Jittery as a bug, as most will choose this conveniently available mind alteration drug that is coffee, as their brain expansion drink of choice. It’s legal and available from the corner dealer. Coffee and its distinct aroma, for most is a forced acquired taste. Anything for a fix.
Most need to tame its bitterness by adding sugar, cream, butter, and a variety of flavors to offset its violating aftertaste. The right dose of caffeine at the right time does is boosts alertness, attention, and memory. It makes you feel prettier, smarter, and regular.
But dare to overindulge in this devil juice, and you’ll pay the price with insomnia, counting sheep which turns into java beans, headaches, addiction. The usual aftereffects of substance abuse.
How Much Is Too Much Java
Experts claim the maximum to drink is four 8-ounce cups daily before you begin to overdose. Caffeine is also present in other sources such as cold medication, chocolate, and tea. Certain individuals, particularly women who are pregnant are more sensitive.
So the key becomes to regulate yourself, this by restricting the injection of this extract to get that ultimate mental perk without abusing the caffeine. So make sure that every drop of this liquid sunshine counts. The best way is to precisely know when to drink it.
And The Best Time To Drink Coffee Is…
There are experts who claim mid-morning, such as between 10:00 to 11:00 AM. The reason for this is because of the body’s natural circadian cycle.
Cortisol is the hormone which naturally makes us feel alert and awake. Generally, this cortisol production peaks at around 8:00 to 9:00 AM every morning. Then after that, the cortisol drops off, and will then slightly rise again at noon.
So there’s no point consuming caffeine when the cortisol levels are high. Your brain at this point is already naturally at its peak alert state, and needs the caffeine boost the least. It makes sense to drink coffee when the cortisol levels are low, such as late morning.
What Caffeine Does To The Brain
What the injection of caffeine does is triggers the release of adrenaline, which jump starts our alertness. This is the adrenaline rush that’s needed to push us over until lunch.
There are some who will absorb as much caffeine as possible, but what this high dosage overindulge does is causes a faster heart and breathing rate, shakiness, nervousness, sweating, and diarrhea.
Once the body develops a dependence, withdrawal symptoms include fatigue, sleepiness, headaches, and mood swings.
Increases Memory Retention
There’s increasing proof that moderate amounts of caffeine does is compliments memory, which can come in handy if you need to sit in a meeting, learn something new, or spent your morning reading.
What drinking regulated amounts of coffee does is connects the areas of the brain for better memory retention. This is based on a study where test subjects were asked to memorize images. The first group was given a caffeine pill, the other a placebo.
Later, they were asked to recall and recognize the images. The group that was administrated the caffeine had far better recall, as what the caffeine appeared to do is make inroads to fine-tune memory connections.
Caffeine Beyond The Afternoon
Most are familiar with that lull in the afternoon. That thud the brain feels as it gets tired. Once it reaches a mini-peak of enthusiasm at lunch, the cortisol levels then begins to start dropping off again.
Cortisol then has a smaller spike between 5:30 and 6:30 PM. What most don’t want is to consume coffee beyond that point however, this because of the disruption it causes in their sleep.
So the key becomes choosing the best time post-lunch and before dinner for another java break. It’s found that around 2PM is the best time.
Staying Awake
What drinking caffeine does is prevents the chemical adenosine that’s found in the brain, from binding to its receptors.
Once it does bind, what results is that groggy sleepy feeling. What blocking this action with caffeine does is deflects this drowsiness, avoiding feeling tired and sluggish.
The caffeine activates and reaches its maximum effect within 30 minutes. So a jolt of caffeine around mid-afternoon is the best time to avoid that brain fatigue syndrome.
The reason why coffee should be avoided later in the afternoon and especially the evening, is because it can take up to 5 hours for the caffeine to exit the body, and up to 14 hours to completely vacate it.
So if you’re caffeinated at night, you’ll have trouble falling asleep. What this caffeine also does is plays havoc on the brain by reducing deep sleep along with length of sleep.
Drinking Coffee Early Morning
What most treasure are those early morning quiet moments which are spent with a cup of the divine java to fuel the morning. It becomes a comforting routine habit.
An exercise in mindfulness as this magical potion focuses delicious sensations of flavorful thoughts, building on the dreams you’ve had the night before.
What having an early morning cup of coffee does is jump starts the brain, as it helps in the daily energy building process.
When you have a cup before 8:00 AM, although the coffee isn’t giving you that much added benefit since the cortisol levels are peaking, you will however feel more alert, this because you’re expecting it to.
Give Me Java Now
What studies show is that the majority of people faithfully believe that it’s coffee, which gives them the sustained mental energy, that’s needed for them to power through all their mentally challenging tasks.
Since every early AM can be daunting, it’s coffee that injects the confidence in their ability to handle them, which is enough reason to pour yourself another cup.