The consumption of caffeine, in whatever form, has always been an acceptable world-wide method to give a person that much needed "pick me up". A recent case was reported, however, of a 17-year old waitress, Jasmine Willis, who was sent to the hospital after drinking more than three times the recommended daily amount of caffeine with a high temperature and heart palpitations.

Studies have shown that caffeine consumed in large amounts over extended periods of time can lead to a condition called "caffeinism." This usually leads to a variety of unpleasant physical and mental conditions which range from simple headaches, nervousness, and insomnia to more severe cases of peptic ulcers and other gastrointestinal problems.

A study was recently conducted regarding the effects of coffee on reducing tiredness while increasing alertness. A team from Bristol University have found out that the levels of alertness among coffee drinkers were almost the same as those who weren't.

Does it mean that caffeine itself has little or no benefits at all for those who regularly take it? There have been studies which delved into the physical benefits it has on people. In addition to increasing one's metabolism and giving a person a perceived feeling of less fatigue, it has also been suggested that coffee can decrease the onset of Parkinson's disease and keep the mind sharp into old age.

The moderate consumption of around four cups of coffee has been recommended as being perfectly safe. So the next time the urge for an extra cup of coffee tries to overwhelm you, just keep in mind: everything in moderation.

Bloggers, gamers, and other nocturnal creatures have reason to celebrate as coffee may be good for one's health. Two publications, namely Hepatology and PNAS, have conducted studies on this and found that coffee and the caffeine it contains has a retarding effect on cancer.

The June issue of Hepatology, a journal devoted to the study of the liver, compared a study that tracked liver cancer and obtained date related to coffee consumption of those in the experiment.

The findings showed a 41% reduction in the risk of cancer for coffee drinkers. Now, these findings are consistent with other studies. Both case-controlled and cohort designs show that coffee has the same effect across the board.

The PNAS study, furthermore, involved putting caffeine straight into the water that the mice were drinking. In addition to this, each mouse was subjected to daily exercise via a training wheel.

The experiment showed that these test subjects were more prone to apoptosis, or cell suicide when exposed to harmful ultraviolet rays. It has been a long standing theory in modern medicine that the said apoptotic response stops cancer from forming as potentially damaged cellular DNA are weeded out.

Does this mean that we should start loading up on more caffeinated drinks? Well, it's best to consult your physician first about that. It's just nice to know that our morning cup of joe isn't as bad as some would portray it to be.

Researchers have come to some data that suggests that there is a connection between drinking soft drinks and a medical condition known as Metabolic Syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a condition that entails increased risk to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Although researchers have no concrete proof as of yet, they have a case on association. Even if soft drinks aren't the cause of metabolic syndrome, it may still be a sign of something else. Dr Ramachandran Vasan, professor of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, believes that while drinking soft drinks is a marker or how a subject likes sweet foods, it is not necessarily the cause of the syndrome itself.

Other factors may be the culprits, ranging from other types of food intake, lack of exercise and smoking. The research consisted of more than 6,000 participants. Four years of studying this group has shown that those who drink even one can of soft drinks a day is 44% more likely to get metabolic syndrome.

While drink soft drinks may not be the cause, Dr. Suzanne R. Steinbaum, director of Women and Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says that it certainly doesn't help avoid it.

The Starbucks-goers have one more reason to be thankful for their daily cup'pa joe: A recent study showed that daily intake of one or two cups of coffee will help in preventing blepharospasm, or a severe involuntary twitching of the eye that causes blindness in extreme cases.

Italy's Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences University had Professor Giovanni Defazio and his colleagues study the smoking and drinking habits of blepharospasm patients. They were surprised with the results: while smoking doesn't have any significant association with the illness, drinking coffee seems to help in alleviating the eye condition. Said Professor Defazio:

Our findings raise doubt about the association of smoking and blepharospasm but strongly suggest coffee as a protective factor. The most obvious candidate for the protective effect is caffeine, but the low frequency of decaffeinated coffee intake in Italy prevented us from examining the effects of caffeine on blepharospasm.

He then explained that caffeine may play a major role in blocking the receptors in the brain that causes involuntary tremors or twitching; and also added that caffeine also had a similar protective effect in Parkinson's disease.

Click on Full Article to read other scientists' take on coffee being a possible cure for blepharospasm.

Coffee was first discovered in the Middle East when a shepherd allegedly noticed goats munching on coffee beans and acted funny afterwards. As the story goes, the shepherd brewed the means and found out that it not only tasted good, it also helped fight drowsiness. Another story tells the tale of Pope Clement VIII blessing the drink because it kept the monks awake during mass.

These tales may never be confirmed, but what scientists from UCLA and Harvard are sure of is the fact that the drink has a lot of great health benefits. When taken in moderate quantities, coffee will reduce chances of getting Parkinson's and Alzheimer's by 50 percent and lower the risks of type 2 diabetes. Reports also suggest that cancer can be avoided with regular intake.

According to Dr. Rob van Dam (not the pro wrestler) of the Harvard Medical school, an estimated 171 million people around the world have type 2 diabetes. The figure is expected to balloon up to some 366 million in 20 years if left unchecked. Dr. Van Dam suggests taking 3-5 cups of coffee every day to bring the figure down.

Dr. Lenore Arab agrees, and says coffee has a lot of nutrients that aid in enhancing the body's ability to maintain homeostasis. Chlorogenic acid, caffeine, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B3, trigonelline, and lignans are present in good amounts in every cup, making the drink a good health supplement of sorts.

Studies on its effects on cancer, whether preventive or risk-inducing, are as of yet still inconclusive. The evidence on ovarian, breast and prostate cancer is still limited and are awaiting more research to verify claims.

Both are sweet and we all love receiving either one - or both. Now a study reveals that chocolate's effects are better than lip locking.

Dr. David Lewis from MIND Labs (Media, Interface, and Network Design Labs) did a research comparing the "buzz" people get from chocolates and kissing. Couples in their 20s were hooked up to heart monitors and electrodes were attached to their heads to monitor brain activity. As it turns out, chocolate has a more potent effect on the participants, producing a longer buzz and doubled their heart rates.

Of course, the psychoactive effects of chocolate have long been known. The study brought more insight into this as they discovered that letting the chocolate melt in your mouth will produce a greater effect. Kissing on the other hand has similar effects - heart rates go up but it lost to chocolate (which takes the heart pounding from the normal 60 to 140 beats per minute). Also, the buzz from eating chocolates was longer.

The study also showed that the all regions of the brain got a massive boost as soon as the chocolate started melting. The effect was also significantly longer. The same reaction was consistent from participants of both sexes. The results surprised the scientists. Dr. Lewis said, "Both the length of this increase together with the powerful effects it had on the mind were something none of us had anticipated."

A psychologist, Sue Wright explained why:

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine which can raise levels of endorphins, the pleasure-giving substances, in the brain. It also contains caffeine which has a stimulatory effect on the brain. This would explain why chocolate can give people a buzz, and why people can become addicted to it.

There you have it, next time you feel the urge to kiss, think of eating chocolates instead. But wait, why choose when we can do both...at the same time, right?

 

What a way to start the day. LiveScience reports on the efforts of molecular biologist Robert Bohannon to, in a manner of speaking, introduce a new glaze to donuts. Caffeine. Seriously, he's talking about doughnuts and bagels enriched with the essence of coffee, while masking the bitter taste associated with ground-up coffee beans.

Really, it does become a bit of a health matter, when you think of it. From a certain perspective, this drive to add the waker-upper value of caffeine to doughnuts kinda highlights society's relative dependency on caffeine to get through the day. If this catches on, people are going to have to add warning labels on the jittery bagels just to make sure that kids don't accidentally order them, eat them, and turn into the great Cornholio. BTW, the TP for your bunghole is over at the public restroom; we just restocked. And someone better post up an APB for the cops: no more coffee and donuts, because that's just overkill.

Observing the nutritional value of a jolt-laced doughnut, though, LiveScience did observe that it still came with a certain amount of fats and calories. Comparatively speaking, Red Bull adds the jolt without adding the pounds.

It is always relaxing to lean back and enjoy a warm cup of tea. It gives the same caffeine fix as coffee, though not the same dosage. It also comes with a warm and fuzzy feeling that you are actually consuming something healthy, which is especially good for those who have little time or are too lazy to exercise.

Tea contains an amino acid called theanine and it is almost the only dietary source for the said amino acid, aside from the bay boletes mushroom. I don't have an aversion to mushrooms but given a choice, I'd definitely choose tea.

Unilever's Beverages Global Technology Centre came up with a research regarding the benefits of tea, where they tested their own brand, PG tips. The research determined that a typical cup of tea gives 22mg of theanine. This particular amino acid, 50mg of it or approximately two to three cups, helps stimulate alpha brain waves. Alpha brain waves are associated with being relaxed and alert at the same time, and alpha activity is attributed to the ability to focus attention.

The volunteers for the study were tested to measure their ability to focus attention, and their ability to ignore distractions, or simply put, their concentration. They were given several pieces of information but were instructed to focus on only one. After drinking tea, there was a significant improvement on the accuracy and speed of their responses.

So the next time you're feeling a bit stressed and distracted, instead of feeling depressed and staring into space, try a cup of tea. It wouldn't hurt and it definitely would help.

Over at Smarthouse, they've written an interesting article on sodas and how it affects gamers. It's funny how that works though, since the information they've put in is applicable to most soda-drinkers.

The strangest thing about this article is how soda is presented much like a drug. While specifically mentioning Coke and how there used to be cocaine in it a very long time ago, they may have taken the angle a bit too far, even while trying to explain the problems with having too much sugar in your system. That being said, the article is insightful for showing what happens in one hour after grabbing that soda, but also makes it somewhat alarmist.

For instance, they mention that you take in your daily recommended allowance of sugar within the first ten minutes of drinking that one soda. "You don't immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness," the article continues, "because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down."

Even more interesting here is their description at the forty-minute mark:

Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dialate (sic), your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

So, are gamers taking drugs? Maybe, but then so is everyone else as far as this article is concerned. The sugar and caffeine crash they talk about here should happen to almost anyone who drinks a soda, but is probably more noticeable in people whose butts are parked around a PC or console, such as ourselves.

Still, it kind of explains why some gamers fall asleep during those eight-hour raids through Molten Core and still don't mind having gaming marathons. Maybe we should get more exercise besides DDR. What do you think?