What is caffeine?
Caffeine is a natural diuretic and stimulant, which is primarily found in coffee beans, cocoa, tea, and guarana. The process that is used to decaffeinated coffee is where most of the supplement companies get their caffeine from.
What does caffeine do?
The most pronounced effect of caffeine is it stimulating effects on both energy levels of the body and mental alertness. Caffeine is a stimulant of the central nervous system (CNS), and uses the same mechanisms of action as amphetamines, cocaine and heroin to stimulate the mind.
The structure of caffeine is very similar to that of adrenaline and because of the similarity in structure caffeine can fool your body into breaking it down instead of breaking down adrenaline. This breakdown of caffeine instead of adrenaline keeps your adrenaline levels high in your body. This extra adrenaline in your system allows one to feel the affects of adrenaline longer such as more mental alertness, focus and intensity.
Caffeine not only stimulates the body by increasing the amount of adrenaline, it also blocks the action of adenosine within the body. Adenosine is a chemical that causes drowsiness and caffeine binds to the adenosine receptor within the brain so that the real adenosine can't bind to it and induce drowsiness.
Caffeine is a powerful stimulant that has been used for hundreds of years, but one should always consult a doctor prior to ingesting large amounts of it. Caffeine has been proven safe in small amount such as the amounts found in coffee, but anything above this should be taken with caution. Caffeine is such a powerful stimulant that it is banned in most professional sports and Olympics. An athlete can consume the amount found in a cup of coffee but anything in mega doses is banned in sports.
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