[HN Gopher] Coffee won't give you extra energy, just borrow a bi...
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Coffee won't give you extra energy, just borrow a bit that you'll
pay for later
Author : throw0101c
Score : 28 points
Date : 2023-02-13 22:05 UTC (55 minutes ago)
(HTM) web link (theconversation.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (theconversation.com)
| ejstronge wrote:
| Does anyone know of references that address how effective
| specific amounts of caffeine are at different times of day? This
| seems like the kind of question that a military would wish to
| study but I haven't ever found a 'user's guide' for optimal
| coffee use
| mathgeek wrote:
| I would be surprised if such a generalization is useful, since
| metabolism varies and is integral to the effects.
| eachro wrote:
| Most people don't need sustained energy over a day. For knowledge
| work at least, the vast majority of work occurs in very specific
| spurts. So it's more than fine to borrow energy from your future
| self to get that burst right now when you're in the middle of
| getting something done.
| Ifkaluva wrote:
| Exactly, it provides control over when to have energy and when
| to rest.
| complianceowl wrote:
| I'm perfectly fine with this. Many times, I don't need the energy
| later; I need it right now.
| trynewideas wrote:
| Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34572794
| aeternum wrote:
| This cites no data or studies.
|
| Companies that created a coffee break during the industrial
| revolution did see significant productivity and quality
| improvements.
|
| It's quite possible that caffeine blocks adenosine and then your
| body metabolizes it away via another mechanism for it maxes out.
| Thus you don't end up paying all of it back. Why? Perhaps our
| brains may be evolutionarily programmed to use less energy than
| they could because food was previously much harder to come by.
|
| From an energy conservation POV, overproduction of adenosine
| makes biological sense.
| [deleted]
| argella wrote:
| Or to borrow the ideas of the paper, the coffee break served to
| shift energy to working hours by taking it from the off work
| hours.
| themitigating wrote:
| I like how you complain about the lack of sources, which
| appears to be wrong, then you say
|
| "Companies that created a coffee break during the industrial
| revolution did see significant productivity and quality
| improvements."
|
| Without providing any sources.
| yazzku wrote:
| Literally every link in the page is a paper. Pubmed, NCBI,
| HSPH, etc.
|
| Also, the interaction of caffeine with adenosine is not new.
|
| I also read somewhere else, in relation to the tolerance build-
| up, that as the caffeine intake becomes regular, your body
| produces more and more adenosine than usual to counter-act it.
| Thus, if you quit the caffeine intake suddenly after many days
| or weeks of regular intake, you get a crash of biblical
| proportions. I don't have a source for this right now, but it's
| also consistent with my own observations. It's also why
| articles typically suggest to lower the dose progressively when
| you're trying to quit.
|
| And another myth might be its "positive" effects on exercise.
| While there are mixed studies on whether caffeine is a diuretic
| and/or whether it causes dehydration, from my own observations,
| the motherfucker does make me want to drink insane amounts more
| of water. So the fake energy sensation is kind of counter-acted
| by that. Of course, this is my own biased, non-scientific
| opinion, but I've experimented with this, doing the same
| exercise the same day of the week, across multiple weeks,
| with/out the coffee shot. If I want to maximize exercise output
| now, I stay clear of it, get a good sleep, stay hydrated.
| taeric wrote:
| Being fair, none of the studies linked showed that you were
| "borrowing a bit" that you would have to "pay back later."
| That does feel like a stretch over the rest of the articles.
|
| It is neat to read on how/why it works. That said, the claim
| that "it is not the creation of energy" feels like a stretch
| anyway. Do people really think they get energized in some
| magical creation way from coffee? Worse, the claim is there
| that the adenosine "doesn't go away," but there is no cite
| for that rather key claim. (Did I miss it?)
|
| Edit: For why that last claim needs a cite, it would be like
| saying ADHD meds for those that take them are "borrowing
| focus from a later time." Which... feels very contra to how
| that works.
| crispinb wrote:
| Coffee has no subjective effect on my energy or arousal or
| alertness. I just really enjoy the taste and aroma. Every year or
| two I wonder if I'm getting addicted or inured to caffeine's
| effects, so take a few experimental weeks off. Sure enough,
| nothing happens - no withdrawal effects or subjective reduction
| in alerness/arousal/energy. I return eventually because I miss
| the taste with my morning toast. I haven't quite generated the
| curiosity to to read up on it, but I idly wonder if caffeine just
| doesn't have much effect on some people.
| westurner wrote:
| From the article:
|
| > _This is because the caffeine won't bind forever, and the
| adenosine that it blocks doesn't go away. So eventually the
| caffeine breaks down, lets go of the receptors and all that
| adenosine that has been waiting and building up latches on and
| the drowsy feeling comes back - sometimes all at once._
|
| > _So, the debt you owe the caffeine always eventually needs to
| be repaid, and the only real way to repay it is to sleep._
|
| Does drinking water offset the exertion-resultant dehydration
| that caffeine and other stimulants tend to result in?
| truth777 wrote:
| [dead]
| truth777 wrote:
| [dead]
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