subject: Caffeine: Is It A Good Buzz Or Bad Buzz? [print this page] Coffee tends to be one of our most debated drinks. There are people who will tell you they simply cannot live without their daily dose of joe. Others avoid it for a number of reasons, only some of which are related to their health. Most often, the heart of any debate focuses on caffeine.
While caffeine is clearly a stimulant, "facts" about its benefits or dangers are often clouded by myth. How many of us have been told that drinking coffee will help a drunk person become sober? True or False? False actually, while caffeine may make someone who is drunk slightly more alert or help them avoid passing out for a bit longer, it does not sober them up.
Some of the information we get on caffeine just intensifies the debate and mythology. For the drunk person, does drinking the coffee make the hangover that follows worse because the caffeine contributes to dehydration? Researchers land on both sides of this issue but most indicate that while caffeine has slight impact as a diuretic, the alcohol is the real culprit here. However, the hangover headache may be helped by an aspirin painkiller combined with caffeine as the combination is said to increase aspirins effectiveness by as much as 40%.
How about that energy boost you are said to get from the "energy drink" that is designed to make you more alert or preform faster, better, or higher! Is some of this affect just in the marketing or your head? Consider that the average cup of coffee has 100 milligrams of caffeine in an 8 oz. serving. The same serving of that chilled Red Bull, 80 milligrams. How about a non-average coffee, like Starbucks? While they vary by blend, the bold versions can have twice the stimulant of the energy drink, at 160 milligrams in the 8oz. serving.
So what about the debates about caffeine and your health? Again research varies, but the concerns focus on everything from the impact on your sleeping patterns to your blood pressure. In the latter case, caffeine is sited as a culprit in worsening the symptoms of hypertension due to increases in ones heart rate. In addition to that, there is also concern that it can have a negative impact by reducing the effectiveness of prescribed medications for the disease.
On the plus side in the health discussion, are medical studies that indicate caffeine might have a positive role in memory retention and the prevention of some cancers. The American Academy of Neurology presented a report in 2007 (MSNBC.com, Aug 9, 2007) demonstrating caffeine's impact on improved brain activity in the frontal lobe. The study found that women 65 and older who drank more than three cups of caffeinated coffee had a 33% less decline in memory over women who drank one cup or none. These results were not found in men however, which has lead researchers to begin studies on whether caffeine is metabolized differently by men and women.
Obviously, there is the potential for both good buzz or bad buzz in your morning brew, energy drink or that cup of tea. The key is knowing the state of your health and the impact that caffeine consumption has for you after you separate the fact from the myth.
