
What Caffeine Really Does to Your Brain - iProject
http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/07/26/what-caffeine-really-does-to-your-brain/?ss=innovation-science
======
mistercow
One thing that a lot of these kinds of articles don't mention is that
tolerance effects in drugs tend to be at least somewhat dosage dependent, and
there is some evidence that this is the case with caffeine[1]. Look at
amphetamines, for example; at large doses they have a large tolerance effect
and are highly addictive. At small doses the tolerance effect is smaller, and
they are non-addictive, yet still therapeutic against disorders like ADHD.

It's reasonable, therefore, to suppose that there should be a "sweet spot" for
caffeine use, where the tolerance you build is small, but the effects are
still significant.

It's also worth mentioning that "tolerance" is not an all or nothing thing.
With nicotine and amphetamines, there is a tolerance effect, but some of the
effects of those drugs actually become _stronger_ with regular use (and this
is believed to play a role in the formation of addictions to those
substances)[2]. So while tolerance and withdrawal are real problems, it is a
myth that addicts merely return to the baseline in all respects when exposed
to the drug they're addicted to.

In any case, if you are bothered by caffeine side effects, you might want to
get some theanine. It's cheap, relatively flavorless, and when used in a 2:1
ratio with caffeine, it's been shown to reduce the side effects of
caffeine[3], while adding some other cognitive benefits besides what you get
from caffeine alone[3][4].

[1]
[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/00913057889...](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0091305788901797)

[2] <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14592678>

[3] <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18006208>

[4] <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18681988>

~~~
peregrine
I second Theanine. Personally I've been taking it before my morning coffee and
I notice that I am less jittery and less stressful, while still having that
caffeine high. I will even take it alone sometimes before a high stress
situations and it helps with the nerves.

I oftentimes choose to consume Green Tea or Matcha as they contain a varying
amount of natural Theanine.

That said these are anecdotal and could very likely be the placebo effect.

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user49598
The importance and effectiveness of caffeine has a lot to do with your job and
lifestyle. If you are a mostly sedentary computer worker, the lack of blood
circulation from sitting all day is going to make you super tired and slow
your brain down. If you're a more active person, either from daily exercise,
standing up at work, or a more physically strenuous job you're going to have
more maintained energy levels as your body consumes and uses food and pumps
blood harder.

Caffeine in either of these situations is going to enable your body to squeeze
out more energy but for the person with more active blood flow and metabolism
it's probably going to be overkill and they'll be able to get through the day
without constant yawning. On the other hand, if you sit for 8 hours you're
going to feel almost extreme tiredness towards the end of the day especially
if you over consume for lunch.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you want to have a good energetic, drug
free day, you should be taking steps to eat well and keep your blood flow up.

Also, when considering the effects of drugs on your body, all anecdotal
evidence, like this comment, should really be regarded with extreme scrutiny
if not disregarded all together. A good place to begin learning about caffeine
would be here: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Health_effects>

~~~
Shorel
Another anecdote, this is mine:

I made a change in my lifestyle and I can work faster and for about three
times the hours I was working before that.

My lifestyle change is not related to caffeine, I stopped eating lots of carbs
and now I follow a keto diet.

YMMV, etc.

------
Androsynth
This is interesting, but the article just explains the benefits of coffee.
What are the downsides? I would like to hear _why_ he quit.

~~~
cpeterso
Dr. Andrew Weil says, _"On the down side are coffee's well-documented side
effects: anxiety, insomnia, tremor and irregular heartbeat. It can also
irritate the digestive system, bladder and prostate."_

[http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400146/Is-Coffee-Good-For-
You...](http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400146/Is-Coffee-Good-For-You.html)

~~~
KirinDave
There's also a lot of interesting data coming up mildly positive on Caffeine
health benefits in the literature.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=caffeine%20cancer>
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21907331>
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19581722>

Moderate caffeine intake is on track to be firmly in the green for most
people. However, not everyone metabolizes and reacts to it identically, so the
author of the article in question may be one of those people who does not get
a lot of benefits.

But there is this funny idea floating around that caffeine is carcinogenic and
long-term use may cause cognitive impairment, and there is very little
evidence for that.

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staunch
A few years ago I traded being permanently sleep deprived and drinking tons of
coffee (which I love) for _always_ sleeping 8 hours per night. My productivity
has been very consistent and stronger than ever since. No more boom and bust
cycles.

~~~
KirinDave
This has nothing to do with coffee and much more to do with regular sleep.

Neither of which are mutually exclusive.

~~~
staunch
Caffeine can certainly interfere with one's ability to maintain a consistent
sleep cycle.

~~~
_delirium
True, and I believe partly because people underestimate some time-related
aspects. They seem to vary a lot person to person, but a few bits:

1\. Peak blood caffeine levels come about an hour after ingestion, at least
for coffee. So a 3pm coffee, for example, is really hitting its peak closer to
4pm.

2\. Biological half-life is anywhere from 3 to 6 hours, and that's counting
from peak blood levels, so it's more like 4-7 hours considering #1. So if you
have two cups of coffee at 3pm, you might still have a cup of coffee's worth
of caffeine in the blood stream well into the evening. Much worse if you had 3
or 4 cups in the afternoon.

My guess is that there will be less sleep disruption if you stick to no more
than 2 cups of coffee, no later than mid-morning, which should give enough
time for most of it to be eliminated by evening. But not aware of whether
there's good evidence on that.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
Also some people, such as myself, metabolize caffeine at a slower rate due to
genetics. SNP rs762551

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3am_hackernews
A better article, IMO: [http://lifehacker.com/5585217/what-caffeine-actually-
does-to...](http://lifehacker.com/5585217/what-caffeine-actually-does-to-your-
brain)

------
learc83
I gave up caffeine a few years ago. I get far fewer headaches, and I've
noticed while soldering my hand is now rock solid, no trembling.

For me at least caffeine wasn't giving me any kind of boost, just fighting off
the withdrawal symptoms.

I think that's a problem for most people, they think coffee is giving them a
boost, but really it's just that they feel relatively better because without
it they are suffering withdrawal symptoms.

~~~
jakeonthemove
Interesting, my hands are more precise when I'm on caffeine, and it also
increases my ability to think logically + dulls my emotions (which helps when
dealing with anything non-creative every day)...

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shokwave
The author makes it seem as if you have two choices: "tolerance and
dependence" or "kick the habit". Maybe acting like caffeine is methamphetamine
bumps up the pageviews, I don't know.

But I do know that caffeine once or twice a week for a burst of energy won't
see you developing a tolerance - so you can continue to benefit.

~~~
mhd
There's also quite a bit of range between people who drink two cups of mild
coffee a day, people who drink soda and people who chug down espressi.

~~~
icebraining
It depends on the quantity too. We drink espresso, but only 1-2 oz of coffee
per cup, which has less caffeine than one of the buckets of diluted coffee
from e.g. Starbucks.

~~~
eli_gottlieb
Yeah, really. I can drunk a "shot" of Turkish coffee and not feel anything
like the jittery hit I get from a full mug of normal filter-coffee.

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fear91
I've seen heroin addicts say that caffeine withrawal is worse than the one
caused by opiates.

The headaches are unimaginable. The energy levels are lower than being hung-
over.

Short-term memory works in a state siimiliar to that when you have 70% packet
loss in multiplayer video games. Everything is annoying and you just want to
disintegrate people.

~~~
jakeonthemove
Oh yeah, it sucks after using a lot of it over the course of 1+ months.
However, I found that I can significantly reduce the withdrawal time (to 3-5
days) and alleviate the symptoms by using piracetam - 2.4 grams every day, no
headaches and near-normal energy levels...

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xsaero00
There are two more aspects of how coffe works that the author did not cover.
Caffeine also affects your blood vessels and adrenaline levels.
<http://science.howstuffworks.com/caffeine.htm>

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xianshou
The Oatmeal said it before and better: <http://theoatmeal.com/comics/coffee>

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etrautmann
This article doesn't address any downsides of drinking caffeine. It does
happen to be a retrograde neuroinhibitor for adenosine, but to date, there's
no evidence that this has negative long term health effects...

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aroberge
Not a comment on the article as such, but a pet peeve about the way it is
displayed. There is a "floating" header on top which covers the text. If one
hits the space bar to scroll a full screen worth, some unread text is covered
up by that header. The same would be the case for the footer but, that one at
least, can be collapsed. This is not the only site guilty of this (in fact it
seems to be a growing trend) and I am surprised that no more people comment
negatively about this.

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hkon
I have never drunk a cup of coffe in my life. I don't care for the taste. I
was just now considering forcing myself to drink it because of it's supposed
good effects. Guess I won't

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rdtsc
I keep switching between tea and coffee. I like tea more at the moment (green,
white, black, pu-erh, sometimes herbal).

There just seems to be a wider variety of teas that I can switch between. I
don't do it for alertness or withdrawal symptoms as much as I do it for the
taste. Coffee to me, while tasting good, more or less seems similar (short of
changes in roasting levels).

~~~
KirinDave
Coffee has as much variety as tea. Any good roaster can show you the
difference between, say, a Kenyan and a Costa Rican. There's also more variety
in coffee preparation with varying results. Tea steeping is a lot more
1-dimensional.

But what Tea has in quantity is L-theanine, which has additional stimulative
effects on top of caffeine. A lot of people prefer it to coffee for
stimulative effects because of this added kick.

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jstalin
I drink one cup of coffee each morning just because I like it. It doesn't do
anything to me. It just tastes good.

~~~
ajross
I used to say the same thing. Then I had kids, and went from an irregular
sleep schedule where at least twice a week I was getting 8+ hours to one where
every night I get 6.5-7, with few excursions in either direction.

Coffee suddenly has a much more significant effect.

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stcredzero
I'll probably be downvoted for saying so, but there have been an awful lot of
Forbes articles on HN of late. They cover topics that should be interesting to
HN, but are fluffier than the norm I'd expect here.

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NDizzle
I de-caffinate for about 2 to 3 months per year. It's 2 weeks of hell followed
by refreshment.

I also abstain from alcohol for 4-5 months per year in order to keep myself a
cheap drunk.

Obviously, those two time groupings never overlap.

~~~
MordinSolus
4-5 months to reset your tolerance? How many times / how much per week do you
drink in the following 7-8 months? That seems like quite a long time.

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jmanamj
The Forbes site now holds the title of "Most Annoying to Read on a Mobile
Browser. "

Thank goodness for Pocket.

But then I find out article wasn't even worth the hassle.

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phusion
You guys are all probably on adderall anyway :P

~~~
jakeonthemove
Sadly, no :-)

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eliasmacpherson
I find an empty stomach, similar to alcohol, allows it to work to full effect.

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berntb
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffee>

From that we learn that coffe is linked to increased levels of smoking and
lack of exercise -- AND:

 _A May 2012 study by the New England Journal of Medicine found that, during
the course of their study, coffee drinkers "who drank at least two or three
cups a day were about 10 percent or 15 percent less likely to die for any
reason during the 13 years of the study."_

That combination seems to imply that coffee in itself is healthy.

Besides, we Scandinavians drink the most coffee on the planet and we are are
are are healthy as He He He Hell, but a bit twitchy. It is a totally false
rumor that we die if our blood turn red.

Edit: I should add that no chemical is good for everyone, not even caffeine.

~~~
hobin
"Edit: I should add that no chemical is good for everyone, not even caffeine."

I don't think it's the caffeine that causes all these benefits. (Though, being
an avid hacker myself, I of course can think of a few benefits of that
particular chemical.)

Also, 'water' falsifies your statement. ;)

~~~
aaronblohowiak
You should not give someone water if they have washed their salt out, at least
not on its own..

