When I went to college and later medical school, I learned to drink coffee. I didn’t especially like it at first, but it did seem to give me an energy boost that got me through the long hours of study necessary in my profession. I started out using milk and sugar, but eventually graduated to just black coffee, the stronger the better. I certainly felt like I needed that caffeine boost to get me through the long days and nights of medical training.
But now there is some evidence that caffeine may actually drain us of energy! Flora Zhao and Zena le Roux, writing in The Epoch Times, report on new information in the medical literature about caffeine. They say, “Every morning, most Americans reach for that steaming cup of coffee, believing it is their lifeline to alertness and productivity. However, the daily caffeine fix is more of a clever illusion than a genuine energy booster. When you drink coffee, you are actually borrowing energy from your body’s future reserves.”
“Caffeine is generally a brain stimulant,” said Edward Giovannucci, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In its pure form, this purine alkaloid appears as a bitter, white powder. Besides coffee beans, caffeine is found in more than 60 plants around the world, including tea leaves, guarana berries, and cacao beans. Caffeine counteracts a molecule in the body called adenosine, which makes us sleepy, Giovannucci told The Epoch Times.
Adenosine levels in the brain are low when we wake up but gradually accumulate throughout the day. As adenosine increasingly binds to its receptors, it signals the brain that rest is needed, causing us to feel drowsy. During sleep, adenosine is cleared, and this cycle repeats. Insufficient sleep leads to a buildup of adenosine and increased receptor sensitivity, which explains the grogginess and sluggishness often experienced after a restless night.
Caffeine has a structure similar to adenosine, allowing it to block adenosine from binding to its receptors and take its place. This prevents the brain from receiving drowsiness signals, effectively muting the tiredness noise.
Adenosine not only signals drowsiness, but also suppresses brain cell activity. When caffeine blocks adenosine, it indirectly stimulates the central nervous system. It triggers the release of various biochemicals—including dopamine, glutamate, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol—resulting in enhanced alertness, mood, and cognitive function.
A 2020 meta-analysis involving multiple studies indicated that caffeine intake can somewhat enhance cognitive, work, and driving performance in sleep-deprived individuals. The feeling of an energy boost from drinking coffee is real, Cindy Chan Phillips, a registered dietitian, told The Epoch Times.
Borrowed Energy
The energy boost caffeine provides is fundamentally the result of reduced fatigue signals rather than a direct increase in energy levels, Mary Curristin, a nutritionist and health coach at ART Health Solutions, told The Epoch Times. Food provides energy, but caffeine does not. A cup of black coffee contains fewer than five calories, and the energy it provides is essentially borrowed from the body.
Caffeine keeps you alert by blocking adenosine, but “it is temporary,“ said Melissa Ann Prest, a registered dietitian with a doctorate in clinical nutrition from Rutgers University. Rather than eliminating the adenosine that causes fatigue, caffeine merely masks its presence in the body for a short time. Once the effects of caffeine wear off, the accumulated adenosine floods the body with drowsiness signals, a phenomenon often referred to as ”caffeine crash.”
“Caffeine does not ‘give’ you energy; it borrows from your future energy reserves and thus is a drain on the body,” Dr. Rachel Carlton Abrams, a family practice physician who is also board-certified in holistic medicine, wrote in her book “BodyWise.” Overreliance on caffeine is “not sustainable” without proper nutrition, sufficient rest, and general good health, Curristin said.
In summary, caffeine does make it possible for you to stay awake and perform tasks as needed longer than you might without it. But your body pays the price for this “’borrowed energy” leading to the “caffeine crash” we have all experienced.
And one more important point. Caffeine usage leads to dehydration which can cause kidney stones! As one who has experienced the agony of kidney stones, I don’t recommend caffeine!
