Caffeine is natural substance that is rich in coffee, tea, chocolate, and cocoa related products. It is the most widely used in our daily food and beverage consumption. While it appears not to attract high attention from its consumers, caffeine has a big deal of surprising benefits to people’s health and lifestyle.
Health benefits of caffeine consumption
Have you ever wondered why people like to drink coffee in the morning? For most of us, morning is the most important time of the working day. We need to stay focused and attentive. Highly caffeinated coffee provides us with energy. The caffeine in coffee, according to a research, helps increase alertness, enhance attention and reduce the perception of fatigue. (Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology, 2nd edition).
There are other benefits of caffeine consumption as discovered by some scientific researches.
Caffeine helps increase memory. A new study of Johns Hopkins University published by the journal Nature Neurosciene showed that caffeine pill helped boost memory consolidation. The research was conducted with two groups of people who do not drink coffee or tea. One group was blindly taken 200mg pills that contains caffeine and the other group was not. In the next day, they were asked to describe the pictures they saw the day before. The group which took the pills always remember better than the other group.
Caffeine enhances your metabolism. Various studies showed that caffeine helps increase your body’s energy expenditure and then burn fat. The intake of 200gr of caffeine can increase your metabolic rate by 7% in three hours. It also explains why caffeine is added to the weight loss supplements you can find in the drug stores. In some studies, the researchers declared that regular caffeine intake could result in burning an extra 80 kcals to 150 kcals per day.
Caffeine increases stamina during exercise. According to Journal of Applied Physiology, a study conducted on a group of athletes who consumed both caffeine and carbohydrates and the other group who digested carbohydrates without caffeine following an exhaustive exercise. The caffeine and carbohydrate athletes had 66% more glycogen in their muscles than the other athletes who just ingested carbohydrate alone post workout.
One interesting study showed that caffeine consuming men had more semen volume and significantly less sperm DNA fragmentation than non-caffeine consuming men. It is good news for all of us. The research which was conducted by The University of Texas Medical School proved that the men who consume an amount of 300 mg of caffeine per day have a much lower risk of developing ED (erectile dysfunction). Reduced risk was even observed among men consuming as little as less than 100 mg of caffeine per day.
Caffeine Reduces Kidney Stone Risk. One study published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicated that caffeine intake has been associated with a lower risk of kidney stones (Nephrolithiasis). The research showed that those who consumed caffeine from any source had less kidney stone formation than those that did not consume caffeine. The researchers believe that caffeine makes urine more diluted that provides with a better working condition for human kidneys. It appears that caffeine has a protective effect on the progression of the disease. Another study (2018) also confirmed that caffeine consumption reduces the mortality rate for the patients living with kidney disease.
A recent study conducted by the Australian Department of Defense found that caffeine consumption improves driving performance and reduces driver error. There were two large groups of military drivers who did not take sleep for 50 hours to participate in the research. The group who was taken caffeinated gum (link to caffeinated gum amazon) proved that they made much less mistake than the group who was given placebo gum (no caffeinated). The research concludes that caffeine reduces driving errors.
According to an article on neurology.org, caffeine may protect against Parkinson’s disease. The article published in May 2015 confirmed that a cup of coffee a day may help keep Parkinson’s disease away. A research conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital discovered the link between caffeine consumption and a decrease risk of Parkinson’s. The results from the study showed that those who consume coffee are at much risk of developing Parkison’s disease and it even reduces the risk of those genetically more likely to develop the condition.
Caffeine is good for the heart. A study out of Germany found that the amount of caffeine typically in 4 cups of coffee daily helps strengthen heart muscle cell function and prolongs the life of heart muscle cells.
Caffeine is an antioxidant. The antioxidant effects of caffeine contribute to the health benefits of coffee and tea, enhancing the effects of their antioxidant polyphenols. Studies have found that people who drank two or more cups of coffee per day were, on average, 14% less likely to die from any cause during the study follow-up periods than those who drank little or no coffee.
What products are rich with caffeine content?
Definitely, coffee and tea are the leading sources of caffeine you can easily find in the daily diet. However, the amount of caffeine inside each type of coffee and tea may varies significantly. Black tea contains much more caffeine than normal tea. Some people may be surprised to know that green and white tea also contain caffeine. For coffee, different types of coffee beans contain different amounts of caffeine inside. Robusta coffee beans have more caffeine than Arabica coffee beans. Decaffeinated coffee does not mean there is no caffeine in it. It still contains a small amount of less than 10mg of caffeine in a cup of decaf coffee compared to 150mg of caffeine in the normal cup of coffee. Caffeine can be found in chocolate and cocoa related products. The darker chocolate, the more caffeine the product contains.
Due to health benefits of caffeine consumption, a large deal of caffeinated supplements are marketed and can be easily found online. For non-food items, caffeinated products are quite popular: shampoo, shaving cream, toothpaste, and even hair styled gel!
Caffeine is a potent substance and widely used in our life. There are science researches that prove the benefits of caffeine consumption to human health. There are also non-food caffeinated products that you can easily find in the market.