If you’re a passionate coffee lover who simply can’t imagine their day to start without a cup of delicious, fragrant coffee – welcome to the club! Here are ten facts you need to know about caffeine, so check them out and learn about the amazing benefits of your favorite hot drink!
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Caffeine doesn’t affect everyone the same way
Even though it sounds a bit strange, the truth is that a human body is likely to process caffeine in a different way based on gender and lifestyle habits. Generally speaking, women process caffeine faster than men, whereas smokers metabolize it twice as quickly as nonsmokers do. Besides that, people who don’t consume caffeine regularly are often more sensitive to its effects than those who do.
It starts working within minutes
Another important thing about caffeine is the fact that it starts working within minutes of consuming. It’s said that it increases alertness in about 10 minutes, whereas it reaches its peak level in the blood in about 30 to 60 minutes. You should also know that your body will eliminate half of it in 3 to 5 hours, whereas the rest of caffeine will remain in your body for 8 to 14 hours.
There usually is caffeine in decaf coffee
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Even though a lot of people put the equals sign between decaf and caffeine-free, you should know that the majority of decaf coffee brands still have caffeine in their roasts. Let us compare a generic cup of regular coffee and a cup of decaffeinated coffee: a cup of regular coffee typically contains between 95 and 200mg of caffeine, whereas a cup of decaf coffee has between 8 and 14mg of it. It isn’t as much, but it isn’t completely caffeine-free either!
Caffeine can speed up the weight-loss process
Drinking at least one cup of coffee a day can actually help you achieve your diet plan, as caffeine can boost your metabolism and blunt your appetite. Some studies suggest that drinking black coffee on an empty stomach can stimulate your nervous system and trigger the fat-burning process. Besides that, potassium and magnesium found in coffee can regulate your blood sugar levels and reduce your food cravings, and that’s beyond helpful when it comes to the process of losing weight.
Dark roasts have less caffeine than light ones
Speaking of dark and light roasts, we must mention that darker ones usually have less caffeine than lighter ones. It’s quite logical when you think about it, as the process of roasting burns off caffeine and therefore results in a less intense cup of coffee. If you’re up for that, go for dark roast coffee and you won’t make a mistake.
Caffeine overdose can be lethal
Yes, we agree that this sounds scary, but the truth is that caffeine overdose can be lethal. We can say that the lethal dose of caffeine in a human is around 150-200mg per kilogram of body weight, which is about 100 cups of coffee in 4 hours. It doesn’t happen that often, but there were reported cases of caffeine overdose back in the past.
The average American consumes about 200mg of coffee per day
Americans love drinking their coffee and this habit has quickly become one of the most popular ones among both younger and older adults. According to the FDS, about 80 per cent of adults in the US consume caffeine on a daily basis, with an individual intake of 200mg. This corresponds to 300ml of coffee per day, which is about 2 regular coffee cups and it can be considered as moderate caffeine consumption.
Its diuretic properties may prevent you from sleeping properly
No matter how much you love your coffee, you must be aware of the fact that it has diuretic properties. This basically means that caffeine will relax your bladder muscles and cause your bladder to feel fuller more frequently, which won’t allow you to sleep properly at night as you’ll have to keep peeing. In order to prevent that, just cut down on your caffeine intake a few hours before bedtime and you’ll be more than fine.
Caffeine may improve your endurance when it comes to physical activity
Another amazing property of caffeine is improving your endurance when it comes to physical activity, which is highly likely to speed up the weight-loss process even more. Only 5mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight will increase fat burning and reduce glucose burning, which will improve your endurance and help you perform better, no matter what kind of physical activity you prefer.
Energy drinks often don’t have as much caffeine as coffee
Last but not least, you should also know that energy drinks usually don’t have as much caffeine as a regular cup of black coffee. For example, a can of Red Bull contains between 76 and 80mg of caffeine, whereas an old-fashioned cup of coffee contains between 95 and 200mg. So, if you’re looking for an extra shot of energy, just go for a cup of coffee instead of an energy drink and you’ll get exactly what you need!
Now that you know how beneficial caffeine can actually be, it’s about time you prepared another cup of coffee and enjoyed its fantastic flavor. It’s the small things that make our lives more beautiful and meaningful, right?
About the author: Peter is a fitness and health writer at The Beard Mag from the UK. Follow Peter on Twitter for more tips.
