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Caffeine – a common psychoactive stimulant – from a socio-cultural perspective
Published in Charlotte Fabiansson, Stefan Fabiansson, Food and the Risk Society, 2016
Charlotte Fabiansson, Stefan Fabiansson
Thus, caffeine in moderate amounts is no longer considered a significant risk factor for coronary heart disease, while other detrimental health effects of excessive caffeine consumption remain to be resolved. Hence, findings are contradictory as to whether caffeine has any specific health benefits. However, over a long time, caffeine has been associated with improvements in cognitive functions. It improves mood, the feeling of wellbeing, and makes pending tasks seem easier (Fredholm et al. 1999). Caffeine has been found to reverse decreases in performance due to boredom, fatigue and the common cold (Lara 2010). It improves attention, speeds up reaction times and is capable of improving performance in normally alert individuals (Smith 2009).
Aviation Physiology
Published in Monica Martinussen, David R. Hunter, Aviation Psychology and Human Factors, 2017
Monica Martinussen, David R. Hunter
Caffeine is considered a moderately effective stimulant that acts as an adenosine receptor antagonist. Adenosine promotes sleepiness, and caffeine blocks the adenosine receptor to prevent feeling sleepy. It works best when taken on an intermittent basis. Because the body builds up a tolerance for caffeine, habitual consumers must take larger doses in order to achieve the same alerting effects. A typical dose of caffeine is in the range of 50–200 mg. Although there is a large range of caffeine content dependent upon the method of brewing, a cup (8 oz) of brewed coffee typically contains about 100 mg of caffeine while a cup of black tea contains about 55 mg. Some beverages marketed as “high energy” drinks contain 150–180 mg of caffeine (Fredholm et al. 1999). In addition to beverages (and some foods such as chocolate), caffeine is also available in a powdered form. Ingesting caffeine in this form can be hazardous, since a lethal amount of caffeine is contained in less than a tablespoon (15 mL). The LD50 (the amount of caffeine that is fatal to 50% of the population) for caffeine is about 150–200 mg/kg of body weight (Peters 1967). Therefore, ingesting 12.25 grams (0.43 oz) of powdered caffeine would be fatal about half the time for an adult weighing 70 kg (150 lb). That amount of caffeine is contained in about 75–100 cups of coffee, so it is unlikely that an adult would consume enough to be potentially lethal by drinking coffee. However, even sublethal doses of caffeine can cause cardiac arrhythmia, particularly in individuals with some preexisting cardiac condition. So, do not overdo it.
Driver State
Published in Motoyuki Akamatsu, Handbook of Automotive Human Factors, 2019
One of the ways to raise the arousal level other than napping is to take caffeine. Caffeine is a substance that restrains the activation of the sleep center by suppressing the activity of the sleep substance (adenosine) accumulated during arousal (Fredholm et al., 1999). It has been reported that caffeine intake reduces vehicle fluctuations during automobile driving, and caffeine is considered to have an effect of preventing accidents at least temporarily (Reyner and Horne, 1997). However, since caffeine does not reduce the actual sleep substance that is the cause of a decline in the arousal level, its effect is limited.
Effects of caffeine chewing gum supplementation on exercise performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Published in European Journal of Sport Science, 2023
G. Barreto, L. M. R. Loureiro, C. E. G. Reis, B. Saunders
The methylxanthine compound caffeine (1,3,7-Trimethylxanthine) is a psychoactive stimulant highly prevalent in society via the widespread consumption of coffees, teas, and several other sources (Cappelletti, Daria, Sani, & Aromatario, 2014; Rogers, 2007). Through acting on adenosine receptors throughout the body, particularly those in the brain, caffeine inhibits the depressant effect of adenosine on the central nervous system leading to increased feelings of wakefulness, arousal, and alertness (Fredholm, 1995; Nehlig, Daval, & Debry, 1992). Caffeine can also increase adrenaline and noradrenaline release (Van Soeren, Sathasivam, Spriet, & Graham, 1993) and dopamine d2 receptor activation, both of which can increase preparedness and arousal (Salamone et al., 2013) and reduce perception of pain and effort (Davis et al., 2003) during exercise. These physiological effects are thought to be the main mechanisms that make it a compound of interest for athletes engaged in sporting practices who wish to improve their training or competition performance. The performance enhancing effects of caffeine have been known for over 100 years (Rivers & Webber, 1907) with a large body of evidence demonstrating ergogenic effects on aerobic, anaerobic, intermittent and strength-based exercises (Grgic, Trexler, Lazinica, & Pedisic, 2018, 2020).
Genotoxic effects of caffeine in female mice exposed during pregnancy and lactation period and their offspring
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part C, 2023
Marina Lummertz Magenis, Pamela Souza de Marcos, Adriani Paganini Damiani, Anderson Ricardo Cantareli da Silva, Luiza Martins Longaretti, Ive Bahia Franca, Juliana Da Silva, Carina Rodrigues Boeck, Vanessa Moraes de Andrade
The consequences of normal caffeine consumption are of minor impact on human health. However, caffeine influences many different physiological functions, which can raise concerns about its intake during pregnancy and early development. Adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes, such as delayed conception, stillbirth, anomalies, prematurity, and low birth weight, have been extensively investigated and attributed to caffeine consumption. However, few studies show a consistent association of caffeine with these outcomes. Since strong evidence exists for caffeine and negative pregnancy outcomes, many health professional organizations advise pregnant women to reduce caffeine intake. Caffeine intake can be frequently associated with tobacco and alcohol, which influence several aspects of pregnancy and serve as confounding factors to the effects of caffeine on reproduction and development in humans.17
The Effect of Caffeine and Sleep Quality on Military Pilot Students’ Flight Performance-Related Cognitive Function
Published in The International Journal of Aerospace Psychology, 2022
Nuttaporn Utamatanin, Pornjira Pariwatcharakul
Cognitive function in pilots impacts flight performance and aviation safety (O’Hare, 2006; Tosney & Cheng, 2015). Although cognitive-promoting effects of caffeine are well-studied in other populations, the evidence in pilots is still limited. In addition, most studies explore general cognitive domains without focusing on flight performance-predicting cognition. The results indicate that low-dose caffeine (<3 mg/kg) improves cognitive functions (vigilance, situation awareness and reaction time) required for flight performance. This resembles results from studies in other populations that caffeine can improve cognitive function, particularly alertness and vigilance (McLellan et al., 2016; Ruxton, 2008). The evidence on dose-related effects of caffeine was still inconclusive (Einöther & Giesbrecht, 2013). According to recent experimental studies, however, caffeine appears to have more obvious cognitive-enhancing effects at low doses and may asymptote at medium-to-high doses (McLellan et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2020).