Drinking Coffee: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Its Consumption
The history of coffee begins in the 14th century in Ethiopia to, where stimulant properties began to be attributed to it. From the Horn of Africa, its use spread to Yemen in the 15th century and from there it spread to the rest of the Middle East and North Africa. It was the trade of Venetian ships with the Middle East that brought coffee to Europe, from where it was introduced to America (Cano-Marquina, Tarín and Cano, 2013).
In Spain alone, 14 billion cups of coffee are consumed per year, with the average weekday coffee consumption being 3.6 cups per day among those over 15 years of age. It should be added that 22 million people in Spain drink at least one coffee a day (Ramírez, 2016). These consumption patterns are similar in America and the rest of Europe, with the Nordic countries leading the way in terms of per capita consumption.
Therefore, taking into account how established caffeinated drinks like coffee are in the Western diet, The study of its effects in the short, medium and long term has become of great importance The analyzes and investigations have been carried out at both a psychological and physiological level.
One of the main components of coffee, and which gets its name from it, is caffeine. This substance, which we ingest in each cup, It is a plant alkaloid that acts as an antagonist of adenosine receptors in the nervous system
Caffeine prevents the degradation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate by phosphodiesterases, which enhances postsynaptic neurotransmission in the sympathetic nervous system. Due to this, one of the main effects of caffeine on the body is, by increasing the intensity of transmission, causing activation in the body (Glade, 2010). Although caffeine is the best known, Inside a cup of coffee we can find, among others, components such as vitamin B3, magnesium and potassium
According to the information provided by science over dozens of years of research, it seems that the positive effects of moderate and chronic coffee consumption far outweigh the possible harm it may cause. Other factors that increase alertness are involved in the consequences and effects of caffeine consumption, in addition to the substance itself, such as, for example, the consumer’s personality and the time of day (time of the circadian cycle).
Caffeine improves, above all, performance in vigilance tasks and other simple tasks that require sustained attention. It also increases the level of alertness and reduces the feeling of fatigue (both mental and physical), and this effect could be beneficial for sports practice. These effects are especially marked when, due to the situation, the subject’s activation level is markedly low (night work, driving on a highway with few curves, etc.). Taking the latter into account, the use of caffeine can lead to increased safety and efficiency in certain jobs and in environments such as driving (Smith, 2002). Moderate consumption has also been related to a decrease in the incidence of diabetes and liver diseases (Cano-Marquina, Tarín and Cano, 2013).
Returning to its relationship with adenosine, In recent years, studies have been developed that evaluate the neuroprotective role of caffeine in certain diseases Adenosine itself plays an important role in the control of brain disorders, having inhibitory A1R receptors (which would function as an obstacle to neurodegeneration) and facilitating A2AR receptors (whose blockade would alleviate the long-term damage of various neurodegenerative conditions). Caffeine would come into play acting as an antagonist of the A2AR receptor, which would favor the phenomenon of synaptic plasticity and, like the rest of the antagonists of this receptor, it would act as a cognitive “normalizer,” preventing deterioration and reducing its progression. .
Therefore, this could be a promising start in the study of adenosine A2AR receptor blockers, providing new and diverse therapeutic options for the treatment of the early phases of, for example, Alzheimer’s disease (Gomes et al., 2011).
Regarding the harmful effects of caffeine, in Smith’s (2002) review of the topic, he states that these harms only appear under certain conditions. One of them would be when it is consumed by people with anxiety problems, whose activation level is already high.
In people not affected by this problem, negative effects would occur when excessively high amounts are consumed. The intake of drinks such as coffee, in these situations, would cause an increase in anxiety and this would lead to, for example, tachycardia, sleeping difficulties, or even worsening of fine motor control (Smith, 2002). When consumption exceeds approximately 300 mg per day, the motor system may be greatly activated, as well as the sleep-wake cycle altered, in addition to a general increase in brain metabolism rates.
Although, as with many other substances, inappropriate consumption of caffeine can lead to various problems, there are reasons to be optimistic in this regard. Almost all consumers consume between low and moderate intake (50-300 mg per day), these being the doses at which the beneficial behavioral effects mentioned above appear. Although there are people who classify coffee, and therefore caffeine, as a socially accepted drug, the brain mechanisms that are affected when consuming this psychostimulant differ greatly from other substances of abuse such as cocaine, amphetamines, alcohol, THC and nicotine (Nehlig, 1999).
Why then does this consumption not reach harmful levels?
The area of the brain most related to drug dependence is what is considered in neuroscience as the pleasure area, that is, the nucleus accumbens. This nucleus is divided both functionally and morphologically into a central zone and the cortex zone. The mesolimbic dopamine system also participates significantly in reinforcing addictive behavior, which originates in the ventral tegmental area and ends in the nucleus accumbens.
Sufficient quantities to feel the effects of drugs of abuse such as cocaine, alcohol and others, selectively activate dopaminergic neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens cortex, which supports the very high addictive capacity of these substances. On the contrary, the consumption of caffeine necessary to activate its properties increases the release of dopamine only in the caudate nucleus without inducing any release in the nucleus accumbens. This selective activation of the caudate nucleus would be related to the stimulatory properties of caffeine on psychomotor activity.
On the other hand, caffeine also stimulates the release of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, which would be consistent with its psychostimulant properties and the reinforcement of drinking behavior. For caffeine to increase the functional activity of the nucleus accumbens cortex, it would have to be consumed in an amount five times greater than the daily average. This high consumption would activate many other brain structures such as most of the limbic and thalamic regions and those related to the extrapyramidal motor system. This would explain the side effects of excessive consumption. In conclusion to these data, Astrid Nehlig (1999) states that Although caffeine has some criteria to be considered a drug of abuse, there is a very low risk of addiction
Finally, taking into account the good capacity for self-regulation on the part of the general population both in the amount to be consumed and at the time of day, knowledge of the pros and cons of something as common as having a cup of coffee will favor even more responsible consumption. In light of the information offered by scientific research, there does not seem to be a more powerful excuse to take a break and have a coffee in the company of friends, family or co-workers than the improvement of one’s own health. Everything is for well-being.
