Caffeine is a bitter tasting alkaloid that is naturally present in coffee, tea, chocolate. Considered to be among the most popular drugs worldwide, caffeine is also used as a preservative in beverages as well as numerous medications.
Using the term 'drug' to describe caffeine may raise many eyebrows for common people who are generally familiar with two categories of drugs.
The first category of drugs they are familiar with include medications, such as penicillin and aspirin that can be bought from drug stores and used as remedies for different ailments.
The second types of drug people are usually familiar with include substances like cocaine, heroin, nicotine and alcohol that people take for multiple reasons. Some take them for relaxation as well as to stimulate them, while many others use such substances to run away from realism.
To be precise, a drug is a compound that is utilized for the prevention as well as treatment of various ailments. Some drugs are also used to boost people's physical or mental conditions.
In effect, caffeine has the aptitude to perform all these tasks and people use it for such different reasons. However, compared to may other drugs, the action of caffeine is definitely mild as well as restricted.
Caffeine is a compound substance that is made use of medicinally as well as for reasons non-remedial. In fact, most people using caffeine do it for non-medical reasons, especially the drug's invigorating impact on an individual's mental disposition and conduct.
Drugs or chemical substances that are basically used with the purpose of changing mood or transforming behavior are called psychoactive drugs, which include caffeine, cocaine, heroin, nicotine, marijuana, alcohol and others.
It is interesting to note that the discovery and use of plants yielding caffeine dates back to several thousand years. In fact, most such plants were first discovered in the region of 600,000 years to 700,000 year back, which denotes the early phase of the Stone Age or Paleolithic period.
In fact, during the Paleolithic period, prehistoric people chewed the leaves, seeds and barks of numerous plants. It is believed that they also chewed the different parts of plants producing caffeine with a view to bring about changes in their mood and performance.
In due course of time, people began to cultivate caffeine and consumed the chemical substance with a view to drive out tiredness, prolong sleeplessness as well as boost their mood.
It is believed that in the beginning, people in the Paleolithic period may have pounded the part of the plants enclosing caffeine and consumed it to assist the digestive process.
It was at a much later date that people found out that they could derive enhanced consequences from the plants if they steeped it in hot water and drank the infusion prepared in the process.
Incidentally, the prehistoric people were correct in their observation, as it has been proved that the caffeine-yielding plants produced more amounts of the chemical substance at elevated temperatures.
Interestingly enough, the origin of all beverages containing caffeine, such as coffee, tea, mate, guarana, cocoa, yoco infusion, cassina and kola tea, are based on this ancient finding.
Contrary to the common belief, the entire caffeine yield is never utilized to prepare coffee and tea. In fact, substantial amounts of caffeine are derived from inferior quality coffee beans and tea leaves.
Some amount of caffeine is also collected as a by-product or derivative of the decaffeination (the process of removing caffeine) of tea and coffee. Caffeine collected in this manner is usually made use of in the manufacture of soft drinks and medicines.
It may be mentioned here that only three species of plants grow the beans that are especially used to manufacture coffee. These three species of plants include Coffea arabica,
Coffea robusta and Coffea liberica. Coffea arabica is an indigenous plant of Ethiopia, but is now widely cultivated in South American countries like Brazil and Colombia.
On the other hand, Coffea robusta is native to Saudi Arabia, but is extensively grown mainly in countries like Brazil and Indonesia as well as different regions of the African continent.
As the name suggests, Coffea liberica is indigenous to Liberia in Africa and is presently grown in different regions of the continent.
On the other hand, the tea leaves those are infused to prepare your cup of tea grow on a solitary species called Camellia sinensis that is native to India and China. These two Asian countries still continue to be the major producers of tea.
The uncultivated species of coffee, Coffea, is found in abundance in Africa, while the wild variety of tea, Camellia, is found in plenty in the Yunnan province of China.
Although it may appear to be incredible, there have been reports that some wild varieties of tea growing in China develop up to 90 feet in height and are around 1,800 years old!
In addition to the above mentioned three species of plants - Coffea arabica, Coffea robusta and Coffea liberica, cocoa beans as well as kola nuts that are basically found in different regions of Africa also provide sufficient amounts of caffeine.
The other sources of caffeine include yoco bark and guarana seeds that commonly grow in South America. Among these, mate is ingested in abundance and is found only in Latin American countries like Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
In order to comprehend the reason behind some plants evolving to enclose caffeine, scientists have actually emphasized on the manner in which such plants benefit from this chemical substance.
According to one theory, plants containing caffeine have additional defense from bacterial, fungal and insect assaults.
It has been discovered that caffeine actually slows down the activities of bacteria and fungi, besides resulting in sterility among a section of insects that eventually diminishes the populations of such pests.
Moreover, as caffeine is able to penetrate into the soil surrounding the plants containing this chemical compound, it is likely to slow down the growth of weeds or else they would work to damage the plants.
From this, it is evident that any plant containing this kind of chemical substance that provides additional fortification against outside attacks by microbes and pests would live for longer period compared to plants that possess very little amount of this substance or those that do not contain any amount of the chemical compound.
It is important to note here that if caffeine damaged the plant containing it, then the plants would not have this type of benefit, but the chemical compound would actually prove to be detrimental for the plants in such cases.
To be precise, the plants that contain caffeine also have a definite mechanism, whereby they are able to protect them from the toxic impacts of the chemical substance. For instance, the coffee plants produce and preserve the caffeine in the coffee seedlings that are far off from the locations of cell division.
This is owing to the fact that the cell division process is very susceptible to poisonous substances. Nevertheless, it is still possible that caffeine will still destroy the coffee plants which have produced the chemical substance.
In fact, when the bushes and trees producing caffeine become old, the soil surrounding them becomes richer in caffeine content by absorbing and accumulating the chemical substance from the leaves and berries of the bushes and trees that fall on the ground over the years.
This is the main reason why most coffee plantations are inclined to deteriorate after a period of 10 to 25 years.
Unadulterated caffeine appears like a white powdery substance something similar to cornstarch and tastes bitter. The white coffee powder is somewhat soluble in water at body temperature and dissolves completely in water when heated to boiling point.
In 1820, caffeine was first isolated from coffee and seven years later in 1827 from tea and named theine. Soon after this, researchers found out that the properties of coffee and tea to change moods and behaviour is actually owing to the presence of caffeine in these substances.
In fact, caffeine is known by two different technical names. While the full name of this chemical substance is 3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione, the more familiar technical name of caffeine is 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine.
Actually, these two technical names describe the chemical structure of the caffeine molecule.
In order to comprehend the consequences of caffeine, it is essential to provide a concise preamble to purine as well as compounds related to it. In effect, purine is the parent amalgam of all these chemicals as well as several other chemicals present in our body.
When xanthine or dioxypurine is scrutinized closely, it will be seen that they are actually purine possessing two oxygen atoms. In addition, it will also be found that that caffeine or trimethylxanthine is actually xanthine having three methyl groups.
One methyl group comprises of a solitary carbon atom as well as three hydrogen atoms. In fact, the '1,3,7' portion in caffeine's technical name actually denotes the positions of the methyl groups as they are numbers in the purine arrangement.
Pure purine is not naturally present in the human body. When the chemical constituents present in the purine family are disintegrated, it produces xanthine as a transitional product.
Later, the liver transforms xanthine into uric acid that is present in exceptionally high intensity in the human body.
While uric acid is known to be related with an ailment called gout, this chemical substance is believed to be responsible for the longer span of life of the humans, compared to other mammals.
Adenine and guanine are two most significant purines present in the human body. Along with cytosine and thymine, these two purines encompass the four fundamental letters of the genetic alphabet, also called code, present in the cells of every living organism.
In fact, this code decides on each and everything inherited by an individual, including his or her belonging to the human species to the color of their eye.
This code is 'read' or interpreted in the three categories of purines, every one chemically attached to an elongated thread of molecules.
In fact, two such strands of molecules along with their purines comprise the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) double helix. Genes are actually series of the group of three purines present in particular sites on the chromosomes - arrangements made up of DNA.
One of the vital processes in cell reproduction as well as the entire organism involves the replication of DNA.
It is important to note that caffeine is able to get in the way of the process involving duplication of DNA and result in errors in the reproduction of the cell, as it has a lot of resemblance with the vital elements of the genetic code.
And such errors may lead to cancers, tumors and even genetic imperfections.
Xanthine molecules or two dimethylxanthines, such as theobromine and theophylline possess two methyl groups instead of the usual three methyl groups present in other xanthine.
Both the dimethylxanthines generate consequences that are same as those produced by caffeine. However, theobromine is considered to be comparatively less potent as it does not possess more than 10 per cent of the invigorating results of either caffeine or theophylline.
While theobromine is not present in coffee, it is found in different proportions in kola nuts and cocoa products and in very small amounts in tea. The strength of theobromine in cocoa is usually seven times more than that of caffeine.
Owing to this factor, despite the fact that the content of caffeine in cocoa products is comparatively less, consumption of these products will produce significant effects that are genuinely like caffeine.
Although very small quantities of theophylline are present in tea along with caffeine and theobromine, it is likely to have a potent invigorating impact on the heart as well as on breathing compared to caffeine.
In fact, theophylline is often the preferred drug while treating ailments accompanied by breathing problems - for instance, bronchitis, asthma and emphysema. It may be noted that the theophylline is actually caffeine derived from coffee or tea.
Since caffeine is somewhat soluble in water it is actually found in the different parts of our body wherever water is present, i.e. in almost all places of the body. In addition, caffeine is able to pass through the cell membranes without any effort.
Owing to these properties of caffeine, once the ingested chemical substance is hastily and entirely soaked up by the stomach and the intestines, it quickly assimilates into the bloodstream and is distributed to the different organs of the body, inclusive of the brain, the testes and the ovaries.
What seems to be worse is the fact the when women consume caffeine during pregnancy, the chemical substance also passes on to all the organs of the fetus.
From the bloodstream, caffeine is eventually transported to the liver, which breaks down the chemical substance into different products called metabolites by means of a process known as metabolism.
These metabolites are finally eliminated from the body by means of urination. These metabolites comprise theophylline, theobromine and a third dimethylxanthine called paraxanthine.
It may be noted here that the concentration of paraxanthine in the body is comparatively high after a person has consumed products containing caffeine. Nevertheless, when the blood goes through the liver once again, this substance is disintegrated into 1-methylxanthine.
Although methylxanthine usually comprises just around 20 per cent of the caffeine dose, it is the principal metabolite of caffeine present in our urine.
The remaining methylxanthine present in the ingested caffeine is converted into one of at least 12 other products of caffeine metabolism.
Since caffeine moves in both directions across the cell membranes so effortlessly, the kidneys are unable to expel this chemical substance from the body by means of urination.
It is important to mention that if the body did not metabolize caffeine into different compounds, such as 1-methylxanthine, which is unable to penetrate the cell membranes of the kidneys as well as into the bloodstream again, once a cup of coffee is consumed by a person, the caffeine content in it would remain in his or her body for a number of days.
It has been often found that the metabolites of some drugs have more potent effect compared to the original drug consumed. In fact, paraxanthine, particularly 1-methylxanthine, is much more identical to adenine and guanine compared to caffeine.
While it is yet to be ascertained as to how precisely and how much the metabolites of caffeine add to the chemical compound's consequences, it is very likely that paraxanthine as well as 1-methylxanthine have significant functions in the simulating properties of the drug in the nervous system.
The invigorating consequences of caffeine entail the exploits of adenosine - a chemical substance present in considerable amount in our body.
The adenosine molecules are made up of a purine that is connected to a form of sugar and is a component of a larger molecule that provides energy that is requisite for the functioning of the cells.
In addition, adenosine also plays a significant role in controlling the different processes in the body, especially the communication of different signals by the nerves.
Often adenosine and similar substances are also injected into the body and when they are injected in large measures, they are likely to result in a stupor and also induce sleep.
Adenosine is also capable to widening the blood vessels, denigrate spasms or seizures, weaken the ability of the gastrointestinal organs to contract (gastrointestinal motility), slow down the body's response to stress and decrease the blood pressure, rate of heart beat as well as body temperature.
Apart from the other properties of adenosine, this chemical substance also has the aptitude to slow down the discharge of neurotransmitters - chemicals produced by the nerve cells to communicate with one another.
In order to accomplish this, adenosine ought to initially attach itself to particular receptor locations on the exterior of the nerve cells.
Since the structure of adenosine is very much akin to caffeine, this chemical substance also attaches itself to the receptors and in the process, caffeine thwarts adenosine from attaching to the surface of the nerve cells.
Interestingly enough, scientists have discovered that compared to adenosine, paraxanthine as well as 1-methylxanthine are both doubly effectual in binding with adenosine receptors.
Hence, it is believed that it is possible to augment the effect of caffeine in invigorating the brain when this chemical substance naturally present in our body is metabolized to produce either paraxanthine or 1-methylxanthine.
Although it may seem to be incredible, drugs like caffeine that have the aptitude to transform mood and change behavioral patterns of an individual are actually able to accomplish the task by influencing as many as 50 billion nerve cells in our brain!
In order to start working in the brain, these drugs first need to assimilate into the bloodstream and this is accomplished by absorption.
In fact, the absorption of such drugs into the bloodstream is done by two primary ways - the enteral or enteric administration and the parenteral (drugs taken into the body in a manner other than through the digestive canal) administration.
When caffeine is absorbed by the body through the enteral or enteric administration if follows a simple path in the gastrointestinal tract - the mouth, gullet, stomach, intestines and the rectum.
As mentioned above, when caffeine is taken through parenteral administration, the chemical compound sidesteps the gastrointestinal route. As an alternative, caffeine is administered into the body through the lungs, ear, skin, and vagina or by means of injection shots.
The injections may be shot expressly into a muscle, an artery or vein, the spinal cord or some other places in the body - the skin or in the region of the intestines.
Although these routes of administering caffeine are not common, there are numerous instances when the parenteral administration has to be followed.
While injecting caffeine directly into the bloodstream is the easiest, fastest and most simple route, this occasionally proves to be the most unsafe method.
It may be mentioned here that a number of medications, such as insulin, are not administered enterally as they may be rendered ineffective by substances present in the gastrointenstinal route.
On the contrary, other medications, such as a number of barbiturates, usually are unable to go through the gastrointestinal tract and enter the blood vessels of the stomach and the intestines.
Hence, such medications are not governed through the enteral administration.
In fact, drugs like cocaine and heroin are also not effectual when given through enteral administration as they usually are soaked up by the blood vessels in the stomach and the intestine before they go to the liver and eventually to the brain.
While in the liver, these drugs are broken up into different chemical compounds and, thus are not very effective when administered internally.
The blood vessels present in the wall or lining of the stomach and intestines eagerly take up caffeine since this chemical compound is not broken down into newer products by the acids present in the stomach.
Approximately 1/6 of any dose of caffeine is soaked up by the stomach walls, while most of the remaining amount is taken up by the lining on the duodenum, which comprises the first part of the small intestine.
Apart from these, the liver also metabolizes caffeine, but comparatively at a much slow pace. All these aspects of caffeine make the drug most suitable for administration internally.
In addition, the rapidity with which ingested caffeine transfers from the mouth to the bloodstream is dependent on several aspects.
For instance, the absorption of caffeine by the body is relatively slow when the stomach is full or after a long period of fasting.
However, it has been observed that under normal circumstances, a single dose of caffeine passes into the bloodstream in just 36 minutes after the drug is administrated.
After absorbing caffeine from the gastrointestinal system, the blood containing the chemical compound gets to the liver and, from there, to the heart.
Once the blood containing caffeine reaches the heart, it is swiftly circulated to different parts of the body by a process called distribution of caffeine.
In an adult male, caffeine is distributed to all parts of the body where water is present and this includes approximately the entire 42 liters present in the body comprising about 62 per cent of the body weight. Interestingly, of the approximately 42 liters of water present in an adult male body, only six liters is in blood.
Of the remaining amount of water in the body, most, approximately 28 liters, is present in the different cells of the body that compose the muscles, tissues and the brain. The residual amount of water in the body remains between the cells.
It may be mentioned here that the consequences of the amount of any drug taken by a person or an animal largely depends on the weight of the organism receiving the drug. This is primarily because the heavier the body, the more amount of water it will contain.
Hence, it will water down the effect of a dosage drug administered further. Consequently, the blood will contain a lower concentration of caffeine when it reaches the brain and other organs of the body where the chemical substance has an influence.
In fact, it is the intensity of caffeine present in the blood that actually determines the potency of the effect it will have on certain parts of the body.
In addition, every time blood containing caffeine goes through the liver, a little amount of the caffeine is metabolized into metabolites that are eventually discharged by the body by means of urination.
As the caffeine content is eliminated from the blood, it is immediately restored by the chemical substance coming from other fluids present in the body.
This is a continuous process and goes on until all the caffeine is metabolized by the liver and eventually removed from the body.
In fact, the assimilation of caffeine is a very composite procedure that entails over a dozen metabolites or new products created during metabolism. Only recently have the scientists come to comprehend the process completely.
This has been possible owing to the introduction of new and potent paraphernalia that are able to differentiate intimately associated chemicals and also owing to the progress made in attaining advanced procedures to label parts of the caffeine molecule as well as map out their outcome in the human body.
As discussed earlier, 1,5 dimethylxanthine (paraxanthine) is the primary metabolite produced during the metabolism of caffeine. However, when paraxanthine passes through the liver it is metabolized producing newer chemicals, including 1-methylxanthine.
In fact, when caffeine is eliminated from the body through urination, 1-methylxanthine is the main metabolite of this chemical compound.
It may be underlined here that the potency of the consequences of ingesting caffeine on the body to a great extent depends on the intensity of the chemical compound present in the blood circulating through the brain.
The concentration of caffeine in the blood circulating through the brain reaches the peak sometime between 30 minutes and 60 minutes of taking the drug orally.
This intervening period, the caffeine travels from the mouth to the gastrointestinal tract, where the chemical compound is absorbed, but before considerable amount of the drug is metabolized in the liver.
As long as even some amount of a caffeine dosage remains in the bloodstream, it will continue to have an impact on the body. The metabolic activity of substances in the liver, called enzymes, form the vital aspect in this regard.
When the pace of caffeine metabolism by the liver is slow, it means that the drug remains inside the body for longer periods and, hence its effects too last longer.
It may be noted that even the half-life of caffeine, i.e. the time taken by the liver to remove half the dosage of caffeine ingested, also differs from one person to another.
The normal half-life of caffeine in adults is something between 2.5 hours and 10 hours with an average of four hours. And in most cases, the entire caffeine dosage ingested is eliminated from the body within 12 hours of taking the drug.
In fact, men and women as well as people belonging to all age groups are inclined to have identical mean rates of caffeine metabolism in the liver.
As the liver is mainly responsible for caffeine metabolism, the caffeine half-life is increased in people who suffer from different liver ailments that are associated with alcohol abuse.
In addition, concurrent use of other drugs also has a notable influence on the rate of caffeine metabolism by the liver.
Generally, smokers have a caffeine half-life of three hours and are able to metabolize this chemical substance at least 50 per cent more rapidly compared to people who do not smoke.
As a result, when smokers consume a cup of coffee, they experience the impact of caffeine for a much shorter duration compared to people who do not smoke. Moreover, nicotine as well as caffeine has conflicting influences on the neurotransmitter adenosine.
It is believed that this could be one reason why smokers drink more coffee than the non-smokers. By consuming more coffee, they seem to make up for the short duration of caffeine in their body.
On the other hand, some inconsistencies in the pace of metabolism of caffeine by the liver are said to be inherited. For instance, caffeine metabolism in the Asians appears to be different as well as slow compared to the Caucasians.
In addition, some changes in the rate of caffeine metabolism are also believed to be owing to an individual's understanding with the chemical compound.
Although this theory is yet to be established, it is believed that people who use caffeine on a regular basis are able to metabolize the drug more rapidly.
It needs to be noted that the pace of caffeine metabolism reduces significantly among pregnant women, especially during the last few weeks of pregnancy. However, the rate of caffeine metabolism returns to usual levels after they have delivered the baby.
Newborn babies or infants do not possess majority of the enzymes responsible for caffeine metabolism in their liver. As a result, the caffeine present in their bloodstream is eliminated from the body by means of urination.
However, this is a very slow process and the half-life of caffeine in the new born babies is as high as 85 hours. However, as they grow up, their liver starts producing the enzymes resulting in the gradual decrease of the drug's half-life.
By the time they are around two months old, the half-life of caffeine decreases to around 27 hours and when they are four months old is approximately 14 hours.
When they are six months old, their caffeine half-life reduces to two to three hours below the half-life of caffeine in the adults. The half-life of caffeine remains under the level of the adults till their teenage years.
It is a known fact that caffeine passes on into the breast milk of lactating mothers. In addition, caffeine also secretes from the blood into the saliva and even semen.
While the intensity of caffeine present in the saliva is around 75 per cent in an individual, the semen of a male contains approximately 100 per cent of the chemical compound as is present in the individual's bloodstream.
Barring the instances of newborn babies, excretion of unchanged caffeine remains the same in people of all other age groups.
While only a little quantity of caffeine that has not been metabolized in the liver is eliminates along with feces and other fluids present in the body, except urine. In fact, urine contains not more than three per cent of unchanged caffeine.
The reason for this is that most of the caffeine ingested by an individual is excreted through urine in the form of different metabolites of the chemical substance.
In fact, the kidneys are responsible for this action, as the rate of flow of blood through the kidneys is directly related to the amount of urine produced and excreted by the body.
It needs to be mentioned that while only a small amount of the caffeine consumed is present in urine, on an average, the intensity of caffeine present in urine is comparatively high - about 40 per cent more than what is found in the bloodstream.
The reason behind this is easy to understand, as the actual volume of urine is much less in comparison to the volume of blood in the body.
As mentioned earlier, caffeine passes on to all parts of the body where there is presence of water. This means that the chemical compound travels to almost all parts of the body and possibly influences majority of the functions carried out by our body.
In effect, ingestion of caffeine results in severe (acute, but short-term) consequences on the cardiovascular system, including the heart and the blood vessels, on the respiratory system (breathing), digestive system, on energy expenditure as well as on urination.
This aspect of caffeine has also enabled caffeine to contribute to the remedial actions of ailments and diseases.
Nevertheless, this feature of caffeine also makes it possible for the chemical substance to demonstrate its poisonous consequences all over the body. In extreme cases, ingestion of caffeine can also prove to be fatal.
The two primary aspects of cardiovascular function include maintaining the blood pressure as it passes through the arteries as well as sustaining a normal heart beat (the rate at which the heart pumps blood).
Of these, blood pressure is of greater worry as high blood pressure or hypertension is a sign of stress on the heart and the blood vessel and is caused by some type of stumbling block somewhere in the circulatory system.
Hence, any thing that results in high blood pressure or helps to deteriorate the condition may prove to be precarious.
The blood pressure of an individual is basically dependent on two things at any given period of time. While the first aspect is the flow of blood from the heart, the second entails any kind of opposition of the circulatory system to the blood flow.
To some extent the amount of blood flowing out of the heart depends on the heart beat or the pace of the heart pumping blood.
In situations when the resistance to the flow of blood as well as the volume of blood pumped by the heart and flowing through the circulatory system at every heart beat is unvarying, the blood pressure and the rate of heart beat increase and decrease concurrently.
Consumption of substances containing caffeine generally enhances the heart rate, but the variation is usually little and not very important from the point of statistics.
However, during a number of researchers scientists observed that the heart rate dropped following the administration of caffeine.
Some other researches on the subject have demonstrated that when an individual is administered caffeine, the heart rate drops slightly in the beginning and then rises.
In some studies, it was found that administration of caffeine enhanced the rate of breathing by intensifying the feeling of the section of the brain that reacts to the concentration of carbon dioxide present in the blood.
In fact, caffeine has the aptitude to augment the depth of breathing by making the action of the diaphragm, the main muscle responsible for inhaling and exhaling, stronger.
According to the findings of one study, caffeine may be beneficial for persons suffering from lung ailments, especially breathlessness.
On the other hand, people who desire to lose surplus weight may be interested in the short-term consequences of using caffeine on the energy expenditure by the body.
It has been found that when caffeine is consumed along with any food, it enhances the pace of converting the food into utilizable energy.
On the other hand, if caffeine is ingested or administered between meals, it results in the fats to be relocated from the accumulations in the cells to the bloodstream.
Hence, the fats are now converted into free fatty acids; it is now possible for most organs of the body to utilize them as energy.
In addition to the above mentioned characteristics of caffeine, this chemical compound also has the ability to boost the intensity of the body's activity.
This, in fact, denotes that the energy obtained from foods is spent in exercise instead of storing it up as fat in the cells and, thereby result in unwanted weight gain.
Apart from this, caffeine also invigorates the different hubs in the body that control the temperature resulting to increased body temperatures when the chemical compound is administered.
In order to maintain this change in body temperature, the body uses energy, which would have been stored as fats otherwise. Hence, even when the body is at rest, considerable amount of food is burnt to release energy.
It may be noted that most non-prescription dietary supplements contain caffeine as a common element.
Such non-prescription dietary aids are occasionally also known as appetite suppressants. Nevertheless, so far there is no support or proof to the claim that caffeine works to decrease the hunger for food.
Notwithstanding the noticeable connection between the consequences of caffeine and weight loss and the fact that administration of caffeine to animals on a regular basis has demonstrated remarkable weight loss in them, thus far, it could not be ascertained if using caffeine on a long-term basis actually helps in losing weight in humans.
Meanwhile, even if caffeine is found to be useful in losing unwanted weight, one should consider the other side effects of this chemical compound before using caffeine for this purpose.
It has been noticed that often the adverse side effects of a drug makes it unwelcome as well as hazardous. Moreover, for a weight loss program to be useful and result in permanent effects, it needs to be accompanied with regular exercises and changes in diet and lifestyle of people desiring weight loss.
Several researches have confirmed that consumption of coffee enhances the release of acids in the stomach. However, it is believed that this action is caused by other elements present in coffee and the effect is not owing to caffeine.
While it is true that caffeine invigorates the secretion of acids in the stomach, it is also true that this chemical compound diminishes the peristaltic (the wavelike muscular contractions of the alimentary canal) activities of the stomach.
This action of the stomach is critical keeping in view the fact that it helps to empty the stomach by passing on its contents to the small intestine. Interestingly enough, while caffeine inhibits the movement of substances through the small intestine, it paces up the movement of materials through the large intestine.
Apart from these actions of caffeine on the digestive system, it has been established that tea and coffee, both containing substantial amounts of this chemical compound, actually lowers the absorption of particular nourishments, especially the essential mineral iron, by the body.
While it is yet to be ascertain which precise chemicals actually slow down the absorption of iron by the body, it is believed that caffeine, the tannins and other elements present in tea are most possibly responsible for this. Ingestion of caffeine has another major disadvantage.
It is well known that caffeine augments urination by approximately 30 per cent for around three hours from ingesting the chemical compound, but many people are unaware of is the fact that considerable amounts of valuable minerals, such as calcium, magnesium and sodium, are eliminated from the body along with increased urination caused by caffeine.
Although the body's mechanism builds up some kind of tolerance against such excretion of important minerals with urine, in many cases this could lead to a dearth of these essential minerals in the body.
The pharmaceutical companies often incorporate caffeine as an ingredient in the prescription as well as non-prescription drugs for treatment of headache and in analgesics (pain killers).
However, the amount of caffeine contained in these medications is very insignificant compared to the amount of the chemical compound present in an usual cup of coffee.
It is interesting to note that today people are unaware why exactly caffeine was initially incorporated in analgesic medications, such as acetaminophen and aspirin.
Many people are of the view that caffeine was included in these drugs with a view to neutralize the potential depressant upshots of these medications.
According to another theory, caffeine could also have been included as an ingredient in these drugs since it is particularly useful as an antidote for headaches due to the withdrawal effects of caffeine.
Another medical use of caffeine is aiding fertility, especially among men. According to several researches, one of the main reasons of sterility is that sperms are often not sufficiently mobile to reach the egg in the uterus and be able to fertilize it.
A number of studies conducted on mammals other than humans have shown that when caffeine is added to the semen, it enhances the mobility of the sperm and thereby boosts fertility.
In fact, some studies conducted on humans have also demonstrated that caffeine aids in the mobility of the sperm, and, according to one research, the chemical compound also augments fertility.
Some studies conducted on women have shown that if caffeine is artificially added to semen before insemination by their sterile or infertile partners, their prospects of becoming pregnant increase a manifold.
Nevertheless, the problem in achieving this effect is that it requires very high concentration of caffeine, around 1,500 mg/ liter, which is three times more than the concentration of caffeine present in an usual cup of coffee that contains 436 mg/ liter of caffeine.
In fact, the potential adverse effects of using such high concentration of caffeine are yet to be ascertained.
At times accidental deaths owing to overdose of caffeine ingestion have been reported. Most of these deaths have been caused due to inadvertent administration of excessive caffeine either by injection or by tablet.
Some times incidents of suicide owing to the use of tablets containing caffeine have also been reported. In fact, the minimum dosage of caffeine that has led to death in an adult is known to be 3,200 mg of the drug that was mistakenly administered by a nurse intravenously thinking that the syringe contained some other drug.
Actually, caffeine related deaths have been reported among children too. Such unfortunate children were mostly victims of overdose of caffeine when they took pills containing caffeine for weight control, wake-up or some other purposes.
The severe lethal dosage of caffeine when the drug is taken orally is said to be a minimum of 5,000 mg of the drug, which is equal to 40 strong cups of coffee drunk within a very short span.
Hence, the fear of death owing to an excessive bout of drinking coffee is very doubtful. In addition, when caffeine is taken in excessive dosages, it results in vomiting and this, in turn, would prevent a person from drinking more coffee or tea that may actually result in untimely death.
While the precise reason of death owing to caffeine toxicities is yet to be ascertained, it has been often found that usually the poisonous consequences of any drug are associated with the effects of the drug when administered in lesser measures.
Patients who were administered caffeine dosage of 1,000 mg experienced an extensive range of side effects. Some of the side effects experienced by such patients are as follows:
If the side effects owing to the administration of excessive dosages of caffeine are allowed to persist for long, they may even result in death.
Several physicians have observed that poisoning by caffeine is akin to the condition that may take place when people suffering from diabetes don't take insulin or when the insulin administered to them is unsuccessful in controlling the intensity of fat and glucose in their bloodstream. In fact, these are among the most common causes of death among people suffering from diabetes.
