News tagged with caffeine
That caffeine in your drink -- is it really 'natural?'
That caffeine in your tea, energy drink or other beverage — is it really natural? Scientists are reporting successful use for the first time of a simpler and faster method for answering that question. ...
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Mar 07, 2012 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
0
Chemistry professor links feces and caffeine
Researchers led by Prof. Sébastien Sauvé of the University of Montreal's Department of Chemistry have discovered that traces of caffeine are a useful indicator of the contamination of our water by sewers. "E co ...
Nov 22, 2011 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
|
Researchers identify caffeine-consuming bacterium
As it turns out, humans aren't the only organisms that turn to caffeine for a pick-me-up. University of Iowa scientists have identified four different bacteria that actually can live on caffeine.
Jun 07, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Bacteria use caffeine as food source
A new bacterium that uses caffeine for food has been discovered by a doctoral student at the University of Iowa. The bacterium uses newly discovered digestive enzymes to break down the caffeine, which allows it to live and ...
May 24, 2011 |
4.5 / 5 (6) |
4
|
New evidence that caffeine is a healthful antioxidant in coffee
Scientists are reporting an in-depth analysis of how the caffeine in coffee, tea, and other foods seems to protect against conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and heart disease on the most fundamental levels. ...
May 04, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
6
High-caffeine-consuming boys get greater rush from caffeine than girls
Among the many differences between girls and boys, add the effects from caffeine -- physiological, behavioral and subjective -- to the list.
Feb 18, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Coffee is good for women working in pairs, but bad for men
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study from the UK suggests that women who drink coffee may perform better in stressful situations than those on decaffeinated beverages. For men, it's the opposite.
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Feb 03, 2011 |
4.7 / 5 (7) |
2
|
Caffeine energizes cells, boosting virus production for gene therapy applications
Give caffeine to cells engineered to produce viruses used for gene therapy and the cells can generate 3- to 8-times more virus, according to a paper published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journa ...
Jan 25, 2011 |
4 / 5 (1) |
5
Hold the Red Bull: Energy drinks don't blunt effects of alcohol, study finds
Marketing efforts that encourage mixing caffeinated "energy" drinks with alcohol often try to sway young people to believe that caffeine will offset the sedating effects of alcohol and increase alertness and stamina.
Jan 12, 2011 |
2.8 / 5 (4) |
5
|
Study shows caffeine negatively affects children
Caffeine consumption in children is often blamed for sleep problems and bedwetting. Information on childhood caffeine consumption is limited, and many parents may not know the amount or effects of their child's caffeine ...
Dec 16, 2010 |
2.8 / 5 (4) |
0
'Less is more,' when it comes to sugary, high-caffeine energy drinks, researchers say
Moderate consumption of so-called energy drinks can improve people's response time on a lab test measuring behavioral control, but those benefits disappear as people drink more of the beverage, according to a study published ...
Dec 02, 2010 |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
Why mixing alcohol and caffeine is so deadly
Americans love their caffeine - in coffee, colas and now in their alcohol.
Nov 22, 2010 |
3.5 / 5 (4) |
4
US watchdog says caffeinated alcoholic drinks unsafe
The US food safety watchdog on Wednesday warned that drinks combining caffeine and alcohol are unsafe and illegal, and ordered companies that make them to remove them from shop shelves.
Nov 17, 2010 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
42
Study examines risks, rewards of energy drinks
Popular energy drinks promise better athletic performance and weight loss, but do the claims hold up? Not always, say researchers at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
Aug 17, 2010 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
Combining sex and drugs reduces rock and roll
Sharing a bottle of red wine may seem like the best recipe for a romantic interlude. However, the evening may not turn out as planned according to a Concordia University study, which evaluated the effect of a wide range of ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Jul 06, 2010 |
3.8 / 5 (9) |
0
|
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that is a psychoactive stimulant drug. Caffeine was discovered by a German chemist, Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, in 1819. He coined the term "kaffein", a chemical compound in coffee, which in English became caffeine. Caffeine is also part of the chemical mixtures and insoluble complexes guaranine found in guarana, mateine found in mate, and theine found in tea; all of which contain additional alkaloids such as the cardiac stimulants theophylline and theobromine, and often other chemicals such as polyphenols which can form insoluble complexes with caffeine.
Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the beans, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants. It is most commonly consumed by humans in infusions extracted from the cherries of the coffee plant and the leaves of the tea bush, as well as from various foods and drinks containing products derived from the kola nut. Other sources include yerba mate, guarana berries, and the Yaupon Holly.
In humans, caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, having the effect of temporarily warding off drowsiness and restoring alertness. Beverages containing caffeine, such as coffee, tea, soft drinks, and energy drinks enjoy great popularity. Caffeine is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive substance, but unlike many other psychoactive substances it is legal and unregulated in nearly all jurisdictions. In North America, 90% of adults consume caffeine daily. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lists caffeine as a "Multiple Purpose Generally Recognized as Safe Food Substance".
Caffeine has diuretic properties, at least when administered in sufficient doses to subjects who do not have a tolerance for it. Regular users, however, develop a strong tolerance to this effect, and studies have generally failed to support the common notion that ordinary consumption of caffeinated beverages contributes significantly to dehydration.
For more information about Caffeine, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
