Drinking and Stimulation
Coffee is harvested and processed, beans are roasted and ground, a cup of piping hot joe sits on the counter and we take a sip. Now, the compounds that came from coffee and were transformed during roasting enter the body and begin to take effect.
Alkaloids, in this case caffeine, help the body to release adrenaline and increase intercellular communication. These special compounds interfere with the production and reception of the enzymes that regulate our nervous systems. Nervous signals are actually stronger because alkaloids inhibit the degradation of important neurotransmission enzymes. In other words, coffee keeps us awake because it stops our body from taking compounds that act as messengers out of circulation. Of all the alkaloid compounds that humans consume, caffeine is the best at stimulating our central nervous system, helping us to stay alert and work our day away.
Because of the increase in nervous activity, the body uses more energy. Drinking coffee increases our metabolisms and actually stimulates the body’s consumption of fat cells for energy. One study concludes, “the ingestion of as little as 50mg of caffeine by normal-weight, non-exercising, healthy men produced a significant increase in resting energy expenditure within 30 minutes of caffeine ingestion. The increase persisted for at least 4 hours and produced a significant 6% total increase in daily resting energy expenditure.” (Glade). Once in our body, coffee heightens all of our nervous activity. We experience this as a rush of energy, but we are actually consuming more energy because of it.
Drinking coffee does incredible things to the body. Our blood pumps quicker, we have a better mood, and we are quicker to react. More blood pumps through our brains, our endurance is prolonged, and our short-term memory is optimized. Coffee, even the decaffeinated stuff, increases rectosigmoid motor activity and makes us want to poop. While many of these effects are good, caffeine can also cause addiction and insomnia. The chemicals in coffee, now well studied, are just as active in our body as they make us feel.
Most of us couldn’t work a day without coffee, and as it turns out coffee wouldn’t really work without us. The fruit that grows on a coffee bush will not deliver the desired effect that a porcelain saucer of espresso will. Humans must intervene in the natural state of affairs to transform these natural compounds into a cup of coffee. We do this by stripping the fruit down to its most potent part, rendering the compounds soluble and aromatic with heat, dissolving the compounds in water, then introducing them into our bodies by drinking. In short, coffee is the result of a complex series of reactions and interactions. When we brew a morning cup of joe, we can pat ourselves on the back—we are really masters of chemistry.
