictive substance again.

People who quit smoking miss the deep feeling of lighting a cigarette.

People who quit drinking miss the feeling of finishing a glass of wine.

Coffee is no exception. My friend in Huangpu District, Guangzhou, has tried to quit coffee several times. Every time he started to quit on the first day, he would experience headaches, lack of energy, drowsiness, and depression.

As long as you don't consume too much caffeine, you don't actually need to quit it deliberately. I have always advised that friend to drink a cup a day without being too nervous.

Of all the things that can lead to mental and physical addiction, moderation is the most important.

If you're already drinking your third cup of coffee at noon, you might need to reflect on whether you're drinking a little too much and should start reducing the amount.

Thanks for reading.