Showing posts with label caffeine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caffeine. Show all posts

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Sugar-free coffee or green tea: which is healthier?

Sugar-free coffee gives you taste and benefits of coffee with fewer calories. Green tea, on the other hand, is a healthy drink because it is a decent source of antioxidant polyphenols.
A refreshing and calorie-safe beverage, green tea works as a good substitute for unhealthy beverages regularly consumed in today's lifestyles. So, now that both sugar-free coffee and green tea are healthy, we wonder which is healthier. Let's take a look...

Advantages of green tea
Green tea contains flavonoids (epigallocatechin ) gallate, or EGCG. New research published in the Journal of Nutrition reports that flavonoids EGCG extracts of green tea lower the harmful effects of high blood sugar. This EGCG can prevent damage to the major organs like the coronary arteries lining of the heart muscle. (via)

Some researches have found that green tea reduces the respiration quotient and increases your metabolic rate, albeit temporarily and to a marginal extent only. One study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1999, reports that those drinking green tea increased their total energy expenditure by 3.5 percent and a jump in the proportion of energy came from fat, which rose from 31 to 41 percent. (via)

Advantages of sugar-free coffee
A longitudinal study in 2009 found that moderate coffee drinkers had a reduced risk of developing dementia in addition to Alzheimer's disease. Some preliminary research evidence shows that coffee acts against beta-amyloid plaque that may have a causative role in Alzheimer's. These findings were published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

A moderate coffee drinker who drinks around 3-4 cups of coffee in a day had 65 % less chances of getting dementia later in life. This is a new study from the University Of Kuopio, Finland and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Research has shown that a person who is a moderate coffee drinker has less chances of getting gallstones diseases. Two such studies were done by the Harvard School Of Public Health.

Caffeine is the most commonly consumed psychoactive drug in the world. If you take caffeine in the form of coffee, it will increase the effectiveness of the pain killers, especially in migraine and headache medications.

Some primarily studies has shown that coffee helps boost short term memory. The study in 2005 was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) In which they demonstrated that caffeine modulates short-term working memory. Some cognitive performance tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuo spatial reasoning, have shown that participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests.

Roasted coffee contains antioxidant, which in turn contain the anti-cancer compound methylpyridinium. Coffee also increases your energy level after you drink it. But it is a temporary hike. Caffeine can stimulates the central nervous system for a few hours.

Bottom-line: Both, sugar-free coffee and green tea come with their own benefits. Each benefit kicks in only for a few hours, whether it is increased metabolism or migraine relief. Thus, both beverages are good - but in controlled measures. Research suggests that coffee and green tea are good in doses of maximum three cups a day. Therefore, if one uses them as substitutes for unhealthy beverages, they - each - benefit you. Remember, that no single beverage can keep you away from disease and weight gain. If you rely on green tea for weight management without eating healthy and exercising, even eight cups won't help you. Therefore, pick the beverage you prefer based on taste as this will help you develop a lifelong habit, and stick to overall healthy lfiestyle guidelines.


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Monday, January 30, 2012

Caffeine Alters Estrogen Levels in Younger Women

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Can your dose of caffeine affect estrogen levels?Tony Cenicola/The New York TimesCan a dose of caffeine affect estrogen levels?
Your daily dose of caffeine may tinker with more than just your energy levels.

A new study of women ages 18 to 44 found that drinking coffee and other caffeinated beverages can alter levels of estrogen. But the impact varies by race. In white women, for example, coffee appears to lower estrogen, while in Asian women it has the reverse effect, raising levels of the hormone.

The study did not look at older women, but women of child-bearing age who enjoy a daily cuppa have little reason to fret, the researchers said. The effects of caffeine on estrogen are so minimal that in healthy women, it has no impact on ovulation or overall health, at least in the short term.

“This is important physiologically because it helps us understand how caffeine is metabolized by different genetic groups,” said Dr. Enrique Schisterman, an author of the study and senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health. “But for women of reproductive age, drinking coffee will not alter their hormonal function in a clinically significant way.”

The study, which was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, analyzed data on more than 250 women who were examined one to three times a week over two menstrual cycles. They provided blood samples along with details about behaviors like exercise, eating and smoking. On average, they consumed about 90 milligrams of caffeine a day, equivalent to roughly one cup of coffee.


After controlling for a number of variables, like age and diet, the researchers found that among Asian women, those who had 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day had higher estrogen levels compared to those who consumed less. A similar pattern was seen among black women, though it was not statistically significant. In white women, however, 200 milligrams or more of caffeine appeared to have a slight lowering effect on estrogen.

Nationwide, about 90 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 34 drink the caffeine equivalent of one to two cups of coffee every day.

Why caffeine would have a different impact depending on race was unclear, though Dr. Schisterman said it was likely that genetics has an influence on caffeine metabolism. But the source of caffeine also seemed to make a difference. When the researchers looked exclusively at caffeine from beverages other than coffee — like green tea and soda — it was linked to higher estrogen in all women, regardless of race. Various levels of antioxidants and other compounds in the drinks, as well as additives like milk and sugar, might play a role, he said.

Dr. Schisterman noted that while healthy, premenopausal women should not worry about caffeine intake in the short term, more research was needed to see if there could be a cumulative impact over many years or decades.

“We don’t know if there are long-term effects of these small shifts in hormonal levels,” he said.

Source

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Sunday, November 11, 2007

Green Tea - An Herbal Wonder!

by: Patricia Zelkovsky

There are more than a hundred varieties of teas, but you may be surprised to learn that most teas have medicinal benefits, specifically green tea. If you are a tea drinker, you may be benefiting from its herbal tea remedies at this very moment. How about a cup of green tea as an herbal remedy?

Green Tea is fast becoming the tea of choice as one of several herbal tea remedies. Well known for its antioxidant properties, it also has anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties as well. According to Jennifer Warner, "...drinking green tea may also fight fat. A study showed that people who drank a bottle of tea fortified with green tea extract every day for three months lost more body fat than those who drank a bottle of regular oolong tea." If that isn't an incentive to drink green tea, what is?

You've had a stressful day at work. The heat is overwhelming, and you just want to get home and relax. Have a cup of green tea. It will calm your nerves; detox and de-stress your body. No doubt you've seen all of the new green tea products in your local supermarket. Lipton, specifically, came out with green iced tea. How terrific is that?

Continuing research on the beneficial properties of green tea to human health has produced several new findings. "Most notable is a study by Japanese scientists of the Saitama Cancer Research Institute relating the delay of cancer onset with the consumption of green tea. The study shows that early stage breast cancer spreads less rapidly in women with a history of drinking five or more cups of green tea a day. As a result, there is a lower recurrence rate and a longer disease-free period."

Green tea antioxidants have been shown to have a direct effect on lowering cholesterol levels as well. Green tea also causes carbohydrates to be released slowly, preventing sharp increases in blood-insulin levels. This promotes the burning of fat. Many scientists believe there is a connection between all of the components of green tea; and these combined properties account for its health-enhancing properties. Unfermented green tea leaves, by the way, are the most natural way to gain these benefits.

Did you know that green tea can even help prevent tooth decay? Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria, which causes dental plaque. On another front, skin treatments containing green tea from deodorants to creams are starting to appear on the market. For those of you who have been drinking green tea for some time; good for you! It's time for the rest of you to consider its beneficial affects as well.

Patricia is a health focused content author, today helping you learn more about Green Tea Benefits

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patricia_Zelkovsky


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Friday, October 26, 2007

Caffeine and Meditation

Caffeine and meditation have one thing in common - it gives you a 'lift' or boost your energy. Caffeine gives us a boost by the effects it has on our nervous system. Meditation on the other hand does it by relaxing our mind and body - no chemicals required, just putting our mind into a relaxed state and the body follows.

Our normal energy levels

After a night's sleep, our energy is renewed and diminishes as time passes as you can see in the illustration below. This is not an accurate representation of how our energy are depleted. It does not diminish uniformly as the illustration suggests. Several factors like excitement, anger or strong emotions can elevate the energy level any time of the day.




Caffeine boost

Caffeine molecules are similar to adenosine and it easily occupies the receptors of cells which adenosine should occupy when our bodies need rest to signal it to slow down. When caffeine is in the blood, it easily attaches to these receptor cells. Now when our body needs rest, adenosine are supposed to attach to the receptor cells but will not happen since caffeine are already occupying it. Unlike adenosine, caffeine signals the cells to keep working. This triggers a series of events that eventually triggers the adrenal glands to release stress hormones such as cortisol, noradrenaline and adrenaline. That's why a person performs better physically because adrenaline hormones are released.

Caffeine therefore fools the body into thinking that it needs to work instead of to rest. That's how it gives you an energy boost but when the effect subsides after a few hours, your energy levels will be lower than you would normally have in that span of time.





The red line at the illustration above shows the normal levels for reference and the blue line represents the the energy levels for a person who drinks caffeine sometime in the day. As you can see, several minutes after drinking caffeine, the energy level rises above normal and gradually diminishes. After the caffeine effect wears off, a person will be left with an energy level lower than when that person did not ingest caffeine. This prompts the person for another cup to give another boost or lift. In the long run, it will fatigue your adrenal glands, cause irregular beatings of your heart, cause a dull stomach ache, make you jittery, lowers your absorption of calcium and vitamin b6, etc.

Tea can give a similar caffeine effect of coffee even though it contains lesser caffeine. The action of caffeine combined with theanine is responsible for this. Caffeine without theanine gives a lesser energy boost and vice versa. Decaffeinated tea therefore does not provide as much energy boost than the caffeinated varieties. Theanine in tea however provides a stronger attention level and focus.

Meditation boost

After a meditation session, your energy levels will rise just like the rise that caffeine gives.





It does not however leave you at a lower energy level than normal after its effects subsides, much unlike caffeine. In just 15 to 30 minutes, meditation can give you a quality rest that re-energizes your mind and body. It's also a good stress reliever and makes you in frequent contact with your inner energy. Others use meditation not just to re-energize the mind and body but also to make positive changes in your health, well being and even in abundance and prosperity.


Related Posts

Herbal Green Tea
Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Decaffeinated Tea
Caffeine and Tea
The Calming Effect of Theanine in Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift

Caffeine Free Tea

Herbal Green Tea Extract


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Sunday, September 30, 2007

Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine

What is adrenal fatigue?

Simply put, it is the condition wherein your adrenal glands gets 'overworked' that it functions far below than normal when our body needs its 'services'. Stressful situations can trigger the adrenal glands to release adrenaline(epinephrine) and stress hormones.

Normally, the adrenal glands releases hormones which are necessary to meet the challenges of demanding situations. These hormones make your senses sharper than normal, increases your blood pressure, increases your heart rate, increases glucose levels in the blood, release your body's stored energy for use at the specific situation and boost your physical and mental energy.

I have heard of a person who carried a heavy object, which would normally require 2 to 3 people, during a fire alarm. When the fire threat was over, it was impossible for him to carry that same object!

That's an example of adrenal glands at work. Nature had designed it to last for a short period of time only.

Too much stress on your daily activities can put your adrenal glands at high alert constantly and in the long run could cause adrenal fatigue. Fearing the loss of your job, your too demanding boss, your financial worries and relationship woes are some examples of situations which demand action from your adrenal glands.

Caffeine can cause adrenal fatigue

Coffee contains helpful antioxidants which can neutralize free radicals that are constantly occurring in our bodies but sad to say it also contains caffeine which can deceive the adrenal glands into thinking that the body needs its services. A lot of people drink coffee to keep them alert like when they are going to drive a car, study, make a presentation, etc., not knowing that the more coffee they drink each day, the more 'fatigued' their adrenal glands become.

How caffeine fools the adrenal glands

As we tire, adenosine levels rise and binds to receptors in the brain instructing our cells to slow down. It's some sort of a natural tranquilizer. Caffeine's structure is much like adenosine and it binds easily with the receptors, however, it gives the opposite instructions, it speeds up the cell's activity. This change in activity triggers the adrenal gland to release hormones via the instruction from the pituitary gland which thinks that there must be some stress going on. That's why coffee seems to make you more alert, the adrenal glands are triggered.

After the effect of caffeine has worn off, you'll feel more exhausted than before you drank your cup of coffee. Feeling worn down, you drink another cup to pep you up not knowing that you are stressing out your adrenal glands.


My next post will touch on the hormones that the adrenal glands release as a result of caffeine intake.

Limit your coffee as much as possible for good health. The antioxidant benefit can be over shadowed by the stressful events that caffeine brings. If you cannot help it, go for the decaffeinated variety.


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Adrenaline and Caffeine

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How Much Caffeine Do You Take?

Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones

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Decaffeinated Tea

Caffeine and Tea

Herbal Green Tea


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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy

Coffee and tea are good sources of antioxidants but they are also a source of caffeine. Tea however has a much lower caffeine content than coffee but the latter is more popular. Do you know that coffee is the most popular drink in the world? - two billions cups are drunk every day.

Even pregnant women drink coffee. Experts agree that less than 300mg. of caffeine can be safe for pregnant women - that's 2 to 4 cups of coffee. More than that amount can be hazardous for the baby and some researchers associate it with birth defects and miscarriages to name some ill effects. Other studies however found no association with these maladies.

The popularity of coffee rose because of the 'energy lift' it gives. It's true that caffeine can boost your energy because it increases your heart beat and activates the cortisol hormone in your body making you feel stronger, heightens your senses and makes you feel more alert.

Normally, the cortisol hormone is activated only in times of stress when you need a temporary boost to keep up with the demands of a situation. If you ingest caffeine, your body reacts the way it reacts when you get 'stressed' and it lasts as long as the caffeine is in your blood. It's not natural and it strains the hormones which is not beneficial in the long run.

The half-life of caffeine for pregnant women is longer and longer still for the fetus. Caffeine can enter the fetus through the placenta. Since the fetus is still growing - the organs are not fully functioning therefore eliminating the caffeine takes longer. Caffeine in a newborn can have a half-life of up to 30 hours. Whatever the chemical reactions of caffeine to your body, the fetus also gets.

Caffeine can also be transmitted to a nursing child through the breast milk.

Pregnant women should be aware that the safe level for caffeine is about 2 to 4 cups of coffee and 6 to 8 cups of tea spread throughout the day - not in succession. If you eat or drink other caffeine sources like sodas, chocolates, medicines - you should cut down your coffee or tea consumption so as not to exceed the safe level.

Choosing decaffeinated coffee or tea may limit your caffeine intake to a large degree but residues of the chemicals used to take off the caffeine may have other effects for your body. Decaffeinating tea can be done without chemicals and which you can do right in your own home - it could take out the caffeine content of tea up to 80%. The lesser the caffeine content, the more coffee or tea you can drink without arriving to the safe level and at the same time get more of the beneficial antioxidants.

Even if pregnant women does not consume more than the safe level, I feel that they should cut their caffeine intake for the sake of the child in their womb. It would be best to give the child a healthy head start!


Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Caffeine and Tea
Herbal Green Tea
Calming Effect of Theanine in Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

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Monday, September 10, 2007

Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?

Maybe there's a possibility if taken too much in a short period of time.

How much is too much? Experts say that 250mg of caffeine in a day may give symptoms of overdose - irregular heart beat, dizziness, restlessness, anxiety, ringing in the ear, difficulty breathing, etc. That would be more than 3 cups of coffee or more than 8 cups of tea, depending on the type.

Here's a case of a motorcycle rider who drank 640 mg. of caffeine in a span of just 5 hours. He consumed this amount contained contained in 8 cans of Red Bull to give him the edge on the competition. Red Bull warns against taking more than 2 cans per day but Matthew Penbross did not heed the warning.

After the motorcycle competition on Aug. 5, 2007, his heart stopped and luckily the ambulance officers were able to revive him with defibrillation.

We cannot be certain of course that caffeine is the cause as Red Bull contains other ingredients. But 640 mg. of caffeine combined with energy enhancers only in a span of 5 hours may be too much.

This event may give us a lesson to take everything in moderation, including caffeine. Choose decaffeinated tea or coffee to get more antioxidant power and lessen the risk of caffeine overdose.


Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Decaffeinated Tea
Caffeine and Tea
Herbal Green Tea
Calming Effect of Theanine in Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

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Herbal Green Tea Extract




Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Caffeine and Tea

I'm including caffeine in my posts because is one of the components of tea. This is the start of several posts regarding caffeine.

How much caffeine does tea contain?

Approximate figures from the U.S. Department of Nutritional Services are as follows:

  • Black Tea 25 -110 mg
  • Oolong Tea 12 - 55 mg
  • Green Tea 8 - 36 mg

The longer the tea is brewed, the higher the caffeine content in a cup will be.

Where else can caffeine be found?

  • Coffee - A richer source of caffeine than tea.
  • Soft drinks - Usually the colas. A 12oz cola has more caffeine content than green tea
  • Cocoa and chocolates
  • Pharmaceutical drugs - An example is Midol

Is caffeine beneficial for your body?

At low doses - less than 200mg - may be beneficial. It can improve alertness because it stimulates the nervous system - this could help students when 'cramming' for an exam-:)

At higher doses, the beneficial effects diminishes and the harmful effects sets in.

My personal experience with caffeine

I started drinking coffee when I was a teenager. From time to time, I experience my heart palpitating but it lasts for only a few seconds, it's not frequent though. I didn't know what caused it and I just accepted it as a natural behavior of my heart.

Later on I noticed that the more coffee I drank, the more frequent those palpitations manifested.

Another experience I had which I think I had a caffeine overdose was the time when my flight was delayed. The plane was scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM. With nothing to do at the airport, I drank around 8 cups of coffee in a span of 2 hours. It made me wide awake and felt refreshed. A few hours after I arrived home, I experienced the feeling of over fatigue that led me to sleep for 4 straight hours. What a waste of day time it was.

Caffeine and Tea

Tea contains many beneficial ingredients for good health. Antioxidants are one of them. The more tea we drink, the more antioxidants we ingest to our body which could equate to better health. But the caffeine in our blood also increases as we drink more tea.

Well I have good news for you. There is a way to cut the caffeine content of tea by up to about 80%. I'll show it to you in my next post. In the mean time why not check out this caffeine free herbal green tea, it's great for the health.


Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Decaffeinated Tea
Herbal Green Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

Caffeine Free Tea:

Herbal Green Tea Extract


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