Things you need to pay attention to when drinking coffee to cheer you up

Scientists dispute the role of caffeine, but a new British study has found that coffee drinkers do not become more alert than non-drinkers, and that drinking coffee regularly can lead to drug dependence, the Daily Mail reported. If coffee wakes you up, it's a sign that you're addicted, and you need to stop drinking coffee.

Millions of people choose coffee or tea every morning, which is said to refresh and focus their minds. However, the Daily Mail reports that a new study shows that these drinks are not as powerful as sobering. In fact, the practice relies on caffeine to eliminate fatigue, mental fatigue and headaches, such as "caffeine addiction" symptoms, experts say, always drinking coffee and tea is actually a manifestation of drug addiction.

"People who consume caffeine regularly end up dependent on it, and if you keep them away from caffeine, their performance will be lower than normal." Peter Rogers, professor of biopsychology at Bristol University and a leading expert on caffeine, said: "Their behaviour would not have been sustainable without the help of this drug. If it's your first cup of tea or coffee of the day, it does get you back to normal, but if it's more, you don't get any more stimulation."

Professor Rogers has been studying coffee and its effects for more than 20 years, and he and the rest of his research team have given up caffeine. "Overall, caffeine didn't particularly help. It triggers caffeine withdrawal symptoms and increases blood pressure, which are not good. I sometimes feel like the biggest impact of my research is in my unit, where four or five of my colleagues have given up caffeine and we all drink decaf."

Dependence on coffee has the opposite effect. It has no refreshing effect.

The idea that caffeine doesn't activate the brain may sound fanciful, but that's what Professor Rogers found. In one pivotal study, about 300 volunteers were assigned to moderate or low caffeine intakes, who were given 16 hours without coffee, and then randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or coffee. The results were interesting. Although the regular coffee drinkers had improved spirits after drinking coffee, their alertness levels were consistent with those of the placebo group. This means that drinking coffee doesn't make you any more awake than not drinking coffee. The study was published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

Another study of 300 volunteers by Professor Rogers showed that drinking coffee did not make you more alert, focused or responsive, but only kept you awake. "I drank coffee and drove across Europe knowing it would keep me awake. But if I'm writing a scientific paper late at night, coffee doesn't keep me focused or alert."

Caffeine blocks the action of a chemical in the brain called adenosine. Normally adenosine slows the body down, but caffeine prevents the chemical from reaching cells, which is equivalent to an accelerating car without brakes. But once a few hours have passed, when caffeine withdrawal kicks in, people develop flu-like symptoms. Due to the continuous impact of large amounts of adenosine on the body, people feel tired and many even have headaches. Professor Rogers explained that this is because caffeine narrows blood vessels in the brain, so when you stop drinking coffee, blood flow increases, causing headaches.

Professor Rogers said: "Sometimes when I drink coffee for a few days, once I don't drink it, I feel uncomfortable and I feel like I have a cold. But then I realized that this is what we call caffeine withdrawal."

Coffee can still drink antioxidants to balance caffeine damage

In addition to drug dependence, are caffeine's other effects beneficial or harmful to health? Opinions vary. This week, there may be one report that caffeine is good for you, and another that it is bad for you. Experts have the opposite view.

"Caffeine raises blood pressure. It's a well-established, reliable idea." Professor Jack James, a psychologist at Reykjavik University in Iceland, said: "Although the numerical increase in blood pressure is insignificant, if caffeine is consumed continuously throughout life, the clinical impact may be significant." I think caffeine intake will also be considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in the future."

In another paper in the Journal of Caffeine Research, Professor James found that regular caffeine intake increased the likelihood of premature death from coronary heart disease by 14 percent and death from stroke by 20 percent.

A few weeks ago, Austrian scientists reported that chlorogenic acid, a chemical in coffee, increases the risk of diabetes and even causes the body to store excess fat. The study was published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. When researchers injected mice with chlorogenic acid, the equivalent of five or six cups of coffee a day, the mice became unable to control blood sugar, became insulin-resistant and had difficulty losing weight.

Other studies have shown that drinking coffee and tea regularly reduces the risk of stroke and heart disease, and prevents neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. In fact, Harvard researchers did a large study, published in the journal Circulation, analyzing the results of five studies involving 140,000 people and demonstrating that moderate amounts of coffee (four cups a day) can reduce the risk of heart failure.

"This paper adds to the growing body of research showing coffee is beneficial." said Dr Elizabeth Mostofsky, a postdoctoral candidate. Coffee drinking can also reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and some cancers, however, as with any diet, moderate intake is key. Dr. Mostovsky said drinking 10 cups of coffee a day "could be harmful." In addition, her earlier research showed that a brief spike in blood pressure after coffee drinking may increase the risk of stroke, while tea drinking did not.

Professor Rogers pointed out that the benefits of coffee and tea actually come from the antioxidants in them, which can reduce the body's inflammatory response. Inflammation is believed to be a key factor in many diseases, including stroke, cardiovascular disease and cancer, and antioxidants in tea and coffee can reduce the risk of these diseases. As a result, Professor Rogers will drink decaffeinated tea and coffee daily, about five cups of tea and one cup of coffee a day.

But Professor Rogers cautions that other caffeine-based energy drinks do not have similar effects, and that the increasing availability of caffeine products will only increase people's dependence. "Compounds in tea and coffee have beneficial health effects, but other beverages, such as energy drinks, do not have this natural compound to balance the negative effects of caffeine."