What? The coffee you love so much was discovered by sheep first!

Review expert: Peng Guoqiu, deputy chief physician of the Fourth Medical Center of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

Coffee helps many workers and students get through the mornings and nights. It can be said to be an indispensable life-saving device. But the strange thing is, why can some people be energetic all day after drinking it, while others can barely hold on after drinking two or three cups? Why can some people sleep soundly after drinking coffee before going to bed, while others insist on "not drinking after noon" but still suffer from insomnia all night?

Is it because of different coffee varieties? Or is it because of people? Today, let’s unveil the mystery of coffee.

Coffee was discovered by sheep!

Have you ever wondered how coffee was discovered? Did coffee beans fall and hit someone? Or did a curious baby stuff them into his mouth?

This story has to start from the African continent more than a thousand years ago...

According to legend, more than a thousand years ago, there was a shepherd boy named Kadi in the Kaffa Plateau in Ethiopia. One day when he was herding sheep, he found that some sheep in the flock were extremely excited, even standing up on their legs and dancing, and even the old sheep had regained their strength. He was very surprised.

Coffee and Sheep Source: Internet

After careful observation, Kadi found that the sheep were eating a kind of red berry. So, he picked a few fruits and ate them in the spirit of "the first person to eat crabs". The fruit was sweet and sour, and soon he was no longer tired and energetic. After that, he ate the fruit while herding the sheep and playing with them.

Later, an elder of a mosque saw Kadi dancing among the sheep and went to ask him about it. Kadi told him the whole story. The elder plucked the fruit and ate it doubtfully. He found that he felt full of energy after a while. One night when he returned to the temple, when he was dozing off, Muhammad told him in his dream that drinking water boiled with red fruit would relieve fatigue. After that, the efficacy of the fruit spread like wildfire. Before worshipping in the temple, believers would drink the water boiled with red fruit, which was called "Kawa".

It seems that coffee was discovered by sheep!

Why can coffee refresh us? The main reason why coffee can refresh us is that it contains a stimulant of the central nervous system - caffeine. Caffeine is not only found in coffee, but also in energy drinks, tea, milk tea, and cola. Adenosine and adenosine receptors are responsible for making us sleepy in our brain. The molecular structure of caffeine is similar to that of adenosine. It can bind to adenosine receptors first and occupy the position originally belonging to adenosine, thereby preventing adenosine from binding to adenosine receptors, making us feel awake and refreshed. The reason why coffee can refresh us is that caffeine "holds" the brain hostage through this mechanism and blocks the normal transmission of sleepiness signals.

Caffeine's effects on our bodies go far beyond this. It can also increase the heart rate, raise blood pressure, and even affect our mood. This is why some people feel anxious or excited after drinking coffee.

Coffee also has “double standards”?

Why can others fall asleep peacefully after drinking coffee, but you drink a cup at 8 am and still toss and turn at 12 pm? Is it because coffee thinks you are easy to bully? This is what we have to talk about "enzymes".

Different individuals metabolize caffeine at different speeds, which is related to the relevant enzymes in the liver. In addition, our genes, age, weight and even gender can affect our response to caffeine.

Some people may have more liver enzymes such as cytochrome oxidase in their liver, which allows them to break down caffeine quickly, weakening its effect; while some people may be more sensitive to caffeine due to the lack of these enzymes, and may have a pounding heart and trembling hands after drinking coffee. For these people, it is still necessary to pay attention to controlling the amount of caffeine intake.

Will coffee also "go on strike"?

If you drink coffee regularly, you may feel that coffee is becoming less and less effective and can no longer refresh you. Will coffee also "go on strike"?

This is not the case. Coffee is becoming less and less effective, probably because if you continue to consume caffeine, caffeine will always occupy the adenosine receptors, and the free adenosine in the body will increase. This will not only fail to refresh you, but will make you more and more sleepy. If you experience this situation, don't continue to consume caffeine. You can take a break for a while to let your body slow down, wait for part of the adenosine in your body to be broken down, and let your brain remember the caffeine again.

In addition, studies have found that long-term caffeine intake will increase the number of adenosine receptors to receive the homeless adenosine that is free outside. This will make people more sleepy and more dependent on coffee.

The correct way to drink coffee

I want to drink but I am afraid of insomnia, what should I do? We all know that after the human body takes in caffeine, it will be metabolized. Referring to the concept of half-life in atomic physics, we can also apply it to the metabolism of caffeine.

Analogously to the medical field, the metabolic process of drugs in the body also follows a first-order kinetic process, so drugs also have a relatively stable half-life in the body, following a similar rule, called drug elimination half-life or plasma half-life. Its specific definition is the time required for the concentration of the drug in the body to drop by half.

The half-life of caffeine is about 3 to 5 hours (4 hours on average), which means that after caffeine is completely absorbed by the human body, the caffeine concentration in the body is reduced to half after about 4 hours, and to a quarter after 8 hours, and so on. Therefore, people who are sensitive to caffeine should try to avoid drinking coffee within a few hours before going to bed.

If you want coffee to refresh you, you have to drink it when you are not sleepy! Coffee takes time to be absorbed from the mouth. Generally, it takes about 45 minutes after drinking coffee for the coffee to be fully absorbed by the body, and the caffeine starts to work, helping you achieve the purpose of refreshing. Of course, the later it is, the less refreshing the effect will be.

In addition, according to a new British study, drinking a cup of coffee before a nap can make you feel better after waking up. This is because a short sleep can help the brain clear adenosine, which causes sleepiness. At the same time, caffeine needs time to take effect. When you wake up from a nap, the researchers call this mode a coffee nap.

The right amount is best

Some studies suggest that drinking coffee may benefit heart health. In fact, one meta-analysis found that drinking three to five cups of coffee a day was associated with a 15% lower risk of heart disease. People with high blood pressure who still have elevated blood pressure, as well as women who are pregnant, should avoid high doses of caffeine.

In addition, if you take caffeine regularly, your body may become mildly dependent on it. If you suddenly stop drinking it, you may experience symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating. However, these symptoms will disappear on their own in a few days.

In addition, relatively speaking, pure coffee such as Americano and latte is more beneficial to health. Try to drink less "three-in-one" or coffee with added coffee companion. If you drink high-sugar coffee (beverages) with syrup or chocolate, you still need to pay attention to your sugar intake.

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Coffee is a magical drink that can refresh our minds and give us a pleasant taste. As long as we drink it correctly and in moderation, we can benefit from it.