Coffee Guzzlers ......... Read for a minute
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London: Does the morning cup of coffee help you kick start the day? Not really, it's all your mind, say scientists.
Researchers at the Bristol University found that the effect of caffeine, which has been believed to be an energy booster, does not actually increase people's alertness and it may rather raise the risk of anxiety and high blood pressure.
Lead researcher, Mr Peter Rogers, said their findings suggest that coffee drinkers may actually be better off without their habitual morning mug.
"Our study shows that we don't gain an advantage from consuming caffeine although we feel alerted by it, this is caffeine just bringing us back to normal," Mr Rogers was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
"On the other hand, while caffeine can increase anxiety, tolerance means that for most caffeine consumers this effect is negligible."
For the study, the researchers recruited 379 people who abstained from caffeine for 16 hours before drinking either caffeine or a placebo (dummy drink) and then were tested for a range of responses.
All were asked to rate their levels of anxiety and alertness and whether they had a headache before and after being given the caffeine or the placebo.
They were also asked to carry out a series of computer tasks to test their levels of memory, attentiveness and vigilance.
Those who received the dummy drink reported a fall in alertness and an increase in headaches, neither of which were reported by those who received caffeine.
However, it was found that their post-caffeine levels of alertness were no higher than those of no or low-level consumers who received a placebo.
This suggests caffeine only brings coffee drinkers back up to 'normal', the researchers said, adding that the findings could also apply to those who say they rely on a morning cup of tea to get their brains going.
They also found a genetic predisposition to anxiety did not deter people from drinking coffee.
In fact, those with the gene variant associated with anxiety tended to consume slightly larger amounts of coffee than those without the variant, suggesting a mild increase in anxiety may be a part of the pleasant buzz caused by caffeine.
Researchers at the Bristol University found that the effect of caffeine, which has been believed to be an energy booster, does not actually increase people's alertness and it may rather raise the risk of anxiety and high blood pressure.
Lead researcher, Mr Peter Rogers, said their findings suggest that coffee drinkers may actually be better off without their habitual morning mug.
"Our study shows that we don't gain an advantage from consuming caffeine although we feel alerted by it, this is caffeine just bringing us back to normal," Mr Rogers was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
"On the other hand, while caffeine can increase anxiety, tolerance means that for most caffeine consumers this effect is negligible."
For the study, the researchers recruited 379 people who abstained from caffeine for 16 hours before drinking either caffeine or a placebo (dummy drink) and then were tested for a range of responses.
All were asked to rate their levels of anxiety and alertness and whether they had a headache before and after being given the caffeine or the placebo.
They were also asked to carry out a series of computer tasks to test their levels of memory, attentiveness and vigilance.
Those who received the dummy drink reported a fall in alertness and an increase in headaches, neither of which were reported by those who received caffeine.
However, it was found that their post-caffeine levels of alertness were no higher than those of no or low-level consumers who received a placebo.
This suggests caffeine only brings coffee drinkers back up to 'normal', the researchers said, adding that the findings could also apply to those who say they rely on a morning cup of tea to get their brains going.
They also found a genetic predisposition to anxiety did not deter people from drinking coffee.
In fact, those with the gene variant associated with anxiety tended to consume slightly larger amounts of coffee than those without the variant, suggesting a mild increase in anxiety may be a part of the pleasant buzz caused by caffeine.
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