9 myths about caffeine you are ashamed to believe

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

After reading this article, you will be able to enjoy your drink without remorse.

This article can not only be read, but also listened to. If that's more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.

1. Caffeine is addictive

Let's put it this way: it's not entirely true. You can really get used to coffee - delicious, aromatic, invigorating. However, this addiction cannot be called addiction.

Caffeine does not in any way threaten your physical, emotional and social health, as drugs do, even the lightest and most legal ones like cigarettes or alcohol.

If you decide to give up coffee, chances are your body won't even feel it. Only in some cases (for example, if you are used to drinking two or more cups a day) are unpleasant symptoms possible:

• headache;
• feeling tired;
• increased anxiety;
• irritability;
• Bad mood;
• difficulty concentrating.

But these manifestations will not be very pronounced and are unlikely to last longer than one or two days. For this reason, experts do not consider the Caffeine Use Disorder: A Comprehensive Review and Research Agenda a serious addiction that would require professional treatment to overcome.

2. Caffeine is found only in coffee

This stimulant can be found in many foods and beverages besides coffee. Here is a far from complete list:

• tea - black and green, and pu-erh, and mate;
• cocoa;
• energy drinks;
• brown carbonated drinks;
• coffee ice cream;
• coffee yogurt;
• decaf coffee Caffeine consumption;
• chocolate (except white);
• some medications.

Each of these products contains its own dose of caffeine - somewhere more, somewhere less. To find out how much specifically, take a look, for example,.

3. Caffeine can cause insomnia

If you drink coffee in the morning, this is out of the question. Caffeine is eliminated from the body rather quickly: after 8-10 hours less than 25% of the initial dose you took in the blood will remain in the blood, and this is too little to cause sleep disturbances.

With regard to coffee drunk in the afternoon, the strength of the drink plays an important role. For example, a 30-gram cup of espresso contains about 60 mg of caffeine in the National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Legacy Release, which is less than a regular cup of black tea, which many drink at dinner and then have no problem falling asleep.

But in an average (170 ml) mug of robusta, there can be up to 200 mg of caffeine, so the risk of not falling asleep after drinking such a drink in the late afternoon increases.

Also, a lot depends on the personal sensitivity to caffeine. For most people, a cup of coffee six or earlier hours before bed does not threaten insomnia. However, some of them, due to the peculiarities of their metabolism, react to caffeine sharply. If you find yourself empirically that you are one of these people, you really should limit the use of coffee drinks.

4. Caffeine increases blood pressure

Not at all necessary. This is again a matter of personal characteristics. There are people whose bodies do respond to caffeine by raising their blood pressure. But there are those for whom coffee does not have this effect. Establish which category you belong to, you can only empirically.

Experts from the reputable medical organization Mayo Clinic recommend 10 ways to control high blood pressure without medication to do it this way. Measure the pressure and record the result. Drink a cup of coffee, and after half an hour, use the tonometer again.

If the reading on the meter has increased by 5-10 points, your cardiovascular system is responding to caffeine. If not, you can not be afraid of an increase in pressure after drinking coffee.

5. Caffeine flushes calcium out of the body

Because of this, he is considered guilty of developing osteoporosis. But here again the situation is from the category of "grandmother said in two".

Indeed, consuming a lot of caffeine (over 744 mg per day, which is equivalent to about 12 standard espresso cups) can impair intestinal absorption of calcium. However, research shows Effects of caffeine on bone and the calcium economy.: It is enough to add 1-2 tablespoons of milk to coffee, and the negative effect of caffeine will be compensated.

Nevertheless, older people should be careful with coffee: they still have some connection Effect of coffee intake on hip fracture: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies between caffeine consumption and the risk of hip fracture. It has been suggested that caffeine has a more potent effect on calcium metabolism in the elderly.

So if you are in your 50s, try to reduce your coffee consumption to 300 ml per day.

6. Caffeine causes cancer

But this is definitely a myth. None of the numerous studies have established coffee, tea, caffeine intake, and the risk of cancer in the PLCO cohort, the relationship between caffeine consumption and the development of any type of cancer. But there is good reason to believe that coffee even reduces the risk of certain types of cancer.

7. Caffeine leads to dehydration

Lifehacker has already refuted this myth, but we will repeat ourselves. Caffeine does have a mild diuretic effect, but it does not lead to additional fluid loss beyond what was ingested with the drink itself.

There is only one exception: if you drink 2-3 cups of strong coffee in a row, the diuretic effect may become more pronounced. However, such an increase in urge to use the toilet is observed only in those people who practically did not drink the drink before.

8. Caffeine helps to sober up

This misconception is so widespread that even in articles on how to quickly recover from intoxication, you can often find the phrase: "Have a cup of coffee."

Yes, coffee does help mask the fumes. But in terms of real sobering up, the drink is even harmful. As a stimulant, caffeine invigorates and energizes. Because of this, a drunk person has a false feeling that he has come to his senses and has become almost sober. False!

Several years ago, the American Psychological Association published Caffeine Doesn’t Reverse the Negative Cognitive Impact of Alcohol, Study Shows, based on test results from two groups of people. One part of the subjects was under the influence of alcohol. The second was the same, but the alcohol was "polished" by the coffee.

The survey showed that representatives of the second group reported amicably that they felt sober. However, they coped with tests for attentiveness, concentration, coordination and speed of reaction no better than the drunken volunteers from the first group.

9. Coffee is just pampering, no benefit from it

Numerous studies show that drinking coffee every day is beneficial. It prolongs life.

And it doesn't matter how much coffee and what quality you drink. Even if you are too heavy on instant drink or decaffeinated coffee, the chances of not dying from any sore in the next ten years will be significantly higher than those of those who completely deny themselves caffeine.

Of course, raping yourself with an espresso or, say, a latte is not worth it. But if you like to indulge in a cup of coffee a couple of times a day, there is almost no reason to part with this pleasant habit.