What is the water-to-coffee ratio for pour-over coffee from Nicaraguan Finca Mamamina's Natural Process Pacamara beans?

Why does drinking coffee help you stay awake?

What's the principle behind coffee's refreshing effect?

Is caffeine entirely responsible for coffee's awakening properties?

(The writer is escaping from an interrogation scene...)

Did you know? When you take a sip of coffee, a fascinating drama unfolds inside your brain! This brain theater is called "Grab the Sofa!"

Venue: Your brain

Scene: The receptor sofa area - a space that recognizes specific signal substances.

Protagonist 1: Adenosine - A group of lazy beings... These fellows are inhibitory neurotransmitters. Once the adenosines lie down on the sofa (bind with receptors), you begin to feel sleepy. The larger the formation of adenosines, the more they occupy the sofas (bind with receptors), the sleepier you become...

After you take a sip of coffee, the situation inside your brain looks something like this...

(Pink cushion represents receptors, cow cat represents caffeine, orange cat represents adenosine)

Protagonist 2: Caffeine - A group of energetic beings... These fellows are central nervous system stimulants that can bring you temporary alertness. The caffeine group mainly prevents the adenosines from lying on the sofa (prevents normal binding between adenosine and receptors), so they try to lie down on the sofas one step ahead of the adenosines.

(Before you drink coffee): The adenosines, dragging their tired bodies, search for available sofas (receptors)... At this point, you don't feel sleepy yet because the adenosines are still in a free-floating state (you only get sleepy when the adenosines lie down!). Suddenly, the adenosines shout "Wow! Sofas!" and lie down! Your sleepiness begins to emerge...

"No, I need to drink coffee!"

When you gulp down several sips of coffee, the caffeine group appears!

"Wow, so many lazy creatures approaching the sofas?! No, we can't let them lie down! Brothers, hurry up, we must beat them to it, we can't let them occupy the sofas so easily!" And so the caffeine group moves at lightning speed, occupying as much of the sofa area as possible or sharing sofas with the adenosines (this prevents normal binding between adenosine and receptors).

If the adenosines haven't yet occupied the sofas in overwhelming numbers, the appearance of caffeine can indeed claim many sofas and give you temporary alertness for a short period.

So why does coffee sometimes make you sleepier??!!

There are three possibilities!

In some cases, the adenosines have already formed an overwhelming force and are comfortably settled on the sofas. The caffeine group cannot move those adenosines whose bottoms are already stuck to the sofas... (You drank too late, when adenosine and receptors have already bound, at this point caffeine's attempts to block them are meaningless.)

In some cases, due to your fast metabolism, the caffeine group disappears before they can claim many sofas... But their appearance might stimulate more adenosines to appear... And then? Then they definitely lie on the sofas! (Some people naturally have stronger metabolic functions, so the duration of caffeine's effectiveness becomes shorter. Therefore, caffeine cannot provide much alertness effect and might even increase your sleepiness.)

In some cases, the adenosines get used to the presence of caffeine and always find ways to firmly settle on the sofas even when the caffeine arrives! Facing a group of adenosines that are completely unafraid of sudden caffeine arrival and are already sound asleep, the caffeine group is helpless. (Regular coffee drinking causes the nervous system to develop antibodies against caffeine, blocking caffeine's alertness effects.)

Therefore, for those who rarely drink coffee, consuming caffeine might make them more energetic; but for long-term coffee drinkers, caffeine may not necessarily have the same effect on them.

"No! I drink coffee every day and it still keeps me awake!"

This might be a form of "ritualized inebriation," an illusion of coffee's awakening effect!

Ritualized inebriation initially appeared among drinking populations. Drinking alcohol isn't necessarily about getting completely drunk, but more about using alcohol to create a certain sense of ritual, then doing something you wouldn't normally dare to do - in simpler terms, "liquid courage." Coffee works similarly, serving as a "catalyst" to start a new day full of energy.

Anthropology researcher Krystal D'Costa once wrote in Scientific American: We live in an era that demands high efficiency at all times. Coffee, as a psychoactive substance, becomes what we naturally turn to when we feel our efficiency is low and our spirits are down. We hope it can quickly enter the brain through the bloodstream, helping us stay alert and focused during moments of poor condition, ensuring work efficiency.

Therefore, for those who drink less coffee, drinking coffee can make them "more energetic"; for regular coffee drinkers, drinking coffee can help them "restore energy."

Does the above "ritualized inebriation" count as caffeine addiction?

No! These are two different things!!

"Ritualized inebriation" affects psychology, while excessive caffeine intake leading to addiction/severe dependence on caffeine affects both psychology and physiology. Humans become addicted to caffeine because caffeine mimics cocaine and marijuana, triggering reactions in our brains that stimulate abnormal secretion of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the synaptic cleft. Over time, excessive caffeine intake can cause the body to develop caffeine addiction symptoms.

After becoming addicted to caffeine, one faces withdrawal reactions (abstinence reaction), which refers to the specific psychological syndromes that appear after stopping or reducing caffeine intake. These can include lethargy that affects daily life, low mood, anxiety, nervousness, and adverse effects on the gastrointestinal/urinary systems and heart. Generally, caffeine addiction symptoms only occur in people who consume caffeine products long-term and in excessive amounts.

However, everyone's tolerance for caffeine is different! According to the safety intake standards provided by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), as long as you don't consume more than 400mg of caffeine daily for extended periods (a 225ml pour-over coffee made with 15g of coffee grounds at a 1:15 ratio contains about 60-90mg of caffeine, which is 4-5 cups of pour-over coffee), generally caffeine addiction will not occur.

"Although coffee is delicious, remember not to overdo it!!!!" If you feel really tired, what you should do is pay more attention to your mental/physical condition and not rely too heavily on coffee for alertness.

Image source: Internet

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