Most brains love coffee. It’s wakes their neurons up in the morning, keeps them going through the late afternoon slump and let’s them still work at peak performance late into the night.
Unfortunately coffee cannot take all the credit. Actually, it ‘s the caffeine your brain is more interested in.
Despite coffee beans being rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and amino, there are no tests indicating that their antioxidants are reaching the blood stream to be effective according to James D. Lane PhD, Duke University Medical Center.
But, what is reaching the brain is caffeine. Within the coffee bean is an alkaloid (an organic structure with nitrogen) known as caffeine, which acts as a stimulant to the central nervous system and a diuretic to the kidney system.
Caffeine is one of those chemical structures that’s able to cross the blood-brain barrier that normally prevents interior blood from reaching the brain. What makes caffeine so effective is that it a has similar molecular structure to the essential cell molecule, adenosine. Adenosine is part of the biochemical process to produce cell energy and the onset of sleep.
That is why when you are so sleepy, the caffeine of your coffee fools the adenosine receptors and latches on leaving the adenosine sleep inducers no where to go. Watch how it works.
Caffeine is what allows your neurons to —
- maintain your alertness throughout the day
- enhance your overall mental performance
- provide for a longer attention span
- improve information processing
- uplift your mood in a short period of time
While coffee is tasty and good, it’s really your brain that appreciates the caffeine.
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Very informative. I have always loved coffee and always knew it pumped me up but never knew specifics of why/how that worked. Thanks for sharing.