Psychological Dependence On Caffeine

Video: Psychological Dependence On Caffeine

Video: Psychological Dependence On Caffeine
Video: Caffeine Dependence 2024, September
Psychological Dependence On Caffeine
Psychological Dependence On Caffeine
Anonim

Many of us cannot imagine a morning without a cup of coffee or strong tea, providing a surge of vitality and energy. And if for some reason you have to give up the drink, drowsiness and apathy as symptoms of withdrawal may also be accompanied by severe headaches, which cause maximum discomfort during the working day.

This is because caffeine affects the chemical composition of the brain by preventing it from functioning properly.

Caffeine is a powerful herbal psychostimulant. As early as the 1970s, scientists discovered its ability to improve performance during aerobic exercise. Since then, this substance has been the subject of dozens, if not hundreds of scientific studies. Some of them claim the absolute benefits of caffeine and attribute it to almost miraculous properties, others warn of the dangers of caffeine. It is hardly possible to put an end to this issue, which is why we propose to assess the pros and cons presented in various studies on caffeine.

In an interview with Medical Daily, Hank Green, one of the authors of the SciShow channel, explains that caffeine acts in our body by binding to the molecule adenosine, a nucleoside that plays an important role in stimulating sleep and suppressing vitality. This molecule is distributed throughout the body, but in the brain it regulates the "behavior" of neurotransmitters, affecting when and how much we want to sleep.

Caffeine
Caffeine

Caffeine molecules are similar in structure to adenosine molecules, which is why caffeine has the ability to bind to adenosine and block its basic functions. But despite the fact that we no longer want to sleep after drinking a cup of coffee, the stimulation of neurotransmitters in the brain still continues. That is why we feel a slight tension after caffeine consumption.

Some studies show that daily caffeine intake causes our brain cells to produce more adenosine receptors to compensate for blockage and maintain normal brain activity. If there is no coffee in the diet, then the additional adenosine receptors make us feel weak, even when we wake up and objectively we have not yet had time to get tired.

Other studies show that caffeine withdrawal is a psychological rather than a biochemical phenomenon. For example, if we know that stopping caffeine leads to headaches, they will certainly happen because waiting causes a reaction. This, in particular, is evidenced by a 2004 study in the journal Psychopharmacology, in which scientists analyzed more than 50 articles in the medical literature on the subject.

Are you thinking of giving up coffee but can't decide? This can be easier than it seems. The main thing - the desire to "restart" the body and improve health in the long run.

Forget about caffeine dependence!! You don't really need caffeine. Coffee mania is part of the office culture. Going for coffee with colleagues or going to the cafe for the desired cup with a lid is the daily ritual of most office workers.

At the Cafe
At the Cafe

In one study conducted at the University of Melbourne, caffeine is called the most commonly used mentally active drug and notes that speeding can cause noise in the head.

Let's start from afar. In our body there is a complex system of interactions of neurons with each other. This interaction takes place, as you probably know, at the expense of the processes of neurons: axons (transmitting the signal) and dendrites (receiving the signal).

At the point of contact of two neurons is the so-called synapse. The nerve impulse reaching the terminal excites it and the neurotransmitter standing in the synaptic cleft activates the receptors and they, in turn, either transmit a signal or cause the effect on the spot.

Many of the effects of drugs are due to their effect on the synapse in one of the stages of signal transmission.

The action of caffeine is achieved by blocking purinergic A1 receptors. These same receptors, as a rule, perform an inhibitory function, therefore, by blocking them, caffeine activates quite a variety of processes.

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