CAFFEINE: THE MAGIC INGREDIENT

CAFFEINE: THE MAGIC INGREDIENT

There is no secret that caffeine is an utter necessity in daily life. Mainly because of its wildly active nature and performance enhancing effects in all aspects of life, or so we believe.  It has embedded itself into societies across the world long before it was realized to be what it is. A stimulant of titanic proportion holding sway over entire populations unbeknown to them. 

This was mainly through coffee and teas in the early days. However, caffeine can be found in 65+ plant genomes. Now standardized as the most known form as Caffeine Anhydrous.  This is the common form of this pronounced ingredient which liters the dietary and nutrition world like a humongous blank covering all categories.

Now for a quick history lesson on where caffeine in the purest form was first isolated.  The antidotal evidence was there for this holy substance in the forms of coffee and cocoa plants. It made the soul feel good.  However, a young scientist, by the name of Friedrich Ferdinand Runge was the first individual to decipher the mystery of caffeine.  At the time, it was a legendary discovery, almost that of the black arts. 

Many of the early forms of deconstruction used complicated chemical processes there were, well, less than desirable. These methods proved to have adverse health risk in the early days. Many of the practices now are not used due to the advancement in technology. The problem was the solvents in the process, chloroform, benzene, trichloroethylene, and dichloromethane, all highly toxic in some fashion. Though these means and methods are new viewed as demonstrably archaic they worked at the time. 

It this glorious new age of technology we have environmentally friendly organic solvents, go figure.  Some extracting processes even go as far as the supercritical carbon dioxide extraction method.  This method in unelaborated terms means to separates various material from plants based off pressure at a supercritical rate, almost like the name is trying to say something.

So, back to caffeine and its glory, but what makes it so magical that is has literally ruled the planet for thousands of years with war and strife fought over and for it?  Well, the blindingly uncomplicated answer is in plain sight, it is a powerful neuro stimulant.  As you can imagine during caffeine’s early days before the use of science and large-scale study it was probably seen as nothing short of a miracle or a messiah in a cup. 

Could you imagine this heavenly feeling. Sitting in your candle lit cottage sipping a coffee or tea early in the morning and feeling the rushing etheric energy, thinking of yourself as a god amongst men?  I certainly can because I retain this same fate every morning without fails at roughly 6:15am CST.

So again, the antidotal evidence is there for caffeine, it makes you feel other worldly.  Well let’s start with the glaringly obvious, the instant alertness that is recognized upon the consume of caffeine.  As you can imagine caffeine is the most broadly and commonly consumed central nervous system stimulant in the world, possibly galaxy.  Caffeine increases energy metabolism throughout the brain, while simultaneously decreases the blood flow to the cerebral. 

The most major effect on the systems stemming from evidence presented in Caffeine and the Central Nervous System: Mechanisms of Action, Biochemical, Metabolic and Psychostimulant Effects by A Nehlig, J L Daval, G Debry, is that caffeine causes an activation in the noradrenaline neurons and influences the release of dopamine in localized areas.  This leads to what we see as “alertness”; however, this double edge sword also leads to mild caffeine dependency as well.

As you may well assume an increase in motor neuro function from an increase in alertness and what can be assumed as electrical impulses can only lead to one thing, an increase to sports performances.  As the data would indicate from the above study, methylxanthine is responsible for the increase to overall locomotion.  You could possibly deduce to the conclusion that an increase to neuro function, even something as simple as alertness, could increase sports performance by some degree.  Thus, making caffeine a stable and powerful conductor for power output.

With an increase to overall alertness in the body, you can surmise that yes, brain function. Including over all cogitation would be increased in varying levels.  Obviously, brain chemistry can play huge rolls in all this goodness of caffeine. For the most part that data doesn’t fall far from the tree.  This palpable increase for most individuals in sheer brain activity is intoxicating.  There is evidence, rather strong evidence to show that drinking coffee supports many facets of cognition. Most importantly slows mental decline that can become ever present with age.  All these aspects center around products with Caffeine in them.

Cancer, I said the dreaded C word, killer of all.  If you live long enough, you are destined to get this horrible calamity of a tissue that for the most part will kill you.  It really isn’t a matter of if but more of a matter of fact, of when.  At some point, genetically we all break down, yes, vexingly nauseous news I know.  But fear not there is a savior, and if you read this far in the article then you can probably assume that the savior is none other than our friend Caffeine. 

The warrior in the Marble white crystalline battle plate armor we so desire, mainly because that is the form of caffeine anhydrous.  There are many different studies going on about the benefits of caffeine and the effects it has regarding cancer.  Coffee is generally seen to have the ability to reduce death rates from many types of cancer. This could be the caffeine speaking or some other aspect of coffee such as the antioxidants, either way you should probably indulge in the dark goodness of coffee. 

There is large scale evidence to show that, for starters drinking four cups of coffee a day can led to an almost 50% reduction rate in cancer.  For men and our glorious prostates, of which the cancer is specific to men only. Coffee is there for us to save the day, vastly reducing prostate cancer.  Some of the cancer fighting elements are caffeine. Some are the other aspects of coffee, teas, etc., but one thing is certain they do all work and they do all contain caffeine of some amount.

Caffeine is a substance of great power. Allowing an individual to almost have a daily performance enhanced drug by supply flicking a switch and turning on a coffee pot or tea kettle.  After reading this and digesting the information you can almost see why caffeine of some variety is in literally every product on the market, even decaffeinate products still hold some of the nectar of life.  You can see why wars waged and lives were lost, all in the pursuit of stimulation.

 

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