Caffeine inspires creativity

Many talented artists in history have amazing coffee drinking habits. Balzac is said to drink 20 cups of coffee a day and Voltaire has more than 40 cups of coffee. What exactly does coffee or caffeine have to do with their immortal works?

Studies have shown that consuming too much caffeine may be more likely to cause hallucinations. And hallucinations are part of creativity to some extent. People with high caffeine intake refer to those who consume the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee a day. Compared with "decaffeinated people" who consumed less than one cup of coffee a day, they were three times more likely to hallucinate.

The study, jointly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Medical Research Council, asked hundreds of artists the usual amount of caffeinated products consumed, such as coffee, tea, energy drinks, chocolate bars and caffeine tablets. Their tendency to hallucinate and their stress levels were also assessed. Some participants said they saw things that were not stored, hallucinated or felt supernatural.

The researchers believe that caffeine can aggravate the physiological effects of mental stress. When a person suffers from mental stress, the body secretes a hormone called cortisol. This hormone is secreted more soon after caffeine intake. Scientists believe that it is the extra cortisol produced by caffeine that increases the chances of hallucinations.

The study further shows a link between hallucination and caffeine intake in artists. But it can also be explained that artists who are more prone to hallucinations are using caffeine to deal with hallucinations. More research is needed to determine whether caffeine or organized nutritional intake affects these stress hallucinations. "

Tips:

Hallucination doesn't mean you have mental illness. Most people have a brief experience of hearing a voice when no one is there, and about 3% of people hear it regularly. Many people cope well and lead a normal life. It even promotes artistic creation.