I am not surprised if every student in our class consumes
some sort of caffeine, especially coffee.
I am guilty myself of being a daily coffee drinker. My day doesn’t begin until I have that cup of
Joe. But am I doing justice for myself
or an I slowly killing myself?
An article released by CNN on August 14, 2015, talks about
the history of coffee and the ups and downs it has gone through. Today in 2015, studies have shown that 3 to 4
cups (8oz each) of coffee is practically a health food granted you don’t add
the extra cream and sugar. The study
(test method not provided) shows a reduction in cardiovascular disease risk by
16% for women and 8% for men. Coffee
intake also shows to reduce risk of melanoma, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s
disease, liver disease, prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s, and computer-related back
pain.
I decided to further look at the science between back pain
and coffee since I can relate to having back pain often from studying. The article published by BioMed Central says
a single cup of coffee has 0.4 to 2.5 mg/kg.
Caffeine is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract within 45 minutes and
is metabolized in the liver. The
products formed are methylxanthines paraxanthine and theophylline. Caffeine is also an adenosine receptor
antagonist. Instead of adenosine binding
to the receptor, which would slow the electrical conduction of the heart,
caffeine binds. Caffeine is now bound to
the receptor and causes the nerve cells to constrict thereby increasing heart
rate. The specific receptor is adenosine
A1 receptor that inhibits the sensory system in the periphery and
the spinal level. As a result, the study
suggests that consuming a cup of coffee before starting a painful task at work
will reduce pain development.
I find it interesting that so many of these articles and research reviews routinely find that caffeine (mainly coffee) can so often be seen as a health benefit. Since technically caffeine is a drug, one may think that habitual use would often have more negative effects than positive, however as far as I can tell by the literature the only concrete evidence towards negative effects is the addiction that many people have for it. Seeing that such a large proportion of society habitually drinks coffee, it will be interesting to see if the human genome/biochemistry will potentially adapt over future generations to either need caffeine more, or create a mechanism to create a similar effect. A good group to begin this research on may be the native people of many South American countries, who have chewed on cacao leaves to increase their energy and motivation for hundreds of years. Perhaps their bodies have already started on the evolutionary course that our bodies may follow in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe main question that came to mind when reading these articles was why did coffee plans even evolve to create caffeine in the first place? This article in Science Magazine (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6201/1181.abstract?sid=84a2e663-49cb-4144-a0a5-c5b657d73be8) showed very interesting research completed in 2014 that looked into the genome of coffee plants. The article speaks about the biochemical pathway they believe the evolution to have followed and mentioned that caffeine was a defense mechanism to plants in two main ways. First off, dead or dying coffee leaves that fell onto the ground made the soil toxic to other plans, thus allowing the coffee plant more space to grow. Second, caffeine is toxic to insects and there is scientific proof that they have developed taste sensors to avoid ingesting plants that contain caffeine. Essentially a cascade of mutations and natural selection led to the product of caffeine that keeps plants safe while boosting our brain power!
I am sure that many others, as well as myself are very happy to hear about the beneficial health aspects of coffee consumption. I have also heard that coffee (without cream and sugar) can aid in weight loss. I would be very curious to learn the potential physiological mechanisms that may cause weight loss and how they may relate to the mechanisms of disease prevention.
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ReplyDeleteIt is always good to hear about the health benefits of something that you already routinely consume! I have read many articles in the past stating the health benefits and risks of drinking coffee. Many of the risks I have heard about seem to only pertain to those who drink copious amounts of coffee daily. This article by Mayo Clinic seems to sum up nicely the conclusion that I came to myself, that the good tends to outweigh the bad. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/coffee-and-health/faq-20058339 I find it very interesting that drinking coffee can be a pain reliever. I would be interested to find out if the release of methylxanthines paraxanthine and theophylline has anything to do with preventing "caffeine headaches" or if that is actually a "withdrawal" symptom from caffeine's addictive properties. Now, if I could just figure out how to drink my coffee without cream and sugar...
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