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Caffeine: How it Affects Our Body

Many people drink their coffee in the morning not only because it tastes good, but also because of the stimulating effect. This comes from the caffeine. Here we explain exactly what causes this substance in the body and what advantages and disadvantages it has.

What is caffeine?

People like to consume caffeine because it wakes you up and keeps you awake and can help you overcome minor performance dips. It has already been proven that this is not imagination, but true: caffeine stimulates almost the entire body. It is an alkaloid and is one of the psychoactive substances. As a natural ingredient, caffeine (also caffeine) is contained in coffee beans, tea leaves, mate trees, kola nuts and guaraná berries. There are also numerous energy drinks that contain caffeine.

Nowadays, however, caffeine can also be easily produced synthetically. The caffeine tastes bitter, but is otherwise a colorless and odorless powder. The chemical name is 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine (molecular formula: C8H10N4O2) – admittedly a somewhat unwieldy name. There are many different terms for caffeine (which are more common than the chemical name) such as caffeine, theine, guaranine, methyl theobromine or trimethyl xanthine. What is meant here is always the same substance.

Who Discovered Caffeine?

One name you probably don’t associate directly with caffeine is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. But the famous poet had a decisive part in the discovery of the substance. Whenever the famous poet had a cup of coffee, like so many others, he felt more awake and energized. He wondered what substance in coffee was responsible for this effect. So he gave the young chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge the impetus to get to the bottom of the cause. After numerous attempts and experiments, Runge finally succeeded in isolating caffeine from coffee beans around 1820.

How does caffeine affect our body?

Caffeine is a psychotropic substance. The human psyche is influenced by this and can raise and lower a person’s state of mind. How much caffeine affects the human body also depends on the amount ingested. Every day, people in Germany consume an average of 200 mg of caffeine – that corresponds to around one to two cups (200 ml) of filter coffee. It takes between 30 and 45 minutes for the caffeine to get into the bloodstream and take effect. It reaches the entire body via the blood and is excreted again after about four hours.

Where is caffeine in?

No surprise: coffee beans contain caffeine. However, the caffeine content varies depending on the type of bean. Because caffeine is heat stable, the roasting process does not affect the caffeine content of the beans. In addition to coffee beans, caffeine is also found in more than 60 other plants, for example in the tea bush, the guaranà plant, the mate tree or the kola nut.

In addition to coffee, other drinks also shine with their caffeine content. The classic pioneering role is taken by the energy drink. This also contains other stimulants such as glucuronolactone, taurine and more. Black and green tea, for example, have a caffeine content of 3 to 3.5 percent. But other drinks and foods such as cola, cocoa or chocolate also contain caffeine in harmless amounts

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Diet Affects Cataracts

Cataracts are one of the most common causes of visual impairment and blindness worldwide. However, the clouding process of the lens can be counteracted with a diet rich in vitamin C. This is what current study results from London suggest and give those affected by the eye disease hope.

Cataract eye disease

Cataracts are one of the most common causes of visual impairment and blindness worldwide. With this eye disease, the lens of the eye, which is actually clear, becomes cloudy, which means that vision deteriorates. Blurred contours and contrasts, increased glare from light, or double vision can be possible symptoms of cataracts.

There is no medication therapy. So far, only an operation in which an artificial lens is used can help cataract patients. But now the latest study results are giving hope to those affected: According to this, a diet rich in vitamin C can counteract the persistent clouding of the lens of the eye.

Diet affects cataracts

Researchers from King’s College in London investigated the connection between a vitamin C-rich diet and the risk of progressive clouding of the eye lens in cataracts. For this purpose, the scientists evaluated data from a period of around ten years, which was recorded on the basis of 324 pairs of female twins.

The subjects noted their personal eating habits, including the intake of dietary supplements, in a questionnaire and also regularly took part in eye tests. The results sound promising: The risk of progressive clouding of the lens is therefore around 33 percent lower if attention is paid to a lot of vitamin C in the choice of food.

In addition, only about a third of cataract severity and progression is due to genetic factors. At around 60 percent, environmental conditions, age, and lifestyle are significantly more important, according to the medical journal “Ophthalmology”.

Scientists assume that vitamin C, which is mainly found in berries, citrus fruits, broccoli, or peppers, accumulates in the eye fluid and can thus reduce oxidative stress. According to the researchers, aggressive oxygen radicals that could otherwise lead to clouding of the eye lens would be intercepted.

It is not yet clear whether the study can also be applied to men, people from other cultures, or younger people. All information about the study and the results in detail can be found here.

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