How Does Caffeine Work as a Stimulant?
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 30 янв 2018
- How does caffeine work as a stimulant? Caffeine is a naturally occurring substance found in plants and food substances-both organic and processed. It’s also a stimulant that works by blocking adenosine inside your cells. In this video I show you how this works.
The following questions are answered in this video (go straight to the time stamp):
How does caffeine work in the brain? (0:33)
How does caffeine help headaches? (1:31)
How does caffeine hurt your sleep? (1:56)
What is heavy caffeine consumption? (2:25)
What is the caffeine content in certain foods? (3:08)
What are the negative effects of caffeine? (5:30)
When should you drink your last cup of coffee? (7:06)
Here's a more detailed explanation.
Adenosine is produced in the cells of the brain and other organs. And it’s a chemical involved in inducing or bringing on sleep by slowing the activity of the cell.
Caffeine is similar in structure to the adenosine molecule so when you drink coffee and digest it, the caffeine in the coffee travels to you brain and binds to the cells and blocks the adenosine from binding. Without the adenosine to slow things down, your adrenal glands get the signal to release the flight or fight hormone, epinephrine.
Epinephrine -also known as adrenaline then acts to increase alertness, increase your heart rate and constrict blood vessels.
So this is the high you get from caffeine - from the boost of adrenaline. Also as an aside, the constriction of blood vessels that follow caffeine consumption is the basis for caffeine being a part of headache medicines. It constricts the blood vessels in the brain (through the epinephrine release), which gives the tissues more space and relieves some of the tension producing the headache.
Caffeine affects your sleep in a couple of different ways.
First, it extends your sleep latency, which is the period of time it takes to fall asleep. It also shortens the total amount that you sleep. The older you are, the more sensitive you are to these effects.
Similar to alcohol, caffeine has a diuretic effect, which causes the body to lose water.
How much caffeine does it take to affect your sleep? Depending on the amount of time between consumption and going to sleep - I would say anything from 200mg of caffeine or more can create that delayed sleep effect.
A moderate doses of caffeine would be anything between 200 and 300mg per day.
Heavy caffeine consumption would be considered anything from 500mg per day or more.
Well what does that mean exactly? Here is an example: 6:40
Imported coffees and teas can also carry higher caffeine concentration.
And also, the brewing method used will also affect the caffeine content.
Once you consume the caffeine, it is digested through the stomach and small intestine and enters the bloodstream within thirty minutes to an hour. This relatively rapid response time is one of the reasons a cup of coffee is so popular as a morning crutch.
So what about the half life?
The half-life is the amount of time it takes for something to decrease to half its original quantity.
The half-life of caffeine varies among different studies, but it is generally believed to be between 3 1/2 to 6 hours.
It can take longer in some people with certain medical disorders or under the influence of certain medications.
For example, birth control pills can inhibit or slow the half life of caffeine, making it so that it takes five to ten hours for the amount of caffeine in the bloodstream to decrease by half. Pregnancy and liver disease also significantly extend the half-life of caffeine.
Here is a practical example:
Suppose you were to drink a tall Starbucks coffee at 9:00am. That size has 230mg of caffeine. If we assume the caffeine carried a half-life of five hours, you would have approximately 130mg of caffeine in your system at 2:00pm that afternoon from that single cup alone.
Now this is an approximation, but because of the variability in how we metabolize caffeine, some experts recommend not consuming any caffeine after noon. I’m in that camp. I usually recommend to people that your last drink of coffee happen before noon.
Stay tuned for the next video mentioned in the video - the affects of aging on sleep.
Visit my channel for more videos: / drtraceymarks
Subscribe to get notified about my latest videos:
goo.gl/DFfT33
Can you be so kind to make a video about ADHD, sugar and coffee??? That would help a lot!
Great question. Thanks for the suggestion.
@@DrTraceyMarks Yes please!!
I've got ADHD. I was diagnosed as a small child back in the early 80's. My dr. did not believe in medicating kids at that time. Instead he had my mom give me coffee with creamer only... no sugar. I'm now 48 and I use black coffee to help with my ADHD. The caffein does't really have the same effect on me as it does with "normal" people. I drink 12-14c of black coffee a day along with my regular water intake & I'm fine. I've gone cold turkey off of coffee and switched to black tea and had no withdrawal, shakes, jitters or negative side effects. black tea doesn't have the same effect as black coffee.
This Doctor is AWESOME!!! I love her and her voice:)
Excellent video, very informative
So glad it was helpful
I love dark roast coffee.
Really mellows my body in the late evening
I love coffee. I developed tinnitus in the ears and people say not to drink coffee. Well, I noticed it does nothing to my tinnitus. What makes my T worse is anxiety. Not coffee. Still I stopped drinking coffee and I feel weird.
that thumbnail to the video lol
Can you make a video about strattera ? Thanks
Nice video
I have a coffee farm and a heart valve replacement. My Cardiologist said "cafeine goes right through you" since my daily cycle is setup. No problem "it goes right through you" (most hours during the day). It isnot you specialization, so it is OK. I really like all your other videos though, just double check on what other people say about cafeine & daily (circaidian?) rythyms & the human cafeine metabolism.
Dr. Tracey Do Have A Video On Tinnitus ?
I can not drink coffee after 10am I’m bipolar 1 with rapid cycling. I love coffee it does make my mood feel better. But I’ve learned that i can not sleep at night and then it will mess with my sleep pattern. And it’s you know for folks with bipolar disorder sleep is a must. It takes weeks to get myself on a healthy sleep pattern. One cup to late in the day and I’m done for the rest of the month.
Video about differences between ssri (details) like (zoloft better for atypical depression)
And other antidepressants
I can't live without it
Can you please make another video about the effects of caffeine and stimulants for add or adhd. Is it dangerous to use caffeine when the effects of the stimulant have worn off, perhaps during a long day. Also would you be so kind as to add rockstars or redbull to the example or comparison list. Thank you, love your videos they’re very helpful.
I realize this video is over a year over now, but I figure it couldn't hurt to spend a few minutes typing in order to potentially gain a response.
What are your thoughts regarding nicotine? Both are naturally occurring substances that act as stimulants to the brain, albeit probably by very different chemical processes.
==> Do you think long term use can have a major (or even relatively minor) impact on mood disorders, not just anxiety? To be more specific, as a factor to consider for slipping into hypomania/mania and depressive episodes?
Hi Farmer. Yes this is an old video but I’m still here and checking my comments. Thanks for your question. The brain chemicals are complicated but let me say this. There is an association with low dopamine levels and depression and Low dopamine levels and smoking. This association is the basis for bupropion being a smoking cessation pill. Bupropion enhances dopamine in the brain and therefore decreases the desire to smoke.
Can you make a video on why stimulants would stop working for someone & why coffee, energy drinks, caffeine pills, 5hr energy etchave never woke someone up? Even if they get good/normal sleep, why they may possibly never feel stimulated etc? I deal with this and not sure why nothing I’ve ever taken will make me feel more awake/stimulated etc. (I don’t have narcolepsy etc). And alcohol makes me feel very depressed while for my sister it makes her super energetic - I want to feel stimulated and even hyper or something and I never can. Only time I might ever feel like that is if sometimes I hear a song I like that’s more up beat - does any of this make sense? Or do you have any thoughts? My doctor has no idea how to help me
Sure, I will take a shot at this. You could be seriously depressed or incredibly exhausted. Or both. Or you have a neurological issue that keeps you are a neurologically underaroused state. If you have been like this from childhood, the last one is more likely.
So does caffeine do more bad than good ? Thanks Doctor.
I LOVE n NEED my cupa!
I personally cannot have any chocolate after 5 pm. I don’t drink any beverages that contain caffeine but I do love chocolate. I have to be super strict with this rule because I will not sleep at all
I have been binge watching your videos! I am a school teacher and have come across many students with oppositional defiant disorder. Is this a real thing? Or is it a lack of discipline on the parent’s part. In every case I have seen, the parents did not have clear boundaries set for their child. Just an observation.
id like to know that myself
Does caffeine effect other brain structures to produce alertness besides the secondary effect from the adrenal glands?
thank you!
I rarely drink coffee or have caffeine but I feel tired afterwards and I usually have a nap within 2 hrs. I get good sleep when I do but again I rarely drink coffee. Like twice a year. What up with that?
Am I just crashing early? Like getting an initial boost or jolt but it wears off and I fall asleep easier?
Too much coffee ends up making me tired which I always thought was strange. If I drink 8 to 16 oz in the morning I feel absolutely great. If I have any more than I end up feeling like I need a nap in the afternoon
this thumbnail is perfection I'm gagging!!!
HI DR TRACEY
CAN YOU PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT BIPOLAR 2 RAPID CYCLING AND CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL DRUGS IVE NEVER DRANK COFFEE IN MY LIFE AND WAS WONDERING IF WHEN IN DEPRESSION YOU DRINK IT WILL IT TURN INTO HYPOMANIA ?????
I did a video on rapid cycling bipolar disorder you can see it here ruclips.net/video/Bb2i35Y9J9k/видео.html
I don’t believe caffeine is strong enough to trigger a hypomania all by itself.
Why do I get tired from drinking coffee? I’ll drink it and start yawning and just not feel alert at all. I have ADD, but have heard that a lot of people even with ADD benefit from drinking coffee like taking a stimulant. Why am i this way?!
Actually I've heard that this happens to a lot of people with add/adhd. That coffee actually makes them sleepy.
for me its the dosage: too much coffee makes me tired but drinking a not so strong coffee, mixed with a lot of oatmilk, over hours helps a lot
I love my tea. I drink hot and iced tea. I was told tea has more caffeine than coffee is this true
Why do I react so much to coffin? I can be sick, but if I am, and I drink some coffee it suddenly like am not, until it's on it's way out of my system again... 😩🤯
Hmm. It’s hard to say. Caffeine can give you a sense of we'll being. i’m not sure if that’s what's going on or not.
I am one of them: caffein does not affect on my sleeping at all.
i swear to god if i hear the word joe for coffee again.. arghhhhhh !!
wish there was a robot that could teach like this
In my case, coffeine (more precisely energy drinks) helps with my sleep. It doesn't keep me longer awaken and it doesn't shorten my sleeping time. It actually does opposite. And also, it helps with my headaches (possible undiagnosed migraines) sometimes. Can someone explain that? 😂
Some people have this response to caffeine. It is a paradoxical reaction which can happen with some substances. I'm not saying this is you, but this particular paradoxical reaction is common in ADHD, for example. I'm sure there are other situations in which it is also commonly seen.
@@RobespierreThePoof That's interesting, I didn't know that. But, yeah, I don't have ADHD. I might explore more about why some of us have different response to caffeine.
@@RobespierreThePoof It's not a paradoxical reaction, and the link to ADHD is anecdotal at best. Caffeine does provide neuro protective benefits for dopamine receptors, so her dopamine receptors are already under fire, then it can help in that regard. That said, this is like a band aid for her and it's not fixing her actual problems.
Much like telling children with ADHD to consume caffeine to alleviate/quell their symptoms, which is nonsense and the long run will only make things worse.
A lot of it is the person if I drink 2 cokes or 2 Pepsi a day I'm a nervous wreck all day and into the next day ! Only 80 to 90 mg a day !
but how does Stiffaine work as a Comulant?
woah so this will treat my allergic reactions AND my adhd (kidding)
Large enough amounts of caffeine give me euphoria. Like a lot of euphoria, more than can be explained by just not feeling tired anymore. Just pumping up epinephrine isn't supposed to do that. There must be a mechanism of action that you didn't mention.
At 4 am I wonder why can’t I sleep after 4 cups of coffee
Caffeine improves brain abilities
Sugar may be more... drugged from childhood
Oh, I thought caffeine was a part of headache medication to counter said medications' drowsy effects 😂😂😂🥺
I think the half life of caffeine is actually closer to 7 hours. Re-check that one.
Dr marks if you're allergic to coffee can it cost you to be so hyped up and cause you talk to yourself rambling flow of thoughts and speech??????
Your probably allergic to caffeine.
I wonder why Caffeine has no effect on me. It never has.
It seems this video ended before you were finished talking
There is a lot of conjecture in this explanation....
you gotta stop with these thumbnails. you aren't a 17 year old streaming fortnite .