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[WASHINGTON (KTNV) - In the right amounts, caffeine can help us stay awake, focus better and lift our mood. But how does it make our brain do all that?

Caffeine is everywhere: From 320 milligrams in a Starbucks cafe grande, about the maximum you should have in a day, to energy drinks and sodas.

But could that daily dose of caffeine be changing your brain? Researchers at Wake Forest in North Carolina put it to the test.

They tested a patient by conducting two MRI brain scans. For the first scan, the patient had no caffeine in their system. Then the patient downed one coffee drink, and had a second MRI.

Dr. Paul Laurient explains the findings, "It's like a 40% drop in the blood flow to your brain. That's a lot."

Why the drop? Caffeine blocks a chemical called Adenosine, which controls blood flow to the brain. Add caffeine, and less blood circulates in the brain, more goes to your muscles, and your blood pressure and heart rate go up. So if you skip your regular coffee, that surging blood can trigger that infamous caffeine headache.

"It's like trying to get a fire hose to pump blood through your skull," says Dr. Laurient.

If you're a caffeine lover, your brain has actually changed. It now functions normally on caffeine.

The good news experts say, for healthy adults, a few cups a day isn't dangerous. But keep in mind, a little caffeine can do a lot.]
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I found this interesting..a 40% drop in blood volume in a brain after 1 cup of coffee..seems like a lot to me.

What I'd like to know is, does this blood volume stay that low all day from that 1 cup of coffee (or other caffeine source) and if not how long it takes to get it back to 'normal'.

I have to admit that I went back to 1 cup of coffee in the mornings for some time now, but I'm going to experiment now and have my peppermint herbal tea instead and see if I get the dreaded withdrawal headaches and if I do how long they last. I figure about a week if I remember from other times I quit coffee.

The report also says caffeine user brains become 'normal' with regular caffeine use. Does that mean they function fine with 40% less brain blood volume or that the brain regulates back to 'normal' blood volume.

This study has opens more questions than answers..but I think it's compelling enough to stop ingesting caffeine.

What do you think? And any more info. on this subject would be appreciated.

Oh..and how much caffeine in raw cocoa? Is there any?

Love,
Prism

Notice that title of the study say "can"

"They tested a patient by conducting two MRI brain scans. For the first scan, the patient had no caffeine in their system. Then the patient downed one coffee drink, and had a second MRI. "

Only one patient? Why did they think it was the caffeine the culprit? Someone could eat a banana and the get the result, duh. I drink coffee daily but when I don't drink, I don't feel anything bad. Also, if you use paper filters, the coffee is much more cholesterol friendly as the filter traps cafestol and kahweol (diterpenes).

There is a book called "Coffee Blues" that details all of the negative effects of coffee.

Panchito, how often do you go without caffeine? I am curious about regular drinkers who don't drink it sometimes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2012 11:04PM by banana who.

I've gone for three days without noticing anything. When I travel I may go for weeks! The coffee is other places is low quality and I would not drink it. I roast my own.

I was never a very regular coffee drinker and have used it on occasion for a pick me up when I absolutely have to do something and am very tired. I can have it one day, 2 days, 3 months in a row and then not again for a day, 2, 3 months without any noticable effects. It makes me shakey, I don't like the feeling.

In high school, I was addicted to coffee. I finally quit cold turkey, slept for 13 hours per night, and became basically narcoleptic for two weeks.

I do rarely indulge in a bit of coffee (maybe I had some four times in the past year?). It tastes quite magnificent blended with coconut flesh and agave... :O I can't have more than an ounce or two.

Otherwise, I feel the emesis. I shake. I panic. I panic HARD.

I find yerba mate worse and much longer lasting.

I've seen other people shake! specially if they don't drink coffee regularly.

For every study of bad-health-news about coffee I could find two of good-health-news but I just won't post them here. It has the good and the bad.

I'm drinking my peppermint tea this morning. It was difficult to not have my coffee but I've quit it before for a few years at a time so I know I can do it if I really want to.

I think that the effect from the caffeine in loss of brain blood volume would stay low and people learn to function in that capacity, because otherwise why would one have withdrawal symptoms like headache that may be caused by the normalizing of the brain blood volume as in dilated blood vessels, etc.?

So does that mean the person that they tested never drank caffeine before and so had normal brain blood volume and what if they tested a caffeine drinker before and after first cup of coffee or caffeine..so I'm still confused about the test itself. They need to give more details or continue doing the study.

Panchito, I looked for that book called Coffee Blues and found Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the Hidden Dangers of America's #1 Drug. So I'm guessing it would be this book. Doing a search on Amazon I found lots of interesting books on coffee and caffeine.

Love,
Prism

I'm at Amazon reading some of the pages on that book Caffeine Blues and it says coffee itself has over 700 volatile compounds not including other contaminants it may harbor like pesticides, mycotoxins, and solvents.

I'm finding the book fascinating enough I may purchase it. It could go with my other book Sugar Blues.

Love,
Prism

Am I allow to post good studies about coffee here (coffee is roasted and not raw)?

Yes, please do. Many people struggle with coffee addiction and would like to read up.

no prob.

here are a few, if you want more let me know

[www.annfammed.org]

[cebp.aacrjournals.org]

an article with some other studies:

[shine.yahoo.com]

Prism Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm drinking my peppermint tea this morning. It
> was difficult to not have my coffee but I've quit
> it before for a few years at a time so I know I
> can do it if I really want to.
>
> I think that the effect from the caffeine in loss
> of brain blood volume would stay low and people
> learn to function in that capacity, because
> otherwise why would one have withdrawal symptoms
> like headache that may be caused by the
> normalizing of the brain blood volume as in
> dilated blood vessels, etc.?
>
> So does that mean the person that they tested
> never drank caffeine before and so had normal
> brain blood volume and what if they tested a
> caffeine drinker before and after first cup of
> coffee or caffeine..so I'm still confused about
> the test itself. They need to give more details or
> continue doing the study.
>
> Panchito, I looked for that book called Coffee
> Blues and found Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the
> Hidden Dangers of America's #1 Drug. So I'm
> guessing it would be this book. Doing a search on
> Amazon I found lots of interesting books on coffee
> and caffeine.

Prism, I was the one who mentioned the book. I am glad you found the proper title. It's wonderful.

I have read something about SMALL amounts of coffee offering some protection against Alzheimer's (not sure by what mechanism?), but even the key with that is SMALL.

It's my job to (ha... ha) get everyone else coffee where I work, and they throw back cups and cups of it. Lots of people drink coffee to such an extreme, there's no way that can be good.

Maybe... an espresso-sized cup of coffee occasionally, never on an empty stomach, seems good for me... 40% is a huge loss of blood. O.O

It's mad how much coffee so many people consume, always weirds me out. That's like taking a bottle of aspirin every time you have a headache. I mean, come on now, talk about over medicating! One small cup of coffee to help start the day, I don't think that's an amazing step on the road to health but it's understandable. Using buckets of it to keep the body highly stimulated all day long? Ooookkaaayyyy.

A knife can be a tool to commit a crime or it can just be a too to peel a mango. It depends on the person using it.

If someone drinks coffee to compensate for a deficiency, then that person is using the coffee maybe with a bad unhealthy intention. The trick would be to fix the deficiency. But if a person drinks a cup of coffee while looking through a window and pondering about the mysteries of the Universe, everything is bliss.

England drinks coffee as a drug. Other European countries use coffee as a social ritual. It depends.

Here's the test for me: can you go for days without it, without thinking about it, craving it, and/or getting a head ache? If so, doing ok IMHO. If not? Probably best avoided entirely.

Could I sit on a closed room for an hour in the morning instead of walking outside? Yeah, I think I would survive! But what would that prove, that I am addicted to walking? Go through the Byron Katie Qs.

Sorry 'bout that BW. Yes, I find the book to have a lot of insight and facts I never new about caffeine.

I also think that 40% blood loss in your brain is a lot. It's frustrating though when a story shows up like that one and is too short on answers. I'm wondering if there are more details to it and were left out of that version.

The fact that the coffee bean plant is the most sprayed plant in the world makes a good case for getting organic.

If anyone can come up with more details to the study mentioned please post it or a link.

This is not about bashing coffee or caffeine just a fun little query into a substance many people imbibe. Coffee affects me greatly and if I were to drink a cup any later than 4 pm..it will keep me up later than usual.

I've been feeling much better lately due to a more stable life, getting more exercise, eating better and with summer I can often go all raw or very high raw. When I came across the caffeine study it gave me renewed motivation to quit my 1 cup habit.

Love,
Prism

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Could I sit on a closed room for an hour in the
> morning instead of walking outside? Yeah, I think
> I would survive! But what would that prove, that I
> am addicted to walking? Go through the Byron Katie
> Qs.


OooooKayyy.
Is there a reason for such defensiveness? Nobody is trying to take away your precious coffee here, drink it all You like.

Coco, ... my point best.

Paul


coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Panchito Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Could I sit on a closed room for an hour in the
> > morning instead of walking outside? Yeah, I
> think
> > I would survive! But what would that prove, that
> I
> > am addicted to walking? Go through the Byron
> Katie
> > Qs.
>
>
> OooooKayyy.
> Is there a reason for such defensiveness? Nobody
> is trying to take away your precious coffee here,
> drink it all You like.

Uh, the English don't drink coffee; they drink builders tea.

all I am trying to say is that there are people who don't drink coffee to get through the day. For them, coffee is not a drug nor a 5 hour energy drink. And not all varietals of coffees are equal. Some contain a lot more cafeine,lipids, etc, than others.

I definitely am going thru withdrawal from the little bit of caffeine I take daily. The headache came on around 2 pm and now I can recall going off caffeine before. If I remember it will be about a week of headaches and then around 3 weeks total before I'm caffeine free.

I did take less than half a cup of coffee to get rid of the headache. I tried to hang but I figure a little bit will help me with the withdrawals while I'm quitting altogether.

I never took coffee to get thru the day, but when I started drinking it again it tasted so yummy I really looked forward to that morning cup. I feel good about going back to my herbal tea though. A cup of coffee aprox. (depending on ounces) has avg. of 100 mgs. of caffeine.

There are sources that tout coffee/caffeine as being good for you but they aren't talking about over consumption and what extras are put in like cream, sugar, etc.

If anyone else is drinking coffee and wants to experiment by going off it for a while let us know your experiences.

Love,
Prism

Caffeine will alter the way the neurotransmitters work in the brain. Getting used to not drinking caffeine will get you headakes but I heard it is short lived. Some people get the headakes while others don't. It seems not a big deal to me but again, not everybody is the same.

Good luck.

This is my 3rd day of weaning off caffeine..that one cup of coffee (large cup) in the mornings. I've have gotten a headache around mid-afternoon and have made a couple ounces of coffee to wean off. I'll see if today I need to do that.

I was just going to quit without any 'hair of the dog' but I can't live with the kind of headache lack of caffeine is giving me.

If you feel good or ok with drinking caffeine I'm not here to tell you to do otherwise. I'm just trying to see if I notice a difference in my mental capabilities once off caffeine.

I also am thinking of doing a few 1 day fasts since reading fruitylou's post in another thread. Getting the caffeine out of my system before I do that seems like a good idea.

Love,
Prism

My 3rd day of no caffeine and I don't have one sign of a headache..in fact I feel really good. I feel fortunate if all it took was a couple days of withdrawal. I think I'll plan on doing a 1 day fast and when I'm ready to do that I'll post a thread if others want to join in.

Love,
Prism

That's great, Prism--for many people, it takes days and days!

congratulations!

Prism Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My 3rd day of no caffeine and I don't have one
> sign of a headache..in fact I feel really good. I
> feel fortunate if all it took was a couple days of
> withdrawal. I think I'll plan on doing a 1 day
> fast and when I'm ready to do that I'll post a
> thread if others want to join in.
>
> Love,
> Prism
Yay! I find that it's not a long withdrawal but the challenge is simply going through with eschewing caffeine.