The goal of the project is to study coffee addiction its causes
and effects of coffee withdrawal in humans. Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee cherries that grow on trees in over 70 countries, cultivated primarily in Latin, America, Southeast Asia and Africa. Green unroasted coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Due to its caffeine content, coffee often has a stimulating effect on humans. Today, coffee is the third most popular drink in the world, behind water and tea. Some controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and its impact on the environment. Many studies have examined the relationship between coffee consumption and certain medical conditions; whether the overall effects of coffee are ultimately positive or negative has been widely disputed. The method of brewing coffee has been found to be important to its health effects. Global consumption of caffeine has been estimated at 120,00 tonnes per year, making it the world’s most popular psychoactive substance. This amounts to one serving of a caffeinated beverage for every person every day.
1 WhAT iS CAffeine? A geneRAl inTRoduCTion
Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the
methylxanthine class. It is the world widely consumed psychoactive drug. Unlike many other psychoactive substances, it is legal and unregulated in nearly all parts of the world.
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that is
psychoactive stimulant drug. It was isolated in 1820 by a German chemist, Friedlieb Ferdinand Rung. In humans, caffeine acts as a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, temporarily warding off drowsiness and restoring alertness.
2 It is most commonly consumed by humans in infusions extracted from the bean of the coffee plant and the leaves of the tea bush, as well as from various foods and drinks containing products derived from the kola nut. Caffeine can be found most commonly in coffee, tea, energy drinks, soft drinks, chocolate and some of the medications.
nATuRAl oCCuRRenCe of CAffeine
Around sixty plant species are known to contain caffeine. Common sources are the “beans” (seeds) of the two cultivated coffee plants, coffea arabica and coffea canephora; in the leaves of the tea plant; and in kola nuts. Other sources include yaupon holly leaves, South American holly yerbam leaves, seeds from Azonian maple guarana berries and Amazonian holly guayusa leaves.
In products and beverages
3 The coffee The world’s primary source of caffeine is the coffee “bean”. Caffeine content in various widely depending on the type of coffee bean and the method of preparation used; even beans within a given bush can show variations in concentration.
An average cup of instant coffee contains around 70-100 mgs.
Instant decaffeinated coffee contains about 3 mgs. A 6 oz cup of espresso coffee (much larger than normal café cup, incidentally) contains about 80-90 mgs. A single-hit cappuccino will contain the same amount. Filter coffee can contain 25-50 % more caffeine than instant.
4 Tea Tea contains more caffeine than caffeine than coffee by dry weight. A typical serving, however, contains much less, since less of the product is used as compared to an equivalent serving of coffee. An average cup of tea contains around 50 mgs of caffeine.
Soft drinks and energy drinks
Caffeine is also a common ingredient of soft drinks, such as cola, originally prepared from kola nuts. Soft drinks typically contain 0 to 55 mgs of caffeine per 12 ounce serving. By contrast energy drink such as Red Bull, can start a 80 mgs of caffeine per serving. A 340 ml or 12 oz can of regular or diet cola contains between 35 and 45 mgs of caffeine depending on the brand.
5 oTheR BeveRAgeS Popular South America drink “Mate”, Brazilian drink “Guarana Antarctica” etc. Some so-called ‘energy drink’ contain very high doses of caffeine – equivalent to 4 or more cups of strong coffee in one dose!
ChoColATe Chocolate derived from cocoa beans contains a small amount of caffeine. A typical 28 g serving milk chocolate bar has about as much as a cup of decaffeinated coffee. By weight, dark chocolate has one to two times the amount of caffeine as coffee: 80 – 160 mg per 100g. Higher percentages of cocoa such as 90 % amount to 200 mg per 100 g approximately and thus, a 100 g 85 % cocoa chocolate bar contains about 195 mg caffeine. One ounce or 25 g of chocolate contains about 10-15 mgs.
6 7 iS CAffeine A dRug? ABSoluTely Caffeine belongs to a group of drugs known as central nervous systems stimulant, along with cocaine and nicotine. It is not strong as one likes cocaine but has the same addictive properties. People can symptoms such as headache, fatigue, anxiety, irritability, depressed mood and difficulty in concentration. Caffeine takes 5 to 7 hours to eliminate half of it from your body. Someone who drinks something caffeinated 6 hours before the bed can experience insomnia.
CAffeine dRugS Caffeine is sold in the form of tablets which offer several advantages over coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages, including convenience, known dosage, and avoidance of concomitant intake of sugar, acids and fluids. These tablets are commonly used by student for studying for their exams and by people . There are several products being marketed that offer inhalers that deliver proprietary blends of supplements, with caffeine being ah key ingredient. There is no safety information about inhaled caffeine.
8 Caffeine consumption and its effects How caffeine works Caffeine is a powerful influence in our lives. Caffeine wakes you up by fooling adenosine receptors. Adenosine* slows To the nerve cell, caffeine looks like adenosine: caffeine binds to the adenosine receptor. However, caffeine doesn’t slow down the cell’s activity like adenosine would. As a result,
the cell can no longer identify adenosine because caffeine is
taking up all the receptors that adenosine would normally bind to. Instead of slowing down because of the adenosine’s effect, the nerve cells speed up. Caffeine affects similar to the stress response in our bodies. Caffeine affects each person differently, depending on individual circumstances such as wight, build, etc. It has an almost instant effect on your mind- body which will continue to influence your state for 6-8 hours afterwards. *Adenosine is created in the brain, it binds to adenosine receptors. This binding causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cell activity. In the brain, this also causes blood vessels to dilate, most likely to let more oxygen into that organ during sleep. Every time we drink tea, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, or cola we are giving our body a ‘hit’ of caffeine. Along with nicotine and alcohol, caffeine is one of the three most widely used mood affecting drugs in 9 the world. If you have more than one or three caffeine drinks per day your ‘habit’ may be affecting emotionally and physically much more powerfully than you might expect. This effect is why some headache medicines like Anacin contain caffeine – constricting blood vessels in the brain can help stop a vascular headache. Caffeine’s effect o the brain caused increased neuron firing. The pituitary gland senses this activity and thinks some sort of emergency must be occurring, so it releases hormones that tell the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline (epinephrine). Adrenaline is the “fight or flight” hormone, and it has a number of effects on your body:
10 11 Some Commonly oBSeRved effeCTS of CAffeine ARe: • It stimulates the cortex of your brain heightening the intensity of mental activity. This can result in the temporary feelings of alertness and, in the short term, banishes drowsiness and feelings of fatigue. In those who already have high levels of anxiety heightened intensity of mental activity can produce unpleasant effects. • Affects the length and quality of sleep. Heavy caffeine users suffer from sleep-deprivation because their nervous system is too stimulated to allow them deep, restful or prolonged sleep. • Stimulates your heart, respiratory system, and central nervous system. • Makes your blood more, ‘sludgy’ by raising the level of fatty acid in blood. • Blood flow to the stomach slows. Causes your stomach to produce more acid. • Irritates the stomach lining. • Makes digestion less effective by relaxing the muscles of your intestinal system. • The liver releases sugar into the bloodstream for extra energy. • Blood vessels on the surface constrict to slow blood flow from cuts and increase blood flow to muscles. • Raise blood pressure • Causes messages to be passed along your nervous system more quickly. • Its diuretic effect caused increased urination – although you would have to drink 8 cups of coffee in one sitting for this to occur. • The American Medical Journal has reported a correlation between caffeine and decreased bine density or osteoporosis in women.
This explains why, after consuming a big cup of coffee, your
hands get cold, your muscles grow tense, you feel excited and your heart beats faster.
12 The caffeine can cause a vicious cycle of problems in the long term. For example, once caffeine- induced adrenaline wears off you face fatigue depression. Another cup of coffee or energy drink can get the adrenaline flowing again, but your body in a state of emergency, jumpy and irritable all day long, isn’t very healthy.
The most important long- term problem with caffeine in its effect on your sleep. That means that drinking a big cup of coffee containing 200 mg of caffeine at 3:00 p.m. will leave about 100 mg of that caffeine in your system at 9:00 p.m. Adenosine reception, which is affected by caffeine, is important to sleep, and especially to deep sleep. You may be able to fall asleep hours after that big cup of coffee, but your body will probably miss out on the benefits of deep sleep.
That sleep deficit adds up fast. The next day you feel worse, so you need caffeine as soon as you get out of bed. The cycle, you have to keep consuming the drug to put off n inevitable come down. Trying to quit can leave you tired and depressed, fighting splitting headaches as blood vessels in the brain dilate. These negative effects can be enough to force caffeine addicts back onto the drug.
13 oveRuSe of CAffeine In large amounts, and especially over extended periods of time, caffeine can lead to a condition known as caffeinism. Caffeinism usually combines caffeine dependency with a wide range of unpleasant physical and mental conditions as discussed earlier.
These are four caffeine- induced psychiatric disorders recognized
by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders, Fourth Edition: caffeine intoxication, caffeine- induced anxiety disorder, caffeine- induced sleep disorder, and caffeine- related disorder not otherwise specified.
CAffeine inToxiCATion An acute overdose of caffeine usually in excess of about 300 mg, depending on body weight and level of caffeine tolerance, can result in a state of central or colloquially the “caffeine jitters”. The symptoms of caffeine in toxication are not unlike overdoses of other stimulants. It may include restlessness, flushing of the face, increased urination, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, a rambling flow of thought and speech, irritability, irregular or rapid heartbeat, and psychosis agitation. In cases of depression, hallucinations, and psychosis may occur, and rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue) can be provoked.
14 Extreme overdose can result in death. Death typically occurs due to fibrillation brought about by effects of caffeine on the cardio vascular system. The median lethal dose (LD50) given orally, is 192 mg per kg in rats. The LD50 of caffeine in humans is dependent on wight and individual sensitivity and estimated to be about 150-200 mg per kg of the body mass, roughly 80 to 100 cups of coffee for an average adult taken within a limited time frame that is dependent on half-life .
Though achieving lethal dose with caffeine would be exceptionally
difficult with regular coffee, there have been reported deaths overdosing on caffeine pills, with serious symptoms of overdose requiring hospitalization occurring from a little as 2 grams of caffeine.
15 SignS of CAffeine AddiCTed Very heavy caffeine use can produce the following: 1. ‘Caffeine nerves’ a jittery feeling with shaking hand, palpitations, and wobbliness in the legs. 2. Caffeine addiction which involves nervousness, irritability, agitation, headaches or ringing in the ears. 3. Causes your adrenal glands to release their hormones into your bloodstream. 4. Causes blood sugar, or blood glucose, to be released from storage through the effects of the adrenal hormones. A later effect can be excessive and chronic tiredness, even on waking in the morning. Some people find that many of the psychological complaints common to hypoglycaemia (the emotional yo-yo effect, shakiness, palpitations, weakness, tiredness, etc.) disappear within a few days of stopping caffeine.
16 CAffeine WiThdRAWAl SyndRome The following symptoms were observed in common on the 3 members of society, I conducted the study on them. I choose them as they drink coffee twice a day i.e.in morning and in the evening.
The symptoms were observed roughly 12-18 hours after withdrawal.
They get worst after 24-48 hours and could last for a week.
The symptoms observed were:
• Irritable • Restless • Muscles stiffness • Difficulty in concentrating • Headache moderate to sever • Chills &/or hot spells • Causes more blood to gather in head causing migraine like headache due to our body becoming over sensitive to adenosine. • Excessive sleepiness
17 ReCoveRy- WhAT The expeRTS SuggeST? To avoid uncomfortable withdrawal effects, it is wise to ease off caffeine over a period of 7-14 days to reduce the discomfort. Reduce and then stop the richest sources (especially coffee) first. It is unwise, particularly if you are a heavy use, to suddenly stop caffeine altogether.
When you stop caffeine, you allow your body to catch up on its lost rest. This takes some time. Using caffeine to force yourself into activity is like flogging an exhausted horse.
For the first few weeks after stopping caffeine you may find that you are sleeping deeper for a longer. For this reason, it is a good idea to allow yourself an extra hour per night for a few weeks, increasing you feel drowsy during the day use breathing exercise lethargy in the mornings.
If you feel drowsy during the day use breathing exercise preferably out of the doors, to alert yourself.
And remind yourself that the drowsiness is a sign that you re
allowing your body to get back into a more normal state and that your natural energy levels will soon return once things have got back to normal after the onslaught of the caffeine regime.
18 ConCluSion
Though the effect of coffee or caffeine on our body is debated
many agree for it being positive while many agree for it being negative. The most accurate statement at such a debate will be using it in a controlled way can be useful rather harmful. As is well said conscience keeps more people awake than coffee.
