Caffeine Withdrawal

Bad news, coffee drinkers: your morning joe may not be having the wonderful effects you think it does. And if you're a heavy consumer, it gets even worse. A recent paper in Neuropsychopharmacology looks at the effects of caffeine (approximately equivalent to 2 cups in the morning) on non-, moderate- or high-caffeine consumers. From the abstract:

With frequent consumption, substantial tolerance develops to the anxiogenic effect of caffeine, even in genetically susceptible individuals, but no net benefit for alertness is gained, as caffeine abstinence reduces alertness and consumption merely returns it to baseline.

The data showed that after a night of abstinence - participants were instructed to consume no caffeine after 7pm the previous evening - heavy caffeine consumers (on average ~350mg per day) showed no benefit to alertness from caffeine, but rather a precipitous decline in alertness when given placebo, compared to light- or non-consumers. They also reported a large increase in headaches when deprived of caffeine. How bad were they? Almost 4% of the group withdrew from the study due to headaches and feeling sick. This all suggests that rather than actually improving alertness in heavy consumers, the morning coffee ritual merely mitigates withdrawal effects, returning them to 'baseline'.

Surprisingly, in low- or non-consumers caffeine showed no difference in alertness, compared to placebo, but did result in increased anxiety and slight increase in headaches. The authors suggest this is due to discrepancies between this and earlier studies. Previous research on the effects of caffeine on alertness seems to have relied mostly on self-reported caffeine consumption. In this case, reporting was validated and compliance enforced based on saliva levels of caffeine and its metabolites.

The authors also identified a genetic component involved in modulating the anxiety effects of caffeine. A SNP in the adenosine A_2a gene (ADORA2A) "showed greater susceptibility to caffeine-induced anxiety", and while people of that particular genotype habitually consumed more caffeine on average, the effects on anxiety were only observed in the low end consumers. Moderate to high consumers seemed to be tolerized to the effects.

It's also worth pointing out that 90% of the population from which participants were drawn (adults living in Bristol, UK) fall into the moderate to high caffeine consumption category (>40mg/day). If that's representative of western society, then most of us are sub-optimal without our morning hit. It also explains the widespread notion that coffee improves alertness: it does, but only because we're suffering without it.

Why Does Coffee Make You Pee?

How diuretic is caffeine? Does your morning coffee make you pee more that a decaf would? What about green tea or cola? Scicurious has the answers in her latest Friday Weird Science.

Redbull-vodka: deadly myth?

As you can see there is no shortage of drinks in vending machines in Japan, but the one thing you cannot find here is energy drinks. Sure they have about 20 varieties of canned cold coffee (which is great), a sports drink called "sweat", a drink called Meg-milk which doesn't even contain milk, or meg for that matter, but the one thing you wont find is a redbull. Where am I supposed to get my energy?

Caffeine:
If you look at the ingredients in redbull you'll find it's mostly a glorified coffee. It has sugar, and caffeine, but with only 80mg, it pales in comparison to a starbucks grande coffee which has 372mg. You can find caffeine in just about any drink, and don't be fooled, theine, guaranine, and matteine are just caffeine by another name, referring to the source (over 60 plants), rather than the chemical. You can compare here different varieties of soft drinks and energy drinks for their caffeine content.

Vitamins:
Other than caffeine, redbull has a few vitamin Bs (B3, B5, B6, B12), I suppose deficiencies in these vitamins can lead to fatigue, but such deficiencies are extremely rare in our western societies since they are very abundant (or supplemented) in most foods, especially dairies.

Inositol:
It also contains inositol, for your PIP signaling needs. Inositol is very useful for drug dealers that use it to cut cocaine and crytal meth, since it has the same appearance, same melting point and no taste or smell. Inositol may also be effective against bulimia, bipolar disorders, panic attacks, obsessive compulsive behaviour and even polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Yet there is little evidence to support any energy-boosting properties. Inositol can counter-act the serotonin effects of lithium in rat models, so it may even be doing the exact oppposite.

Taurines:
Taurine (1000mg) and its precursor, glucuronolactone are supposed to be the main active ingredients. Taurine is actually an amino acid, and part of the cysteine metabolism. It is present in every living organism, but was originally isolated in ox bile, hence the name. You may also find taurine and creatinine in body building supplements, and both are about as ineffective at reducing muscle fatigue. To be fair it may increase muscular ouput, if it is in limiting quantities .Another place where you might find it is in contact lens solution, where it supposedly inhibits protein denaturation and prevents them from sticking to the lens. Most animals can metabolize their own taurine, although there is a rare condition in humans where they cannot produce taurine nor cysteine, which explains why it is added to infant formula as a precaution. Cats also lack this enzyme and will develop blindness (central retinal degeneration) if it is not supplemented in their diet. Taurine may also reduce blood pressure and be helpful in combating the manic portion of bipolar disorders, both of which argue against energy boosting properties.

Conclusion: So what does science have to say about Reb bull?

Intake of Energy Drinks in Association With Alcoholic Beverages in a Cohort of Students of the School of Medicine of the University of Messina.
"Our data indicate that association of ED (energy drinks) + alcohol is very popular among students. This behavior can be dangerous. In fact, the combination of ED + alcoholic drinks can reduce adversive symptoms of alcohol intoxication including the depressant effects. As consequence, users of ED + alcoholic beverages might not feel the signs of alcohol intoxication, thus increasing the probability of accidents and/or favoring the possibility of development of alcohol dependence."

Talk about overstating results, puleaaase, all they found was that 56.9% of students used rebull, and of those 48.4% often mix it with alcohol. There is no indication that they drink more or are less likely to drive. In my experience the only difference is that I am less sleepy. Is this the only adverse effect of mixing those two?

Most studies seem to imply that it's better to feel drunk and suffer the side effects of alcohol. How bizarre, why would this turn me away from the mix? It seems all good to me:

"the ingestion of alcohol plus energy drink significantly reduced subjects' perception of headache, weakness, dry mouth, and impairment of motor coordination. However, the ingestion of the energy drink did not significantly reduce the deficits caused by alcohol on objective motor coordination and visual reaction time."

And it also helps against drowziness while driving (hopefully not drunk), stimulates cognitive performance and mood, may help for exams, although it doesn't help with memory or performance. There is even some potential in taurine derivatives to help combat alcoholism. So I find very little evidence to support the urban legend that alcohol + redbull is dangerous, or why it is banned in many countries.

Only YOU can prevent triple shotgun murders

Everybody knows the lifeblood of a graduate student is caffeine, but it's a delicate art maintaining a fine balance between productive caffeine levels and unproductive frequent bathroom breaks resulting from over consumption of coffee and Coca-cola. Now it's possible to get that buzz and the associated benefits without having to fight off PIs for the last drips from the pot. Get your fix in the shower, while encouraging the growth of a luxurious head of hair, with caffeinated soap. Better yet, a South Carolina scientist has figured out a way to bake caffeine into pastries without the associated bitter taste. Imagine if your morning routine was a double threat of a large double-double and a caffeine laden donut. So grab a buzzed bagel before hitting the gym to load up on carbs, keep you alert and ward off that post-workout muscle soreness.