Drinking coffee will cause palpitations and insomnia? Is caffeine really that evil? How to drink it healthily

Does drinking coffee cause palpitations? Does drinking coffee make you unable to sleep? The caffeine contained in coffee is the substance that everyone is criticizing! However, is caffeine really so evil?

Q1. Which coffee has more caffeine, dark roasted or light roasted?

Many people think that dark roasted coffee is more bitter, so dark roasted coffee has a higher caffeine content! However, caffeine is actually a very heat-stable substance and is not easily destroyed by heat!

Studies have found that there is no significant difference in the caffeine content of water extracts of coffees with different roasting degrees, so dark roasted coffee beans do not contain more caffeine. However, because dark roasted coffee is lighter, more coffee beans may be used to brew the same amount of coffee, and of course the total amount will be more!

Q2.Why can’t I fall asleep after drinking coffee?

In theory, caffeine itself does not have a refreshing effect, but it makes us unable to sleep! The human body's sleep mechanism is very complex, including GABA, adenosine and other neurotransmitters, which mainly regulate the human biological clock. Among them, adenosine is the key substance that activates the switch mechanism of sleep, that is, falling asleep. When adenosine binds to the receptors in the brain, it turns on the sleep switch.

Caffeine is a purine alkaloid that has a very similar structure to adenosine. Therefore, taking caffeine will compete with adenosine for receptors (adenosine 2A), thus failing to induce a sleep response, and therefore preventing you from falling asleep!

Q3.Why are some people insensitive to caffeine?

Although caffeine competes with adenosine for receptors, the sensitivity of this receptor (adenosine 2A) to caffeine may decrease due to the genotype. The gene of this receptor is ADORA2A, and studies have found that this gene has a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at base pairing 1083, changing from the original CC type to CT or TT type.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people with CC or CT genes rarely take in high amounts of caffeine, whereas people with TT genes can tolerate caffeine, so their caffeine intake is higher. If you are not sensitive to caffeine, you may have the TT gene.

Q4. Will long-term caffeine intake cause palpitations?

Many people experience palpitations after drinking coffee, but in fact it is not necessarily caused by caffeine. Some people also say that long-term caffeine intake is more likely to cause palpitations.

However, in the Journal of the American Heart Association, there were nearly 1,400 subjects in the study, of which 61% consumed a cup of caffeine every day. These subjects wore an electrocardiogram monitor to monitor their heart condition for 24 hours, with the monitoring indicators being early ventricular or early atrial contraction. The results showed that there was no significant correlation between the frequency of early heart contractions per hour or the number of times throughout the day and the amount of caffeine intake. Therefore, in the long run, caffeine is not one of the triggers of palpitations!

Q5.Does caffeine cause withdrawal symptoms?

Coffee withdrawal syndrome is what everyone is most worried about. It seems that as long as you drink coffee, you will become addicted, and if you don’t drink it, you will suffer from addiction withdrawal syndrome. Is this really the case?

Indeed, caffeine withdrawal disorder is listed in the diagnostic guidelines for psychiatric disorders (DSM-5) and in the physician's diagnostic manual (ICD-10), and there are also studies exploring whether caffeine withdrawal disorder is as serious as rumored.

Data from the Journal of Psychopharmacology show that 50% of people will experience headaches and 13% will have functional abnormalities. Symptoms appear 12 to 24 hours later, with a peak symptom period of 20 to 51 hours, and last for 2 to 9 days.

Q6. Can drinking coffee cause osteoporosis?

A news report pointed out that a 30-year-old girl drank four cups of black coffee every day and her osteoporosis was like that of an old woman.

Caffeine does activate the activity of osteophagocytic cells on the bones and promote the release of bone calcium into the blood. Daily coffee intake is significantly associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. Further analysis shows that this risk is also related to caffeine intake!

However, does drinking coffee lead to osteoporosis? In fact, the biggest problem is insufficient calcium intake. The above data is based on the premise that calcium intake is below 700 mg. Studies have found that if calcium intake is above 700 mg, coffee and caffeine intake have no significant correlation with the risk of osteoporosis!

However, our country’s calcium intake is indeed not good! According to the results of the nutrition survey, the average calcium intake is only about 600 mg. Therefore, if you want to drink coffee healthily, you must first eat enough calcium!