Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Is coffee our friend or the enemy of fatigue?

The dream of a couple of extra hours per day led to the invention of a large number of external stimulants. Coffee is one of the most popular. But often another cup of coffee instead of the expected vigor brings drowsiness and fatigue, and a cup of americano, drunk during a meeting with friends, can deprive you of sleep and make you yawn all the next day. Does coffee really help to maintain vigor, and where does fatigue come from?


Where does fatigue come from?

The universal source of energy for every living organism is ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Synthesizing inside our cells and giving away energy, ATP is destroyed, and, after several stages, turns into adenosine. Adenosine is a fatigue hormone that helps us disconnect from work and fall asleep, “turning off” those neurons that cannot calm down and are still trying to think about how to do everything in 24 hours. The concentration of adenosine increases during the day and decreases at night when you sleep. The appearance of a significant amount of adenosine gives the body signals that it is tired and needs rest.

Scientists like to think about what happens if you disable adenosine. Will our forces become endless? Maybe if we learn to turn it off, we will be less tired? It turned out that adenosine is our important helper, a “fuse”, and its absence can lead to depletion of nerve cells, brain overstrain and insomnia.


Coffee vs. fatigue hormone

Caffeine is the same opponent, which blocks adenosine  for some time, relieves fatigue and gives the effect of a surge of strength. But blocking is not enough, because energy is also needed. By itself, coffee does not give energy, and then hidden resources of ATP, which the body spends with great reluctance, come for help.

A simple example: you are tired and go for coffee. In return, you get half an hour of energy, but during these half an hour you will then need to rest for a few hours.

★ It turns out by drinking coffee you only increase fatigue, and you will have to pay for quick energy with a long rest later. You not only do not win time for wakefulness, but also lose it.


How the habit is formed

Coffee lovers often say that they cannot wake up without coffee, and the morning without a favorite drink is not at all good. This is the addiction that is similar to tobacco addiction among smokers.

As we have already found out coffee by itself does not give energy, and new dose of coffee, only leads to accumulating fatigue. Often, to overcome the accumulated fatigue, the next morning you have to drink a double dose of coffee.

I know a lot of people who stopped drinking coffee and felt much better. They were not guided by scientific substantiation, they just once noticed that the usual method stops working, coffee gives less and less vitality, and their stomachs are not at all happy with complex coffee drinks with cow's milk, sugar and various fillings. However, coffee is not the worst stimulant, especially if you do not go beyond the norm.

Is one cup of coffee per day OK?

A safe dose of caffeine per day is 100-200 mg. But we must remember that caffeine is contained not only in a cup of freshly brewed coffee, but also in tea and chocolate.

Approximate amount of caffeine:

A cup of strong coffee - 100-150 mg of caffeine
A cup of strong tea - 30-50 mg
Dark chocolate (100 g) - 50–100 mg
Cola - about 15 mg

No comments:

Post a Comment