Is coffee Good or Bad For You?

 If you don't enjoy a morning coffee, I will look at you a little weird...

(Not judging or anything... )

Now, I should make it clear, when I'm talking about coffee, I'm specifically talking about "caffeine".

Now we've cleared that up, let's talk about caffeine (I'm fantasizing about coffee already - probably not a good sign - ha!)

So then, let's start with the benefits of caffeine:

 You'll have an energy boost

The biggest and most well-known benefit of caffeine is, without a doubt, the energy boost you'll get from it.

Four hours of sleep last night? No problem; just get a cuppa coffee.

Got a workout you're not feeling up for? Better drink up.

Suffering a mid-morning slump at work? Coffee-break time!

Quite clearly, caffeine has some pretty damn awesome benefits when it comes to giving you more energy. But (and it's a bigger "but" than Kim Kardashian's butt), it's not all good news. Though we'll go over this in a bit. For now, let's stay focused on the positives!

Anyway, the reason caffeine can boost your energy is because of this:

(WARNING: Boring science stuff coming up. I'll make it quick - something I'm unfortunately saying far too often lately... )

So then...

As soon as caffeine enters your body, it's already being metabolized by the liver and broken down into theophylline, theobromine, and paraxanthine. These chemicals then travel through the body, where they affect different functions.

How quickly caffeine is metabolized varies from person to person - you've got Mum and Dad to thank for this because it's all in your genes. (Yeah, thanks Mum and Dad for making me nuts when I have a coffee!!)

Anyway, the most studied function affected by caffeine in your brain. You see, caffeine is similar to a molecule called adenosine in your brain. The caffeine molecules bind to the adenosine receptors in your brain cells which stop adenosine from binding.

Now, you're probably thinking: "What is adenosine?"

Good question. Let me answer it...

See, when adenosine binds to enough receptors, it signals the brain that it's time for sleep. But as I just said, when the caffeine molecules bind to the adenosine receptors, the adenosine can't bind to anything.

So what does this mean? Quite simply, your brain isn't getting the signals that it's time for you to sleep.

So then, does that mean you can go without sleep for good, just by downing coffee all day?

Definitely not. After all, Freddy Krueger wouldn't have been half as scary if people could actually survive without sleep...

So, caffeine doesn't replace your need for sleep. It just covers it up.

Also, when adenosine is blocked by caffeine, your dopamine system starts working more efficiently. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in your body which is basically what helps you feel good. So that's another benefit of caffeine right there.