Waking up in the morning is difficult – to say the least. Sure, some days we’re energetic and fresh, so waking up is no biggy, but a lot of times, when we wake up and go to work, we’re not truly fully awake. Our biggest ally to combat the amazingly distracted version of ourselves and get our focus back on tough mornings has always been coffee and in turn, caffeine. Let’s see how the plant affects our body when we consume it and how to do it properly.  

The Plant

The coffee plant genome holds a few species of plants that are used to brew coffee. These plants from the Rubiaceae family produce berries, the seeds of which are what we grind into the dusty mixture we call coffee.  

a) Origin

The plant is indigenous to tropical Asia and Africa (also South Africa), but so far, it has been spread to many places around the world. South America is especially known for cultivating many brands of coffee exported around the world.  

b) Growth

There are basically two popular types of coffee that are grown: Arabica and Robusta. Robusta coffee is considered to be lower quality coffee, although there isn’t anything really wrong with it. It actually has more caffeine than the more popular and praised type but is also more bitter – the biggest reason why it's considered low-grade coffee is the fact that it is grown easily. Arabica, which accounts for around 80% of the total coffee produced around the world, is lighter on the pallet but is also a lot more difficult to grow. It only grows in tropical areas and at greater altitudes.  

c) What we use

As we mentioned, we use the seeds from the berries these plants produce. When the berries are ripe, they are picked from the plant, dried, and separated from the seeds. The fresh seeds can be used to plant immediately after picking, and the rest is dried for later use. We roast the seeds (to a different degree based on the final product goal), and after this, the seeds are ground to the fine dust we use to brew our favourite coffee beverages.

What HMN24 use?

Caffeine is an ally, but we’re fully aware of what we need and what indeed we think we need. We are also fully aware that many people have routine and context that surrounds their caffeine intake. RISE contains the human optimising combination of Naturally derived Caffeine and Theanine. L-theanine offsets the small amount of negative effects of caffeine has. The combination has been shown to alleviate the temporal rise in blood pressure and reduce the induced anxiety some may experience. It serves to eliminate caffeine’s vasoconstrictive tendencies and prevents the headaches and crashes often seen.

Effects of Caffeine on Our Body

Caffeine is a methylxanthine class stimulant that affects our central nervous system. It is the most widespread, legal, psychoactive substance that is consumed on a massive scale each day. The reason why caffeine has an energetic effect on our body is that it blocks our adenosine receptors and through this, eliminates drowsiness. Caffeine puts our mind into a state of alertness rather quickly but reaches its highest concentration in our bloodstream an hour or two after consumption. People who consume coffee regularly are also known to be less likely to develop Dementia and/or Alzheimer’s diseases. Coffee is also known to increase blood pressure as it prevents our blood vessels from expanding. However, that's a very short term effect on our body. It’s important to understand that there is a limit to how much caffeine our body can absorb – the rest is filtered through the liver and turned into urine. So, at some point, you are drinking too much coffee and simply peeing it out without any added effects.  

Best Ways to Ingest

There are a variety of ways to consume caffeine. The traditional way is to brew coffee and give yourself a siesta while you recover thanks to its pick-me-up effect. You can brew coffee in quite a few ways, and you should do some research to find what works best for you. A lot of teas also contain high levels of caffeine and can be a good replacement if you don’t like coffee. Other ways include tablets, pills, spray and even foods enriched with caffeine. Still, for many people, it’s as much about the ritual of waking up to a cup of an aromatic steaming hot cup of coffee that is as much of a part of shaking the drowsiness as the stimulant itself. It is all a matter of preference, after all.

Side Effects of too much.

Abusing coffee/caffeine isn’t a good idea. You should always take it in moderation as some of the side effects of prolonged abuse can be quite serious. Here are some of the symptoms coffee abuse can cause:  
  • Jitters
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Insomnia
  • Irritability
  • Muscle spasms
  • Flu-like symptoms
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Increased and irregular heartbeats
  • Etc.
  Keep in mind that along with being allergic to caffeine, you can also be sensitive to caffeine. Even if you don’t have a sensitivity to it, you can still experience problems if you drink more than a couple of coffees a day and you do so while missing sleep and meals (basically what workaholics do).  

Conclusion

We hope we managed to shed some light on the effects caffeine ingestion can have on your body. We’d like to warn you once again caffeine is great for you in reasonable doses if you are not allergic or sensitive to it. Your daily dose shouldn’t really go above 400mg of caffeine at the upper end – this can vary a bit based on weight, but it’s a reasonable number to orient your habits around. Use it wisely and don’t use it as a crutch, particularly when trying to offset that afternoon slump.  
April 14, 2021