Coffee Consumption Unrelated to Alertness: Stimulating Effects May Be Illusion

[The Straight Story]

Coffee Consumption Unrelated to Alertness: Stimulating Effects May Be Illusion, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (June 2, 2010) — The stimulatory effects of caffeine may be nothing more than an illusion, according to new research that shows there is no real benefit to be gained from the habitual morning cup of coffee.

Tests on 379 individuals who abstained from caffeine for 16 hours before being given either caffeine or a placebo and then tested for a range of responses showed little variance in levels of alertness.

The study, published online in the journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, reports that frequent coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to both the anxiety-producing effects and the stimulatory effects of caffeine. While frequent consumers may feel alerted by coffee, evidence suggests that this is actually merely the reversal of the fatiguing effects of acute caffeine withdrawal. And given the increased propensity to anxiety and raised blood pressure induced by caffeine consumption, there is no net benefit to be gained.

Peter Rogers, from the University of Bristol's Department of Experimental Psychology and one of the lead authors of the study, said: "Our study shows that we don't gain an advantage from consuming caffeine -- although we feel alerted by it, this is caffeine just bringing us back to normal. On the other hand, while caffeine can increase anxiety, tolerance means that for most caffeine consumers this effect is negligible."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100602211940.htm

[flamingdem]

1. I guess they never had a pounding heart from too much caffeine nt

[Bitwit1234]

2. I used to be a heavy coffee drinker

It never ever effected my sleep. In fact if I couldn't sleep I would make a cup and before long I was snoozing away.

For the last five to ten years I only drink it in the morning. AND then if I make a pot long about 5 or 6 I am awake then most of the night. NO matter what they say it does effect you sometimes.

[Taverner]

3. This reminds me of that study that showed that sugar had no effect on kids

:rofl:

[Poll_Blind]

4. If you take a drop of water with, say, a daphnia in it. Little microscopic guy. And...

...count it's little circulatory system pumping away (and then make note of that number, that "heart rate"). Then add a tiny amount of pharmaceutical-grade caffeine. After a little bit, return and count the new heart rate. I've done this test before, myself.

Caffeine does what people think it does. Caffeine in large quantities can be very dangerous as well.

PB

[laughingliberal]

5. ADD, here. Tends to calm me down.

I thought the former beliefs about caffeine raising blood pressure was found to be false.

[NutmegYankee]

6. Well, I have this bridge for sale, only slightly used... nt

[hedgehog]

7. I don't see how they came to this conclusion.

"Approximately half of the participants were non/low caffeine consumers and the other half were medium/high caffeine consumers. All were asked to rate their personal levels of anxiety, alertness and headache before and after being given either the caffeine or the placebo. They were also asked to carry out a series of computer tasks to test for their levels of memory, attentiveness and vigilance.

The medium/high caffeine consumers who received the placebo reported a decrease in alertness and an increase in headache, neither of which were reported by those who received caffeine. However, their post-caffeine levels of alertness were no higher than the non/low consumers who received a placebo, suggesting caffeine only brings coffee drinkers back up to 'normal'."

Q. Did they compare the alertness of non/low consumers who got the caffeine with those who got the placebo? Were they perhaps the most alert of the 4 groups?

Q. Did they consider the possibility that high users use caffeine to replace sleeping time? Those who didn't get their caffeine reported a reduction in alertness.

[pinboy3niner]

8. I'll give up my coffee when you pry it from my cold, dead hands

:)

[eShirl]

9. Helps me focus when I first wake up, but also helps me take an afternoon nap if I was up all night.

weird