I was prepared to scour the internet to bring you, my loyal followers, information on why caffeine has the glorious effect of vitalizing a person. By what magical means can a cup of coffee transform the decrepit into the burgeoning with energy boundless?
So off I was on my adventure, ready to visit countless website pages to find the secret to caffeine’s success. However, thanks to a well written post on the subject (which very conveniently was the number one hit on the Google search “why does caffeine give you energy?”) I can proudly announce to you that I now feel knowledgeable enough on the subject to inform you of my findings.
It turns out, however, that while the article is very well articulated and informative, it doesn’t come to one conclusion or another on the cause, but instead lists many possible causes for the energy boost. Caffeine, as it states in the article, has a cavalcade of “metabolic effects”, and within one of the effects (or perhaps as a combination of a few of them) lies our answer.
Our first explanation brings us to the brain. In the brain, we have, among other things, neurotransmitters and their corresponding receivers. One such receiver, the adenosine receiver, is responsible for making us feel tired (boo hiss!). However, our helpful friend caffeine blocks, or as one website puts it, antagonizes, the receptors.
Another explanation for the energy is given, but this time focusing on the muscles. Caffeine can promote the release of calcium ions from muscles. This reduces the amount of energy required for the muscle to contract. In doing this, caffeine essentially greases the wheels for muscle activity. As useful or interesting a fact as it is, I think this is not the cause for our excitable energy, but rather a secondary effect.
My favorite explanation is steeped a bit in controversy. Some professionals endorse, and others refute, that caffeine causes your body to release adrenalin. And boy, what a rush adrenalin can be! Adrenalin can raise blood pressure and sugar, constrict blood vessels and widen air passages. If this is in fact the reason for caffeine’s energy boost, than it is no wonder why coffee is the tired man’s panacea.
I haven’t chosen any one of these explanations as the one true answer to our question (I may have made one my favorite but that is because the prospect of a drink like coffee giving me an adrenalin rush is quite enjoyable) but I have rather laid them out for you to decide. Perhaps you will reject these answers and search for another, and perhaps that answer lies out there. However, no matter what the debate says as to why caffeine energizes us, there is no debate that it does in fact energize us, and that is enough for me to drink it.
Related articles
- Coffee can Increase Physical, Mental Performance, Says Expert (medindia.net)
- Ingestion of 400mg Caffeine Before a Workout Can Prevent Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in Resistance Trained Men (titaniumprox.wordpress.com)
- The Scientifically Best Time to Drink Coffee (gizmodo.com)
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