Down the Horizon

Should caffeine be considered as an enhancing or, on the contrary, as an unhealthy factor for human cognitive functions?

Caffeine can be found not only in coffee, but also black and green tea, energy drinks, different kinds of stimulating tablets and energy powders, chocolate.
Nowadays, with sports supplements becoming increasingly popular, many supplement companies have incorporated caffeine in their products, claiming to improve sport performance and stamina.

Whether used as a popular drink or in one of its other forms, caffeine seems to be a necessity in modern days. Well, who doesn’t enjoy drinking a cup of espresso or cappuccino first thing in the morning? But the question is – do people realize how caffeine affects their brain, heart and overall health? In her research for Medical News Today, Mrs. Hannah Nichols states that caffeine “is a stimulant and the most commonly used drug in the world. Every day, millions consume it to increase wakefulness, alleviate fatigue, and improve concentration and focus” (Hannah Nichols, 2017). She argues that caffeine is both beneficial and risky, which means that it is a food as well as a drug, depending on how people use it or misuse it respectively. On one hand caffeine helps with boosting weight loss and “alertfulness”; increases work out performance and professional sports achievements; enhances memory and cognitive abilities; reduces the risk of developing diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cardiovascular disorders. There are many articles and research studies that back the benefits of moderate caffeine intake for normal and healthy brain function, however high doses of caffeine may lead to heart palpitations, rapid heartbeat, sweating, nausea and even cardiac arrest. Especially if you mix caffeine and sugar intake.

             Moreover, caffeine improves memory performance, alertness and wakefulness when a person is in a state of fatigue as well as increases reaction time – a vital factor in the work of first aid responders, military, police, flight attendants, shift workers, etc. In a situation where good cognitive functions are required that ensure people’s safety, caffeine can be very beneficial. On the other hand the substance has a negative side, as large doses of caffeine can do damage. When a person is over-fatigued, caffeine produces an opposite effect. Excessive caffeine intake might disrupt the normal sleeping pattern which then negatively affects the cognitive and normal brain function. Being awake for extended periods of time due to caffeine intake, especially during the night when naturally the human body is in a state of rest, can provoke both short and long-term memory loss as well as loss of focus and concentration.

What is a normal caffeine intake?

It is considered that 2 cups of coffee daily is the optimal caffeine intake, which is around 200 mg.