After all this negative caffeine-talk, I’m excited to finally share why I’m SO EXCITED about coffee…and it has to do with ANTIOXIDANTS, baby! 

First, I want to clarify that there are a variety of benefits to coffee. I strongly believe it is a key social instrument, fit to tune only the best conversations. It offers comfort. It creates a habit of peace. The smell alone contributes to positive mental-health. 

While I promise to talk more about these in the future, right now I am going to focus on my main love affair with coffee: ANTIOXIDANTS.

We’ve all heard of antioxidants....but.
What exactly is an antioxidant, and why does it matter??

In order to describe the antioxidant, we have to explain what OXIDATION (through FREE RADICALS) is. What exactly are we “anti” anyway? 

I think what surprises most people is that OXIDATION is a normal product of metabolic processes. People tend to think that oxidation is always bad—a product of the polluted world we live in.

But the truth is that our cells always produce OXIDATION—and thus need ANTIOXIDANTS—on a normal basis.

Usually, our body is able to combat this damaging oxidation (more on what that looks like in a minute). But unfortunately, our world operates in an environment increasingly more exposed to such oxidative conditions. And problems result when these conditions (like pollution and preservatives) produce more OXIDATION through FREE RADICALS than we have a supply of  ANTIOXIDANTS.

Here’s a cell. Specifically, one in a membrane. 

Now here is that same cell attacked by FREE RADICALS. 
BAM.

If we zoom in to one of these tiny little lights, we will get the free radical (surrounded by its electrons) we see in the upper right corner of the image below. 

Free Radicals work (or I should say DON'T WORK) like this: 
They are lacking an EVEN number of ELECTRONS (the charged particles that go zooming around them like rings around a planet, which is kinda what they ended up looking like in this picture...). 
 
So instead of, say, 4 electrons, they come into the cell with only 3. This makes them highly UNSTABLE. In order to get stable again, they go bumping around and STEAL ELECTRONS from the cell membrane, which end up damaging the cell (like in the lit-up cell above). It's also important to note that those damaged cells aren't just damaged themselves; the DNA inside them can get damaged as well, leading to replicas of damaged cells! 
Basically, this problem multiplies, people.

"OH NO, WHAT IS THE CELL GOING TO DO?!"

Wait, all is not hopeless!
This is when our mighty ANTIOXIDANTS come in with plenty of electrons to donate to the free radicals. That's right, the free radicals no longer need to steal them from the healthy cells! Problem solved.  

Now can you see why I'm so excited about antioxidants?! 

All of this culminates in a study I found recently concerning coffee drinkers. It explains that drinking 3-6 cups of coffee a day showed a 20% reduction in the likelihood of developing major degenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Type II Diabetes. How is this related to antioxidants? Because in all these cases, coffee was shown to reduce some type of inflammation in them (what ANTIOXIDANTS address, remember). You see, the antioxidant- inflammation-fighting properties in coffee is powerful!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotransmitter_receptor (accessed May 13, 2014).

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-is-how-your-brain-becomes-addicted-to-caffeine-26861037/?no-ist (accessed May 13, 2014).

 “Principles of Anatomy and Physiology”. ed. Grabowski, Sandra Reynolds. Tortora, Gerardo J. e. 8. Harper Collins. 1996.

http://lifehacker.com/5585217/what-caffeine-actually-does-to-your-brain (accessed May 13, 2014).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2343424/If-coffee-perks-you-need-STOP-drinking-it.html (accessed May 13, 2014).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotransmitter_receptor (accessed May 13, 2014).

http://www.news-medical.net/health/Caffeine-Pharmacology.aspx (accessed June 23, 2014).

http://ep.physoc.org/content/82/2/291.full.pdf (accessed July 16, 2014). 

And no, I'm not necessarily proud of this. To me this is a bittersweet reflection, really a mixed statement composing both my love and limited tolerance for caffeine and diuretics :/ 

Yes, I wish I could tell you that I am a proud coffee drinker. I once was.

I love the feeling, smell, and taste of coffee and cream. However, because of my personal experience with coffee (I am quite sensitive to caffeine), I have had to re-think my relationship with this drink. More on this in upcoming posts. But first, let's see how caffeine works. 

This is your brain. 

I don’t know if that was necessary...but I just wanted to draw a brain.
Okay.
This is the ADENOSINE RECEPTOR that spans the cell membrane of the brain. 

The lower part of the membrane represents the interior part of the brain. "Caffeine" is meant to label the caffeine molecules (shaped as steaming cups of coffee) that are floating around outside the brain and fit into the adenosine receptor. 

Unlike what most people probably think (what I thought!), caffeine isn’t actually a thing (like a chemical) that enters your system to make you more alert.

It actually is a chemical that blocks your body from knowing that it is tired.
How does that happen?? You ask.

Well, it can be explained when you zoom in really close to the outer cells in the brain (shown in the image above).

The cell membrane is lined with different types of receptors. Each has a unique shape and function. But for our purposes, we’re looking specifically at ADENOSINE RECEPTORS.

Receptors are like hands that stick out of the cell to “grab” or receive specific chemicals. Each type of receptor (like an adenosine receptor) is shaped specifically to “fit” the chemical it’s meant to receive. That way, only that chemical can fit and enter the receptor. Once it fits into the receptor, it starts chemical pathways to do what it needs to do.

When I say “do what it needs to do”, in the case of ADENOSINE, we’re talking about getting the “tired” message to the brain.

Remember when I said every receptor has a specific function? Well ADENOSINE’S specific function is to get the "tired" message to the brain. At this point, you should be associating ADENOSINE with TIRED. ADENOSINE tells the brain I’M TIREEDDDDD. 

So here’s the interesting part. Usually the chemical for “tired” (ADENOSINE) attaches to the receptor when your body has worked a decent amount and you’re…well, tired. BUT caffeine is such a sneaky bugger. Part of it is shaped EXACTLY LIKE adenosine.

What does that mean? It means that caffeine will fit in real snug into a receptor that was meant for adenosine!!! Let’s say that again. Caffeine is shaped so similarly to adenosine that it will physically fit into an adenosine receptor. At this point you should be thinking of caffeine as a dopple ganger…who is also an identity thief…Basically, someone who would use their look-alike skills to steal someone else’s goods.

Terrible.

But why does that matter?? Because caffeine acts like a plug in a bathtub. It just completely stops the message “TIRED” that adenosine would have sent up to your brain. So even though your body is still working, and adenosine is trying to tell your body to STOP YOU’RE TIRED ALREADY, caffeine is blocking that message from getting through.

As if that weren’t enough to keep us stimulated, you may be wondering what happens to the adenosine that gets blocked from its receptors? Well, now it’s floating around in the brain. And when the brain detects the presence of all that adenosine, it actually releases ADRENALINE as a response!! (I think we all know what that hormone does—increases the activation of the sympathetic system, aka “fight-or-flight” responses). 

Doesn’t that suddenly seem a little alarming? Because if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, our body is still working (and overworking!), but we just aren’t aware of it. Our brain simply isn’t getting that “tired” message. Plus, we now have increased levels of adrenaline in our already overworked bodies!

In essence, we’re just delaying all the effects that our body should be feeling to tell us we’re tired.

But before you get too alarmed, or-more terribly-think that I am anti-caffeine- This is just part 1 of my series on caffeine. Read the next posts for more on the benefits (hello antioxidants!), opinions, and effects of this lovely drink. I’ll be sharing more of my experience with coffee (my love, as well as my unfortunate intolerances) as well.

If you have any questions on caffeine, send them my way! In the meantime, see you next week!