Curt

Posted Saturday, July 2, 2022

1y

ENTJ

Cancer

2

3

What is caffeine?

When I presented this to a public speaking class, I was amazed over how many ppl didn't actually know caffeine's role in nature and how it interacts with the human body. Firstly, in nature, caffeine is a pesticide. Most plants have some sort of built-in protection to disuade certain insects/animals to not eat them. An obvious example would be thorns. In tea and cocoa plants, caffeine is a paralytic to insects. It seizes up their internal organs. The final cause of death is usually asphyxiation due to their lungs not working. Secondly, caffeine DOES NOT create any energy in your body. It feels like it does. I will explain why. Human bodies create a chemical called Adenosine. This chemical is responsible for making us feel sleepy. It builds up little by little while we're awake. It eventually builds up so much that we fall asleep. It all flushes out of the body during sleep. Caffeine has similar chemical markers to Adenosine. Caffeine doesn't have the right shape, though. Basically, the caffeine enters the brain and blocks the receptors that normally process the incoming Adenosine. The effect is the end of drowsiness. This gives the illusion of more energy. During that time, our bodies are still producing the Adenosine. It just builds up behind the wall of caffeine. Once our bodies finish processing the caffeine, all that Adenosine floods into the brain causing the crash. The longer you use caffeine without letting the crash happen, the worse the crash becomes. The worst cases result in headaches. Caffeine itself creates no energy. Your Starbucks Latte does, however. Sugar is converted directly into energy (or fat if not used). Those energy drinks also create energy. They have sugar as well as herbal supplements such as ginkgo baloba, ginsing, vitamin B6/B12, taurine and carnitine. These supplements promote faster metabolism, the process that turns sugar/carbs/fat (in that order) into energy. By all means, take an energy drink and hit the gym. Don't overdo it. Knew a guy whose kidneys failed because he was guzzling 3-5 cans a day. Also, it may negatively affect your heart if overusing it with exercise. Some are addicted to caffeine. Either to the taste of their chosen drink or to the normalizing levels it helps them maintain. Bare in mind that the wake-up effect of caffeine is reduced if you constantly consume it and don't let your body recover from it. I commute a lot for my job. When I get sleepy while driving, I want that coffee to really jolt me awake. I avoid the caffeine at home on the weekends. I don't even experience a crash. Just drink water instead. Come the next week, that next cup has a profound effect. That's all for this Ted Talk. Good night. =) (edited)