Why would anyone who enjoys drinking Coffee stop drinking it, that makes absolutely no sense to willingly give up such a fix. But for some, unfortunately, they are forced to do so for a variety of health related reasons, and they’re usually better off because of it.
After they quit drinking the joe, they may actually feel better once the throbbing in the head caused by the caffeine withdrawal finally begins to decrease.
For the millions who drink coffee, quitting this beverage can be an extremely radical adjustment. Yes, caffeine has that much effect on one’s brain. So recently, researchers performed intensive tests on why the mighty java has such a strong grip on the nervous system.
The biggest discovery was perhaps that the residue of caffeine itself doesn’t actually “pump up the volume” in the brain as originally thought. The way that it does, and its effects, however, isn’t as straightforward.
The Effects Of Caffeine And What It Does To The Brain
Most mornings, you usually have a lot of work to do, and would prefer to do it first thing in the morning. So that extra jolt of coffee does the trick, as it instantly improves your productivity, right?
Well, it’s found that caffeine by itself, the actual chemical, doesn’t make you any more “super” at all. Not more super fast, not more super productive, not super talkative, or overly jittery.
The double shot of mocha latte that you’ve just had isn’t the reason why you go into the “super-bee worker” mode, being able to cram 4 hours of work productivity into 30 minutes. It’s also not responsible for you being more alert, polite, and ever so charming, all before 10AM.
Caffeine Just A Booster
What researchers have discovered is that what caffeine actually does is it tricks the brain into activating certain chemicals. It fools the mind as drinking caffeine emulates a certain natural neurochemical which is known as adenosine.
This adenosine, a neuron, is naturally produced by itself throughout the entire day. As it fires away, and if there’s additional adenosine that’s being produced, the nervous system as a result begins to shut and slow itself down.
What your nervous system does is it automatically monitors the adenosine levels through its A1 receptors, which are located in the brain as well as throughout the body.
As this chemical makes its way through the receptors, the “adenosine” tab naturally increases, until your nervous system pays it off by allowing you to fall asleep.
Caffeine And Adenosine
What caffeine in your system is able to do is mimic the adenosine’s shape as well as its size, while entering the receptors without activating them. The natural receptors are also blocked by caffeine, adequately becoming an effective antagonist of the adenosine receptor.
This becomes vital not only because caffeine blocks the receptors, but it also disrupts the nervous system’s ability to monitor the adenosine tab. It then allows the neurotransmitters, glutamate and dopamine, which are the brain’s natural resident stimulants, which makes you feel better, to do their work since the adenosine is artificially on hold because of the caffeine. That’s the chemical cause and effect which occurs once you have a sip of coffee.
So it’s not really the jolt of caffeine that’s stimulating your system with joy, but what the caffeine does is it’s keeping the valves blocked, so the natural “pleasure” stimulants which are in the brain, dopamine and glutamate, can do what they do.
Every coffee drinker also knows that to get the same kick, day after day, that more coffee is usually needed to get the same effect of stimulation from the neurotransmitters. This is the irritating dynamic which is known as being tolerant.
Caffeine Wakes You Up
Why drinking coffee or tea in the morning is such a ritual is because the caffeine will effectively clear out the sleepy cobwebs after a period of nightly sleep. This is the biggest value which coffee is able to serve.
What drinking coffee isn’t capable of doing, however, is keeping us from drinking yet more coffee, regardless of how much sleep that we missed the night before. For a while, it may appear that the caffeine is effectively warding off sleep deprivation, but this effect usually doesn’t last long. Eventually the nervous system will win out over time.
These effects depends on the individual as well, such as, body weight and type. For some, drinking just one cup of coffee will do the trick, while for others, they may need three cups of coffee for the same effect. Also, one’s tolerance to caffeine plays a major role regardless of which source that’s preferred.
Caffeine And Its Withdrawal
So for those who are wanting to kick the caffeine habit, for whatever reason, the length of time that it takes for the complete withdrawal depends on the amount of caffeine that you regularly consume.
Those who average 2 or 3 cups, for instance, on a daily basis can expect around 10 days of symptoms, such as getting mild headaches, fatigue, and general irritability.