Caffeine is naturally found in the fruits, leaves and beans of coffee, cacao, guarana and tea plants.
The plants use caffeine as a pesticide. This is a chemical that kills insects if they eat the plant. It is the way the plant protects itself.
Caffeine was first extracted from cocoa beans into its purest form which is a white powder and the word originated from the German word “Kaffee” and the French word “café” which both mean caffeine.
When it comes from the guarana plant it is called guaranine, when it comes from a tea plant, it is called theine, and in the mate drink it is called mateine (this drink is an infusion made with Yerba mate).
Caffeine is a stimulantdrug. A stimulant is a drug that increases body actions like heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolism. It makes a person more awake and alert.
Caffeine also is a diuretic. This means it makes a person make more urine (the waste liquid a person makes).
The caffeine chemical is called a xanthine alkaloid. This is a group of chemicals that are stimulants. Some xanthine alkaloids (like theophylline) are used to help asthma.
What caffeine is used for
The biggest use of caffeine is as a stimulant. People drink coffee and other drinks with caffeine to stay awake.
In the beginning caffeine was found to relieve hunger, so it was used for weight loss. That did not last because people were using too much. Caffeine can be dangerous when not used in the right way.
Doctors sometimes use caffeine as a medicine. It is added to analgesics (drugs used for pain). This can improve their effect on headaches and other pain. It is sometimes used to help premature babies (babies born very early) to breathe. The short-term risk of this treatment seems to be that the babies treated gain less weight than usual. Caffeine is sometimes given to people after a lumbar puncture. This is when a needle is pushed between the bones of the lower back, normally to check for illnesses like meningitis.
Problems with caffeine
Caffeine is a problem for spiders. The image above shows a spiderweb which was woven by a normal spider. The image below shows a web of a spider that had received Caffeine in an experiment
The largest problem with caffeine is addiction. This is when people get bad symptoms when they do not have the drug. When people have withdrawal (feel bad because they do not have the drug) they drink more. This makes them feel better. But if they cannot get more, they are likely to feel some of the symptoms listed below:
Caffeine can also hurt people if they drink a lot at once. If a person consumed 10-13 grams of caffeine quickly, between 80 and 100 cups of coffee, they would overdose and may even die. Caffeine overdose is a medical diagnosis. It is called: Caffeine-Induced Organic Mental Disorder or Caffeine Intoxication. People with this can have these symptoms:
Very bad feelings like:
Paranoia (feeling as if people are about to hurt the person)
Restlessness or nervousness (with the person feeling like he cannot sit down or rest)
250–300mg of caffeine a day is a moderate amount. That is as much caffeine that is in three cups of coffee (8oz each cup). More than 750–1000mg a day is a significant amount, but is very unlikely to kill someone. The Lethal Dose 50 of caffeine is 192mg per kilogram, in rats. In humans, it is between 150 and 200mg per kilogram (70-90 per pound.)
Caffeine is in many drinks and foods. This is approximate amounts of caffeine in some food and drink:
Brewed coffee – 40 to 220mg in a cup
Instant coffee – 30 to 120mg in a cup
Decaffeinated coffee (with most caffeine taken out) – 3 to 5mg in a cup
Tea – 20 to 110mg in a cup
Soda drinks with caffeine – 36 to 90mg in 12 ounces. Some people think that soft drinks which are light in color do not contain caffeine. This is not always true.
Two 8 fluid ounce containers of regular coffee (470 millilitres)
Five 1 fluid ounce shots of espresso from robusta beans (150millilitres)
Eight and a half 8 fluid ounce cups of Coca-Cola Classic (68 fl oz is approximately 2.0litres)
Ten 8 fluid ounce cups of green tea[b] (2.4litres)
Fifty 8 fluid ounce cups of decaffeinated coffee (12litres)
Notes:
A fluid ounce is between 28 and 30 millilitres.
a. There may also be large amounts of other chemicals, similar to caffeine in chocolate and other products of cacao. There is theobromine in cacao, for example. These substances can have effects similar to those of caffeine.
b. Most tea drunk in North America is not very strong. The figures are for this kind of tea. The tea drunk in most other places of the world is stronger; for these kinds of tea, the figures are probably too small.
References
↑"Caffeine". ChemSpider. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
12Malenka RC, Nestler EJ, Hyman SE (2009). "Chapter 15: Reinforcement and Addictive Disorders". In Sydor A, Brown RY (eds.). Molecular Neuropharmacology: A Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience (2nded.). New York: McGraw-Hill Medical. p.375. ISBN978-0-07-148127-4. Long-term caffeine use can lead to mild physical dependence. A withdrawal syndrome characterized by drowsiness, irritability, and headache typically lasts no longer than a day. True compulsive use of caffeine has not been documented.
12American Psychiatric Association (2013). "Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders"(PDF). American Psychiatric Publishing. pp.1–2. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 August 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015. Substance use disorder in DSM-5 combines the DSM-IV categories of substance abuse and substance dependence into a single disorder measured on a continuum from mild to severe.... Additionally, the diagnosis of dependence caused much confusion. Most people link dependence with "addiction" when in fact dependence can be a normal body response to a substance.... DSM-5 will not include caffeine use disorder, although research shows that as little as two to three cups of coffee can trigger a withdrawal effect marked by tiredness or sleepiness. There is sufficient evidence to support this as a condition, however it is not yet clear to what extent it is a clinically significant disorder.
123Poleszak E, Szopa A, Wyska E, Kukuła-Koch W, Serefko A, Wośko S, Bogatko K, Wróbel A, Wlaź P (February 2016). "Caffeine augments the antidepressant-like activity of mianserin and agomelatine in forced swim and tail suspension tests in mice". Pharmacological Reports. 68 (1): 56–61. doi:10.1016/j.pharep.2015.06.138. PMID26721352. S2CID19471083.
123456789"Caffeine". DrugBank. University of Alberta. 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
↑"Caffeine". Pubchem Compound. NCBI. Retrieved 16 October 2014. Boiling Point 178°C (sublimes) Melting Point 238 DEG C (ANHYD)
↑"Caffeine". ChemSpider. Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 16 October 2014. Experimental Melting Point: 234–236 °C Alfa Aesar 237 °C Oxford University Chemical Safety Data 238 °C LKT Labs [C0221] 237°C Jean-Claude Bradley Open Melting Point Dataset 14937 238°C Jean-Claude Bradley Open Melting Point Dataset 17008, 17229, 22105, 27892, 27893, 27894, 27895 235.25°C Jean-Claude Bradley Open Melting Point Dataset 27892, 27893, 27894, 27895 236°C Jean-Claude Bradley Open Melting Point Dataset 27892, 27893, 27894, 27895 235°C Jean-Claude Bradley Open Melting Point Dataset 6603 234–236°C Alfa Aesar A10431, 39214 Experimental Boiling Point: 178 °C (Sublimes) Alfa Aesar 178 °C (Sublimes) Alfa Aesar 39214
↑Burchfield G (1997). Meredith H (ed.). "What's your poison: caffeine". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
123"Caffeine". The Nutrition Source. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
↑Moschino, Laura; Zivanovic, Sanja; Hartley, Caroline; Trevisanuto, Daniele; Baraldi, Eugenio; Roehr, Charles Christoph (2020-03-01). "Caffeine in preterm infants: where are we in 2020?". National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
↑"Caffeine Content of Food and Drugs". Nutrition Action Health Newsletter. Center for Science in the Public Interest. December 1996. Archived from the original on 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
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