Wake up and smell the coffee. A caffeine pep-up is all in the mind say Bristol University Scientists
by Kyrsty Hazell
If your early morning nursery or school routine doesn’t start until you’ve had your cup of coffee, it may surprise you to hear that your first sip of the black stuff makes no difference to your daily alertness. It’s apparently all in your mind!
The stimulating effect that coffee gives its drinkers in the morning is simply the body relieving overnight caffeine withdrawal. This means that while it may feel like it’s setting you up for the day, it’s only bringing your body back to its ‘normal’ level of alertness rather than enhancing it.
“Although frequent users feel alerted by caffeine, especially by their morning coffee, evidence suggests that this is actually merely the reversal of fatiguing effects of acute caffeine withdrawal,” says Peter Rogers from Bristol University. Read more…
