Do you usually find yourself of little use behind your computer until you have your morning cup of coffee made in your favorite coffee maker? Well, this is no cause for alarm. You would be surprised if I told you that you are far from any person who needs a little caffeine jolt to get their day started.
A lot of research has been done on how our brains function on caffeine. It shows that, by sundown, coffee fanatics across the world, usually have enjoyed billions of cups of coffee. In fact, coffee is second most valuable traded commodity on the planet.
Coffee’s main ingredient is caffeine which is a stimulant commonly used as a psychoactive drug. For all its high popularity, caffeine is one substance that is seriously misunderstood. Different individuals have different tolerances towards caffeine. However, there are tons of advantages associated with drinking coffee.
Effects of Drinking Coffee
Mental focus and enhanced alertness
It has been proven that most people feel more alert after drinking a cup of coffee. But the big question arises, does it make them sharper? Findings show that moderate intake of caffeine has a positive impact on your ability to focus and improves mental alertness. But, it doesn’t make you smarter in any way.
Now, most offices have an automatic coffee machine set up for emplyee to refresh them with hot coffee. Also, If you are sleep deprived, a common problem with most people nowadays, drinking coffee helps. It is said to keep you vigilant and attentive while doing your routine tasks.
Sharper senses
You will be surprised at the many benefits you enjoy by taking a cup or 2 of coffee every day. Caffeine boosts your senses in some interesting ways. According to research, people who often drink coffee can see better in the dark. This increase can be as high as 38%.
Most people, especially men, can rarely tell the difference between colors. But, people on caffeine usually can easily discriminate between colors.
Improved brain performance
Our brains have adenosine, which slows down the activities of neurons, brain cells. Caffeine is known to block adenosine thus stimulating some brain chemicals such as dopamine and glutamate to flow freely. This and other hormones open up your breathing tubes, influence moods positively, and releases more sugar into your bloodstream for extra energy.
Enhanced athletic performance
There is a record that caffeine is a great booster of muscular endurance and power. This means that you can exercise for extended hours and even harder. Caffeine directly impacts the metabolism process by helping the muscles to burn fat as an energy source. However, excess intake of caffeine doesn’t give you more endurance boost. Instead, it does the reverse.
Coffee is a pain-killer
Some people complain of headaches, insomnia, and nervousness when they take coffee in moderate doses. However, in some research, it shows that caffeine could reduce pain by constricting the widely opening blood vessels in the brain. According to a study done, people who suffered from a tension headache got easy with it after taking coffee with paracetamol as compared to those who just took paracetamol.
Every coffee drinker can attest to how good coffee makes them feel. Moderate doses of coffee in a day is good for your brain and overall performance. And so far, apart from a temporary headache, there are no reported adverse physical symptoms associated with coffee yet.