I’ve read many takes that say coffee just works by blocking the receptors that make you sleepy, but my question is, why is it upon drinking coffee that I experience more energy? The feeling is that it actually gives me energy, not just a baseline state of not being tired.
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Caffeine doesn’t block sleep receptors, it mimics the chemical that makes us feel tired without making us feel tired
Caffeine doesn’t block sleep receptors, it mimics the chemical that makes us feel tired without making us feel tired
Caffeine doesn’t block sleep receptors, it mimics the chemical that makes us feel tired without making us feel tired
The caffeine doesn’t block sleep, it blocks the feeling of tiredness/exhaustion and by extension the urge to sleep.
It’s similar to sensations of Hot and Cold. Scientifically, there’s no such thing as Cold, just a state of being Less Hot. However, if you put a freezing spoon to someone they are going to say “That feels cold”.
In the same way, your body uses chemicals to regulate all the sensations you experience. By blocking the markers for exhaustion, you experience “Less Tired” which you feel as “More Energy”.
However, our bodies are adaptive and if you are chronically blocking the receptors, your system will begin to generate more of them. You’ll need more caffeine to experience the same wakefulness. At times where you don’t take caffeine, all those receptors will be in effect and you’ll feel crushing exhaustion. It’s important to keep tabs on your intake and occasionally go on a caffeine hiatus to let your body re-absorb those extra receptors and reset. Otherwise you’ll end up drinking pots per day just to stay functional.
The caffeine doesn’t block sleep, it blocks the feeling of tiredness/exhaustion and by extension the urge to sleep.
It’s similar to sensations of Hot and Cold. Scientifically, there’s no such thing as Cold, just a state of being Less Hot. However, if you put a freezing spoon to someone they are going to say “That feels cold”.
In the same way, your body uses chemicals to regulate all the sensations you experience. By blocking the markers for exhaustion, you experience “Less Tired” which you feel as “More Energy”.
However, our bodies are adaptive and if you are chronically blocking the receptors, your system will begin to generate more of them. You’ll need more caffeine to experience the same wakefulness. At times where you don’t take caffeine, all those receptors will be in effect and you’ll feel crushing exhaustion. It’s important to keep tabs on your intake and occasionally go on a caffeine hiatus to let your body re-absorb those extra receptors and reset. Otherwise you’ll end up drinking pots per day just to stay functional.
The caffeine doesn’t block sleep, it blocks the feeling of tiredness/exhaustion and by extension the urge to sleep.
It’s similar to sensations of Hot and Cold. Scientifically, there’s no such thing as Cold, just a state of being Less Hot. However, if you put a freezing spoon to someone they are going to say “That feels cold”.
In the same way, your body uses chemicals to regulate all the sensations you experience. By blocking the markers for exhaustion, you experience “Less Tired” which you feel as “More Energy”.
However, our bodies are adaptive and if you are chronically blocking the receptors, your system will begin to generate more of them. You’ll need more caffeine to experience the same wakefulness. At times where you don’t take caffeine, all those receptors will be in effect and you’ll feel crushing exhaustion. It’s important to keep tabs on your intake and occasionally go on a caffeine hiatus to let your body re-absorb those extra receptors and reset. Otherwise you’ll end up drinking pots per day just to stay functional.
Beyond simply blocking adenosine (a sleepiness chemical) receptors and preventing the feeling of sleepiness, caffeine is also a stimulant in some other respects. Particularly in people who don’t drink it often, it can have a striking effect on motivation and feelings of subjective energy (not to be confused with the actual energy you get from food–the two are actually pretty different.)
That said, we all have some degree of adenosine at baseline, and feelings of sleepiness throughout the day. If our normal baseline is faint sleepiness, a zero-sleepiness state probably does feel noticeably more energetic.
Beyond simply blocking adenosine (a sleepiness chemical) receptors and preventing the feeling of sleepiness, caffeine is also a stimulant in some other respects. Particularly in people who don’t drink it often, it can have a striking effect on motivation and feelings of subjective energy (not to be confused with the actual energy you get from food–the two are actually pretty different.)
That said, we all have some degree of adenosine at baseline, and feelings of sleepiness throughout the day. If our normal baseline is faint sleepiness, a zero-sleepiness state probably does feel noticeably more energetic.
Beyond simply blocking adenosine (a sleepiness chemical) receptors and preventing the feeling of sleepiness, caffeine is also a stimulant in some other respects. Particularly in people who don’t drink it often, it can have a striking effect on motivation and feelings of subjective energy (not to be confused with the actual energy you get from food–the two are actually pretty different.)
That said, we all have some degree of adenosine at baseline, and feelings of sleepiness throughout the day. If our normal baseline is faint sleepiness, a zero-sleepiness state probably does feel noticeably more energetic.
The energy was already there, your body was just choosing not to use it right now.
Imagine the fuel gauge in a car. If you always refuel (sleep) when the light turns on (when you’re tired), coffee is the equivalent of turning off the indicator light until you’re _really_ low.
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